It was past due time to clean my coffee grinder, so I took this as an opportunity to take some photos. Besides its more fun to see a dirty, crudded up grinder before its been cleaned than afterwards. Seeing close up pictures is a reminder of how dirty things can get, a reminder to clean up more often.
I have owned this Kitchen Aid grinder for years. The body and motor feel built, when grinding beans it is not loud and never seems to be strained, as if the motor is overrated for the job. Static has not been a problem, during the height of winter I do notice a slight tendency for ground coffee to stick to the underside of the ground opening, which later drops off creating a mess on the counter, but its not too bad. But overall there is no static or clumping issues as the machine is mostly metal and glass. It features 57mm flat burrs and 15 stepped settings. Seeing close up photos of the burrs made me question whether they are starting to get worn.
If I tried to summarize the consensus opinions on the internet, it's that this is a middle of the road grinder, capable of both french press and espresso but not ideal for either. I may be influenced too much, but I would generally agree with that comment. The baseline set point of the grinder can be manually adjusted to bias the grinder towards the upper end (press) or lower end (espresso) of the grind range. I never did adjust mine as I wanted to switch back and forth between the two, but as I write this I plan to reset for an espresso bias. I have been grinding on the lowest setting and feel I need to go a step or two smaller to improve my espresso.
I have owned this Kitchen Aid grinder for years. The body and motor feel built, when grinding beans it is not loud and never seems to be strained, as if the motor is overrated for the job. Static has not been a problem, during the height of winter I do notice a slight tendency for ground coffee to stick to the underside of the ground opening, which later drops off creating a mess on the counter, but its not too bad. But overall there is no static or clumping issues as the machine is mostly metal and glass. It features 57mm flat burrs and 15 stepped settings. Seeing close up photos of the burrs made me question whether they are starting to get worn.
If I tried to summarize the consensus opinions on the internet, it's that this is a middle of the road grinder, capable of both french press and espresso but not ideal for either. I may be influenced too much, but I would generally agree with that comment. The baseline set point of the grinder can be manually adjusted to bias the grinder towards the upper end (press) or lower end (espresso) of the grind range. I never did adjust mine as I wanted to switch back and forth between the two, but as I write this I plan to reset for an espresso bias. I have been grinding on the lowest setting and feel I need to go a step or two smaller to improve my espresso.