The Daily Grind Part 3: Beginners Guide to Home Coffee Grinders

Remember I said at the start of my last blog, “As with all major purchases like appliances or vehicles, some of the best advice I have received has been: Take the amount of money you have and buy the best you can with it. This is also true for home coffee grinders.” There are so many on the market, where do you start? Amazon…and then I visit my favorite online coffee sites and see what they carry. Truth be told, when we started our coffee journey 15 years ago or more, I would buy my coffee ground. I hated the mess of grinding. Truth be told again, I still hate the grinding mess, but I love the results of fresh ground coffee.

As our journey progressed, I would buy whole bean coffee and grind what I needed for the morning the night before. I would set up my coffee maker that had its automatic or delayed brewing timer. Now, we set up the grinder the night before with whole beans just waiting to be ground in the morning right before we brew. Another truth to be told is: Grind matters. Since I like brewing consistent and enjoyable coffee, I pay attention to the grind of the coffee. For me, the two most crucial things to remember about grinding coffee are: grind right before you brew coffee, and match the coarseness/fineness of the coffee grind to the brewing method. Once coffee is ground, it stales very quickly. That means the amazing natural flavors in the coffee diminish rapidly. Ground coffee should be used within 10 minutes of grinding. Matching the coarseness/fineness of the grind to the brewing method allows the water and coffee to interact and gives you the optimal extraction of coffee. Keeping these things in mind, here are a few grinders we have used or had other coffee aficionados recommend to us.

Minimalist Hand Coffee Grinders

We have had a few different Hario hand grinders. The one that was easiest to use is the Slim Grinder as it is small enough for your hand to fit around the base giving you optimal leverage for grinding. The other Hario hand grinders were quite simply awkward to use.

(Hario Slim Grinder)

Most recently, Roastmaster Jeff picked up Stainless Steel Ceramic Burr Hand Crank Mill from I Love Coffee products by AFL. It’s great because it is durable, portable, fits inside an Aeropress and it was a 2 for 1 deal.

(Hand Crank Mill from I Love Coffee products by AFL)

Both of these are available on Amazon for less than $25. They are both adjustable as to the coarseness/fineness of grind.

Electric Coffee Grinders

As a reminder, we advocate burr grinders over blade grinders because burr grinders give you a much more consistent grind. An upgrade in grinder may be all you need to do as a home coffee brewer to improve your coffee. Again, if you are happy with your current coffee grinder, by all means keep using it. If you are realizing that you would like more out of your coffee, try upgrading your grinder. Of course, fresh roasted coffee makes a HUGE difference too!

The two most affordable burr grinders we recommend are the Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill and the Capresso Coffee Burr Grinder. We have used and occasionally still use the Cuisinart Automatic Burr Mill. It has 18 different coarseness/fineness settings.

(Cuisinart Automatic Burr Mill pictured on the left)

I have seen the Cuisanart at Costco from time to time. This grinder has a pretty tall profile but easily fits on a kitchen counter under a cabinet.

The Capresso Coffee Burr Ginder came recommended by an acquaintance who is in the coffee business. He uses this one in his office daily. This one has 17 coarseness/fineness settings.

(Capresso Coffee Burr Grinder)

This grinder has a much lower profile and a smaller footprint than the Cuisinart. Both of these are available on Amazon. These are both under $50 today.

The mid-level burr coffee grinder that I can confidently recommend is the Baratza Encore. This a conical stainless steel burr grinder. For our family members getting married, often time we as a family will go in together and buy this one to give as a wedding gift. This grinder has 40 different grind settings giving you, the home brewer, more control over the grind coarseness/fineness. The Baratza Encore is 14 inches tall. It still fits under a cabinet. It does weigh about 6 pounds. So it’s a little heavier and has a larger profile and footprint. However, the consistency of the grind as well as the control of coffee fineness/coarseness really makes this grinder desirable. It does sell for about $130 and is available on Amazon.

(Baratza Encore Burr Grinder)

The high end coffee grinder that I own and use daily, often times multiple times a day, is the Baratza Precisio. Don’t choke on the price of around $300. This grinder is so versatile for us both for home use and in our cupping/tasting coffee. I also used this grinder for a little while to grind for espresso prior to getting a specific espresso grinder.

The Precisio has the same 40 macro grind settings as well as 11 micro grind settings. That totals 440 total grind settings. Honestly, this is overkill for the average home brewer. Of note, Baratza makes a grinder that lands between these two grinders called the Virtuoso, for just over $200.

So as I stated at the start of this blog, decide how much money you have to spend and get the best grinder you can for your money. Your grinder is probably the single most important piece of equipment to brewing amazing and consistent coffee. For more about grinding, you can read my blog from this past summer here.

Thank you for joining me on my coffee adventure! Now it’s your turn to venture into coffee.