Grinderfest: grind vs grind vs grind

How do grinders rate against each other?

• Which grind is right for which type of coffee?
• Which grinders are better for different brewing techniques?
• Are some grinders better for some methods, but not others?

Show us your grind. Tell us which is right for your favorite brewing methods.


Without further ado... In this post... weighing in at...

Three grinders go head to head with their finest, medium, and coarsest grind. Their names are revealed in the spoiler at the end of the post.

Grinder 1







Grinder 2







Grinder 3

Found another grinder. Mortar & Pestle.

Those are clumps of powder, not pieces. It's quite consistent, about the size and feel of corn meal. It's an awful lot of work getting it this far.



Medium



Coarsae

The grind from the hand mill seems to be a lot more even. The Cuisinart does not seem to be much better (if at all) from my whirlyblade grinder.

I suggest you keep the whirly if you ever want to make Arabic coffee. It'll (supposedly) produce the corn starch consistency you want if you run it long enough. Guess you should try it. Mine's long gone. Of the above grinders, only the hand mill's capable of that. Even my mortar and pestle are too coarse, producing more like a corn flour consistency.

Steve, your Baratza has more adjustments available if you pull the cover off. Its hard to say without a reference like a coin, but you should be able to go finer than what it appears to be.

Jim said:

Steve, your Baratza has more adjustments available if you pull the cover off. Its hard to say without a reference like a coin, but you should be able to go finer than what it appears to be.

Click to expand...

Very true, and it makes my post a bit deceptive. There's a Baratza approved adjustment to set the grinder finer. It adjusts everything finer, so you lose some of the coarser range. People call this the espresso mod, since it brings the grind fine enough to be in range of espresso grinds. My grinder is not adjusted.

Maybe I'll do the mod and add more pictures.

Thanks for the reminder.

I'm thinking of getting a French press, would most grinders work for this? I don't want to spend too much on a grinder, when a French press is already far overpriced in my opinion as it is.

thanks said:

I'm thinking of getting a French press, would most grinders work for this? I don't want to spend too much on a grinder, when a French press is already far overpriced in my opinion as it is.

Click to expand...

A French press is a great way to make coffee, I feel its one of the most challenging ways without a good grinder. The most cost effective set up is still the simplest. A whirlybird and a filter cone pour-over is the point where cost vs a great cup meet.

As usual, opinions will vary.

I'm still looking for a way to combine a filter with the full soaking of a press. Basically, just mix hot water and grinds in any vessel, then pour through a filter to get rid of the grinds. The problem is finding a filter that acts quickly and doesn't clog. If there's too many fines, the paper will get full of mud and slow or stop the drip.

Basically, I let the coffee steep for two minutes, then set up a filter in a fast manual pour device, but pour through a metal mesh filter to catch the larger grinds. So the larger grounds stop at the metal mesh, and the fines get filtered in the fine filter. So far, all my paper filters get clogged. What works better is doing this through a fine mesh filter, such as a gold filter.

I don't pursue this because of the fines left in the press pot. I just have a hard time cleaning the tall, thin pot after using it, and my sink doesn't care much for coffee grounds. They often end up on the floor or wall when I go to clean it, and it's a lot of work getting most of it out with a silicon scraper.

When I skip the first mesh filter, the paper doesn't clog, but it takes a long time to drip through--it's basically the same time as drip coffee. Did someone mention the clever coffee dripper? I'd love one made of porcelain or glass, but I hate plastic.