Investing in a great coffee grinder is one of the best ways to make your morning routine more enjoyable.
Why? To begin with, your brew will have a brighter, more nuanced flavor. After roasting, whole coffee beans stay fresh for a few weeks, but grinding them releases valuable oils and exposes them to oxygen, so every minute after that is a countdown to staleness – you can save them for longer if you invest in a vacuum-sealed container.
You’re probably buying stale beans if you buy pre-ground coffee and grind your beans to ensure that little is wasted between the coffee and your cup.
You’ll be able to make a better choice for your brewing needs. For example, maybe you rely on the convenience of an automatic drip coffee maker but find yourself missing out when it comes time for Sunday morning Chemex sessions?
The settings of a good coffee grinder may be adjusted to suit your brewing style, from powdery and fine for creative espresso pulls to coarse and sandy for the perfect French press pot.
Blade grinders are those inexpensive tiny devices with propeller-like inserts that whirr with a touch of the lid. Unfortunately, they don’t so much mill your beans as chop them aggressively, resulting in bruised and uneven coffee grounds. That is something that no one desires.
There’s nothing like a burr grinder to break down coffee beans by methodically rotating them against an abrasive surface like your high-tech mortar and pestle.
The best burr coffee grinder is always the one that is appropriate for the brewing technique you select. You’ll need a burr grinder that can create a consistent grind while allowing you to make slight modifications as needed, whether you’re making espresso or French press.
Best Burr Coffee Grinders: 5 Top Picks Reviewed
Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder (Top Pick)
We have the perfect grinder for you – the Baratza Encore. This award-winning grinder is loved by coffee professionals and is backed by our world-class support.
The Baratza Encore comes with a convenient, front-mounted pulse button and a simple ON/OFF switch, making it easy to grind fresh coffee each morning.
It has 40 grind settings, so you can explore the extensive range of brew methods (espresso, Aeropress, Hario V60, Chemex, French Press, and automatic brewers).
The Baratza Encore is a great choice for beginners, with its simple design and easy operation. However, it’s perfect if you’re looking to start grinding your own beans or just want something quick that does not require too much attention from time to time!
OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder (For French Press And Aeropress)
We know that finding the right coffee grinder is important. So we suggest the OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder with durable stainless steel conical burrs that create uniform grounds for optimal flavor extraction.
There are 15 settings (plus Micro settings) to let you adjust your grind to suit your taste.
You can keep your last setting by using the one-touch start timer – just push to grind!
The hopper holds up to 0.75 pounds of Coffee beans, so you can make plenty of coffee at once. And the Grounds container accommodates up to 110 grams, enough for 12 cups.
It’s easy to keep clean – never use water or other liquids to clean the inside of the grinder/burrs!
Breville Smart Grinder Pro
The Breville Smart Grinder Pro is the perfect grinder for anyone who wants to make the perfect cup of coffee. It has 60 precise grind settings, so you can get the perfect grind every time.
Plus, it comes with a precision electronic timer that allows you to adjust grind time in 0.2-second increments.
You can also grind directly into your portafilter, grinds container, gold-tone filter basket, or paper filter. This makes it super easy to use and eliminates the need to clean up any extra messes.
It has an 18-ounce coffee bean capacity with a locking system for easy removal and storage.
We love the Breville Smart Grinder Pro because it’s a fantastic grinder with excellent value for your money.
Bodum Bistro Burr Coffee Grinder (Best Budget)
The Bodum Bistro Burr Grinder is the perfect coffee grinding solution. It’s affordable without sacrificing quality. Plus, it comes with 12 adjustable grind settings, so you can get that perfect cup of coffee every time.
Stop dealing with overpriced coffee from those big chains and start grinding your own beans at home. You’ll be able to save money and customize your coffee exactly how you like it. Not to mention, it’s dishwasher-safe, so cleanup is a breeze.
The Bodum Bistro Burr Coffee Grinder is one of the most aesthetically pleasing coffee grinders we’ve seen.
It has innovative features like its static-free Borosilicate glass container and hopper lid that includes charts to guide you in different types of grinds for various recipes, but this lightweight burr grinder also happens to be quite stylish aside from being functional too!
Related Read: Find the Best Coffee Grinder for Espresso (Hand Picked)
Fellow Ode Brew Grinder
Meet Ode, your new best friend in the coffee world. This powerful and precise grinder was designed to help you perfect your daily brew without breaking the bank. Plus, with its quieter design, you can grind beans right before you brew without waking up the whole house.
The fellow is the go-to coffee brand for trendsetting hipsters and caffeine addicts alike. Their Ode Brew Grinder was originally launched on Kickstarter, where it quickly gained traction with its chic design that’s perfect in any kitchen or office space – not just your everyday cupboards!
With 11 settings and 31 steps in between, it’s easy to find just the right grind for your preferred brewing method. Ode has you covered whether you’re using an AeroPress, pour-over, French press, or cold brew system.
The sleek and stylish matte black Ode Brew Grinder is powerful, as it’s designed to produce coarser grounds. So if you’re into a French press or pour-over coffee making, this grinder will be perfect for your needs!
How Do We Search For The Best Burr Coffee Grinder
When we were investigating and testing electric burr grinders, the quality and uniformity of the grind was the most crucial factor.
Because grinding is the most vital thing a good grinder must accomplish adequately, it is the most critical aspect to examine.
There are other characteristics and aspects to consider, such as how effortless the machine is to use and how durable it is.
An excellent grinder should be easy to use, maintain, clean, and last for many years (with proper maintenance).
The other elements are discussed in greater depth further down.
Settings For Grinding
Most electric burr grinders offer various numerical size options, allowing you to grind beans fine enough for a Moka pot or espresso machine to coarse enough for cold brew or French press coffee.
Grind settings are divided into two categories: stepped and step-less. Most home burr grinders are stepped, so you select a predetermined number on a dial.
There are numbers on a step-less grinder, but you can also select any point between those numbers, allowing you to play about the size of your grinds indefinitely. This is fantastic for coffee connoisseurs.
However, it’s difficult to repeat the best settings for your daily brews with a step-less grinder if you vary the grind setting (for example, if you like to swap between coffee-brewing methods).
For the purposes of this article, we determined that the best grinder is a stepped model with a wide range of settings and clear indications between each step, making it simple to return to your preferred setting.
In the manuals of all grinders, there are starter instructions for grinding size. In addition, a few machines provide apparent visual cues on the devices themselves as to where the starting points for various brew processes sit on the dial. These hints can be helpful at first (because a “medium” grind level is rarely halfway between the finest and coarsest grind settings), but they aren’t required.
Your grinder’s view of a perfect Chemex or French press grind may differ from yours, and even products from the same manufacturer can vary slightly. In fact, after many hours of tasting, we can’t emphasize enough how slight differences in grind size may make a tremendous difference in flavor. So instead of taking the grinder’s recommendations as gospel, experiment with your machine to find the best-tasting setting.
Consistency
The goal is to end up with grinds that are very constant in size, whether you’re drawing a shot of espresso or boiling a filter coffee. As a result, each ground will be extracted to the same degree, and your coffee will taste better.
Minimizing the presence of fines will give you a cleaner, sweeter cup with a smoother mouthfeel. However, fines are guaranteed to over-extract and contribute bitterness or astringency to your filter coffee, so if possible, try removing them before making this drink!
It’s critical to get the grind size just perfect. This is the most essential advantage a burr grinder has over a blade grinder, and we assure you’ll be able to taste the difference in the cup, even if you’re new to specialty coffee.
Burr Size & RPM
While this part may appear a little esoteric or technical, your grinder could be the most expensive coffee purchase you have ever made. As a result, the more information you have, the better. High-speed and low-speed grinders are available. The speed of your grinder is measured in revolutions per minute (RPMs), which has several implications for your final brew.
A minor issue is that the grind is more consistent at higher RPMs. However, with speed comes heat, and while grinding, heat is a terrible thing. Heating coffee beans alters the flavor, not for the better, and can leave a burnt or bitter aftertaste.
If a high-speed grinder has large, flat burrs and a powerful engine, it can avoid the heat problem. Larger burrs grind more quickly, which means the grinding is finished before the heat can build up. These burrs produce remarkably consistent grinding, and grinders in this category are ideal for grinding espresso.
Conical burrs are used in low-speed grinders, which grind at a slower speed to reduce heat and static accumulation. These burrs can be found in most home market grinders, including those on this list.
You’ll want a grinder with a higher RPM if you’re drawing espresso shots. On the other hand, lower RPM grinders are excellent for manual brewing processes. Experts disagree on whether flat or conical burrs are superior. It is a matter of personal preference. Flat burrs, according to most experienced coffee tasters, provide a more consistent grind, resulting in a cleaner cup. Conical burrs, on the other hand, generate a cup with more body and yield more fines.
Burr Material
Let’s talk about burr substance for a moment. Steel or ceramic are the two most common choices. However, because ceramic burrs are more durable than steel, they can last longer before needing to be replaced.
Ceramics are brittle, so ceramic burrs can break if your grinder is dropped or something other than a coffee bean enters the hopper.
Nowadays, steel is more common than ceramic, especially in higher-end grinders.
Dosage Calculations
Some grinders have features that allow you to grind the same amount of coffee each time, known as the dosage, eliminating the need to measure the beans before or after grinding. This means you could merely store your beans in the grinder’s hopper, even though most experts advise against it.
Some machines include a timer, so you can set it for 15 or 30 seconds and get roughly the same amount of ground coffee. Some timers are analog, while others are digital, with accuracy down to the tenth of a second.
Other grinders appear to offer more advanced methods of measuring preset dosage quantities, allowing you to select the number of cups you’re grinding for or program your own. Finally, some grinders—usually the most costly models—include an integrated scale, allowing you to weigh the beans before grinding.
If your machine does not include these times, scales, or presets, you must measure the beans yourself. Although it would be good not to go through that extra step, it isn’t a tremendous hassle. Because coffee beans are not all the same shape, size, or density, it is important to take accurate measurements when weighing them.
We recommend the American Weigh Scales LB-3000 if you require a scale. Dosage measurement can add $100 or more to the cost of a machine, and it comes with variable degrees of precision and utility. Unfortunately, it also adds another possible failure point to your grinder.
Quality Of The Product
The burr set of a grinder determines everything from how consistently it grinds to how long it lasts. However, you should be able to change the burrs when they wear out. Burr sets can be steel or ceramic and come in several widths. The broader the burr, the faster it will grind; most electric machines’ burrs are roughly 40 millimeters wide.
Steel burrs are long-lasting, easy to care for, and maybe cleaned with a stiff wire brush. They’re also less expensive than ceramic burrs. Burrs made of ceramic are more rigid and last longer in manual grinders. However, they’re not nearly as sharp as steel when they’re brand new.
A motor’s quality is also crucial. A machine with a lower-quality motor (and, frequently, a lower-quality block burr) can impart undesired heat to the beans and, since it has to work harder to grind, may burn out sooner.
Maintenance
A good grinder should last you many years if properly maintained. It’s also necessary to be able to clean within the burr chamber to keep your device in good working order.
This is particularly true if you prefer oilier, darker-roasted, or even flavored coffees. Those beans produce more residue, which must be removed regularly for optimal flavor and grinder function.
We searched for machines in our tests that had easily accessible parts, especially around the burr set, so that they could be cleaned and replaced when the time came.
We looked for grinders in the United States with easy-to-reach, straightforward customer service, and a warranty or guarantee. The ability to replace various parts, such as the burr set, bins, and even the motor, is also considered.
Messiness
It’s also crucial to remember to clean up the area around the machine. It’s typical for a burr grinder to produce some static or a mess. But this can vary based on the humidity, the type & age of the coffee, the grind setting, whether your machine has a flat or conical burr, and the surface your grinder sits on.
Lighter roasts produce more chaff than darker, oilier roasts in dry settings, while lighter roasts make more static.
Some grinders claim to reduce static electricity by employing specific glass, magnets, or metal.
Furthermore, some grinders appear to be much messier than others, which may impede their usability.
Regardless of how much you try to clean the machine, their burrs occasionally continue to drop grounds. Or it’s difficult to get the chaff and small particles out of the coffee grounds bin or drawer.
Price
We’ve learned that a nice electric grinder with a robust design and a high-quality burr set currently costs at least $100 after years of testing. If you pay less, you’ll almost certainly get a low-quality grinder. Even our budget selection doesn’t go below that price except during special discounts, and we understand that it’s still a tough sell for people who aren’t coffee aficionados.
However, we believe that investing more is well worth it for most coffee drinkers—whether measured in more cups prepared at home, fewer dead grinders thrown to the landfill, or simply the added daily joy of creating your own fantastic coffee.
If money is a concern, you can also look for a used Baratza grinder on eBay or on Craigslist in your area. Used Baratza grinders are a safe bet because they are so sturdy and repairable, and you might be able to get a reasonable offer. Baratza also sells refurbished Encores occasionally; we’ve seen refurbished Encores go for roughly $100.
If you don’t want to spend at least $100 on an electric grinder, you may have your coffee ground-to-order at a local roaster or café. As we previously discussed, barista Kyle Ramage believes that getting your coffee pre-ground with a good burr grinder is preferable to using a blade grinder or even a terrible (cheaper) burr grinder every day. He admits that you lose a little depth, but you don’t get the off-flavors with an uneven grind.
For price specific options, you can check also:
- Best Burr Coffee Grinders Under 100$: Review & Buying Guide
- Best Burr Coffee Grinder Under $200
- Top Espresso Grinder for Under 300$
FAQs
What is the distinction between blade and burr grinders?
Both coffee grinders are designed to ground coffee beans in single-serve or classic coffee makers. On the other hand, blade grinders and burr grinders are created differently.
Blade grinders are similar to blenders in that they contain two sharp knives that revolve around chopping up your coffee beans. Burr grinders, on the other hand, use moving metal bits to crush the beans into uniformly formed grounds. Blade grinders are less expensive, but they generate uneven coffee grounds, lowering the quality of your coffee.
Is it true that burr grinders are superior to blade grinders?
Burr grinders are preferred by most baristas and coffee enthusiasts over blade grinders. They’re made to pulverize a few coffee beans at a time, resulting in greater consistency in the size and shape of your coffee grounds and a better cup of coffee.
The Final Word
This is not an entire list (hundreds of other grinders exist); these are the “top dawgs” in the burr grinding area. In the end, each is a viable option. However, Baratza Encore Conical Burr is the clear industry favorite.
It is one of the quietest grinders on the market, combining absolute precision with slow grinding/crushing power. This corresponds to a cup of coffee that is magnificent.
Let’s not forget that this grinder has been praised by hundreds of coffee connoisseurs – the people don’t lie.
We hope you found our grinder reviews helpful and that you’re one step closer to selecting the best burr coffee grinder to accompany your coffee machine.
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