Every coffee drinker would prefer fresh ground coffee, no matter what type it is. There’s just something special and wonderful about freshly ground coffee that brings a smile as that first whiff floats through the house or coffee shop. In order to enjoy the special flavor of fresh ground coffee, one usually has to own some sort of coffee grinder.
A great tasting cup of coffee is produced from whole coffee that’s ground within a few minutes of brewing, and it doesn’t matter what kind of coffee bean is used, whether it’s an exotic blend or French Vanilla or a Columbian blend. Whole coffee beans can be caffeinated or decaffeinated. The reason why coffee tastes so much better when it’s just been through a coffee grinder, is that within two minutes, or so the experts claim, the coffee beans begin to oxidize, which is referred to in coffee circles as ’staling’, which is what changes the flavor. Most experts agree that the sooner you brew your coffee after you put it through a coffee grinder, the better your coffee will taste.
Roasted coffee beans must be ground to break the beans into smaller pieces so as to increase the surface area for extraction. The finer the grind size, the faster is the extraction, and vice versa. It is always recommended to grind the coffee beans just before brewing and with the right amount.
There are three main types of grinders available - blade, crusher and burr. The crusher is the ancient way of using a pestle and mortar to mash the beans. This process is difficult and gives an uneven grind because it just crushes them - not highly recommended. Blade grinders are the cheapest and the most straight forward coffee grinder commonly found in most shopping malls. Equipped with a motor and a blade, the user just has to throw in the beans, cover the grinder and press the button. The blade whirls, slicing the beans into small grounds - still not the best because the grains are not the same size and not all the oils are released, varying the flavor and dissipating a lot of the flavor.
Next is the burr grinder. There are two types of burr grinders: flat blade and conical. However, burrs use motorized plates with teeth that are pyramid in shape, allowing for the perfect grind. Better burrs allow for varied grain sizes because the speed can be adjusted accordingly.
The burr allows for the perfect brew. Speed control keeps the heating of the beans low.
Burrs have two categories. Professionals prefer the conical. It is noisy however. Good ones can go up to 500 rpm. Top quality ones go up to speeds of 10 thousand rpm, with their blades spinning at about twenty to thirty thousand rpm. This allows for fine grinds for Turkish coffee, for example. Some come with a dial for continuous speed adjustments. Others have buttons for some varied 40 different speed adjustments.
Other useful features of a coffee grinder include a timer and an auto-switch off. It also helps to be able watch the beans as the grinding takes place. Without this you cannot decide if the grind is ready. So, try to find one that doesn’t use glass or darkish plastic as this hinders your view. You should be able to judge the grind by its color. The choice for a grinder is subjective and individual, whether you need a guide in terms of the stepped adjustment or you are very particular about the slightest adjustment of the grind size.
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