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| Home Coffee Grinders by Chris Schaefer |
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This article will prepare you for an eventual purchase of a new home coffee grinder. It is the hope of the author to supply enough technical information and "tips and tricks" for you, the reader, to begin shopping immediately. But first, a brief history of the coffee grinder and how coffee grinders now play a role in the coffee drinking experience. Perhaps the earliest form of grinding anything, whether it be spices or coffee, was the simple mortar and pestle approach. The item to be ground - or crushed as it were - was placed in the bottom of a bowl, and the blunt end of a stick was used to crush said item along the bowl's bottom and sides. Following this - and history tends to lead us down numerous paths - mechanical means replaced the mortar and pestle. Manually operated, the coffee (or, again, spice, wheat, corn... whatever) was placed between a stationary and a moving disc. The movement of the one disc atop the other created a grinding force. This is also known as milling; a term we carry into the present. (Did I say a "brief" history?) Milling has become very efficient with the use of electrical motors as opposed to horses, water, steam, or human-power. And milling, as a process, is as common to the agricultural industry as it is to coffee. To understand the benefit of milling coffee, let us first compare it to another popular grinding technique, the blade styled coffee grinder. Available in practically every housewares store in the world, the blade style grinder uses a small, universal electrical motor to spin two metal blades at very high speeds. When in contact with the coffee beans, the blades chop and crush the bean's structure. Akin to the mortar and pestle for not creating a uniform grind, this method is quick and inexpensive. Many models of this type can be had for less than $20. A step up, and the primary focus of this article, is the burr style, or milling style coffee grinder. Like the wheat or corn grinder, and identical to commercial, industrial sized grinders the burr grinder for today's consumer is available in a myriad of colours, features, materials, and prices. Why a burr grinder? As mentioned above, the blade variant of coffee grinders allow a varying particle size from the resultant grind. The leading reason for the use of a burr grinder is the ability to produce a uniform grind of the beans. A uniform grind is important for a few different reasons. First, it provides even surface area for extraction during whatever brew process you may wish to use. Second, for espresso, the uniform grind allows for even wetting and even packing of the grounds. You will read why this is so important in next month's installment. How come? Let us return above. An even grind will provide for an even extraction of the oils from the coffee. Ill-proportioned grind will cause some of the coffee to over-extract, and some to under-extract. Over-extracted coffee will taste bitter and overly pungent. Under-extracted will taste weak and thin. Burr grinders, ideally and theoretically, pass an incoming bean under (or in between) its burrs once. Whether it be for one revolution or two, the bean, as it finishes its pass, is completely crushed into identically sized pieces. Blade-style and mortar and pestle re-grind the coffee, which provides the inconsistency mentioned. |
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