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What are burr coffee grinders and how to use them?
Most coffee gourmets think that pre-packed coffee grounds on the market do not live up to their expectations. For this reason, they would instead make coffee by themselves.
However, spending money on good coffee beans will not suffice; you also need to invest in a decent coffee grinder. Before digging deep into how to use a burr grinder, let’s look through what a coffee grinder is.
Table Of Contents
What is a Burr Coffee Grinder?
A burr coffee grinder is an appliance which reduces coffee beans to small and consistent particles. It produces newly brewed coffee and retains the original flavor, thus giving the best homemade coffee experience.
There are two types of mainstream grinders, namely burr coffee grinders and blade coffee grinders, but the former produce better coffee. They avoid clogging problems, and allow you to adjust the coarseness and fineness at will to suit your taste.
Burr coffee grinders come in a variety of styles and colors
How Do Burr Coffee Grinders Work?
Coffee beans are sandwiched between two burred plates and ground. The plates (also called “burrs”) can be flat or conical depending on different models. While the burr grinder is working, one plate stays still, and others spin around.
How To Use a Burr Coffee Grinder?
A note to bear in mind when purchasing a burr grinder is that low-speed ones are better. High-speed burr grinders heat your beans, thus changing the original taste of the final brew. You can have problems with cleaning because they tend to attach to anything on the surface.
For now, let’s delve into some necessary know-how as regards grinding coffee beans with this appliance.
Step 1: Choose the suitable settings
The best thing to do before getting down to the main work is to scrutinize your burr grinder and look for a suitable setting. There are quite a few settings on a burr grinder, and each of them produces a different kind of coffee. And here are some details as regards certain settings to look at.
- Extra coarse: Your grinder operating under this setting will produce coffee made by such methods as cold-brew or toddy. The grounds are made up of large particles whose size is bigger than that of kosher salt. However, beans are still completely broken up.
- Coarse: This setting is synonymous with French press. The grounds contain chunky and distinct particles, which are similar to kosher salt used for pickling and canning.
- Medium-coarse: Flat-bottomed filters are used in parallel with this setting, namely automatic coffee makers. The grounds are gritty and like coarse sand, but no signs of slivers can be seen.
- Medium: Grounds made by this setting feel slightly smoother and less chunky than French press coffee. The brew methods are cone-shaped filters, for example, automatic coffee makers and manual pour overs.
- Fine: Here comes a brew method that manages to win the affection of many coffee fanatics – espresso. The grounds are smooth, but you can still feel the presence of individual grains. They are finer than sugar, yet still far from a powder.
- Extra fine: The method used here is Turkish coffee. The particles produced by this setting are very fine, and you will not find any individual grains.
If you are not a dab hand at burr coffee grinders, you may need some time to get used to the settings. Choosing a proper setting will help you enjoy standard home-brewed coffee, and what can be greater than lazily savoring a cup of coffee in your own home?
Make sure you choose the suitable settings among various options
Step 2: Adjust grind time
Most grinders have control over the amount of time they should operate to grind a single or double shot, which respectively weighs 6-8 grams and 15-18 grams. Weigh the amount of coffee beans you want to grind, and adjust the time accordingly.
Adjust grind time to get your favorite kind of coffee
Bottom Line
Via the above guide, we hope you have your queries “What is a burr coffee grinder?” and “How to use a burr coffee grinder?” answered. If you are a coffee gourmet, don’t hesitate to spend money on a high-end burr coffee grinder. Eventually, you will find the grinder is worth it when you laze around and savor the coffee to the full.