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572 of 582 humans found the following review helpful.
Good buy for the Price
By Matthew Dees
Don’t believe that ANY grinder in this price range will be the uttermost grinder for all your grinding needs. I read with amusement as numerous reviewers slammed this grinder for not grinding well sufficient to use with their espresso machines. I own this machine for use with my drip coffee maker only. I own a $500+ Mazzer Grinder for my espresso machine. The point being, that for the sheer consistent grind necessitated for use with espresso, you better be more than willing to step up significantly in price. That said, on to this grinder review.
Considering there are no decent blade grinders on the market – including those in the $25 price range, the best grinder to have is a burr grinder. Burr grinders do not manufacture the heat that destroys the flavor of your beans and produces a more uniformed grind. Burr grinders do not create the big “chunks” of beans in varying size that a blade grinder does. I have yet to see any missed “untouched” beans find their way past the burrs (as one reviewer claimed) and find that hard to believe, giving careful consideration to beans may only pass through the little space amid the burrs and would therefore be ground on their way through. You may get a lot of bean littler than your setting, but will not get anything larger than your setting.
As with any burr grinder beneath $200 this grinder does manufacture a good deal of powder. It brings about a lot of powder if you try to grind at its’ finest setting (called Turkish Coffee). For drip coffee makers though, a mid-range toward coarse setting doesn’t fabricate sufficient powder to be a concern when using paper filters in your coffee maker and a GOOD bean to start out with. I at times wonder if the complaints of “bitterness” from some reviewers isn’t a problem with their bean choice or their water temperature. As a drinker of 100% Kona in my drip maker, I have yet to taste a bitter cup of coffee, even with the less than a tsp. of powder that is present in my freshly ground coffee.
Noisy? Yes, but no more noisy than a lot of and less noisy than most in this price range. A grinder of this size will manufacture noise, but unless you plan on grinding 24/7 that is to be expected. My guests are genuinely enthralled by the noise and the capacity to watch fresh beans meet their demise (I hang with a morbid crowd) as the beans tardily vanish down the hopper. The timer is a nice touch if noise is a concern. The fact that you may turn it on, leave the room and return in a minute or two (avoiding the noise) to find the unit mechanically shut off will have to make those with sensible hearing happy.
This grinder has a decent weight to it, making it feel sturdy on your countertop. The S/S body likewise gives the aspect of a well built machine and makes it more stylish than your ordinary black plastic neoprene models being produced by other manufacturers. This is a solid, sturdy, and well built machine for this price.
If there are complaints that you must be cautioned about, it is the age old problem of static cling caused by the use of plastic for the grounds receiver. Cuisinart must have applied glass to receive the grounds. I would have gladly remunerated an extra $3 on the final price in order to keep out of the way of dealing with the static cling found in each machine that uses plastic for this purpose. The other is the clean-up, if you are as anal as I am in regards to coffee equipment. Again, the static cling is annoying, but I keep a slim painters brush nearby for the aim of brushing out the chute and receiver which makes the task quick and easy. It loses a star for the static cling issues, but I guess each grinder in this price range has the same problem because they use plastic.
Overall, for under $50 this is a very good machine for the price.
355 of 362 people found the following review helpful.
Initial Reactions
By onipar
First, after checking the Amazon listings, I noticed a similar model (Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill). I’m not sure if this model is a newer version of that one–because they look awfully similar–but I did detect that a good deal of of the reactions to that other model are fitting for this one.
After my basi use, the initial thing I noticed was that the grind (I used the lowest “coarse” setting) didn’t seem as consistent as I thought it would be, giving careful consideration to the point of using a burr grinder is to get a consistent grind. There was a reasonable amount of dust that came through, in other words.
For the price, I can’t say I expected it to be perfect, and honestly, this bit of coffee dust (maybe half a teaspoon)doesn’t much bother me. A mutual complaint for the other model is that the plastic hoppers attract the coffee dust due to static cling. This is likewise unfeigned here, but for me, not a problem.
Overall, I like the way this grinder works. Just realize going in that this is one of the most inexpensive (price-wise) burr grinders on the market, so you can’t suppose it to function like a $400 model. If you’re just getting into grinding your own coffee and want to commence to experience the gains of burr ground coffee and french presses, I’d say this is a great place to start.
If, however, you already own costly coffee instrumentation (say, an highpriced espresso maker for instance) you might want to spring for a higher quality burr grinder.
The other model had a great deal of persons mentioning the motor dying after 6 or so months. Some clients said that it was due to a buildup of coffee dust amidst the hopper and grinders, and that after unscrewing the top and cleaning it out, the motor worked again.
I’ve only had my grinder one day, so I can’t comment on this yet. But I plan on updating this review sporadically as I use my grinder.
Finally, a call for buyer support:
I am using this grinder with my French press, which needs a coarse grind of beans. I am testing the dissimilar settings (as there are regarding 5 or 6 “coarse” settings to choose from. I started on the low end of the coarse cycle.
My suggestion? If you get this machine, why not tell me, in the comment section, which setting works best for you with use of a french press. I will also update, once I’ve employed all the settings, to tell you what I find in terms of the best setting.
UPDATE #1: I’ve now employed all the coarsest settings except the very last (coarsest), and not surprisingly, the coarser the grind, the better the coffee when using a French Press. I’m sure other elements are coming into play, such as the amount of coffee I use, the temperature of the water, and the steeping time. But without a doubt, the coffee tastes much better than when I employed to use a blade grinder.
I’m still experiencing a sure amount of “dust” with each batch I grind. Interestingly, the dust seems to clump up and stick to the edge of the container after being expelled. I’m not sure if this is mutual for everyone, or is perhaps it has something to do with the quality of bean I’m using. But I’ll be sure to update once I use a dissimilar type of bean.
The good news is that when the dust clumps like this, it’s easy to brush away and avoid.
More Updates to come.
UPDATE #2: I decisive to dial back the coarseness of my grind, so for french press I think I like the third to last coarseness setting the best. The machine proceeds to expel around half a teaspoon of coffee dust (clumped versus the container) per grind, which I know most die-hards would find unacceptable, but for a novice like me, isn’t too bad.
I’ve taken to scooping the dust into a distinguished container to save. My guess is that for each one pound bag of coffee I grind, I may get sufficient dust saved to brew one drip pot of coffee. Sure, it won’t be as fresh, but it’s better than using it in the french press and getting more “sludge”, or throwing it away and wasting it.
I have likewise decisive to alter my original 4-star rating to a 3-star. I still like the machine, but I do think the lack of grind uniformity and amount of dust is annoying. I reiterate: If you are a novice/just getting into grinding your own coffee, this machine is a good fit. But if you have costly instrumentation (espresso machines, etc) spend the extra cash on a better grinder.
Update #3 (3/16/2010): I’ve had the machine closely 3 months and it’s still working fine. No motor failure here. I do unscrew the top of the machine to clean excess dust from the burrs, which does cake on beauteous thick after a while, and *might* be the cause of some of the reported motor failures.
One other thing I neglected to note is the counter top mess. It seems closely out of the question for me to grind a good deal of coffee without getting a bunch of coffee dust on the counter. This does *not* occur for the duration of grinding, rather, when I remove the lid and scoop the coffee into my pot. In other words, it’s in all probability to be expected, but I thought I’d note it.
Overall, I’m still enjoying my machine and getting good use out of it each day.
Update #4 (7/13/2010): Still going strong. No difficulties at all.
388 of 401 humans found the following review helpful.
Almost as good as I expected
By David Bock
First off, the grind you get from a burr grinder is superior to a blade, hands down. This grinder makes a superbly uniform grind, and the fineness/coarseness is without apparent effort adjustable. For the price, this is an magnificent burr grinder. Highly commend it for your intermediate coffee drinker. If you are grinding things finely, grinding spices or flavored coffees, or grinding lots of coffee, read on for indispensable details.
I was a little disappointed with the plastic grind hopper. Burr grinders I have used in the past were glass, and while I didn’t think plastic would be a big deal, exceedingly fine grinds tend to ‘stick’ due to static electricity.
When doing longer grinds (for more spectacular pots of coffee, etc) the motor in truth starts to sound strained. I’m worried that with heavy use over a few months I might have issues with it. If I do, I’ll update this review.
*most* of the grinder is very easy to clean… however, inside the base there are a couple of pieces out of reach, and in truth fine grinds tend to gather just inside the chute that dumps the grinds into the hopper. If you grind flavored coffees (or, in my case, fresh seed spices) and need to clean it, you might be a little frustrated.
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