Grinding Coffee for your Small Coffee Maker
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.
What makes the burr grinder unique amongst the different types of grinders available is that they use a movable grinding wheel to grind the beans against a non-movable surface, creating a uniform and consistent grind every time. And the dust I mentioned previously is practically non-existent then using a burr style grinder, which is a huge bonus. In terms of the different types of burr grinders, the conical burr grinder tends to operate cleaner (less mess) and quieter. The conical grinders are also a bit more expensive, but are worth it in my opinion, particularly since you’ve already made the commitment to spend a bit of money on a grinder. A good quality, highly rated conical burr grinder will run between $75 and $100 and will last you many years.
Buying a burr grinder is a great decision, but there are other things to consider besides just purchasing the grinder itself. The freshness of the beans is perhaps equally important as the grinder used to grind them. You should use your beans within 1 week of purchasing them and should use the ground coffee within seconds of grinding it; otherwise, the resulting cup will be negatively affected. Grinding the beans ahead of time will not result in anything positive, so be sure to adhere to the advice recommended above.
If you happen to live near a local roaster you should try to purchase fresh roasted coffee beans. A good coffee roaster will include the date the beans were roasted. It’s important to use beans that have been roasted within 3-5 days of being ground. To find a local roaster simply check out some online forums such as coffeegeek.com. If you aren’t fortunate enough to live near a roaster, don’t worry – you will still be able to produce great coffee using beans from your supermarket or favorite coffee shop.
Making the decision to grind your own beans is a monumental step on your journey to producing great coffee. In my opinion, there is no other way to brew coffee other than to use freshly ground beans. You will be able to produce a richer, more aromatic cup of coffee than you can buy at many so-called coffee shops.
Conrad writes information and articles to help you choose the very best small coffee machine and also writes information about the best accessories forsmall coffee machines
