A New Coffee Grinder and Your Small Coffee Maker - A Perfect Match

Written by Conrad Murphy

Friday, 30 October 2009 11:34

by ConradMurphy

If you've already picked out your small coffee maker - congratulations! The next step that you may be considering is the purchase of an external grinder to use with your machine. Making the decision to grind your own beans in lieu of purchasing pre-ground beans is significant, as ground coffee begins losing much of its flavor within moments of being ground. This is an important consideration, since you will not want to use beans that have lost any their original flavor. As you will learn later on in this article, not all grinders are the same and you will want to focus your search on conical burr grinders over other cheaper types of grinders. In the paragraphs that follow you will learn why you shouldn't go for the cheapest grinder and why it's important to treat ground coffee like a living object.

As with most things in life it's important not to default to the cheapest or easiest option. The same holds true for coffee grinders, since the cheapest grinders are often the blade or "whirly-bird" grinders that pulverize the coffee beans, creating a lot of different particle sizes and dust. The dust is a no-no, as it will create bitter off-flavors that will negatively affect the finished cup. There are grinders that don't create dust (conical burr grinders) and these are the types you will want to look for. There is a distinct difference between a "wheel" burr grinder and a "conical" burr grinder, which I will explain later.

In the world of burr grinders, there are 2 types; wheel burr grinders and conical burr grinders. Of these 2 types, the conical variety is more expensive, though you will get a better grinder for the money paid. The conical burr grinders are less noisy and produce less dust than their "wheel" counterpart. Whatever type you choose to purchase, the decision to purchase a burr grinder is a good one, since a burr grinder will produce a consistent and even grind due to the way it's constructed. The grinder contains a movable grinding wheel and a non-moving surface to produce a grind that is better than any other, and far better than that produced by a blade grinder.

Picking out your conical burr grinder is a great step in producing great coffee, but is not the only factor you should consider. In fact, the freshness of the coffee beans you use is equally important. You should use only freshly roasted coffee beans and should use them up within 1 week of purchasing them. The longer you keep the beans without using them, the less flavor and aroma they will impart on the finished cup. When you finally do decide to grind your beans it's important that you use them within a couple of minutes of being ground.

In the interest of freshness, the best option would be to purchase your beans from a local roaster that roasts regularly. If they're a quality roaster they will indicate the roast date on the package of coffee itself, and generally you should expect to receive beans that have been roasted within 3-5 days. If you're interested in finding a local roaster it's worth searching some online coffee forums such as coffeegeek.com

In summary, the decision to purchase an external grinder is a good one. By doing so you will be rewarded time and time again with a cup of coffee that is better than you can get at most coffee shops and you can take pride in knowing that it was created using your own equipment and methods.

About the Author:

Conrad compiles information and writes articles to help you choose the very best small office coffee maker and also writes information about the best accessories forsmall coffee makers