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Inexpensive Burr Grinder Suggestions Please

The Solis "Maestro" is considered to be a good machine. If you want to go cheaper (and don't mind using a little elbow grease), you might consider a Zassenhaus hand mill. I'm certain Sweet Maria's, 1st-Line, or Chris'Coffee would help you find the right machine for your budget!
 
Check out Burman Coffee Trader's. They have an adjustable burr coffee grinder for $30, I bought one and it work's great.

Clayton
 
For an electric I don't think I would go any cheaper than the Solis which is a fine machine. The Zass aren't really that cheap and if you need to grind for several people it can be a pain. Also their QC ain't that good and their newer machines (if mine is an example) is better left for a display piece.
 
For an electric I don't think I would go any cheaper than the Solis which is a fine machine. The Zass aren't really that cheap and if you need to grind for several people it can be a pain. Also their QC ain't that good and their newer machines (if mine is an example) is better left for a display piece.

I just got into coffee roasting. I was using a braun blade grinder with fair results on my newly roasted beans. The grinder I bought is made by hearthware and it can grind enough for twelve cups of coffee. I think they figure about four ounces per cup. It work's great for me, I use it for both drip, and french pressed coffee. It will grind expresso. Not bad for $30.

Clayton
 
Hello

I am looking for an inexpensive burr grinder for my espresso. Any suggestions

"inexpensive" is a word that does not work well with the word "espresso".

What I would consider inexpensive for espresso, most would consider "expensive" period.

Consider this. Your grinder is the single most important piece of equipment when it comes to quality of your espresso. (in terms of taste)

So, rather than starting with "inexpensive", let's start with this. What is your budget? Most people find that they need to save awhile longer before their budget can match their espresso equipment needs.
 
thanks for the help...ill keep poking around until I find something I can afford...didnt realize they were so expensive...thought I could find a hand one at a cheaper price.
 
thanks for the help...ill keep poking around until I find something I can afford...didnt realize they were so expensive...thought I could find a hand one at a cheaper price.

If you don't mind grinding by hand, you can swing one for about $50.

But grinding by hand at the espresso setting is a Royal PITA, but it's doable.

The adjustability is very limited, but you can choke a machine with it.

Hario Skerton. Found at barismo.com or browncoffeeco.com.
 
I've had great results with the Starbucks Barrista grinder. It's been trouble free for at least 5 or 6 years and is still going strong.
 
Frankly, I would rather put my whole beans in a plastic bag and stomp on them with the heal of my boot than spend my money on that specific grinder with the intent of using it for espresso (or drip, or french press, or vac-pot).

Just my $.02.

From a review found on the link to the grinder:

Lets put it this way, water coming out of the faucet in my kitchen flowed slower than the espresso coming out of my new gaggia! The finest grind on this grinder doesn't come close to being small enough to make the Gaggia happy. I recommend that you choose something else. Otherwise, you will no doubt be like me (looking for a good way to throw this over the side of a bridge) while on the way to the store to get a replacement!

That about sums it up.
 
Sometimes we get something and think its the real deal only to find out later there is an entire world out there we didn't even know about. In general you get what you pay for. I had the solis for about 8 years and it worked great. Anything cheaper I wouldn't mess with.

If you want a hand grinder there is a place called Deutche Optik and they are selling out some stock of a vintage German Army Coffee grinder. As I recall is about $130 but is made of caste iron and stainless. I've never seen one in the flesh however they only sell quality stuff and it looks ballistic.
 
I've had great luck with the cheapo Black and Decker burr mill I got at Target years ago. Granted I don't make much "ethpretho" but I can get a very fine grind out of the unit should I want it.
 
I learned the hard way that a cheap burr grinder isn't worth the trouble, granted I was only out $30.

I've got a hand grinder for turkish coffee and while it's great at turning beans into baby-powder-fine turkish coffee, it litterally takes 30 minutes of cranking to get enough for 4 "cups" in my large ibrik.
 
For what it's worth, I've been using a refurbished Baratza Virtuoso grinder for the past few days and the results have been quite good. The leap from a blade grinder up to this model has been like night and day in the cup. Unfortunately, it seems that Baratza does not have any more refurbished Virtuoso models currently up on their site. At $133, and for french press and automatic drip use it seems to be a good deal so far.
 
My dad has that Cuisinart grinder, the first thing I'll say about it is that it is LOUD. It seriously sounds like a circular saw is going off in your kitchen. If you live with others and you're the first one up I wouldn't get this grinder, you will awaken your entire household with your morning cup of joe.

The main point I would make about the grind quality is that it's not terribly even. The finer settings seem to work OK, I can't speak to how it works for espresso since I don't drink espresso, but it's sufficent for basket and cone drip coffee. If you're making coffee from a french press then you're more likely to notice how uneven the coarse grind is, it lets out more dust into the grind than it really should. It's easy enough to spoon out the coarse grounds from the dust, since the fine dust tends to accumulate at the top of the bin, but drinking from a french press you'll definitely get a little grit at the bottom of your cup.

All in all, it's a better grinder than a cheap whirly-blade mill, but not by much.
I've heard very good things about the Capresso Infinity as a good all-around coffee grinder, so I would stick with that.
 
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