Which is the best brand?

There are a few brands of coffee grinder that you may well recognise and feel comfortable with. Kitchen appliance manufacturers such as Ascaso, KitchenAid and Bodum all offer some to coffee grinders. The Kitchen Aid and Ascaso grinders are certainly some of the best around, although they may be a little expensive for some needs. If on the other hand you are looking for something cheaper, but will do a good job and last a long time, then we are sure you will come across the Krups coffee grinders. Krups have a remarkably good reputation, and their electric blade grinder can be found for under £20. This makes it one of the best buys around. Other coffee grinder brands include Dualit, La Cafetiere, Philips, De Longhi, Severin, Russell Hobbs, James Martin (made by Wahl), Cuisinart and many more.

What is the right size?

It's important to consider the correct size of coffee grinder that you may need, or more specifically, make sure your grinder can grind the correct amount you require, whether it be small or large quantities. The sizes of coffee grinders are usually measured in how many cups of coffee can be made from the amount they grind. So you will see small grinders marked as up to 10 cup capacity, medium as up to 15, and large as 15 cups or more. As mentioned on our other pages, the point of grinding your own coffee at home is so that it can be freshly ground just before use. With this in mind, many people are quite happy with a small or medium grinder. The added benefit of these is that generally they don't take up a lot of space in the kitchen either. Large coffee grinders of course have a larger capacity, but do take up more space in the kitchen. However, some of the large and medium grinders, especially the burr grinders, often have settings to allow you to specify just how much coffee you wish to grind. This is a better method of measuring than just guessing.

What are the different types of coffee grinders?

There are several questions to consider when it comes to the different types of coffee grinders available.

Manual or Electric?

Firstly, consider whether you want an electric or manual grinder. Manual grinders, which are sometimes called hand grinders or hand-powered grinders, have a lovely old fashioned look, and of course, a very hands-on feel to preparing your coffee. It can certainly be very satisfying to hand grind the coffee, but it can take some time and quite a lot of effort, particularly if you have to grind coffee for several people / cups. In which case you might be better off looking at one of the electric grinders available, of which there are 2 types, which brings us to our second question.

Blade or Burr Grinder?

Simply put, a blade grinder uses its blade to finely chop the coffee beans. A burr grinder uses its steel burrs or plates to press the beans. Many coffee experts agree that a burr grinder does the better job of grinding coffee, simply because it can grind coffee more evenly and finely. There are plenty of wonderful burr grinders, but the best are usually those with conical burrs - cone shaped burrs which ensure all the coffee is perfectly ground. See our choice of burr coffee grinders here.

But there are advantages to owning a blade grinder. They are cheaper and take up less space, plus can be used for grinding spices. One of the best around is the Krups Twin Blade coffee mill, which is very well priced.