Best Burr Coffee Grinders for True Coffee Aficionados

The best thing about this Baratza burr coffee grinder is most likely its DC motor geared specifically at keeping the beans cool as they grind. This is a major issue with automatic electric grinders in general, even with the conical ones like this one—owing to their high speed of rotation, if you misstep with settings, chances are you will burn your coffee and lose some beans when you grind for a long-ish time (and you get a really bad cup of coffee). The motor controls the speed and keeps the beans cool throughout the process so it's one less thing to worry about.

The model offers as many as 40 settings, making it suitable for just about any coffee, including Espresso. Controlling the settings is the easiest task ever—you just rotate the coffee bean hopper, it has a notch at the bottom that you set at your preferred setting (they are arranged around the joint point where the main body and the hopper meet). Picky Espresso lovers might want something more fine-grinding but, in fact, the machine has a setting between its 0 and 1 points which is more or less suitable for this particular drink.

The Capresso Infinity is a conical burr grinder, meaning it is exemplary precise in its work. It offers 16 grinding settings for just about any type of coffee. For better understanding, the manufacturer has placed the settings in groups by coarseness you get—4 extra fine settings, 4 fine ones, 4 medium, and 4 coarse ones. This way, even if you are a complete novice in the business of grinding the beans for your coffee yourself, you can easily set the necessary option and have the finest Turkish coffee or French press, whatever you prefer.

The company advertises this model as a commercial-grade burr mill. Well, if yours is not a huge coffee place with lines rounding the corners but a simple booth, this machine is a good option, it has everything you might need to brew fast and without fail. For starters, both the bean hopper and the ground coffee container are transparent, hence, you will immediately see when it is time to refill the hopper and make more coffee. While transparency is bad for prolonged storage, if you grind and brew right away, it is of little concern.

Any avid coffee enthusiast knows that for the freshest and most flavorful cup, it is important to grind your coffee right before brewing. Hence, once you have a brewer the next must-have appliance is a good coffee grinder. Whether you seek to replace your manual mill or buy your first automatic grinder without breaking the bank, the Cuisinart Supreme burr mill will definitely catch your fancy. At a fairly reasonable price (far below $50), it offers everything you expect from a decent quality appliance of this kind and even more.

What you’ll get is a nice little machine with a brushed steel body, stainless steel trimming, and transparent plastic beans hopper and grind container. It has a very modern design that will fit most kitchens. It won’t stick out like a sore thumb, but rather looks like a unit you won’t want to put away. Moreover, featuring a slim profile and pretty compact footprint, it won’t take much place on your kitchen countertop and will make a perfect match for your coffee brewer.

The Cuisinart Supreme is fitted with a flat disc burr, which means it mills really fast. It will grind a 4-cup portion of beans in less than 20 seconds. With 140 watts under the hood, it is not the most powerful grinder, yet, this power is still enough to quickly achieve the desired grind size without overheating the beans. To meet different grinding needs and fit different coffee drinker tastes, the model provides 18 grind settings and several quantity settings. Thus, you can customize your grind from coarse through medium to fine to get a milder or stronger coffee taste and you are free to grind just the right amount of coffee at a time to brew from 4 to 18 cups. With the lowest amount setting of 4 cups, the Cuisinart is a great choice for a family of coffee lovers who can’t imagine their morning without a freshly brewed cup of joe. Besides, an oversized grind container capable of holding up to 16 oz of ground coffee (to make up to 32 cups of coffee drinks) makes this model also a functional addition for small cafes, bistro, and coffee shops.

The only thing on the negative, though, is that the finest grind the Cuisinart can deliver is far from what you need for a perfect espresso. However, it will work just fine if you grind for a drip coffee brewer, single serve coffee maker, French press or coffee pot.

Burr coffee grinders are hands down the best option for home use. They provide multiple functions and are very easy to use. And the OXO Brew 8717000 is one such example. Featuring a smart combo of ease of use and versatile functionality, this model favorably stacks up to its rivals and pro-grade models.

To start off, the 8717000 boasts as many as 15 grind settings, plus, it has micro settings that allow you to adjust the grind size to meet any coffee lover taste and preference. Thus, whether you are a skilled user of an espresso machine, have a drip coffee maker, use a French press, or brew your cup of Joe in a coffee pot, this conical burr coffee grinder will suit you, accurately milling the beans to match the brewing technique you love the most. Then, there's a built-in timer. It can remember the last grind setting you used so that when you turn the machine on next time it will produce the same grind with no need for any adjustments. This way, you can benefit from one-touch operation while having a rich choice of grinds you can choose from.

Two other advantages that give the OXO Brew 8717000 an edge over many other grinders include its speedy operation and high-capacity containers. To be more specific, it takes the unit no more than a few seconds to churn out enough grounds for three cups. As for containers, a ground coffee container can accommodate up to 110g to brew up to 12 cups of coffee while a bean hopper can hold up to 12 oz of coffee beans. This is 50% more and faster than most other grinders.

As the name suggests, this electric burr coffee grinder from BODUM has a capacity enough for a small restaurant, like a bistro. It offers an 11-oz coffee bean hopper, which is more than it is usual in its price range, so you can pour the beans in, close the lid, and ground them when you need them. For a semi-commercial use, it is a time-saver.

The ground coffee bin is 4 oz, good enough for about 10 cups of joe. Since the burr here is conical and is made of stainless steel, you can be sure that the beans will be crushed thoroughly and evenly. There are 12 settings to choose from depending on what kind of coffee you need at the moment—coarse for a French press, medium for a drip coffee maker or even extra-fine for some Espresso.

There is no knob to choose the number of cups you need coffee for, but there is a timer with the automatic shut-off and a "cheat sheet" of sorts on the inside of the hopper lid where you can find instructions regarding the timer settings for specific beverages and amounts of coffee you need.