From the beginning that I started making coffee at home, I wondered which coffee grinder to buy. What is the difference, and which of the two is the better option? In this article, I will put both coffee grinders to the test so you can make the best decision possible.
The ultimate battle: burr vs blade coffee grinder. I will get into the difference between the two coffee grinders, the price difference, and which of the two I would recommend buying. Make yourself a nice cup of coffee, and let’s get into it.
Do coffee grinders make a difference?
Yes, coffee grinders make a difference. If you want to make Your Dream Coffee at home, I would suggest buying a coffee grinder so you can grind fresh coffee every day.
This is where a coffee grinder comes in very handy. You can choose a coffee grinder that fits your budget. The difference between pre-ground coffee and grinding fresh coffee at home is out of this world. You get so much more flavor.
If you ask me, you are better off buying a cheap coffee grinder and cheaper coffee beans instead of a pricey bag of pre-ground coffee. The difference in taste is insane because the moment coffee is ground, it starts losing flavor. Let me tell you a little about the burr grinder:
What is a burr coffee grinder?
A burr coffee grinder is a coffee grinder with burr stones, and there will be two burrs in each coffee grinder. The burr mills will work counterclockwise to ensure an even coffee grind.
A vast majority of coffee lovers like the burr coffee grinders better than blade coffee grinders. Burr coffee grinders come in different shapes and sizes. There are the manual burr coffee grinders and the electric burr coffee grinder.
I bought a manual burr coffee grinder when I started out grinding coffee at home. I use the Hario Ceramic Coffee Mini Slim at home.
The coffee grinder is amazing to use and holds up to 40 grams of whole bean coffee in its container. There are many manual coffee grinders out there for you to try, so look around and choose one that suits your price range and needs.
What is a blade coffee grinder?
Now that you know that a burr coffee grinder uses burr mills to grind your coffee beans let’s move onto the blade coffee grinder. Blade coffee grinders are electric and can be found in many sizes as well.
A blade coffee grinder uses one or two blades that spin at high speeds, essentially breaking down everything it touches. The blades spin really fast, so you will have a good grind in about 10 to 15 seconds.
Although you will have ground coffee in no-time, the coffee beans will not be as consistent in grind compared to the burr grinder. This is because the blades crush everything it touches, even the already smaller pieces of coffee.
Most of the time, you end up with finely ground coffee near the bottom of the blades and are left with whole coffee beans at the upper level. This is why most coffee enthusiasts prefer to grind their coffee with a burr grinder to achieve a consistent grind.
I got gifted a small blade coffee grinder, which I will showcase a bit further down. The blade coffee grinder is easy to use as I only have to press one button to start the grinder.
I will be comparing the outcome of both coffee grinders down below so you can check out the difference between using a burr grinder and blade grinder.
How does the coffee grind differ between the coffee grinders?
Now, let me show you what both coffee grinders can do. As I have not been using an electric blade grinder for long hours, I still prefer using the manual burr grinder that I have had for a while.
When grinding with a manual burr grinder, you need to free up some time to grind your coffee. When I’m making one cup of joe, I grind coffee for about a minute or two at most. When I’m making more coffee than just one cup, it will take a bit longer. This is where the blade grinder comes in handy.
Down below you can see the result of grind coffee with a burr coffee grinder:
As you can see in the photo, the coffee is ground pretty even, and there are not many big chunks of coffee in there. This coffee is ground is used to make French press coffee. This way, I can really show you the difference.
Let’s move onto the blade coffee grinder:
I have pressed the button to start this little machine for roughly 10 seconds, and now I have ground coffee beans for the French press. You can see that the coffee beans are unevenly ground. There are still some pretty big chunks of coffee beans in there.
Most people use a coarse coffee grind to brew their French press coffee, so it doesn’t make that big a difference when using a blade grinder. The bigger chunks of coffee will not have that much of an impact on the flavor of your French press coffee.
However, if you want to brew coffee with a pour over coffee brewer, like a Chemex you might want to consider buying a burr grinder instead. Pour over coffee is a bit more sensitive to the wrong coffee grind. The flavor will be impacted by this big time.
If you want to learn how to brew coffee using a pour over coffee brewer like the Chemex and Hario V60, you can click the links. This will take you to the beginner brewing guides I’ve written about the coffee brewers.
Which coffee grinder is right for me?
If you are still unsure whether to buy a blade or burr coffee grinder, let me help you by putting everything together. Down below, you will find everything you need to know about the blade coffee grinder and the burr coffee grinder:
Why you should use a blade coffee grinder
A blade coffee grinder is for people who like to drink French press coffee and cold brew coffee. These types of coffee tend to be less impacted by an uneven coffee grind. The blade coffee grinder can grind fresh coffee beans at a super-fast speed.
If you want to brew your own coffee at home while using fresh whole coffee beans but still want a quick cup of joe, the blade coffee grinder is perfect for you. The blade coffee grinder will grind your coffee beans in about 10 seconds by pressing just one button.
The blade coffee grinder is easy to clean as well. Most of the time, there is a little brush in the box as well. Just give the coffee grinder a quick swipe with a clean, dry towel, and use the little cleaning brush to get underneath the blades.
Another plus that matters for most people is the prices for the blade coffee grinder. These blade coffee grinders can be found as low as $19.99 up to $49.99 for the higher end.
The higher-cost blade coffee grinders have more room to grind bigger amounts of coffee at once and will be more durable than cheaper options out there.
Whether you pick a cheaper blade grinder or something on the higher end, you will have a fast coffee grinder nevertheless.
Why the burr coffee grinder is the better option
A burr coffee grinder is best used for people who like to spend a little more time brewing their coffee at home. You need to account for at least 5 to 10 minutes before you can get your caffeinated cup of joe.
It will take some time to get used to the different grind sizes on the burr coffee grinder. But once you find the perfect grind size, you will not change it anytime soon.
This coffee grinder gives off the best results for a finer even grind, used for pour over coffee. These coffees taste best when an even coffee grind is used.
Although the amount of time before you get your cup of joe takes longer than using a blade grinder, the flavor difference will be immense. Using an even grind of coffee, there will be a lesser chance of under and over-extracting your coffee.
However, you will also need to use the correct amount of water and use a good water temperature to get that perfect cup of coffee.
If you don’t feel like spending the time and energy grinding your coffee beans by hand, you can also look into an electric burr grinder. These machines start at around $69.95 and can reach up to $249.95 for the higher-end ones.
The prices of electric burr coffee grinders can be quite steep for most people out there (myself included). This is why I bought the manual burr coffee grinder I talked about at the beginning. This set me back about $40 but is still going strong and delivering an even coffee grind every day.
Final verdict
In this article, I put the burr coffee grinder and blade coffee grinder to the test by grinding coffee beans. I prefer using a manual burr coffee grinder when brewing a small batch of coffee at once.
The blade coffee grinder is only used when I need to brew a big batch of French press coffee or make cold brew coffee at home. This is where an electric coffee grinder helps out a lot.
If you want to put those freshly ground coffee beans to the test, you can check out the beginner brewing guides I’ve listed below. It’s a great way to learn how to brew coffee when you’ve just started home-brewing coffee.
Which coffee grinder do you use at home, and which one are you interested in buying? Let me know by leaving a comment down below. If you have any other questions regarding coffee, you can also contact me directly by pressing the “Contact Me” button at the top!
4 Comments
I agree. The blade grinder is not ground and usually makes dust that filters through the filter. Which is good in cold brew. It’s not really a burr it’s more of a planetary helical gearset wide burr. Thank you for your research in this. I wonder what type of grinder is in the grocery market. It sounds like burr much like what they use in coffee shops. I like coffee shops. I like stands. I like church coffee with egg whites and have you tried that ever? You do not even need a grinder. Sometimes I crush the bean between my fingers. For some reason I do not count coffee beans dipped in chocolate as coffee consumption. I hope you enjoy your coffee as much as I do.
Hi John,
Thanks for leaving a comment!
I love drinking my daily coffees, and it’s great to hear that you have so many different ways of getting your coffee consumed.
-Jeffrey
I”ve never used a burr grinder so I can’t speak to it’s relative merits. Recent I got a grinder in the first place is that I like Turkish Style coffee which is a very very fine grind. I was unable to get that level of grind from Supermarket coffee those machines are set to coarse. For this application of blood type grinder works fine the difference from what the article describes is that instead of trying to grind the beans in 10 seconds you grind them fourth 25 to 30 seconds the result is an evenly ground very fine grind coffee with no large particles.
A benefit of doing it this way coffee aficionados would probably sneer at -you get the exactly the same flavor drip style coffee using half the amount of beans.
I believe it’s worth noting that unless you get the grinder completely clean that means not just the visible dust but cleaning all the residual oil from the machine that oil will turn rancid and any grounds that you make after that bitter and sour.
Hey Paul,
It’s nice to hear that you’ve gotten a coffee grinder of your own.
I also like to clean my coffee grinder, so I know my coffees will taste the best they can.
Please let me know if you have any other questions, as I’d be happy to help!
-Jeffrey