Here goes, for a Monday morning – which coffee grinder should I buy?

Been thinking about getting one for a while, and now the people from whom I buy coffee have sent beans, rather than ground. So it’s time.

Don’t know much about the subject, but I think burr is the type to go for? Happy to be corrected.

Limited budget, say £50ish. What suggestions, pretty please…

What are you making coffee with? Cafetiere? Aeropress? Espresso machine?

Wilfa Svart ?

If you can stretch the budget, Knock hand grinders are brilliant. You get the grind quality / consistency of a really expensive electric grinder, but a lot cheaper.

http://www.madebyknock.com

I used a Porlex ceramic burr grinder for years, but the Knock is way better and worth the extra imo. It’s also a really nice thing.

You’re not going to get a really good electric grinder for 50 quid, but I guess it depends how fussy you are. And yeah, you want a burr grinder.

The Krups electric ones get okay reviews fwiw, but I’ve never used one and, I think are in your price range.

This were touted as quite good a couple of years ago:

https://www.johnlewis.com/krups-gvx2-expert-coffee-grinder/p230843325?sku=230843325&s_ppc=2dx92700046625463118&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclid=CjwKCAjwpqv0BRABEiwA-TySwWoJkMgz_ShqW5IZyE53MAJMKMLyduVjFUQagS_3rBa_0pNZH9WmgxoCybEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

mines been going strong for a long time.

Ah, thanks everyone. It’s for an aeropress…

Get a porlex ceramic.
has the added advantage that due to the shape of the axle you can attach the battery drill of your choice to it and be lazy.

Our little coffee club on the ward has one of these KRUPS GVX2 BURR GRINDERS which is great. Makes a lovely brew in either the Aeropress or cafetieres , can do variable grade grinds should that float your boat and doesn’t take up to much room.

Ok, so I am am thinking of buying a coffee grinder too.

But what difference will I get in the flavour of the coffee I drink by spending loads of money on beautiful devices like a knock hand grinder of fancy ceramic burrs vs a £40 electric whizzy thing?

Or is it all about the experience of making the coffee?

It does change the flavour a little bit, the main difference for me is that with a burr grinder I tend to get less fine particles in my coffee

I’ve a wee delonghi one, similar size and price to the krups, had to do a wee op on it to space the burrs in closer, as the grind wasn’t quite fine enough, there’s a wee vid on youtube to do it. Had it for 3 years now and it’s been great.

Someone will be along in a minute to say you need to spend the national debt of Nigeria for that true coffee experience, no doubt….

Thanks everyone – I also quite like the ritual of making coffee, and the manual nature of some of these appeals to me, too.

Is this any good, or am I showing my nativité here…?

An electric whizzy thing will work – freshly ground coffee is noticeably better than coffee ground days ago.
The main advantage of burr grinders is that all the coffee you use MUST have gone through the burrs, so you don’t get lumps. An electric whizzy thing can miss bits of coffee and produce an inconsistent grind – some bits too fine, some not ground enough.

That Krupps grinder linked above will be fine. If you want something flasher or prettier go ahead, but you won’t be able to tell the difference when you drink the coffee.

Don’t the blade types also overheat/damage the coffee.

Don’t the blade types also overheat/damage the coffee.

Struggling to see how? Burr grinder concentrates all the energy on a few beans, blade grinder is pretty much spinning in air.

I’m a heathen and use a blade grinder. It makes coffee. Short wizz for the cafetiere, long wizz for the espresso machine.

Tempted to take a sample into the lab and put it through the laser diffraction machine and see if there really is any difference in particle size. I suspect it probably makes more fines when making cafetiere coffee, for espresso I’m less sure.

If you want an actual downside rather than some pseudo scientific hypothesizing (do burr grinders come with directional cables, I suspect that makes about as much difference). You can’t measure the dose into the grinder, you’re pretty much limited to doing minimum batches of ~3 doubles. But then to get a burr grinder that accurately measures doses you’re spending more than most people consider reasonable for a coffee machine 🤣

But what difference will I get in the flavour of the coffee I drink by spending loads of money on beautiful devices like a knock hand grinder of fancy ceramic burrs vs a £40 electric whizzy thing?

Consistency. You’re endeavouring to get all the coffee ground to roughly the same size. This is probably more important when brewing with fairly course grinds.

Don’t the blade types also overheat/damage the coffee.

Blade ones just give you a very random mix but they don’t get hot. Cheaper burr grinders run quite fast so thats where heat can be an issue. Gearing the mechanism down to prevent this results in bigger, more complex, more expensive machines. Its all diminishing returns though. The difference between a £20 wizzy chopper thing and a £50 burr grinder is a lot. The difference between a £50 burr grinder and a £200 burr grinder is not much by comparison.

You can make something you like with anything though

But what difference will I get in the flavour of the coffee I drink by spending loads of money

Almost none, the biggest difference you’ll get is spending money on quality beans…Up to a point.

If you’re making espresso at home then bean grind size consistency is next on the list on important things after quality of beans, and that means a burr grinder. How much you spend or whether that mechanical or electric is probably dependent on how attached you are to the “doings” of coffee making process over the convenience or end product. There’s absolutely nothing wrong in fetishsizing a process that you like, but know that it probs. makes little or no difference to the end product*, which as we know is enjoyed by folks in endless variable ways.

* to whit: A university lecturer friend of mine has wildly expensive coffee making paraphernalia, he spends a goodly sum each month in importing beans from a chap in Italy who in turn literally goes to the Highlands of Ethiopia to get them, and after he goes through a not inconsiderable routine and ritual to make pretty good coffee, then dumps a couple of heaped teaspoons of Tate and Lyle’s finest white sugar into his cup, as his sweet tooth wins over his love of really good coffee. Go figure. He’s having fun though, so who am I to criticise.

Was something that was stuck in the back of my head I’m sure I had read. Might have been related to higher speed burr grinders though. Or maybe it was marketing bull.

A definite downside to a burr grinder that a blade won’t have is clogging if you try to grind an oily bean too fine. Absolute pain when that happens.

The dose size repeat control is very useful as is being able to set the grind size consistently.

FWIW I’ve the sage smart grinder pro which seems to do a decent job. Has got more expensive than when I bought it though.

In the aims of recommending what you have: Kinu Phoenix

But I do need to grind for espresso.

I had a Krupps burr grinder for my old Gaggia.  Seemed to work consistently although I was pretty rubbish at getting best use out of my Gaggia. I bough a hand grinder for when I was away. Big blooming thing and I though it was really hard work. Maybe I was just a wuss.

The burr grinder in my Sage is fantastic. I don’t know if it’s the grinder or the machine (or more likely both) but finally I can make consistent espresso.

I brew with an Aeropress and use the Krups electric burr grinder. A real budget set up but I’m not a full on STW coffee geek. From my luddite perspective it makes really nice coffee. Two step changes I noticed in the quality of my brew.

Firstly, switching from ground coffee to beans. I get my beans from PACT and they have usually been roasted just a day or two before they arrive. I grind just what I need, as I need it and it smells and tastes unbelievably fresh and alive compared to the dull floor sweepings sold as ground coffee I used to buy, or even some supermarket beans which have been roasted weeks or months before you get them. Often over roasted too – I used to mistake that for flavour but now prefer lighter roasts where you can taste all sorts of more subtle stuff other than just bitter and slightly burnt.

Secondly, switching from a cheapo bladed grinder to the Krupps burr grinder. Not quite as big an improvement as ground to beans, but very noticeable to my novice palate. I know a lot of people will sneer at the Krupps because it’s not Italian, chrome and eye wateringly expensive, but I’m impressed and in no rush to “upgrade” just yet.

I bought a Cuisinart Professional Burr Coffee Mill for my daily grind, either espresso or cafetiere.

If / when it gives up the ghost I’ll definitely get another. Only just out of the OP’s price bracket too.

Former Wizzy blade user but now using sage burr grinder. Has really improved the process but it was expensive & takes up lots of room

OP is after small amounts so I’d suggest a decent hand grinder rather than a cheaper wizzy thing.

Slight hijack; I’ve had one of the Krups grinders for quite a few years now but it will no longer ‘hold’ a fine grind; the adjustable bit inside the grinder/hopper undoes itself when it’s on. Anyone know of a way to fix this?

You can’t measure the dose into the grinder

Unless I misunderstand you, can’t you just weigh the beans, that’s how you measure any dose isn’t it?

I bought a big Iberital with a hopper I’ve never measured but probably swallow 2kg of beans, maybe had it 7 years now and it’s never missed a beat, never cleaned it , haven’t seen the burrs yet it gets used every time I want a coffee maybe 3x a day. I t previously was used in a cafe.
I’m guessing there may be a few of these things going cheap soon, do feel sorry for small cafe owners

I’ve got a Krups burr grinder with an aeropress, just the original £40 job, not the new £80 V2, this is after years of hand grinding with a hairo (which is now kept for travel grinding use), I wouldn’t go back to hand grinding for day to day coffee, its a pain in the arse, especially if making multiple cups.

The Krups is great, seems very consistent, couple of drawbacks, it doesn’t hold many beans really, it has a static problem and is pretty messy to use, and the lowest grind quantity is a little much for a single mug from my aeropress.

But if it broke I’d buy another, for £40 quid you can’t go wrong really.

Thanks for continued help, all.

As above, its for a max of say 3 cups a day, often only one, so I’m looking at hand grinders I think. The link in my post above was a bit hidden, so is this any good…?

Hario MINI-Slim Plus Ceramic Burr Coffee Grinder with Free Coffee

These are regarded as a good basic grinder.
https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/eureka-mignon-specialita-16cr-coffee-grinder-55mm-burrs-grey.html

Regarding static, good advice is to put a few drops of water in before you grind. Not too much mind or you’ll clog the burrs. Certain coffee is a bastard for this, Monsoon Malabar is definitely my nemesis but also my favourite coffee 🙁

Willing to be corrected, but I think grind consistency is more critical for pump based espresso. So for an Aeropress the Krups should be fine. I’ve had one, IIRC the limitation of it was getting a fine enough grind for espresso. I’ve got a couple of big burr grinders now, with timed dosing as I’m too lazy to weigh every time.

I’ve got one of those Knock hand grinders, I don’t use it for espresso as I’d get tendonitis. But for coarser grinds it’s fine.

The Hario is what I have for camping/nights in hotels, it’s perfectly fine.

I have a cheap copy of the Hario style. Cost about £15, works fine. I’m usually only doing enough for one cup at a time, so doesn’t take too long. It is bit fiddly to adjust the grind, need to unscrew the handle etc, I don’t bother doing that too often.
Something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Grinder-Adjustable-Coarseness-Ceramic-Travelling/dp/B07LBQCS1M/

Last time I asked this someone (apparently seriously) recommended a £300 job. Not everyone who wants a cup of coffee is prepared to invest that much in it, and cheaper kit can certainly make you a good coffee and is a vast step up from instant etc.

I had one of these for years:

https://www.johnlewis.com/krups-gvx2-expert-coffee-grinder/p230843325?sku=230843325&s_ppc=2dx92700046625463118&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclid=CjwKCAjwpqv0BRABEiwA-TySwQmpHOvjUjiq_32E1AqgNWA8GFZFNtMAnX8wiQQRqF53wS8tE2QK2xoCGUgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

It broke, then I replaced it with one that I thought was the same in a different box – it wasn’t, nowhere near fine enough – so binned that and went back to the Krups. Funnily enough the original one had a static problem and the new one does not. Maybe just my current favoured beans, or did they do something to the plastic?

You can’t measure the dose into the grinder

Yeah you can. As a rule of thumb coffee beans take up roughly the same volume when they are whole as when they are ground (although it varies slightly depending on the beans, guessing moisture content). So with that as my starting point I put two scoops into the grinder and run it all through, then use the same scoop to put it in the basket. Sometimes the basket is under-filled (I can tell by how deep the tamper goes) and sometimes over, and sometimes I have to throw a tiny bit of grounds away. You get to know after the first few goes with a new coffee how much to scoop in though.

These are regarded as a good basic grinder.
https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/eureka-mignon-specialita-16cr-coffee-grinder-55mm-burrs-grey.html

I had one of these – excellent little grinder, built like the proverbial tank and strong resale values show they are well regarded. For £50 though, it’s got to be a hand grinder hasn’t it?

I second the Knock hand grinders. I’ve got the Aerspeed and it is a thing of beauty as well as being the most efficient hand grinder I’ve used. It also fits inside the Aeropress.

Another option is to get a cheaper Hario burr grinder & replace the top threaded knob with a threaded nut so you can use a cordless electric combi drill to grind the beans.

At 3 cups a day a hand grinder is going to do your nut in (cue “I hand grind 5kgs of beans a day” responses).

Look around on eBay for refurbs in your budget – plenty of burr grinders that will work well for an Aeropress. I have owned the Krups one mentioned in this thread and it works fine.

Then one day if you feel it isn’t fulfilling your grind consistency needs: https://www.kruveinc.com/pages/kruve-sifter

Unless I misunderstand you, can’t you just weigh the beans, that’s how you measure any dose isn’t it?

I suppose you could, but that assumes that you can get every bit of the coffee out of the drawer/blender afterwards. And the spiny blade one won’t work unless you put enough for 4-6 doses (2-3 cups) as the blades are’t right on the bottom.

Whereas that £360 grinder someone linked to up there (seriously, you could buy a decent bike for that) lets you put the portafilter under the nozzle and it grinds for an exact amount of time you can adjust to fractions of a second to get it exactly right.

Had coffee in a fabulous little place in St Ives, in which the guy weighed the dry grounds into the machine, and the wet grounds out (should be exactly twice the weight when wet, apparently) monitored the exact temp and pressure of the machine etc.

Proper coffee geek, but it was bloomin’ lovely, tbf…

I have been using a hunt brothers manual grinder for the last couple of years. One of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hunt-Brothers-Coffee-Consistent-Compatible/dp/B018M32LJE

Its much more satisfying than the electric blade one I previously had, but I have no other experiance. I use it to grind for a couple of double espressos today and it seems consistant. Not too arduous to use. It is a pain if you have a bunch of people over all who want coffee at once though.

Personally I enjoy manual grinding. I tend to only use it when working at home or on the weekend so spending a minute or so grinding beans isn’t going to stress me out too much!