Don't underestimate the value of a really good grinder

[holliscx]

This may be hot stuff heresy but will anyone judge me if I use this grinder for brewed coffee?

https://www.amazon.com/Capresso-560-.../dp/B0000AR7SY

My daily driver is a Bialetti moka pot plus I have a Bodum French press and Hario VR60 pour over.

Full disclosure: I ride rim brakes too

[Too Tall]

This may be hot stuff heresy but will anyone judge me if I use this grinder for brewed coffee?

https://www.amazon.com/Capresso-560-.../dp/B0000AR7SY

My daily driver is a Bialetti moka pot plus I have a Bodum French press and Hario VR60 pour over.

Full disclosure: I ride rim brakes too

That is a right decent one. No judgement here bub.

[Clean39T]

I use a Zassenhaus (sp?) hand-crank grinder - same one I've used for nigh on ten years now - it takes quite a bit of upper-body strength (something in short-supply for this roadie) but does a nice job and grinds just enough coffee for my single-mug Hario setup.

I bought an OXO grinder for my birthday back in July, the one without the scale - don't have anywhere to plug it in right now though, so it's still sitting in a box.

[SlowPokePete]

Thought this was gonna be about a sandwich.

SPP

[GeneK]

Thought this was gonna be about a sandwich.

SPP

only in the Northeast.

[ZenNMotion]

I just removed an 80 year old tile wall stuck to concrete, chicken wire and lath with an angle grinder. Either they're overrated or I am...

[rwsaunders]

Thought this was gonna be about a sandwich. SPP

All is good Hollis...I’ll admit that a hoagie came to mind.

[Wisco]

In my experience, the difference between a "great and average" burr grinder is the amount of fines. The best grinders are very consistent and tend to cleanly grind beans. The average ones are more variable and tend to have more fines. But in the end you should ask, does it matter? For a Moka pot, french press and using a darker roast, probably not. For your V60 with a light roast east African bean, probably though it depends on your palate.

I use a Porlex at the office or while traveling as they are cheap and work great with an Aeropress. At home I use a Comondante C40 which is one of the finest hand grinders I have ever used. It's perfect for grinding 10-30g of beans for a 1 person pout over or multi-person Chemex brew. It's the grinder that finally taught me how grind size alone can really effect flavor once you've got the basics of a V60 or Kalita Wave pour-over down pat.

Good choice on the burr grinder as any is a step up from the "blender" spice grinder.

My next adventure is the incoming KickStarter Fellows Ode Brew electric grinder. Fellows makes several really nice pieces of coffee equipment, so I'm expecting the grinder to do a nice job. Maybe I'll move the Comondante duty in to the RV we're planning on getting in 2021.

[Clyde]

I have been using that Capresso for about 10 yrs it's fine for us. I am perhaps not quite the connoisseur as some. Definitely an improvement over the spinning wings of death $10 push the top down grinder.

[guido]

I'm really liking my Dewalt 20V angle grinder. So nice not having to worry about a cord.

Oh wait...

[dashDustin]

This may be hot stuff heresy but will anyone judge me if I use this grinder for brewed coffee?

https://www.amazon.com/Capresso-560-.../dp/B0000AR7SY

My daily driver is a Bialetti moka pot plus I have a Bodum French press and Hario VR60 pour over.

Full disclosure: I ride rim brakes too

I’m intrigued. I want a 2nd grinder for drip/ pour over, but don’t see the need to drop the $$$. At $90, that’s definitely interesting. $120 and I’d probably just go with the Baratza Encore.

[J_B]

I’m intrigued. I want a 2nd grinder for drip/ pour over, but don’t see the need to drop the $$$. At $90, that’s definitely interesting. $120 and I’d probably just go with the Baratza Encore.

For about 140 you can upgrade the burr set and have a "sleeper". The burrs that are spec'd in the higher-cost Preciso and Virtuoso models also fit in the Encore gearbox. Less fines and more consistency. For pour-over it only makes sense if you're buying good beans, IMO. Videos online are very helpful to guide in the process, and Baratza customer support will even walk you through it via e-mail.

[maunahaole]

We got the oxo burr grinder a while back. We use it for drip, so can’t comment on fine or coarse grind performance. Big plus for me is the grounded metal catch cup that greatly mitigates the static buildup.

[coolberto hipsterdor]

https://www.baratza.com/shop/refurb

[holliscx]

I'm probably going to get a Baratza Encore though they're more lettuce in Europe. Can any hot stuff aficionados confirm the Encore gets the job done?

Has anyone used a Smeg?

https://www.smeg.com/coffee-grinder/all-coffee-grinders

[kytyree]

I've used the Virtuoso for a long time and it does everything I'd want it to do for anything other than espresso. I guess the Encore is a bit slower and the burr produces more fines? I did see one article that said the Encore can be upgraded to use the burr from the Virtuoso if that was an issue, I don't know how much difference there truly is.

[mwynne]

Can only chime in on the Virtuoso (step up from the Encore). Echoing kytyree, it does everything well in my house, until you hit espresso. We've been using one for several years now - cold brew, french press, pour over, aeropress, all great. Can do *some* espresso in a pinch, but more is pushing it.

[echappist]

Can only chime in on the Virtuoso (step up from the Encore). Echoing kytyree, it does everything well in my house, until you hit espresso. We've been using one for several years now - cold brew, french press, pour over, aeropress, all great. Can do *some* espresso in a pinch, but more is pushing it.

It definitely can do espresso, the issue is that it lacks consistency in two aspects: ground retention and ground evenness.

I have had mine (Virtuoso Preciso) for about nine years, paired to a PID Rancilio Silvia for the past five years. The consistency issue didn't really manifest until I started taking the mass of beans going into the grinder and the ground that comes out.

For a double espresso, I want ~16.75 +/- 0.05 g. So I would load the grinder with ~16.85 g. Once every fourth or fifth occasion, there would be only 16.40 g out, and with some beans, there would only be 15.80 g. Consistency level matters, b/c even 0.1 g difference in amount of grind loaded into the portafilter would significantly change extraction volume.

The next issue is that even if I consistently load the portafilter with 16.80 g of grounds from the same type of beans, extraction would differ. Most of the time (~60%), about 38 g of liquid would come out; this is what I want; however, there are times when I would get 28 g or 48 g. Really makes things annoying, especially for someone with OCD tendencies (e.g. yours truly).

The next "big ticket" item would be a single-dosing grinder (thinking of getting the Niche grinder), with the Virtuoso Preciso either sold or relegated to French Press duty.

Also, someone above mentioned the refurbished program. My unit is a refurb, and the center button (used for pulse grinding) was unusable from day one; fortunately, I could mostly use the dial timer for things, but it certainly doesn't speak well for QC...

[ColonelJLloyd]

I'm probably going to get a Baratza Encore though they're more lettuce in Europe. Can any hot stuff aficionados confirm the Encore gets the job done?

Every day for about 5 years now for use with a Bonavita, Chemex, and Clever. It's a well made tool and easily repairable as I understand it. I disassemble and clean mine from time to time and it's asked nothing more of me. It's been some time since I've been called hot stuff.

[j44ke]

I'm probably going to get a Baratza Encore though they're more lettuce in Europe. Can any hot stuff aficionados confirm the Encore gets the job done?

Has anyone used a Smeg?

https://www.smeg.com/coffee-grinder/all-coffee-grinders

For a moka pot, a hammer and a sock will do. They were made to get coffee out of beans run through what was basically a pepper grinder with a larger bean hopper. Like this one:



Anything you plug into the wall will grind the beans well enough.

Now, who washes their moka pot? I was always told to only rinse, no soap and no scrub with a sponge of any sort. Solo dita e acqua - only fingers and water.