FOOD NEWS
What's The Difference Between A Burr And A Blade Coffee Grinder?
By Garth Clingingsmith
The grind size of the coffee beans is one of the most debated topics in homebrewing since it can have a huge impact on the final result of the coffee. Once you have decided that you want to grind beans by yourself, getting the right grind size comes down to what kind of grinder you use, which is generally a choice between using a burr coffee grinder and a blade coffee grinder.
Blade grinders use spinning blades in the bottom of a grinding chamber, which may result in an uneven grind of your coffee beans — although this can be slightly prevented by pulsing the power button and shaking the grinder. Meanwhile, burr grinders work like a peppermill, as the beans are fed between two sets of burrs to produce uniform and precise grinds of the required size.
As entry-point grinders, blade grinders are simple, fast, easy to store, and normally cost less than $20. Burr grinders are the coffee industry standards that will last years, but they are also slow and expensive, with even the hand-cranked models costing more than $20 and two favorite manual grinders costing either $60 or $350.
Electric burr grinders are probably the best bet, but they have a high price tag. Per America's Test Kitchen, the outlet's favorite electric burr grinder, the Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder, costs $118.95 on Amazon, and The Capresso Infinity Conical Burr Grinder is deemed a "Best Buy," coming in at less than $100 on Amazon.