Need help selecting a coffee mill

Hi. My 10+ year old coffee mill is on it's last beans. It is only a matter of time. What I think I know about coffee mills is that uniformity of grind with a minimun of fines is the key quality. Every other thing is secondary. OK, my question is what is the best I can do for around $50 or less. This can be a used Ebay price if necessary. Yes, I realize that the "roast it yourself" crowd that seems to come out of the woodwork every time a coffee subject comes up will have some recommendations for $200 mills. I am looking for good value. I will certainly listen attentively to a case for why I should spend more than $50 but it needs to be a good case. I view with some skepticism the judgements of the type of nut-cases that would shine flashlights on featureless white walls looking for the slightist imperfections /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif

Is this what you are looking for?
Kitchen Aid Coffee Grinder

Or something more like this?
Kitchen Aid Coffee Mill

I have the first one. It was a Christmas gift, however even from the website they are only $40 bucks. Sees daily use at my place. Works great. Just press on the top. Quality product.
I don't have the second one, but it looks really good, too.
You might see if there is a Williams-Sonoma near you or other high end kitchen store. They will usually let you try it out in the store to see if it does what you want it to do.

I think I paid more than $125 for mine, but I wish I had paid more.

There are high speed motors and low speed motors. Low-speed motors with high torq are best.

There are machines with ginders and others with blades. Low speed, grinders are best.

The high speed models generate lots of static electricity in the ground beans. This makes them fly everywhere. Very annoying. However, my favorite bean has an oily texture that shorts the static electricity, and prevents the static build up. But dry beans will have the grounds sticking to everything. What a mess!

An important feature is that the machine actually has a grinder rather than spinning blades. Grinders come much closer to a uniform ground than does a machine with spinning blades. With blades, you will get some very fine powder as well as some very large chunks. There just is no way to make all grounds come out the same. Whereas with the grinder, the beans all pass between two or more wheels that break the beans to the same diminsions.

I suggest that you do a Google search for coffee grinders. You will find some very good sites that will explain all this to you better than I can here.

Chuck

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capnal said:
Is this what you are looking for?
Kitchen Aid Coffee Grinder

Or something more like this?
Kitchen Aid Coffee Mill



[/ QUOTE ]
Definitely not the first one. This is a blade type chopper which are notoriously bad w.r.t. uniform grind size. The second type would be a candidate since it is a burr type mill.

Doug,
Here's a few links to get you started. Coffee grinders are a lot like flashlights when it comes to price/perfomance in that you usually get what you pay for. They might all work, but some do a much better job than others, price considered. Grind consistency is not as important if you're not making espresso, so a $200.00 grinder is probably overkill in that case. Good luck and let us know how you like whatever you buy!

Grinders 101 - A Beginners Guide!

Coffee Grinder Buying Guide

Coffeegeek.com reviews

Epinions coffee Grinder reviews

Doug,

I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend the hand-cranked mills made by Zassenhaus. www.sweetmarias.com sells the Zassenhaus "knee mill" for $60 or so--it's the one I have. All of them have a conical burr grinding mechanism that yields a top quality grind. I don't care what anyone says, grind quality and consistency is very important, even for drip coffee or french press. And this little hand mill can compete with $200 grinders for quality of grind--easy. In some cases it surpases them. Kenneth Davids specifically recommends these mills in his book on coffee, and the consumer reviews on coffeegeek.com are all very positive.

The hand-cranked aspect may turn you off, but I find it to be a non-issue, or even a plus. It kind of puts me in the coffee mood, slows me down a bit. Although I will admitt that grinding enough coffee for a full 12 cup pot will take a bit more effort than many people are willing to expend. As it is I can grind enough coffee for my 4 cup maker in a minute or maybe slightly longer.

If you really don't want a hand mill, then save up your coins and buy the Solis Maestro Plus for $150. I know it's triple what you specified, but don't waste your money. Either get another super-cheap blade grinder, or buy a decent grinder.

Whatever you do, do not, under any circumstances, buy those "burr" grinders which essentially just hammer the crap out of the beans. I bought one of those--a Capresso, I think--and it was a total waste of money. A real disaster. It put out this super fine spray of coffee particles along with whatever degree of grind you specified. Yuck! I was so disgusted. I think I paid $40. Money down the drain, let me tell you.

Or, as you mentioned, check out Ebay for a used Solis Maestro. Or a Bunn BCG: that's a good grinder. It's a dual roller mill grinder and while it may look a bit industrial, is very well made and can be disassembled for cleaning.

Hope this helped.

Wow, Mike, you've given me a lot to read and I've read it.
I find that I am leaning towards a Solis Maestro which sells at $109 discounted. My only concern is that it has gotten a fair number of bad reviews w.r.t. durability. I drink a lot of coffee. No espresso though.

What I'd like is a coffee grinder that didn't make a horrific mess! I've got a fairly decent one now, can't remember the name I'll go look later, but the thing has a rather small output cup and every time you detach it, electrostatic charged tiny coffee particles shoot out, or just fall out and get all over everything. I pour the coffee out of it in the sink and it still manages to get all over.

I would switch in an instant to a grinder that didn't make a mess /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I'll be off reading those links.

Jim, thanks for the input. We were typing at the same time, i think. I hadn't even considered hand grinders. I think it best that nothing slow me down when I want a cup of coffee now.

I use the first KitchenAid capnal posted and I have no absolutely problems with it. I'm a coffee connoisseur and I've gotta be honest - can't taste any difference in what we fresh grind and brew at home with our $40 grinder and what is brewed elsewhere by those with much more expensive grinders. We just brew regular java (no espresso), but ours always tastes excellent. I think for the average, and even above average, coffee drinker, a regular inexpensive grinder would be just fine.

I agree with what js said. A new older model Solis for $109 is probably the best grinder for the $ if you want an electric grinder. I would NOT buy a used Solis grinder because if you run this grinder with the burrs rubbing each other it could ruin the grinder. The Zassenhaus is an excellent hand grinder.

If ya want lousy batteries then buy all the zinc carbon you can get your hands on. Good coffee and a good (consistant grind) grinder are a similar analogy. You get what you pay for.

Fitz, IMO, grind consistency is very important to making good coffee. That is why the grinder is important for good flavor. The powder causes the water to overextract the bitter flavors from the coffee. Not a good flavor at all.

javafool

some great advice here and, of course on coffeegeek--I do French Press, but mostly espresso and coffeegeek is the arabica equivalent to CPF /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif ...

you might look around for a castoff from the codgers at coffeegeek--I got my current espresso rig (a Cunill Tranquilo commercial burr grinder and a Gaggia Carezza) at a great price from a guy on the site who threw in a hand-machined maple tamper and some of his homeroast beans!

the difference between a decent burr grinder and a blade (or a cheapo burr grinder) is very significant--less "mud" and cleaner flavor due to the more uniform grind ... if you have a store close by that has reasonably fresh-roasted beans and a good commercial grinder, I'd just buy small amounts and grind it there if you'd rather not shell out for a good unit

I homeroast now and a good grinder is IMHO, a must.

hideo

Javafool- I agree! I was speaking more of the consistancy of a $200 model over a "cheaper" $50-$100 grinder for non espresso coffee makers. I use a French press, and there's nothing worse than a bitter, silty cup of coffee due to the powder put out by some of the cheaper high speed burr grinders or a blade grinder.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eeew.gif

Maybe I am doing something wrong. I don't ever end up with bitter muddy/silty coffee? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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hideo said:
I homeroast now and..... .

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Uh, oh!

Maybe I am doing something wrong. I don't ever end up with bitter muddy/silty coffee?

no ... you're doing something right!

your inexpensive grinder may be doing what it's supposed to ... for the most part, the reasoning behind the more expensive units is better burrs and more precise machined parts which make for more precise grind

coffee is just like high-end audio and flashlights ... obsessive and often expensive

hideo /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif

Empath, the roasting is what makes my hobby cheaper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif I use a modified $10 West Bend Poppery air popper and buy primo varietal beans (green unroasted) in quantity for about $4 a pound

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

Some previous comment; probably a bit excessive, but we'll see.

See Empath, I hadn't said a word about you-know-what, the 'R' word. I'm glad you brought it up instead of me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

javafool

Empath, sorry ... I did NOT know about this /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/whoopin.gif ... yikes, I'm shutting up right now ... no more geeky coffee weirdness ...

no commentary about "first" OR "second crack", Italian Ro*st or "autodosing grinders" or heaven forbid, "crema"

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

really, I'll pipe down right now

hideo /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif



... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

however I WILL say that since I dropped the Q3J HD LS into my Aitec Collimator running the stock DD with a Fraen LP, the corona is nearly as bright as my reference PRT/SDC 1000/TX1H/L4/McE2S 15 ohm

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

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hideo said:

however I WILL say that since I dropped the Q3J HD LS into my Aitec Collimator running the stock DD with a Fraen LP, the corona is nearly as bright as my reference PRT/SDC 1000/TX1H/L4/McE2S 15 ohm

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

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But can it make good coffee?