Tag: grinder

January 29, 2025 – Grinders: The Real Truth

January 29, 2025 /

Coffee has been big in the Pacific Northwest for over forty years now. I remember when the first coffee shop opened in my small town in 1992. There was one in the town over that was a product of the hippies and enlightenment of the 1970s but it was shortly before the explosion of drive through joints and ten years before Starbucks came south.

We used to think that we were sophisticated when we would buy whole beans and grind them ourselves at the store’s communal grinder. Occasionally, someone would give you a bag of whole beans, now what? Conventional advice was get yourself a small grinder often used for spices. They were a two bladed operation and were inexpensive at about $15.

No, no, no my friends. It is true that a small grinder will turn beans into powder. But that is wrong for most brews. I should say, I am not a purest nor a snob. I am giving this advice for user satisfaction purposes, not religion. That coffee powder tends to pack dense in the grinder and fall out at the most inappropriate times when you are trying to sweep it into the basket. Instead spraying all over the counter and floor.

The coffee is often serviceable with lots of fines in the pot if using the mesh filter. They will also plug the mesh filter over time because the grind is so fine. We stopped using the small grinder because of the hassle. Instead we tried the ‘Grind and Brew’ type models with similar complaints because it is the exact same technology, just built into the machine.

I have been using the Baratza Encore for three years now. It is not cheap at $200 but it is cheap compared to most in the category. Something like this is what you need for coffee beans. I have no complaints about it from a coffee standpoint. I will admit that it was not properly assembled for the first year and I kept wondering why it was so bad with all of the good reviews. Shame on me, I didn’t have the bowl seated properly and it was actually wide open no matter how much adjustment I gave it.

This is what I have observed. I see very little difference between the highest and lowest grind settings in terms of coarseness. I have also seen different roasts gets different results. I suspect that the beans shatter as they are going through the mill and the more brittle, the more fine they become. As I said above, I am not a purest. The results are fine for me

Maybe a small grinder is really best as a spice grinder? Nope. If you have a volume of spices that you want to make powder, it works OK. Much of the powder gets stuck to the walls and top making it difficult to handle small quantities (less than a tablespoon). That all has to be removed for cleaning unless you like turmeric with your cinnamon and electric motors do not like submersion in water.

Truthfully, I have done very little spice grinding over the years because of what I have reported. But, after inheriting a mortar and pestle, I choose that method over the spice grinder. Rarely do I need spice powder. Mostly what I want are cracked, reduced and mixed spices. Powder can certainly be made with some effort but it is a whole lot easier to clean.

End Your Programming Routine: Is there a role for the small grinder? My answer is yes in something like a vacation rental where flexibility is more important than performance. But then again, who cleans and maintains that thing? Maybe just have the guest buy pre-ground coffee and spices. It is an inexpensive stepping stone to a proper coffee grinder and mortar and pestle. If I didn’t have one, I wouldn’t buy one but I will keep it because it takes a small footprint and has a niche place.

March 22, 2022- Making Coffees

March 22, 2022 /

There are probably some people reading this that don’t remember this skit or were not even born when this aired (Jan 1991). I was only sixteen and I barely remember it myself. It was a big thing in school to emulate the name rhyming when you ran into a friend. But, this was just a cute intro to what I am talking about today.

It is probably no secret that I like making fine food. I enjoy the complexity of Pinot Noir with food and generally like quality of food and drink. My wife thought that my next step should be coffee (and tea). For Christmas, she gave me an expensive drip coffee maker along with an electric kettle.

My relationship with coffee is a little complicated. When I was working at my previous job, I was drinking tons of it. I think it was a way to get out of my chair and avoid working. On the weekends, I could easily drink a 12 cup pot. My wife asked me to switch to tea which I now drink during the week. I only make coffee on the weekend.

To unlock the world of home coffee making, you need to be able to grind your own beans. When we buy coffee at Costco, nine out of ten choices are whole bean. At the grocery store it is more like fifty-fifty. Whole bean is preferred because oxygen degrades the bean, so when it is ground, it occurs much quicker because there is so much more surface area.

Truthfully, I am not a snob. The first pot we made with the new coffee maker was Folgers and I have to say that I liked it. This maker has an insulated carafe rather than a glass one. So, it doesn’t continue to cook after it is poured through. I think that makes a huge difference in quality.

I didn’t have a grinder (officially). The last one that bought has become a spice grinder. It was a mini blender kind of device. It was small and messy. It was a hassle to use so I gave up on grinding 20 years ago. Doing some research lately, I found that there was a whole new world (and the internet) of videos and reviews and comparisons between different models. I made my choice, the Baratza Encore.

In the reviews that I watched, this model consistently produced the most consistent grind. I have come to understand that this will yield the best results when making coffee. I have also learned that different types of coffee making require different types of grinds. So, not only are whole beans fresher, but likely the grind can be controlled for better results.

I am still playing around with it since I have only used it twice at this point. In the picture above, the grind is significantly more coarse than I have been using with pre-ground. This was supposedly the optimum setting for drip. I think it needs to be a little finer personally because the overall coffee was weak. But, I will keep working at it.

End Your Programming Routine: There are many ways to make coffee. It would seem as though the grinder is more important than the way of making it. I guess that is why the prices range from $20 – $10,000 for grinders. I will probably do a more formal review after I get some time with it in a few months.