The Ultimate Coffee Maker Guide

In phase 4 we look at different types of grinders available to you now that you have chosen the type of coffee maker you want.

When thinking about buying your grinder, there is one thing to bear in mind, don’t go for the cheapest option! If you buy a cheap blade-style machine then you will probably find that even if you have bought the perfect coffee maker, you will be disappointed with the results. We have written this guide to ensure that you buy the right grinder to go with your machine.

About ground coffee:

An important thing to know is that different coffee makers require different sized coffee grounds to suit the type of coffee that is going to be brewed. Drip or Filter coffee machines are best suited to a medium sized grind, however with Espresso machines only a very find grind will suffice. Meanwhile the French press requires quite a coarse grind to achieve the results desired.
Another piece of information which you may find useful is that finely ground coffee has a larger surface area so more of it comes into contact with the water (remember those chemistry lessons?), this means that in the case of finely ground coffee, less is more.

The best grinders, what they do, and why they are better than the cheaper versions:

The best grinders are able to grind coffee very finely, very coarsely, and anything in between!  This is fantastic if you have more than one type of coffee machine or you like to test out different grinds with your coffee. Cheaper grinders only give you 1 or 2 options.
Good grinders are also very consistent, they will produce the same grind over and over again if required, and they will also ensure that the entire grind is the same size throughout, so that larger grounds are not mixed with powdered coffee for example.
Cheaper grinders can often cause a lot of friction in the coffee when grinding, this can cause the coffee to burn and lose flavour. Better grinders cause minimal friction whilst still grinding superbly.

The different types of grinder:

There are 3 main types of grinder, I have already mentioned the blade style grinder which generally produces and inconsistent grind and is not suitable for making an “authentic” cup of coffee. It is for this reason that I have left out any recommendations for blade grinders simply because I can only recommend you NOT to buy one. This leaves us with two main types of grinder:

Burr Coffee Grinders

Burr grinders crush the beans between two discs, these discs move more slowly than the blades in a blade grinder and so cause less friction and a more consistent grind is the result.
Burr grinders are excellent for home use, and will make your coffee even more enjoyable!

 

Conical Burr Coffee Grinders

These conical grinders are the most expensive grinders on the market. However, they are the best and produce an extremely good, consistent, grind. There is a conical shaped grinding surface which gives the user the power to select many varieties of grind, from very fine, to very coarse. Some of these grinders even give you the option of a longer grinding time which will result in less friction!
The conical grinders take more time to clean than the normal burr grinders, however the results will be so great you really won’t care!

 

A Word of Caution

When buying grinders, try to make sure that you buy the ones with a metal assembly, the plastic grinders will not be as good and you are better off spending a little more on a metal grinder since it will last you longer.

Highly recommended coffee grinders!

   These are our favourite coffee grinders!

You can also search amazon for more coffee grinders below.