Reviews on the best burr grinder for 2016

Grinding coffee is an important part of making good coffee, whether it is for slow pour and other brewing methods. There are basically two ways of grinding coffee: (i) using blades to chop the coffee beans similar to how a blender works and (ii) using two burrs to crush the coffee beans between them. The latter produces more consistency and is what this article will focus on.

Conical burr grinder vs flat burr grinder

Before talking about what are the best burr grind for the money, it is important to know there are at least two types of coffee burr grinders. One is called conical burr grinder. As the name implies, it has a cone shape and comprise a bigger and smaller cone. The coffee beans are poured into the hole in the middle of the large cone burr while the smaller part comes in and do the grinding.  The image on the left above belong to a conical burr grinder.

The other type is named the flat burr grinder. These plates are faced facing each other while coffee beans is grinned between them.

Best burr grinder under 50 and 100

Let’s start off the recommendation with some affordable options that are under 50. You will be surprised at the quality grinders you can buy even at this relatively lower price range.

Cozyna burr grinder review

The Cozyna grinder is one of my favourite due to its low price point and portability. Its price is well under $50 dollars but it produces consistent coffee grind in general.  There is an adjustable screw that you can used to decided how fine you want your coffee to be. At the finest setting, you can even use this burr grinder for Turkish coffee. That is how flexible it is despite the low price point. The Cozyna uses conical burr grinder.

Besides the price, the portability of the Cozyna is what attracts me to use it. I carry it around whenever I go for overseas trips or even family camping. It has 3 parts that can be taken apart and assemble quite easily. Best of all, the entire grinder is sleek and light and it adds very little weight to your luggage.

If you happen to an Aeropress user, there is added bonus for you to get this as it can easily fit into your Aeropress machine. All you need to do is to take the bottom cap off and the grinder is ready to be inserted. It doesn’t get any more convenient! If you are looking for the best burr grinder for Aeropress, definitely consider this.

Despite its advantages, do note that the Cozyna can mainly produce small quantities of coffee grind, mostly for one person. If you want to grind a lot of coffee beans, get ready for an aching wrist!

One other nitpick is that the grinding process can be wobbly if you want a coarse grind. Due to its instability at this setting, the grind can be inconsistent, relative to the fine grind. It is not a deal breaker but is something you should be aware of.

Overall, this is just one of the best hand conical burr grinder for the money. It is cheap (under $50), has adjustable grinding options and very portable.

Mr. Coffee BVMC-BMH23 review: best electric burr grinder?

For those who wants a more hands off experience with your coffee grinding, you need to check the Mr. Coffee BVMC-BMH23 automatic burr grinder. It is less than $50 dollars and is packed with features.

This machine has plenty of grind settings to keep everyone happy. If you want espresso, you can choose the fine grind setting. French press? No problem as you can just select the coarse grind option. The end result is consistent grind at which ever settings you set the machine to produce.

The burr on this machine belong to the flat burr category.

Protips

After using this machine for years now, I have one tip that will be useful to prevent the grinder from clogging at the opening where the grounds are released. The clog is usually due to the oil and residue build from using the grinder. All you need to do is to run some grains through the grinder that are good at soaking up the oil. Rice is a good option.

Also, if you find that the coffee beans can’t get through to the grinder, just tap the side of the the top part a couple of times and the beans should be able to find their way below.

Finally, be warned that that there is a kill switch inside the grinder that will activate whenever the beam hopper is unscrewed enough. This might happen when you pour the coffee beans in. If your machine suddenly stops, just tighten the beam hopper.

Capresso 560.01 review: best automatic conical burr grinder

Finally, for those who want a electric conical burr grinder, here is one of the best option just under $100, although it is still the most pricey among the three options presented. I only encourage very serious coffee drinker to consider getting this due to the price although I must say it is still value for money.

The options available for grinding is the most detailed in this machine. Within each setting such as extra fine or fine, there is a further 4 setting to adjust the grind size. That is how much control you can have. In fact, I love the fine grind so much that I have no problem calling this the best burr grinder for espresso, especially at the low price point.

The Capresso 560.01 has also 2 other outstanding points. One is that it produces less noise than other electric burr grinders so it is nice to be able to not awake everybody up when you are grinding coffee. The other is the dust. Due to the reduction of the motor speed towards the end of the grinding process, it produces less coffee which means less cleaning up to do.

Finally, the clean up is easy to do. Just remove the burr and sweep the dust into the bin.  There is no clogging issue like the Mr. Coffee BVMC-BMH23 which means less headache for you!

Conclusion

Good coffee needs good grinders. I personally prefer and recommend burr grinders compared to the blade ones because of the taste difference. If you agree with me, the above are some of the best burr grinder under 50 or 100 that you can consider.