PROS: Anti-static is effective enough; Conical Burr produces less heat and more consistent grind; adjustable-time push-button grind is convenient; looks nice.
CONS: I don’t fill the hopper and would like a smaller conical-burr grinder; I could use a place to put my bean-spoon too; Grinding makes noise.
This is my first conical-burr grinder. I bought it because I wanted a vacuum coffee maker but all those reviews said that using one with a blade or disc-burr would simply clog the device. I started shopping for a cheap conical burr grinder, and I was impressed with the review from the barista here. At that same time, I found that there were a bunch of refurb’ed Breville BCG450XL Conical Burr Grinders on a popular auction website (and elsewhere). It appeared new when I opened it except that there was not any extra grease that I could see. I still wiped it down and threw-away the first grind because I felt like it hadn’t been used before and there still could have been loose metal shavings.
The coffee falls into the middle of the hopper, so that it doesn’t really accumulate static-electricity on the walls of the plastic collection bin. It’s easy to empty the coffee grounds. It should be said that the curved grip of the finger-pull requires me to resettle the grounds before emptying the last bits, but this may vary based upon the size of your press/coffee-ground-recepticle. It works well enough that I wipe out underneath it more than actually washing out the grounds-receiver, although I still do the transfer over the sink. (The collector is basically dust free, since it sits underneath inside the unit and there is a dust/sound cover for the top.)
I started using it immediately with my French press, and I couldn’t have been happier with the improved flavor from the reduced heat and greater grind consistency. Around the same time, I had started buying different beans instead of just getting the French roast, and It seemed to make all the difference for the more delicate flavors! Not to mention the grind-consistency results in less “silt” at the bottom of my French-press coffee. “It renewed my love of coffee.”
Coming from a habit of pushing the button on the grinder for a brief time, then, pulsing it, then flipping it over and pulsing it some more, then flipping it over and giving it another smack… it is just SO handy to be able to set the grind at ~1s/oz (dark, x1/2 for Midwestern coffee), start the water boiling, and then set about the rest of your morning activities. If you are concerned about the noise (the whir isn’t as bad as the grind anyway), you can always re-press the button to stop it once all your beans are ground (be sure there isn’t a clump frozen together if you keep them in the freezer.
Speaking of which, I recently started using Ball plastic freezer storage containers to keep my beans in. The 8oz ones offered here on Amazon are too small for coffee storage, but 1# of coffee takes up about 48oz of freezer-jar (pint+quart), so you would be okay with the 32oz size if you bought in half-pound increments (almost okay for 10oz coffee).
NOTE: bean density depends upon roast and packing density (bean size).
The unit also looks pretty nice. I’m not the biggest fan of brushed steel, but the fake brushed stainless steel looks a lot nicer than regular black plastic. Despite wishing that it were smaller, it certainly ranks among the smallest of the conical burr. I was going to say “2nd smallest”, but it’s more like “top ten smallest burr grinder” (unsubstantiated claim).
At the same time, I believe that the hoppers on most consumer-grade grinders are absurdly sized for either coffee-shops or AA-meetings. Doesn’t everyone leave their coffee in the freezer and not out on the counter when not in use? Certainly, the hopper must be large enough to fill the grounds receiver, but c’mon! This one is still a little guilty of oversized hopper, but not too badly. It also seems to have a good amount of empty space, which I don’t believe to be filled with soundproofing material. It could definitely be smaller. I could also use a place to stow my bean-spoon. The dust cover is fairly effective in reducing rattle with it’s rubber lip, but it still makes a grinding noise when in operation.
Overall, you ~might find something better if you are willing to spend more money, but I rate this coffee grinder a good-value and highly recommend it to coffee-lovers who wish to step up their brew!
additional details:
The electrical plug has a finger-hole built in for easy unplugging without stressing the cord (really nice touch!). For my slightly-silty french-press coffee I keep it on the far right of the Medium designation (right-m). I haven’t tried it with percolator or turkish settings and I do not own an espresso machine. Rotating the hopper is how you adjust the grind, so if you made the hopper smaller then you would lose control. There’s maybe an 1″ of play in the width though. Taking out the top portion of the grinder is easy, it just drops right in.
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 |  Breville 800ESXL Commercial 15-Bar Triple-Priming Die-Cast Espresso Machine
Rating:
USD $500.00  Order Now |
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