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Give me a cup — pretty much any old cup — and I won’t complain. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a particularly good one. And as any actual coffee snob will tell you (trust me, I’ve talked with a lot of them), your coffee is only going to be as good as your beans. And your beans won’t be any good at all if you’re not grinding them yourself right before brewing.
Unfortunately, most decent coffee grinders — even those made specifically for home use — cost a very pretty penny. We’re talking hundreds of dollars. So to figure out which models are worth the investment, I tested some out myself, including the (relatively) mid-priced model that ultimately won a permanent spot in my kitchen and, therefore, our best overall badge. I also asked baristas, roasters, and coffee shop owners about the versions they keep on their own counters. Some are predictably very high-end (so if you’re a coffee fanatic looking to hone your skills, you’ve come to the right place), but others are surprisingly reasonable given the landscape of the market. And if you’re still not quite convinced a coffee grinder is something you should put so much hard-earned money towards (ahem, me), don’t worry: I also tapped a few other Strategist writers and regular home cooks with a caffeine habit to find out their even more affordable picks.
Baratza Encore Electric Grinder – Best Overall Coffee Grinder
I’ve been using the Baratza Encore for a year now and I love it (it’s one of the tools that has convinced me to up my at-home coffee game). The machine is super intuitive to use, and initially took me no more than five minutes to set up and get a handle of. There are two simple switches — on and off — and a dial to set the grind size between 0 and 40. Mine generally stays between 25 and 30 to work with my standard coffee machine, but I’ve used the smallest setting for espresso (notoriously difficult to get as fine of a grind as you need) with no problem. And the subtleties between all the sizes are very apparent: You can make minute adjustments if you’re dedicated to landing on exactly what will yield the best cup for your particular coffee-brewing method. It takes a couple of rounds to grind a full bag of beans (how I do it, as opposed to per serving), but works quickly at about a minute per turn. In general, my biggest qualm with coffee grinders is the mess they make, but this one has nicely angled sides on the grind chamber that allow for relatively neat pouring. And it’s easy to disassemble, clean, and reassemble the detachable parts before I store it.
As a brand, Baratza came up in my reporting more often than any other. Some favor its higher-end models (more on a couple of those below), but several of the coffee aficionados I spoke with recommended this more affordable option, highlighting its quality performance and solid build — especially for the price. “It’s super-consistent,” Lareau says. Elliott Foos, director of coffee at Daymoves in Brooklyn, told us that he used the Encore at work when he previously ran the coffee shop attached to the first iteration of chef Flynn McGarry’s Lower East Side restaurant Gem. “It’s intuitive and performs wonderfully,” he says. While he acknowledges it can be a little loud — or a “touch chatty,” in his words — Foos says that’s to be expected for a grinder made of plastic and designed for the home. And Humberto Ricardo, founder of Third Rail Coffee, adds that Baratza machines are “designed to be repaired instead of thrown away should something break, which is good for my wallet and for the planet.” And speaking of repairs, Pratt noted Baratza’s great customer service. “When you have to replace the burrs every few years, they make it incredibly easy to do so,” he says.
Krups Precision Grinder – Best less expensive coffee grinder
If you’re not quite ready to take the plunge on a model upwards of $100, the Krups Precision Grinder is a very solid place to start. It comes recommended by Paul Schlader, owner of New York City-based Birch Coffee, who promises it has the essentials: 12 settings for selecting your preferred grind size and a “cup selector” dial to grind the exact amount of coffee you need for the number of drinks you’re making — and that’s it. The simplicity is exactly what Strategist writer Jeremy Rellosa, who bought the machine about a year ago, likes about it. Previously, Rellosa used a hand-crank model that took too much work and a blade grinder that resulted in uneven ground size; the Krups, he says, solves both these problems, giving him “the ease of an electric machine and the consistency of a burr blade,” he says. Now, he says he makes great pour-over daily and never has to fidget with the grind setting or cup dial — he simply pours his beans in, turns it on, and walks away. “The appliance also comes with a tiny brush to get all the coffee unstuck from the plastic grounds container,” he says. “But if you keep it clean, I’ve found that you rarely have to use it (the bits just slide right off as you dump them into your filter).”
Eureka Mignon Filtro Coffee Grinder – Best coffee grinder for filter brew methods
Matthew Kang, editor of Eater L.A., likes the Eureka Mignon even more than the similarly priced Baratza because he says it has better grind consistency. The catch is that it only mills on the coarser end of the spectrum — meaning it’s great for methods like pour-over, French press, and Aeropress, but not espresso. But the grinder is “strong, durable, and powerful,” Kang says, breaking down whole bags of coffee at a time with its bigger-than-average 50-mm. flat burrs. Kang does note that the machine only has a small dial to change the grind setting and a tiny button on the bottom to start the grinder without any timers. But he says that doesn’t matter — in the end, “the beans will be ground more consistently, resulting in better-tasting coffee.” This grinder certainly makes some noise, but as you can see in this video, it’s quite a reasonable level — especially for this price point, as the pro testing it points out.
Oxo Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder With Integrated Scale – Best coffee grinder with an integrated scale
Schlader loves this Oxo grinder for a number of reasons, but chief among them is its “built-in intelligent scale” — which means you won’t lose extra money or counter space buying a separate one. The feature “simplifies the process of grinding coffee for your average home brewer and cuts down on equipment,” he says. Enter the number of cups you’re going to brew and your preferred coarseness for whatever coffee-making method you employ, and the grinder spits out exactly what you need. “It’s an incredibly thoughtful product,” he says.
If you’re interested in an Oxo grinder (we love so many of its kitchen products, after all) but don’t need an integrated scale, recipe developer and cookbook author Samah Dada recommends this model. (It’s $200 less than the above’s regular price.) “I’ve had other grinders that gave me grief with error messages for no reason or inconsistent grounds,” she says. But in the year and a half she’s owned it, she says “this one has not failed me yet” even with frequent (up to twice a day) use, during which it takes about 30 seconds to grind whole beans. She also says she appreciates that the hopper is UV-blocking (so leaving whole beans in there won’t age them) and that it comes off the top of the machine very easily to rinse clean.