brazen1 Senior Member Joined: 29 Sep 2012 Posts: 39 Location: New England Expertise: Just starting
Posted Tue Oct 9, 2012, 11:47pm Subject: Re: I Need Basic Grinder to Pair with Brazen
I'm very happy with my Baratza grinder. Grinding into the plastic bin supplied with it has one big advantage: the plastic is treated with magic anti-static coating, so the grinds dump out of it easily. These coffee grinders generate massive amounts of static electricity and can make a real mess if the container is not anti-static. Grinding directly into the gold filter might even be more of a mess.
The other plus to the Baratza is that you can always add their Esatto accessory to turn the grinder into a real time gram grinder. Preset "x" number of grams, hit start, and it grinds that amount. They do have some refurb Esattos.
Well, OK, I haven't used the Skerton. I have a Kyocera and I can grind a completely full to the brim city+ bean load in under a minute very easily. I haven't weighed it but I am guessing that it's around 50-60 grams.
Of course, the Skerton might have slower burrs, we might be using different fineness settings, I might just be faster, who knows. In any case, since you already know that the hand grinder is not for you, that takes care of that.
Intrepid510 Senior Member Joined: 30 Dec 2010 Posts: 303 Location: California Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Oct 11, 2012, 12:09pm Subject: Re: I Need Basic Grinder to Pair with Brazen
Go with the Baratza Encore, it's right in your range.
I like the Baratza grinders more than the Capresso that I had for a while, for two reasons 40 Macro steps compared to I believe 16 on the Capresso, and must less grind retention. For the Capresso Infinity I had to hold pick it up and pat it few times to get all the grinds out of the chamber otherwise I would have nasty stale coffee for the next batch.
JavaGator Senior Member Joined: 27 Sep 2012 Posts: 29 Location: Orlando FL Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Oct 11, 2012, 3:21pm Subject: Re: I Need Basic Grinder to Pair with Brazen
Ok don't laugh at me, but I found this Mr Coffee burr grinder for $38. Now I know it is a relative piece of junk, but I must say I just made a pot of this Willouby House blend that I got from Roastmaster when i purchased the Brazen. I have had this blend for the last few days using my Magic Bullet grinder. This pot with the Mr Coffee burr grinder tastes completely different. My best description is that it is so much smoother. I used the middle drip grind setting, I brewed at 198 with a 1:30 pre-soak.. This seems like a good burr grinder for a novice. We'll see how long it holds up. If I need to be expelled for getting this grinder. please let me know.
What I would suggest at some point is that you find a local Coffee Geek with a really good drip grinder, and offer to show him yours (Brazen), if he'll show you his (grinder). Get together and brew two pots of the same coffee, same Brazen settings, one ground in your grinder and the other ground in his. Then make up your mind if a further upgrade is something you want.
Ok, now that I got that out of my system....... Hey, I kid I kid :D
JavaGator Said:
Ok don't laugh at me, but I found this Mr Coffee burr grinder for $38. Now I know it is a relative piece of junk, but I must say I just made a pot of this Willouby House blend that I got from Roastmaster when i purchased the Brazen. I have had this blend for the last few days using my Magic Bullet grinder. This pot with the Mr Coffee burr grinder tastes completely different. My best description is that it is so much smoother. I used the middle drip grind setting, I brewed at 198 with a 1:30 pre-soak.. This seems like a good burr grinder for a novice. We'll see how long it holds up. If I need to be expelled for getting this grinder. please let me know.
Seriously, we've all taken different journeys here and we've all come to different points. If this grinder suits you then don't let someone else tell you that it doesn't. What's in the cup is what matters and if you like what's in the cup then no one will argue that. Plain and simple.
But I would like to add something. Cheaper burr grinders often won't offer much better grind quality than a blade grinder and in some cases it will actually be worse. The burr material, precision, ability to hold the correct burr distance, durability, etc just isn't there. I decent burr grinder will have hardened steel with sharp cutting edges on them. The idea is to actual cut the beans and the distance between the burrs needs to be consistent so to ensure cosnistent grind size. The cheaper grinders don't have the same quality burrs nor can the burrs keep the same tolerance of spacing; the beans end up get mashed rather than cut. Does that make sense?
GVDub's suggestion is good; hopefully you can find someone to show you the difference in the grind and in the cup. The difference you saw between the magic bullet and the Mr Coffee, you'll see that much difference (and likely more) between the Mr Coffee and a more suitable grinder (Baratza line for example).
JavaGator Senior Member Joined: 27 Sep 2012 Posts: 29 Location: Orlando FL Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Oct 11, 2012, 4:17pm Subject: Re: I Need Basic Grinder to Pair with Brazen
I think as I get more astute and venture into various beans, Im sure I will desire a better burr grinder. I looked at the burrs on the Mr Coffee and they are definitely cheap stamped metal. One burr is fixed and the other spins. I figured if I can experience some form of burr grinder for $38 it was a good place to start. I can eat the $38 if it doesn't last long, and even if it holds up I won't feel obligated not to buy a more expensive grinder. My first grind looked pretty consistent from what my uneducated eyes can tell. For certain the quality brewed in the cup was much better than the Magic Bullet blade grinder. If it gets even better than that with a high quality grinder I would like to try the comparison mentioned to experiment.
Baratza Virtuoso cost just a little more than 200, as well as the Breville Smart Grinder is right around 200 but if you have a Bed Bath Beyond store near you, you can get their 20% off coupon and use it there.
The Encore though is way more than enough for coarse needs though, it won't do espresso really, but is consistant for coarse grinds.
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