Grinding Coffee
Jan. 7th, 2007 07:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoutfellowAs I mentioned a while back, I now own a manual coffee grinder. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
countrycousin asked for my thoughts on the grinder, so here they are, under the cut.
My new grinder was made by "Hues & Brews"; it cost $54.95. (I have no idea whether this price is high, low, or standard.) Let me describe it first. The base of the grinder is a hollow ceramic cube, about 4" on a side. The grinder mechanism, which is metal, plastic, and (decoratively) wood, sits on top, attached by a hinge-and-latch; you latch it while grinding, and unlatch to retrieve the grounds. The beans are inserted through a sliding door into the grinding chamber. (You can, if you want to watch, leave the door open while grinding, if you don't mind the occasional bit of bean-shrapnel.) The grinder handle rotates horizontally.
I normally just make one cup at a time, and grind the appropriate amount as the water is boiling. (I find that the timing is just about right: set up the cup with filter and filter paper, put the beans in the grinder, start the water heating, and start grinding.) The mechanism grinds easily; the effort involved isn't onerous, even at 4 AM... The only problem I've encountered is that getting the grounds out of the base can be a bit of a problem - tipping them out is difficult, as the grinder (with the grinding part unlatched) is bulky and cumbersome, and spooning them out of a hollow cube is likewise tricky. I solved that with the help of a "Mr. Coffee"-style flat-bottomed filter, which I inserted into the cube. The grounds drop into it, and I just lift the filter out, grounds and all, when I'm done.
All in all, I'm pretty happy with it.
countrycousin asked for my thoughts on the grinder, so here they are, under the cut.My new grinder was made by "Hues & Brews"; it cost $54.95. (I have no idea whether this price is high, low, or standard.) Let me describe it first. The base of the grinder is a hollow ceramic cube, about 4" on a side. The grinder mechanism, which is metal, plastic, and (decoratively) wood, sits on top, attached by a hinge-and-latch; you latch it while grinding, and unlatch to retrieve the grounds. The beans are inserted through a sliding door into the grinding chamber. (You can, if you want to watch, leave the door open while grinding, if you don't mind the occasional bit of bean-shrapnel.) The grinder handle rotates horizontally.
I normally just make one cup at a time, and grind the appropriate amount as the water is boiling. (I find that the timing is just about right: set up the cup with filter and filter paper, put the beans in the grinder, start the water heating, and start grinding.) The mechanism grinds easily; the effort involved isn't onerous, even at 4 AM... The only problem I've encountered is that getting the grounds out of the base can be a bit of a problem - tipping them out is difficult, as the grinder (with the grinding part unlatched) is bulky and cumbersome, and spooning them out of a hollow cube is likewise tricky. I solved that with the help of a "Mr. Coffee"-style flat-bottomed filter, which I inserted into the cube. The grounds drop into it, and I just lift the filter out, grounds and all, when I'm done.
All in all, I'm pretty happy with it.
