Coffee Grinders Reviews

We found only a handful of professional coffee grinder reviews in print and online. However, there's a large and enthusiastic community of coffee lovers on the Internet, and we found hundreds of up-to-date user-written reviews. We quickly learned that the best reviews come from users posting to coffee-enthusiast websites such as WholeLatteLove.com and CoffeeGeek.com. Most are fanatical about coffee and mince no words when reporting on their grinders' design and performance. We found the most knowledgeable reviews for burr grinders on CoffeeGeek.com, while Amazon.com and Epinions are more helpful when it comes to blade-type coffee grinders.

We did find some older reviews useful. In its December 2001 issue, Cook's Illustrated rates seven blade grinders and three burr grinders ranging in price from $13 to $50. Editors grind two ounces of coffee in each model and brew 40-ounce pots of coffee in an automatic-drip coffee maker. While we appreciate editors' attention to grinder capacity, ease of cleaning, temperature increase during grinding, and amount of coffee dust generated, this article is of little use to those who own pump-driven espresso machines, who need a finer grind.

The Cook's Illustrated article helpfully debunks some coffee-grinding myths, such as the notion that blade grinders heat coffee beans more than burr grinders do, resulting in the evaporation of flavorful oils. Using an infrared thermometer, editors found that burr grinders, not blade grinders, caused the greater temperature increase. What's more, temperature increases did not adversely affect flavor. We found useful, if dated, reviews at the New York Daily News, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, The Observer (UK) and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Consumer Reports has a 17-year-old review on coffee grinders, which is too old to be helpful.

We could find no professional reviews of the Bodum C-Mill 5679 (*est. $20) , whose modern shape lists slightly to the right, but owners posting to Amazon.com say this coffee grinder is all style and no substance. This shallow-lidded grinder leaves a layer of coarse grounds on top, while owners report that the grounds underneath are powder-fine. Removing grounds, they say, is a messy job that requires a spoon or brush.

Out of more than 100 user reviews at Amazon.com, about half award the stainless steel Cuisinart DCG-12BC Grind Central (*est. $30) a single star. Many owners say that this blade-style coffee grinder has an exceptionally short life span, and others point out that it's incapable of producing evenly ground coffee. While owners agree that it looks good, most say it's poorly designed.  ... Continued

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

We found good reviews for the Capresso Infinity and KitchenAid Pro Line budget burr grinders. Although the Capresso 551 receives some recommendations in reviews, we actually found more detractors for this model. When it comes to high-end burr grinders, reviews recommend several models; the Rancilio Rocky gets enthusiastic reviews and costs less than the Mazzer Mini or Pasquini Moka.

When it comes to simpler blade grinders, reviews say many basic models are just fine, and we found equally good reviews for many models in the $15 to $30 range.