It All Changed With a Burr Grinder

I feel that I need to preface this by saying that I am not affiliated with any burr grinder company. That being said, if you represent a company that sells burr grinders, holler at me.

We brought our Baratza Encore burr grinder to the Shipyard Night Markets in order to grind fresh coffee for the percolator and to grind bags of coffee. The burr grinder has completely revolutionized the coffee experience for me.

A standard blade “grinder” doesn’t do a great job at actually grinding your beans. Instead, all it does is chop the beans into random sized bits. This inconsistency in the grind size can actually damage or clog your favourite brewing machine.

Figure 1 - Blade Grinder produces an inconsistent grind size

The burr grinder uses two burrs that grind the coffee beans between them to ensure a consistent grind size. The distance between the burrs will dictate the size of the grind. Most burr grinders have a selection of various sizes which can be used to fit your favourite brew method. In my experience, these grinders work faster than a blade grinder and they have a hopper that allows you to store coffee beans in the machine itself.

Figure 2 - The burr grinder produces a much more consistent grind