Great grinding for home coffee making... as long as you treat it with respect.
Positive Product Points
You can't beat the price. Customer service is excellent.
Negative Product Points
Warnings don't go far enough.
Detailed Commentary
Years ago, I loved my $27 CCM-16SA Cuisinart Burr Mill Grinder... till it broke. Sams Club gave me another. It broke, too.
So why would someone who broke two grinders like them? Truth is, I started out cussing Cuisinart... Blamed 'em for grinding out garbage. As time went on, I wondered how they could get away with it...
That's when I began asking how I might be hastening the demise of these sub-$30 coffee grinders.
I theorized that freezing the beans may physically alter them beyond the designers' plans. The wife suggested that grinding three hoppers at a whack could overheat the burrs.
So I stopped freezing beans and now grind one hopper-full 3x a week.
Result: No more problems.
I use my CCM-16SA only for drip coffee... No espresso. Uniform grind = uniform flavor. Thus, I can't imagine a better grinder for my needs.
Buying Experience
After I broke the first grinder, Sams Club cheerfully replaced it. I broke the 2nd grinder after the warranty expired. Called Cuisinart. For $12 they sent me TWO more. When I told them they sent an extra, they told me to keep it!
Three Month Followup
My Cuisinart CCM-16SA/DBM-8 still works perfectly for my needs: Once a week I grind one hopper-full of beans and store them in a Lock-and-Lock container. (My grinder failures occurred when I was freezing my beans and grinding several hopper-fulls at once.)
A Caveat: The chute can get blocked up when you use oilier beans like French Roast.
