Do I need a coffee bean grinder?

kelbal

Hi Guys. Have been given some coffee beans but I don't have a grinder. I have an attachment that goes onto my blender base, does the same job, but in a smaller space, kinda like the smaller bit here........


I'm guessing that will do just as good a job as a standard bean grinder??

thanks

Jezek

What you have there, and what you describe as a 'standard bean grinder' is a blade grinder. These are blade grinders, chopping the beans as they whirr round. The grinders you will see recommended here and other serious coffee sites are burr grinders, they crush beans between two burrs.

Blade grinders have many faults for coffee grinding:

1. They do not grind consistently, producing very large and very small bits at the same time.

2. You can't choose to what coarseness you want to grind.

(3. They also heat up the coffee a lot)

These facts basically mean that it's very hard to make good coffee using those types of grinders.

Burr grinders are more expensive, starting from 30 euro for a hand-grinder or 100+ for electric, up to the many thousands.

sarkozy

If you're not into your coffee or buy/grind beans regularly, obviously there's no point buying a grinder, especially a burr grinder. Jezek is totally right on every point, but it also depends what style of coffee you're making.

Your grinder attachment will create OK'ish grounds for espresso if you have an espresso machine or stovetop espresso pot. But the same problems persist (inconsistent ground size, etc.). But the espresso won't be great.

The best these grinders can really do is coarse grind for cafetiere or drip filter coffee. To get an idea of how coarse/fine to grind for this method, just visit www.brewmethods.com The taste will also depend on the quality, type and roast of the beans themselves, of course.

maxwell smart

How about this little beauty who I spent some time with yesterday?? :D

Conba

I have to say, I'm yet to be convinced that a burr grinder could deliver a tastier coffee than what I manage to get out of my Aeropress using a blade grinder.

Mr Magnolia

Conba wrote: »

I have to say, I'm yet to be convinced that a burr grinder could deliver a tastier coffee than what I manage to get out of my Aeropress using a blade grinder.

Then you should sample a coffee from someone that knows what they're doing. There's no comparison really. A whirly blade grinder smashes the beans to no consistent format heating the bejaysus out of them and drying any of the nice oils out of them in the process. A decent burr grinder grinds to as even a grind as is possible without anywhere near the same level of heat. There's a reason that every coffee aficionado will tell you the grinder is the most important part of any kit... Where are you based?

Conba

Near Limerick. I'm prepared eat my hat on it at some stage... but Santa can't afford a new grinder this year. If I can get even more taste out of this Aeropress then it really is the only way to make coffee.

Dero

maxwell smart wrote: »

How about this little beauty who I spent some time with yesterday?? :D

Is that not a roaster? Looks interesting anyway. Like an M3 on steroids. I presume it's some sort of sample roaster?