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Looking for advice buying a coffee grinder (self.coffee)

submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by blotz to c/coffee

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I mainly want to get a coffee grinder because beans have a longer shelf life and are cheaper. If I also get better coffee, that's a bonus! (Basically, I'm not looking for a premium option)

What is something I should pay attention to when buying a grinder. I see people mention "flat burr" grinders all the time. Is that something important?

A few years ago I bought a cheap terrible manual coffee grinder off Amazon. It took 5-10mins to grind my coffee. The grounds where too course and my hands hurt. Is the experience better with higher quality manual grinders? At the moment, I'm not a huge fan of manual grinders because of this experience and am leaning towards buying an electrical one.

What makes a coffee grinder better than others? What is the difference between premium and budget options?

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[–] CoffeeJunkie 13 points 9 months ago (7 children)

There are a few things to note: burr vs blade. You do not want a blade, because as others have said, the key to the grind is consistency of granules. Coffee ground too fine tends to over-extract, be bitter, and even clog equipment. Coffee ground too coarsely will under-extract, taste kinda earthy & "bleh", and it's a waste of bean.

The two best electric burr models on the budget side of things, AFAIK, is the the Capresso Infinity & the Baratza Encore.

The Capresso Infinity is the cheapest quality burr grinder you can get; it is gentle & slow grinding. Very consistent. Unit size is small, which is nice.

The Baratza Encore is SUCH a capable grinder. Very well known. It's got a nice "heft" to it, so it stays put while grinding. I had a very oily bean that I sent through the Encore, so much that it choked & stopped up. I carefully cleaned it all out & it works just fine. What a champion!! Unlike the Capresso Infinity, it can crank out a more than acceptable espresso-level fine grind.

Between capability & reliability, the Baratza Encore wins my endorsement. If you don't care about espresso & you just want a good machine without spending all the money, then & only then would I recommend Capresso Infinity.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Also they sometimes sell refurbished Encores on their site for a discount. But honestly new, they're still very reasonable. My refurb looked brand new and has been serving me well for 2 years.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I was going to suggest refurb, too, but looking around their site there is no longer a page for refurbs. A little googling and it appears since Breville bought them in 2020 they've gone downhill some.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Oh that's a bummer! I bought mine in 2022 and didn't know that.

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