A few words about coffee grinders – Torrefacto Coffee Roasters Blog

Advantages and disadvantages

Now I will outline a general list of the advantages and disadvantages inherent in each review model. I am sure this will help form a complete picture of the choice.

The advantages add up like this:

All presented samples are electric . You get fast grinding, which, you see, is convenient in the morning;
models are equipped with a large bowl for grains - you can grind as needed, without unnecessary manipulation;
simple operation - one movement of the hand and the coffee powder is ready!
Millstones are presented everywhere as a working element - this is the best option for grinding grains into powder while maintaining all properties.

Disadvantages are typical for the economy segment:

all appliances are noisy;
it is not always possible to obtain the required degree of grinding;
burr coffee grinders are susceptible to accidental breakdowns - you should be careful when using them.

Selection factors

Once you have assessed the features, advantages and disadvantages of inexpensive coffee grinders, you can consider the key selection factors.

To purchase a device useful in everyday life, you should focus on the following parameters:

power - for home appliances 100-150 W is enough, no more;
The shape of the millstones is conical. There is no choice regarding the disc material, since all manufacturers in the economy segment offer steel;
the presence of adjustment of the degree of grinding is a very convenient option that allows you to brew any drinks using different preparation methods;
availability of additional options - when choosing, be guided by your own preferences. If you are satisfied with an extremely simple device, do not pay extra.

Delonghi KG 89

The only truly European device in the review begins to please at first glance at its cost. The most budget option is not as bad as it might seem. Firstly, I advise you to pay attention to the very reliable metal case. I am sure it will serve many more grandchildren and great-grandchildren if handled correctly.

I want to say that you can count on safe operation. The device is equipped with a double protection system and automatically turns off when the containers for beans or ground coffee are removed.

You can select the number of cups you require. Instead of counting the amount of finished coffee powder, the manufacturer offers a simple and rational solution. You set the number of cups you want, and the smart kitchen gadget will grind the required amount of coffee itself.

I will describe the practical advantages of the Italian model as follows:

The device is extremely easy to use . As an expert, I will say that this is the most appropriate unit for domestic use. For example, the choice of grinding degree is implemented in three positions - fine, medium, coarse. There is no need to rack your brains choosing 1 out of 25 items, and this does not affect the quality of the finished drink;
the design is disassembled, which simplifies cleaning;
The millstones do not experience heat, which preserves the aroma. By the way, when the discs have processed the required amount of coffee, the device stops automatically;
The coffee grinder copes with its main task “excellently”.

The disadvantages look like this to me:

The degree of fine grinding turned out to be not so fine in practice. Therefore, the device requires adjustment to achieve precisely fine powder.

Video review

Video review and presentation of the main points of this device in the video below:

For an example of preparing coffee powder in a Delonghi coffee grinder, see the video:

How to use tables?

– Before using the tables, be sure to make sure that your coffee grinder is calibrated to 0. You can find out how to do this in the instructions for your coffee grinder.

For a more clear explanation of how to use the collected data, we have created a table of grinding ratios (see table No. 2). It is based on the sifting table (see table no. 1) and demonstrates how to correlate the grinds yourself. This table shows the approximate ratio of grinding, in some cases not exact, since sifting was carried out in a certain step, and not for each change in grinding. The grinds, which were calculated by mathematical extrapolation, are highlighted in grey.

Thus, for example, you need to find out what grinding will be on the Comandante (red clix), if the grinding on the EK 43 (Turkish) is 7. You correlate the amount of coffee for each of the ranges with grinding 7 on the EK 43 and select a more suitable value on the Comandante . The closest value according to the table will be 35. But according to the values of the ranges of this grind, you can notice that 35 clicks is larger than 7 on the EK 43. Therefore, the grind that suits us is approximately 34 clicks.

Delonghi KG 79

Millstone-type coffee grinders appeared much later than knife grinders and were much more advanced.

The grinding principle is as follows: coffee beans are ground between stainless steel millstone discs.

The distance between the millstones (grinding degree) can be adjusted automatically.

The coffee grinder is turned on by pressing the ON/OFF button ; you can turn it off forcibly by pressing the same button again. Shutdown can be forced, or it can be programmed.

The appearance of the Delonghi KG 79 coffee grinder is pleasant, black, rectangular in shape, plastic body, with mechanical control.

Adjustable rubber coated handles, pleasant to the touch. There are 2 of them: one regulates the degree of grinding, the second the dosage of coffee servings (2-12, the coffee grinder itself measures the required amount of coffee).

Advantages

Bean container capacity: 120 g
Capacity: 12 cups
On/off button
The two cool-free grinders preserve the coffee's aroma, and the disassemble design makes cleaning easy.
Adjustment of grinding degree from fine to coarse
After grinding the specified number of cups, the coffee grinder stops automatically
Transparent and removable container for ground coffee
Double protection system against accidental activation
Cleaning brush included
Rubberized buttons for ease of use
Cord storage at the base

The grinding is uniform, but it will still not be possible to grind the grains into dust. Grinds very quickly (portion for 2 cups 10 seconds).

The DeLonghi KG 79 coffee grinder has a function for adjusting the number of servings . That is, depending on how many people are going to drink coffee, you can set the regulator and get the appropriate number of servings (from 2 to 12).

Flaws

The coffee maker has minor disadvantages:

Sometimes the ground coffee container spills.
Size is big enough
Difficult to clean
Sometimes the top lid doesn't close properly

This coffee grinder has plane-parallel millstones , which leads to the fact that when used for a long time with short breaks, the millstones become very hot, and when coffee passes through them, it is subjected to strong heat treatment, i.e., it is actually additionally fried, which is why it loses its taste and aroma, and during cooking it gives off a strong bitterish aftertaste, but I will remind you of this only when the device is used excessively at short intervals.

The ground coffee is collected in a special smoky-colored container, which sometimes spills.

Peculiarities

Features of the coffee maker and design:

Easy to use
Selecting the grinding degree
Selecting the number of cups
Dual safe system

Protection against inadvertent activation is provided:

If the bean container lid is not tightly closed or the ground coffee container is not inserted correctly (you need to insert it until you hear an audible click), the machine will not turn on.

The device has rubberized legs, which ensures its stability on the table during operation. There is also a convenient compartment for the power cord at the bottom.

Video review

Preparing ground coffee for espresso in the video below:

Unpacking the coffee grinder in the video below:

Bottom line

This coffee maker is quite enough for use in a small family, but this coffee grinder is definitely not suitable for a cafe.

The device can also be used in a small office. The coffee maker is small in size, but still larger than its competitors, which may require additional storage space.

How to choose a coffee grinder:

Often the choice of coffee grinder is based on the residual principle, after furniture, coffee, coffee machine, etc. This can lead to big problems with the taste of the coffee. The coffee grinder must match the pace of your coffee establishment and your requirements for the quality of coffee drinks. Therefore, when choosing a coffee grinder, it is advisable to pay attention to the following parameters:

It is necessary to determine the tasks that the coffee grinder will perform (for example, grinding coffee for espresso) and determine the type of grinder needed. Of course, the most important indicator is the taste of your coffee, which you can get when working with a coffee grinder. If possible, test and compare several coffee grinder models before choosing. The taste of your coffee directly affects the development of your business, so we take it as a starting point. The same coffee gives a different taste on different coffee grinders, since the formation of taste is determined by the release of soluble substances and suspensions into the drink, which directly depends on the grinding.
The cost of a coffee grinder should always be related to the professional requirements for it and its resource. Better grinding allows you to get a better-tasting drink, which is purchased more often and which allows you to better withstand competition from other manufacturers, coffee shops, and stores. Higher-quality millstones are expensive, but have a long resource, so the cost of grinding on them is lower than on cheap millstones with a shorter resource. Greater productivity and speed of work allows you to save several hours of working time per month and serve more guests, reducing production time. Taken together, the benefits of using a good coffee grinder can quickly make up for the difference in price if the number of guests allows it. If the traffic of your establishment is low, then you can focus either on it or on the requirements for coffee quality. In this case, some contradiction will arise, since small, cheap coffee grinders are suitable for a small flow of power, but not all low-power coffee grinders with smaller diameter millstones will provide good quality grinding. If the main task is to ensure high quality of the drink, then you need to focus on professional powerful coffee grinders with good large-diameter millstones.

In addition, pay attention to other parameters that are important for your coffee grinder:

For espresso grinders:

Capacity – Try to determine the required grinder capacity during peak hours. If you prepare 2 kg of coffee per day, of which 1.5 kg is prepared from 18 to 19 hours, then you need a coffee grinder that allows you to grind exactly 1.5 kg in 1 hour, and not a coffee grinder that can grind 2 kg per day. Capacity per second is also important for espresso grinders, as this allows you to serve guests faster. The coffee grinder must correspond to the peak load that is planned in your establishment. In addition, it is not advisable to run the grinder at its peak performance, as this will cause wear and tear on the grinder. It is advisable that there remains a resource for the development of your establishment, otherwise after some time you will have to buy a new coffee grinder.

Direct coffee grinding (cup grinding) allows you to preserve the freshness of your coffee as much as possible and ensure the best taste. Ground coffee, when opened, loses approximately 60% of its aromas in 15-30 minutes, so a coffee grinder that grinds portions for the current coffee preparation would be the best solution. These grinders tend to be more expensive than hopper grinders, but provide maximum sales due to the freshness of the cup. Modern direct grind coffee grinders are very fast, for example the Mahlkoenig K30 Vario, today the official grinder of the WBC World Barista Championships, grinds a double shot of espresso in about 3.5 seconds. Coffee grinders with a hopper for ground coffee can be convenient when there is a constant, but not very active, flow of visitors, when pre-ground coffee is consumed in the near future. Hopper coffee grinders distribute energy consumption more evenly, therefore, as a rule, they have a lower power motor and are cheaper. In addition, the hopper blades allow for additional breakdown of ground coffee, due to which the coffee falls evenly, without lumps, into the holder, which is why some baristas prefer such coffee grinders. In this case, the best option is a hopper coffee grinder with a dispenser, which allows you to grind coffee per serving and break the coffee with blades. For example, using the Anfim Super Caimano Barista hopper coffee grinder they won the world barista championship several times. The disadvantage of coffee grinders with a hopper is that they are difficult to clean.
Flow Dosing Accuracy - Grind about 15-20 portions one after another and weigh each one. The more precise the dosage, the better. If you use a coffee grinder with a hopper for ground coffee to form a portion. Grind the coffee so that it completely covers the blades, dump the coffee according to the number of compartments in the hopper, weigh the total weight and divide by the number of compartments. Professional coffee grinders usually have an average weight variation of a few tenths of a gram. This indicator may deteriorate as the millstones wear out. Keep in mind that with coffee grinders that produce the most consistent grind and best flavor, you will grind finer to get the extraction you need. Fresh coffee with a high content of oils, when ground finely, sometimes clumps into small clumps, which can periodically affect the dosage. This problem is partially solved by various dividers at the outlet of ground coffee.
The amount of coffee that needs to be lost when changing the grind - if the coffee shop operates intensively, when changing packs of coffee, when changing humidity, etc., the grind must be adjusted, and in total you can lose hundreds of grams per month
Easy to clean coffee grinder – you need to clean the coffee grinder daily so that coffee oils do not remain and burn.
Possibility of setting a portion for espresso - usually this function is implemented through a timer, with an accuracy of 0.1-0.01 seconds. Convenient when working in a large flow, when there is no time to weigh each portion.
Portion counter – allows you to control the amount of ground coffee on your coffee grinder. In addition to the sales control function, the counter helps determine the need for service and changing millstones.
Having a cooler for cooling coffee is especially important during intensive work to avoid overheating of the coffee.
“Hands free” holder holder – very convenient for intensive work
Magnetic protection of the millstones - so that random metal objects, which are sometimes found in coffee, especially cheap ones, do not damage the millstones.

Protection against engine overheating - as you know, espresso coffee grinders experience high loads during active operation. The maximum energy consumption occurs at the start of grinding, when the coffee grinder needs to turn the millstones with the coffee between them. If you grind one portion of coffee several times, you repeatedly increase the load on the coffee grinder, which leads to overheating of the motor. Therefore, it is advisable that the coffee grinder have a fuse.

For industrial coffee grinders and coffee grinders for shops, the following parameters are important:

The need to grind coffee under the Turk. Not every coffee grinder copes well with such grinding, especially among the range of coffee grinders for stores. Therefore, the choice of coffee grinders with a Turkish grinding function is small. Fine grinding for Eastern coffee means grinding particles approximately 100 microns in size. For comparison, when grinding one grain for cooking in a French press, we crush it into approximately 100-300 particles, and for grinding under a Turkish press, we crush one grain into approximately 15,000 - 35,000 particles (!)

Continuous operation time with different grind sizes - the buyer will not wait half an hour for the coffee grinder to cool down after 200-300 grams of ground Turkish coffee if he plans to purchase a larger quantity. It is known that when grinding under the Turk on coffee grinders with low power and a small diameter of the millstones, the millstones quickly heat up and can begin to burn the coffee, which will lead to the appearance of an unpleasant bitterness in the taste. In production, the overall work of the workshop depends on the time of continuous operation of the coffee grinder. Keep in mind that the productivity when grinding under the Turk drops several times; the coffee grinder and millstones experience serious overload. If you need grinding, check with the supplier about how long the coffee grinder can approximately grind without stopping, and what the productivity will be, according to the official recommendation of the plant. The data, of course, may vary depending on the density of the grain and the fineness of the grind. This indicator is especially important when choosing a production coffee grinder. Please note that usually the productivity of a coffee grinder for production and store is indicated for grinding under a filter.

Example: You purchased a coffee grinder for production with a grinding capacity of 500 grams per minute. At the same time, according to the manufacturer’s recommendations, the coffee grinder in this mode should operate without stopping for no more than 20 minutes, then cool down for 40 minutes. This means that the estimated productivity of the coffee grinder is approximately 10 kilograms per hour, and this figure should be used when choosing. Theoretically, it can grind more, but the risk of coffee overheating increases, and this will negatively affect its taste, and therefore sales, and increase the risk of constant overheating of the engine, which can reduce the service life of the coffee grinder several times. High-quality coffee grinders work for decades, but if overloaded, the service life of the coffee grinder can be reduced to several years.

Convenience of changing the grind is important when there are a large number of customers in the store, each of whom may ask to grind coffee for different preparation methods.

Noisy grinder – When some coffee grinders are turned on, the noise interferes with communication and, therefore, sales. In production, high noise levels lead to rapid fatigue of workers.

Dimensions and design of the coffee grinder - it is important not to forget that the coffee grinder is part of the interior of the store.

Power of the coffee grinder - all other things being equal, a coffee grinder with a higher power usually has higher productivity and heats the coffee less during operation.

The bag fastening and the plate for shaking the coffee greatly facilitate the grinding work, save time and increase work efficiency.

The capacity of the hopper for coffee beans allows you to grind a larger amount of coffee at once, which is especially important in production.

Weight of the coffee grinder – the more weight, the better the stability of the coffee grinder.

VITEK VT-1548

I immediately loved this review sample. I am sure that you will get the most simple and convenient device for everyday use. In practice, it is enough to select the operating mode, grind and start the coffee grinder. In addition, the manufacturer has provided the ability to select the dosage of servings. The smart kitchen gadget itself will measure the required amount of coffee for grinding (from 4 to 12 cups). Let me add that the model provides 4 grinding levels, which is optimal for everyday use. You don't overpay for unnecessary options.

VITEK VT-1548 is the only coffee grinder in the review that provides a pulse mode of operation. this helps protect the motor and burrs from overheating. It can be assumed that with this mode the device will continue to function, even after exhausting the resource declared by the manufacturer.

Practical advantages can be grouped as follows:

the device is compact and has a nice design;
count on the fact that the operation of the coffee grinder will not be a source of loud noise;
for the presented characteristics, the model has a simply fabulous price;
you get fast and even grinding.

There are also disadvantages:

If we talk about the minimum degree of grinding, the manufacturer did not finalize the sample somewhat. I can’t say that the grains are ground into dust;
Retrieving coffee powder is not as convenient as we would like.

Video review

Recipe for making finely ground Turkish coffee:

Recipe for making powdered sugar in this coffee grinder:

How did the sifting process take place?

Kruve Sifter sieves with sizes of 900, 600 and 300 microns were used for sieving. The sieves have round sifting cells.

Corn:

Colombia Pasto Sede (espresso roast). We chose this particular grain because it is a very stable 100% washed Arabica, with virtually no silverskin, from the Nariño region. Plus, the grain size of this lot is relatively the same. All this together ensures stability and uniformity of grinding. For each sifting, 30 g of coffee was used.

Scales:

Laboratory scales CAS MWP - 150 with an accuracy of thousandths.

Time:

first sieving, with 900 and 600 micron sieves: 2 minutes. Second sieving, with 300 micron sieve: 1 minute.

For each coffee grinder, we chose a specific step (interval) for sifting, focusing on how much the grind changes when the values change.

– This does not apply to the Timemore coffee grinder, since it is sifted for each click and the grinding step between clicks is too large. We highlight this as one of the disadvantages of this coffee grinder. Please note that in the grind ratio table, the values for Timemore are very approximate. And if you are the owner of this coffee grinder, then you will have to adjust the recipe for grinding, and not vice versa.

Thus, we disperse the ground coffee into 4 parts (ranges):

1. >900: these are all particles of ground coffee that are larger than 900 microns in size;

2. 900-600: particles that are from 600 to 900 microns in size;

3. 600-300: particles corresponding to a size from 300 to 600 microns;

4. <300: the smallest particles, less than 300 microns in size.

Please note: the most important ranges to focus on are 2 and 3. Range 1 particles give weight to the coffee, but little taste, and range 4 particles are dust, which slows down the extraction. This, of course, does not mean that ranges 1 and 4 can be discarded; they also need to be taken into account.

After each sifting, the weight value of each of the four ranges is entered into the table. Next, before the next sifting, each of the sieves and their holders are cleaned with a compressor and wiped dry. Accordingly, all sifting of any of the coffee grinders occurred with the most identical actions.

Coffee grinder sifting table

(Table 1)

(Click to enlarge)

As you can see from the table, sifting of fine grinds (closer to espresso) was not done, since espresso grinding is more sensitive and highly dependent on the roast date, environment and other factors. In addition, sifting such fine grinding in these fraction ranges will not give us the necessary accurate information for the ratio of values.

Grinding ratio table

(Table 2)

(Click to enlarge)

conclusions

To summarize, we can say that all the inexpensive coffee grinders presented in the review have approximately the same technical characteristics and have performed well in practice. Everywhere there is a container for collecting coffee, adjustment of the degree of grinding, and a convenient design has been identified.

As final recommendations, we can say the following:

if you want to choose the most economical option, feel free to contact the VITEK VT-1548 . I won’t say that the device will last for centuries, but it will successfully perform its functions for several years;
Regarding products from Delonghi, one thing can be said: this is excellent equipment for its price and quality characteristics. You can safely choose any sample, but as an expert, I prefer the Delonghi KG 89 . This is a more reliable option.

Features of rotary coffee grinders

In any household appliance you can find a number of characteristic features.

In relation to review models, they are as follows:

Believe me, more than a dozen rotary coffee grinders have passed through my hands, and these particular samples are distinguished by quite decent build quality. You don’t even have to look at the range of competing manufacturers;
I saw the simplest design - in practice, this significantly reduces the risk of breakdowns, and if this happens, it makes repairs easier;
The principle of operation is the rotation of rotary knives. Unlike millstones, they do not grind, but crush coffee beans. You understand that only the best coffee grinders are capable of crushing dense grains into flour.