Recommendation Appreciated: Burr Grinder

[Jeff_Twersky]

My Krups blade coffee grinder is finally giving up the ghost, after about 20 years, so I am looking to buy a good, but not expensive burr grinder. Recommendations much appreciated.

[Chad_Richardson]

I recently bought a Capresso conical burr. It does a great job. My one warning…the lower priced one has a plastic body and non-grounded plug. Mine built-up so much static when it ground, that coffee flew everywhere when I removed the container to dump the grounds into the coffee pot. I traded out for the metal housing and grounded plug version, and that solved the problem.

[jordan_whitehead]

I had a braun conical for about 7 years. Ran into the same issue with the static and plastic housing. I of course upgraded to a mazzer which isn’t cheap. I think cuisinart and kitchenaid make some decent relatively inexpensive grinders. check out opinions on coffeegeek.com

[M_M_c_C_a_l_l]

I couldn’t bring myself to spend $300+ on a Rancilio Rocky, but I tried (and returned) several models (Cuisinart, Krups, and Capresso) before a couple of hardcore coffee geeks elsewhere in wineboardland suggested the $100ish Solis (now Barratza) Maestro. It does far better at the extreme grind levels (very fine espresso, coarse french roast) than most consumer grinders. These days, I use it halfway between espresso and drip settings for Aeropress, and it producers a perfectly consistent grind. We’ve had the Maestro for ~3 yrs now, and the only problem whatsoever is that the knob on the timer occasionally pops off.

[ken_emery]

We have the Baratza Virtuoso which my wife has been using for 3 years now with no complaints. Highly recommended.

[ybarselah]

@M. M c C a l l

I couldn’t bring myself to spend $300+ on a Rancilio Rocky, but I tried (and returned) several models (Cuisinart, Krups, and Capresso) before a couple of hardcore coffee geeks elsewhere in wineboardland suggested the $100ish Solis (now Barratza) Maestro. It does far better at the extreme grind levels (very fine espresso, coarse french roast) than most consumer grinders. These days, I use it halfway between espresso and drip settings for Aeropress, and it producers a perfectly consistent grind. We’ve had the Maestro for ~3 yrs now, and the only problem whatsoever is that the knob on the timer occasionally pops off.

if you’re doing drip coffee/filtered coffee, french press, etc., this is the way i’d go.

but if you’re looking to do espresso AND you have a proper espresso machine, you need a higher end grinder.

i’d link to a great thread on ebob about this very topic, but well… you know…

[Jeff_Twersky]

I’ll have to l;ook at the Barratza, especially since I mainly use an Aeropress. Thanks.

[Dan_Kravitz]

I’m not huge fan of Starbucks, but I brew espresso using a La Pavoni every morning I’m at home and their burr grinder works fine for me, set at the finest grind setting. I had one for ~5 years and it would no longer grind fine enough for good espresso. I took it in to the local place, the guy said the burrs were worn out, I bought another now about five years ago and it’s working fine.

Dan Kravitz

[Robert_Pollard-Smith]

I had the Solis Maestro, which was decent enough for espresso, until it failed after about four years, and switched to the Rocky Doserless, which is a much finer machine (so far).

[M_M_c_C_a_l_l]

@ybarselah

if you’re doing drip coffee/filtered coffee, french press, etc., this is the way i’d go.

but if you’re looking to do espresso AND you have a proper espresso machine, you need a higher end grinder.

i’d link to a great thread on ebob about this very topic, but well… you know…

Agreed, mostly. I went to hell and back with a FrancisFrancis X1 (that looked adorable in my kitchen!) before I discarded it as “not a proper espresso machine”. The reason I went through so many burr grinders in a single month was that none of them produced a consistent enough fine grind until I got the Solis. No doubt it’s inferior to a Rocky or any other $300+ “prosumer” model, but it’s also a fraction of the cost and orders of magnitude superior to any <$100 burr grinder I tried.

[alan_weinberg]

before you buy, check out http://www.wholelattelove.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
alan

[Brett_Johnson]

Funny, I was just researching this topic recently.

The Baratza Virtuoso does seem to have a good reputation although some of the hard core geeks out there still say it can’t handle daily espresso.

The best product I found based on various reviews in the <$300 market is the Gaggia MDF. Cheapest price I’ve seen is $230.

[ybarselah]

@Brett Johnson

Funny, I was just researching this topic recently.

The Baratza Virtuoso does seem to have a good reputation although some of the hard core geeks out there still say it can’t handle daily espresso.

The best product I found based on various reviews in the <$300 market is the Gaggia MDF. Cheapest price I’ve seen is $230.

i strongly recommend against the gaggia mdf. i bought it too based on the reviews but it’s very messy (static from the motor creates a huge mess) and doesn’t really do a great job. i returned it after a week. if you buy it, just make sure you have that option. unfortunately, it seems the cheapest grinder that’s really good for espresso is the the rocky.

[Theodore_Anderson]

Strongly recommend the Baratza lineup for drip/press/vacuum pot QPR.

[Brett_Johnson]

@ybarselah

@Brett Johnson

Funny, I was just researching this topic recently.

The Baratza Virtuoso does seem to have a good reputation although some of the hard core geeks out there still say it can’t handle daily espresso.

The best product I found based on various reviews in the <$300 market is the Gaggia MDF. Cheapest price I’ve seen is $230.

i strongly recommend against the gaggia mdf. i bought it too based on the reviews but it’s very messy (static from the motor creates a huge mess) and doesn’t really do a great job. i returned it after a week. if you buy it, just make sure you have that option. unfortunately, it seems the cheapest grinder that’s really good for espresso is the the rocky.

Good to know. You’re definitely in the minority of people who purchased it and didn’t like it.

[ybarselah]

@Brett Johnson

@ybarselah

@Brett Johnson

Funny, I was just researching this topic recently.

The Baratza Virtuoso does seem to have a good reputation although some of the hard core geeks out there still say it can’t handle daily espresso.

The best product I found based on various reviews in the <$300 market is the Gaggia MDF. Cheapest price I’ve seen is $230.

i strongly recommend against the gaggia mdf. i bought it too based on the reviews but it’s very messy (static from the motor creates a huge mess) and doesn’t really do a great job. i returned it after a week. if you buy it, just make sure you have that option. unfortunately, it seems the cheapest grinder that’s really good for espresso is the the rocky.

Good to know. You’re definitely in the minority of people who purchased it and didn’t like it.

i have high standards.

seriously though, also you need to ask yourself if you want/need the dosing mechanism. for most home use, it gets in the way and creates a huge mess.

that’s one of the main reasons i recommend the rocky doserless as the first home espresso grinder. yes, it’s more money, but very much worth it.

but the sad fact is that even with a decent machine, after a few months, you even see the limitations of the rocky. fact is, the grinder is more important than the machine (once you get to a certain minimal level with the machine). most people don’t realize this after a little bit of time.

[Stuart_BeauneHead_Niemtzow]

KitchenAid Proline Grinder » CoffeeGeek" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I’ve had this KitchenAid pro grinder for many years…and it always delivers what I ask of it, is built like a truck and looks good…i had bad luck with Saeco before…and others…particularly with the grinds attaching to the plastic containers; kitchenaid is glass.