From Coffee Investigator
Simply put, it’s a grinder with two slicing discs that are grooved. These discs can be moved closer together or father apart, all depending on how fine or coarse the grind needs to be (for your taste). While these slicing discs are more costly than the propeller grinders, they work slower and are much louder. However, they are accurate and reliable, which makes a considerable difference when brewing every day.
On top of that, the coffee beans are gradually compressed with a bit of frictional heating. This could actually be the best part of the burr coffee grinder.
Why Having Little or no Heat Is Important To The Grinding Process
Keep in mind that the blade coffee grinders (shown directly above) are not as expensive and don’t have a lot of noise to them. You can purchase them for as little as $10. Before I knew anything about coffee this is the exact grinder I had. I often wondered why the exact same coffee beans would taste different from day to day. Some days I just let the grinder grind the beans a little longer causing my coffee to burn. I purchased the Kyocera Ceramic Burr Coffee Grinder and was I ever surprised! My coffee tasted better and was consistent from brew to brew. However, the burr coffee grinders have less friction applied to the coffee beans, which avoids any burnt taste. By using the burr coffee grinders, the oils and aroma are kept in; this results in a better tasting coffee.
Is The Size Of The Coffee Grounds Important
When you’re crushing your coffee beans, you better believe that size matters when it comes to making a really delicious cup of coffee. You want all the bean flavors to be released evenly. Plus, finer grounds tend to reduce the essential oils. The key to getting the best taste out of all your beans is to get the grinds that come out of the coffee bean grinder consistently shaped.
What If Two People Want A Different Type Of Ground Bean?
A burr coffee grinder can solve any arguments you and your spouse have about the coffee beans. After all, you have the option to pick between grinds. All you need to do is position the two slicing burrs.
Are you sold on the idea of getting a burr coffee grinder for your home? If so, then you need to be aware that there are two types of burr coffee grinders.
Types of Burr Grinders
- Conical Burr Coffee Grinders
- Wheel Burr Coffee Grinders
What is the difference between the two burr grinders?
– A conical burr coffee grinder spins slower, ensuring that the natural bean flavor is preserved. It’s not near as messy and is quieter because of the burr spin speed. In essence, this is the best kind of burr grinder.
– A wheel burr coffee grinder produces a greater amount of noise because the wheels move quicker. They can become clogged and are messy. Of the two types, the wheel burr coffee grinder is cheaper.
A conical burr grind gives you the ability to control how fine you want the bean to be grounded – coarse, fine, extra fine or regular. This kind of burr coffee grinder has a built-in timer so the grind can be set between five and 60 seconds. This means you can walk away without having to repeatedly press the button that maintains the grinding process. There is one downside to it, however, which is that you have to pay out more money to get the results you’re looking for.
Is The Money You Pay Worth All You Get?
Conical burr coffee grinders, when compared to its market competitors, can last many years, as they are very tough and quite robust.
For those folks who love the taste of coffee, the conical burr coffee grinder is well worth the price one pays for it. The investment will give them great tasting, high quality coffee; something they can take extreme pleasure in drinking.
However, for people who just like to have a cup of coffee while reading the morning paper, burr coffee grinders have an array of prices to choose from, which will still give them some benefits without the heavy price tag.
Coffee Grinders to Burr or Cut that is the Question. Whether ’tis nobler to grind thou coffee beans?
Every coffee drinker has the desire to make the perfect cup of coffee and the first step towards achieving that goal is choosing the right coffee bean grinder. The information in this article deals with how to go about choosing the right machine and is essential reading for all coffee lovers.
Just what makes this article so important?
Since coffee is made from coffee beans, it is of utmost importance to handle them properly so that none of the aroma or flavor is lost and to ensure that they stay fresh. The first thing to know is how ground them correctly and that means that the coffee grinder will play a big role in making a great cup of coffee. However, there are two types of coffee grinders to choose from, the one being a burr grinder and the other a blade grinder. After reading this article the choice will be much easier to make.
Everyone knows how good a cup of freshly brewed coffee smells, but not everyone experiences this in their personal life. Instead, they have to go to the local coffee shop and this brings up the question of just how this wonderful smell is retained.
Well, every barista knows how this is done and it all has to do with the star of the coffee shop, which happens to be the coffee bean grinder.
Many will contend that this aroma is dependent upon the quality of the coffee beans being used to make the coffee. Even though the quality does play a role, if the coffee beans are not ground correctly then they might as well be thrown away. This is because using the wrong grinder will negatively affect the aroma of the beans, as well as the flavor.
There are two different types of coffee bean grinders available and coffee drinkers have to choose between the burr and the blade grinders.
Ultimately, the right coffee bean grinder will depend on how it is to be used and the needs of the person who needs it. The following information can be used to determine whether or not someone is a burr or a blade grinder person.
Before a final choice can be made, the difference between the two types of coffee grinders has to be understood. The coffee grinders that use blades do not actually ground the coffee beans, but instead use chopping motions to cut them into small pieces. The blade coffee bean grinder is the more commonly seen and purchased of the two kinds, because it is less expensive and widely available.
However, cheaper comes with a price. In this case, the lower price also means that it is not as effective at retaining the aroma and flavor of the coffee beans. Since the coffee beans are chopped, an action that produces heat, the coffee beans end up having an extra bitter taste and a changed aroma.
The burr coffee grinders are what experts consider to be the real thing. Burr grinders actually ground the coffee beans by crushing them with the integrated grinding wheels. The advantage of using the grinding wheels is that they do not produce a lot of extra heat and that means the coffee will keep its real flavor.
Another advantage of using a burr coffee bean grinder is the fact that the grinding wheels can be adjusted. By adjusting the wheels it is possible to determine how fine the ground coffee should be and that means regular coffee can be made from the beans or special grinds like espresso. On some newer models of burr coffee bean grinders the speed of the wheels can also be adjusted.
A coffee bean grinder can be used to ground more than just coffee beans; it can also grind vegetables. A burr based machine will always ensure an even grind regardless of what is it is being used on and that results in optimal flavor and aroma.
Always keep in mind though, that separate machines have to be used for the coffee beans and vegetables. If the same grinder is used then there is the risk of losing or changing the flavor of both.
As with all good things, there is also a downside. The disadvantage of a burr coffee bean grinder does not have to do with its functionality, but the price. As a general rule, this type of grinder costs a lot of money and is much more expensive than a blade coffee grinder.
Now, for the big question – blade or burr?
A choice has to be made between the blade and the burr grinder, but the problem is choosing which of the two will be the right one for the job.
In my opinion, it is worth spending the extra money on a burr coffee bean grinder. This is mostly because coffee plays an important role in everyday life, but it is not money that I would spend again to replace it.
The following reviews are on burr coffee bean grinders that provide quality at reasonable prices.
The conclusion is that the right grinder will depend on two main things. The one is how much money is budgeted and the other is just how important having a great cup of coffee is.
People who can afford it should get the best coffee bean grinder that they can. However, it is generally not worth spending the extra money on a top burr coffee grinder, but that can be done if a perfect cup of coffee everyday is a must. You can purchase a hand crank burr grinder for under $50. The Kyocera Ceramic Coffee Grinder is my choice when it comes to grinders. It does take about 30 to 60 seconds to hand grind the coffee beans but when you are finished you will have a uniform grind size. You can go from fine grind to course grind with a simple mechanical adjustment.
Since they can cost a lot of money, the purchase of a coffee bean grinder has to be seen from an investor’s point of view. In order to determine if the amount of a coffee bean grinder has value or not, the price can be divided by the amount of time it will most likely be used and if the answer is reasonable, then so is the purchase.
Types of Coffee Grinders
Making that perfect cup of coffee starts with getting the right grinder that will evenly ground the beans as coarsely or as finely as you desire. By grinding your own beans, you can brew fresher, more aromatic and flavorful coffee. There are basically two types of coffee grinders, the blade and the burr.
Blade grinders are the common household item for people who grind the coffee beans themselves. The blades are made of stainless steel and are relatively easy to maintain. It is also the most inexpensive type of grinder. The coarseness or the fineness of the grind depends on how long you will grind the beans in this grinder. Generally you can use this grinder for brewing any kind of coffee, even espresso, although it’s not the most suitable equipment if you want to brew the best cup of espresso. A coarse grind will make the water pass through faster while the finer one will take up more brewing time. In espresso making, it should take about 20 or so seconds to extract the perfect shot. Blade grinders can’t ground the beans evenly and you’ll notice that some parts are finer and others coarse. If you try to make a finer grind, you will notice a sharp difference in the taste of your coffee. The friction between the blades and the beans are enormous such that the beans are burned so you’ll get an undesirable aftertaste in your coffee regardless of its quality. Despite this limitation, grinding your own coffee with this grinder still makes for a better cup than buying already ground coffee.
Burr grinders make better batches of ground coffee although they are not as easy to clean up afterwards. There’s the wheel burr and the conical burr. The wheel burr consists of flat wheels that grind the beans without burning them. These disks spin slower than the blade grinder and make a more consistent grind. The result is a batch that will make a much better tasting cup of coffee. The downside of using this kind of burr grinder is that the beans can get stuck too often and you need to stir them in the hopper to get them flowing again through the disks.
The conical burr grinder is considered the best. Instead of disks, the grinder is conical in shape and the grind is even more consistent. They spin even slower and create even less friction than the wheel type. There’s less static that makes the beans stick and get stuck in the crevices so this type is actually easier to clean. The beans don’t clog up in the hopper as often as in the wheel type so this one is actually easier to use. The only disadvantage is that it costs a lot more as the grinding cones are costlier to manufacture.