Coffee Grinders- Everything You Need to Know

If you know the importance of freshly ground coffee you also know the importance of a grinder. Sure, pre-ground coffee is good, but trust us, your whole life will be changed after you switch to grinding your own grounds. 

Let's face it, if you are a real coffee lover, you always strive for the best. Even though grinders might not seem such an important part of the actual brewing process, we can assure you that they deserve just as much attention. By now we know that there are many different types of coffee and ways to prepare them, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that grinders are similar. Still, there is one aspect that is similar amongst them, no matter the type: they crush coffee beans in the shape and size needed for your brewing process, thanks to the specially designed burrs.

If you want to learn more about the different types of grinders and their importance, make sure to follow the list below:

Burr Grinders

The most important advice you could take today is: use burr grinders for coffee beans only! And also, just as important, don't crush beans by any other method. This is because, first of all, if you try to put other things, like spices, in your burr grinder, you might end up with damaged burrs. Vice versa, any other method won't crush your beans the way you need them to be: the same size and shape.

Now, why is it so important for the grounds to be this way, you might ask. Simply because if you know even just a few things about water, you know that it will always choose the path that is the easiest to corrode. Therefore, if there are any inconsistencies in the grounds, like some being coarser than others, the water will just pass through, also known as channeling, causing inconsistency in the extraction. Consequently, if there is a patch of finer grounds, the water might get stuck.

Burr grinds come in two shapes: conical and flat. Theoretically, neither is better than the other, it just depends on your ideals and preferences. Flat is the traditional one and can have more settings of grinding, like fine and medium. It is also more conventional, dependable, but slower. Conical represented the revolution in burr grinders, being able to grind much faster. Even so, it tends to be better for only one type of ground. In conclusion, if you want to choose a burr grinder, consider your needs and wishes first.

Manual Grinders

As we mentioned before, manual grinders don't refer to crushing the beans with a knife or any other utensil than an actual grinder. There's not much actual science behind manual grinders: instead of electricity powering the shaft that turns the burrs, it's you. The main differences between these and the electric ones are that they are a bit cheaper and easier to transport. Other than this, they do just the same good of a job.

Built-In Grinders

These are definitely the most convenient ones. You can usually find them in automatic espresso machines and the taste is always top notch compared to pre-ground coffee. Why is that though? Why do fresh grounds have such an impact on brewing? Well, after roasting, beans contain a noticeable amount of CO2 which causes them to oxidize, thus affecting taste and aroma. 

One aspect that can be frequently overlooked is that some types of grinds are very specific for certain types of coffee, therefore, you need to make sure that your grinder can execute that without any trouble.

French Press Grind

For French press, and a few other brews, the grounds need to be coarse, in order for them to not be able to pass through the filter, making your coffee chunkier than you would desire. The challenge in this case is that the grounds need to be grind in such a way that there aren't (much) fine ones resulted from the process. This is, of course, dangerous territory for them passing through the filter and provoking over extraction.

Espresso Grind

Here, size and consistency is also very important, maybe even more. Because espresso making is a much more sophisticated process than French press, you need to be extra cautious. The main difference is that for espresso, hot water is sent with high pressure over the grounds. Therefore, if they aren't grinded precisely, channeling will happen. This phenomenon can be observed best if you have a bottomless portafilter. When it occurs, coffee will spurt intensely and it also won't taste very good. 

Stepped vs. Stepless Grinders

The term ”step” refers to the setting at which the burrs move when grinding. Therefore, stepped ones have predetermined settings where you can choose which one fits best and are most frequently designed for at home use. The only disadvantage with these is that sometimes the perfect grind setting for you is somewhere between the predetermined ones. Other than that, they are capable of any type of grind you need, or at least technically.

On the other hand, with stepless grinders you make your own settings, which are almost infinite. You have a lot more control over them and you can usually find them in coffee shops. Here, the downside would be that it is easier to lose your perfect setting when you found it, because there isn't any possible way to ”lock” it, you just have to be very careful to not modify it. Even so, these types of problems would be encountered only if you were to use stepless grinders at home.  

In conclusion, we hope that this article answered at least a few of your questions. Also, if you were thinking about getting a grinder but weren't quite sure about how you should make your decision, we also hope that we helped you bring in some light.