My mom is hoping to buy my dad a coffee grinder for Christmas. She knows nothing about coffee except that my dad and I drink entirely too much of it. Sadly, I don’t have a grinder of my own, so I have no recommendtions for her.
Do you have any suggestions for an affordable grinder that can be acquired by Christmas (think able to be purchased in a large chain store) that will grind beans for use in a standard coffee pot?
What’s the price range? “Affordable” means different things to different people, and grinders range from $20 to over $500.
In general, there’s two types of grinders - blades and burrs. Blades cut the beans more than they grind them, and aren’t considered to be as good as burr grinders, which actually do grind the beans. On the other hand, blade grinders are much cheaper than burr grinders.
You can find out way more than you ever want to know about grinders at Coffee & Espresso Grinders – Whole Latte Love. You can buy 'em there, too.
Oh yeah, I forgot. I have this grinder and I really like it.
There are two main designs of coffee grinders, each with advantages and disadvantages…
Blade grinder; like a miniature food processor/blender, has a blade at the bottom that spins to cut and grind the beans
Pros;
generally inexpensive
compact
somewhat quiet
you can somewhat control the size of the grind by how long you grind the beans, quick grinds yield coarse particles, longer grinds yield finer grinds
easy to clean
Cons;
inconsistent grind size, coffee particles in a grind can vary greatly between coarse and superfine
running it too long can “burn” the beans due to friction
when grinding, since it doesn’t eject the grounds into a collection cup like a burr grinder (detailed below) some previously ground beans get re-ground and re-ground
small capacity (3 cups maximum on average)
the Burr grinder uses two “stone” wheels facing each other, one fixed to the underside of the coffee hopper and facing downward, the other mounted to the grinder motor spindle, as the bottom stone spins, it grinds the beans to a certain size and ejects them into a collection cup
Pros;
consistent grind size, no over or undergrinding
grind size can be varied from extra fine to coarse, and the grind is, as stated above, consistent in size
no over-grinding or “burning” of beans
Cons;
more expensive than a blade grinder
noisier
takes up more tabletop space
harder to clean
coffee afficionados generally prefer burr grinders, and tend to look down on blade grinders, i see coffee as nothing more than a hyper-efficient caffiene delivery vehicle, so grinder type is less of an issue with me, that said, i do have a burr grinder, as it’s just generally cooler 
the grinder isn’t as big a factor to non-afficionados, the best steps for great coffee are to use freshly roasted beans, clean water, and a clean coffeemaker or french press
i’m no coffee expert, but i know what i like, a nice microroasted whole bean coffee, but any whole bean coffee is good, preground stuff is more convenient, but ages quicker once the package is open, i grind it myself moments before brewing it in my little French Press pot
Darn it, I was content with my $15 blade grinder until I clicked on that link…
Though come to think of it, the inconsistent grain size has been bothering me, especially since I switched to a French press. And the ground coffee tends to stick to the inside of the grinder.
The blade grinders will tend to give you more powder which will become sludge in the bottom of your cup when you use a french press. (because they pulverize the bean, unlike burr grinders which press the bean into more uniform-sized pieces). I have a Capresso Infinity burr grinder and I love it.
I have this and this for home and travel (the enterprising doper can figure out which is which). I have to say that the hand operated burr grinder is kinda a PITA and I don’t notice the difference between the grinders. Unless your dad is a coffee snob, the Mr. Coffee will be fine. If you dad is a coffee snob, he would already have a grinder.
Mr.Coffee would be <$20 at the local MegaloMart.
I have this KitchenAid burr grinder. Not exactly cheap, but I love the classic styling. It holds about 1lb of beans in the hopper, flip the switch and it grinds into the measuring cup.
I like it head and shoulders above the little blade grinder I used to use. No fumbling with cords, taking the thing in and out of cabinets, measuring and loading the beans, then dealing with getting the ground beans out without spilling them. You have to give up counter space, but it’s always at the ready, and it holds your beans for you, no cabinet storage needed.
Mr. brown compares coffee geekery to stereo or any other technical geekery. There’s always a better model to upgrade to!
If you get a burr grinder, you’ll love it. You get a nice, even, consistent grind, which you may infinitely vary. If you use a French press, you’ll notice a lot less sludge because there isn’t any superfine dust to get through the press. This kind of geekery is very satisfying because you see the results every time you pour a cup of coffee.
Santa brought me a Mazzer mini burr grinder last Christmas, and I love it. He also brought me a Rancilio Silvio espresso machine at the same time. I can dial the Mazzer to the utterly perfect grind and get an ideal cup of ristretto every morning.
I’ve an antique Zassenhaus hand-cranked burr grinder that I use for daily grinding. It’d likely be inappropriate for anyone making coffee for more than one person, though, as the capacity is rather limited–it barely holds enough for the three “cups” that I generally make.
I got a blade grinder at first, then heard that burr is better, so eventually got one of them.
What I found is that the burr grinder did produce more consistent grinds, took longer to grind (an issue since I like to grind right before I brew), and sometimes got clogged, which required cleaning the wheels and passages (a big issue if you just want your morning cup of joe). Cleaning also is a messy process, getting coffee grinds on the counter. If you continue to grind without cleaning you get inconsistent grind size, actually it consistently gets smaller as you continue to grind.
I eventually went back into the blade grinder, which is much faster, very easy to clean and can’t clog. Since I only make a cup or two at a time, it takes a short time and no chance of bean burn.
I would look into how the person is going to use it, if it’s a cup or two at a time grinding, then a blade grinder is a easy way to go. If it’s making a pot at once or pregrinding then a higher end burr would probably be better.
I’ve got a Braun blade grinder that seems to be going for around $25. It’ll definitely be a mega-store item. We killed a Cuisinart grinder in about a year, but the Braun has been chugging along quite dependibly for about 6 years now.
The blade grinders do well if you use stitched paper cone filters (Melita or knock-off).
As mentioned, they are sub-optimal with other brewing methods. The fines plug up Mr.Coffee type filters, (causing a messy overflow of the filter basket) and pass through French-press or other re-usable filters.
One tip with a blade type grinder is to keep a stiff brush (very small paint brush, or basting brush) handy to sweep out the coffee that doesn’t pour out. This avoids stale coffee getting mixed in with the next batch.
Sounds to me like you just had a crappy burr grinder. I’ve had two different burr grinders and neither of them behaved like you describe.
It doesn’t have to be expensive. My parents gave me their old Braun grinder about 20 years ago and I’m still using it, and it works great. This seems to be the newer version.
I bought Deb the Krups 203 for her birthday 23 years ago. It cost less than $20, (still) and has never given us any trouble. The “dust” issue is resolved by wiping it out after each use (hardly a burden). Our practice is to grind three times for ten seconds each and it gives pretty consistent grinds each time.
I have a cheap burr grinder & (IMHO) it is vastly better than blade grinding for either french press or foil-filter drip. I would not go back to the blade grinder I used before.
Burr grinders can be had cheap at big box stores. Here are two links at Target http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-7/qid=1166366815/ref=sr_1_7/601-0078887-2638531?ie=UTF8&asin=B000FBTXXO & http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-6/qid=1166366751/ref=sr_1_6/601-0078887-2638531?ie=UTF8&asin=B0002IGHMA
If the links don’t work, just search target.com for “coffee grinder” & pick out the items named “Melitta Coffee Bean Burr Mill” & “Black & Decker Burr Mill Coffee Grinder - CBM205”.
I have a burr-type from Braun that cost about the same as these when I bought it a few years ago. I don’t see a similar Braun model at any of the big-box websites I tried.
Whether burr or blade I used to always grind my beans separately for each pot. And regardless of burr or blade I found the cleanup to be a minor hassle. Now I grind about a week’s worth at a go & store the grounds in a small clamp-top jar (like this http://www.fantes.com/jars.htm#jar only smaller). 1/7th the cleanup & no discernable reduction in freshness.
I have the Meliita Burr grinder referenced at Target above. Got it for a handful of Hotel points that were not doing anything. Definitely makes a difference for my coffee. Just hit the 8 cups button, then dump it into the coffee maker. Pretty much makes a perfect pot when using Caribou Coffee’s Mocha Java.