I'm very new to this area of knowledge, and have up till now used a cheap, plastic coffee grinder to do 2 things :
Grind coffee beans for use in a French Press
Grind flax seeds for daily consumption
I would like to step up to a machine that is
Metal, not plastic
Comes with proper support for spare parts, it ever needed
I would like to know what recommendations people have. I would like to buy a machine once and have it for the long term. (I was irritated with lack of spare parts for the plastic machine we had).
A Baratza Virtuoso would be a great "next level" grinder with incredible customer support. The recently added better burrs to the grinder and they make an incredible press grind. The only box it doesn't tick for you is the plastic. The body is a combination of metal and plastic.
A Baratza Virtuoso would be a great "next level" grinder with incredible customer support. The recently added better burrs to the grinder and they make an incredible press grind. The only box it doesn't tick for you is the plastic. The body is a combination of metal and plastic.
Thanks everyone, this all looks like great advice. I will go ahead with this recommended grinder, and find out how well it does with flax seeds (up to this point, I was in the habit of just wiping out the chamber between grinds, but the last cheap grinder* was just a whirling blade).
I'm not familiar with grinder burs, but it sounds possible that this will be a much harder unit to clean between grinding dis-similar materials. Perhaps the best thing would be to buy a separate, dedicated grinder for flax, as mentioned above. Do the hand grinders for coffee also tend to be the same units that people would buy for grinding flax?
It's probably a post for another forum - but I can't believe the level of detail in these posts. I've learned how to buy a bag of beans, grind them, and make a cup of coffee in a french press. And that's all I know. I'm now getting curious about other things - such as steaming soy milk, and making espresso shots. (a way to break out of the $5.50 Starbucks routine??)
Thanks again. Your guidance is much appreciated.
Grant.
We just lost everything in a house fire, and I realize we now have a great opportunity to replace a patchwork of household belongings of varying quality and beauty, with 'best of breed'. What drove me nuts about the cheap Cuisinart brand grinder is that for want of a tiny plastic component that had broken (plastic flange on the blade hub) the company advised me to toss it and buy another, which I determinedly resisted doing. We have all GOT to find a way to stop pitching everything into landfill!) I was still using it at the time we lost our home, but it was not vibrating (balance issue) - I decided to use it until it blew up.... Change of plan. :-)
Don't even think of using the same grinder for flax seeds. It will all mix together and each will have the flavor of the other. I think one of the blade grinders would actually be better for flax seeds, or a blender. You can get it already ground also and keep it refrigerated. You could also look into Chia seed, they don't have to be ground and are supposed to have a better omega profile. Get them online to save.
Don't even think of using the same grinder for flax seeds. It will all mix together and each will have the flavor of the other. I think one of the blade grinders would actually be better for flax seeds, or a blender. You can get it already ground also and keep it refrigerated. You could also look into Chia seed, they don't have to be ground and are supposed to have a better omega profile. Get them online to save.
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