If you are buying fresh coffee then unless it's in those vac packs it is always best to buy it as beans rather than having the shop grind it for you. Coffee goes stale quite quickly after it has been ground and should be used within a few days to have it at it's best. If bought as beans it will keep for up to a month and you can grind it as it is needed. It also means you can grind it to suit different machines. I use both a cafetiere and an espresso machine, which both need different grind settings.
I bought this coffee grinder after my cheap blade mill finally gave up. It was expensive (£56) but I had £30 worth of tokens for a well known department store so bought it as I know the name is a good one.
The major advantage is that it is a burr mill. This is where the coffee is not in constant contact with blades so the grind is more even so no more of the mix of dust and bigger lumps. The grind is done by grinding 'plates' and after it is ground the coffee drops into a separate chamber. Not only does this prevent over grinding but the coffee won't get as hot as it can in a blade mill. This gives a fuller taste from the coffee as less of the oils are destroyed.
The burr grinder has 18 grind settings which can be changed by adjusted by turning the bean hopper base. I keep mine two to the left of medium. There is also a 'cup selector' this will change the amount of coffee the machine will grind. This removes the guess work of how much to put into the grinder. Remember that this is based on coffee cups. I drink mugs of coffee so I have to increase the selector to get enough ground coffee for the way I like my coffee. If you like your coffee strong you can increase the number of cups on the selector or decrease it for milder coffee.
The bean hopper can be unscrewed for changing bean type or to wash it. Both the bean hopper and the ground coffee chamber are dishwasher safe. The 'coffee spoon' has a brush attached for cleaning the main part of the grinder.
The main problem with this is the machine is loud but it does come with a five year guarantee so this tells you it is a quality appliance as no company would risk this length of guarantee if the appliance wasn't up to it. The large bean hopper makes the machine look a bit odd but the quality of the grinder makes this insignificant.
Safety features - unless the hopper and ground coffee chamber are properly in place the mill will not work.
More details
Performance
Excellent
User's Manual
Good
How much did you pay?
£56 (£30 as gift tokens)
Any repairs?
no
Special features?
no
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convenient Heavy Duty Burr Grinder Brushed Stainless Steel Housing 225g / 1/2lb of whole beans capacity 18 Position grind selector for all types of coffee 4 - 18 ...
convenient Heavy Duty Burr Grinder Brushed Stainless Steel Housing 225g / 1/2lb of whole beans capacity 18 Position grind selector for all types of coffee 4 - 18 ...
