Blade Grinder Makes Better French Press Than Burr Grinder?

[Steve Freides]

I'd appreciate help from those who know about coffee grinders and French Press.

My wife drinks from our super-auto espresso machine during the week,
and on the weekends, makes a pot of French Press.

Until yesterday, we never bothered with a coffee grinder - we just
used a general purpose, inexpensive, blade grinder, the one we'd
always had in our kitchen and used for spices and whatever else.
Yesterday, we made the same coffee we usually make, a blend that I
home roast and use in the espresso machine, and ground it on setting
14 out of 16, which is nearly the coarsest possible, in the grinder we
got, a Capresso conical burr machine. Today, I tried a different
blend, using no Sumatra in the hopes of giving my wife back some of
the flavor she said was missing.

The results, compared to the blade grinder, have greatly disappointed
my wife - the says the coffee has much less flavor, and I agree - can
anyone explain? We could, of course, go back to the blade grinder,
and our initial guess is that we should try a finer grinder on the new
machine since we're assuming that the blade grinder resulted in a
finer grind, but the blade grinder didn't result in "mud" in the
bottom of the cup.

Any guidance appreciated - we feel like we tried to make the coffee
better and we've made it worse somehow.

-S-

[North L. Sullivan]

On 06/01/2014 07:50 AM, Steve Freides wrote:

A good burr grinder will provide a more consistent grind than a blade
grinder, but that's all. That has nothing to do with
your mutual tastes, coffee, water temperature, or time the grounds are
exposed to the hot water. Lots of variables
besides the grinder. If your burr grinder is producing grounds coarser
than your blade grinder, you need to increase
the steeping time to produce roughly the same result.

North Sullivan

[scott stap]

Ok, well here is some thought starters:

1. Is it a used Burr Grinder? Could it be dirty with rancid oils stuck inside?

2. Are you maybe over grinding and making the ground coffee tooo fine (which would also result in over extraction/bitter/lots of fines). French Press setting would be fairly coarse. If you rub the grounds between your fingers does it feel gritty or smooth?

3. The Capresso is a low end burr grinder with itty bitty burrs that heat up faster than the large burrs in a higher end or commercial machine and are much more inaccurate. I thought people were blowing smoke and my Braun burr grinder was just fine.... until I got a commercial unit. I have no clue where my little one is anymore ;-) The small grinder produced tons more fines than the big one and my French Press has a lot less left in the bottom of the cup now at the end of my drink.

4. Have you thought about an AeroPress? http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm 
That would filter out the grinds and still have some French Press advantages.

Yes, I firmly believe that a Burr grinder exceeds a blade grinder BUT at the low end there may not be enough difference to warrant the change as you are finding out.

As for the difference between grinders, think scissors vs machete. Scissors cut from both sides whereas a machete only beats from one side. You are bound to get a better cut with the scissors. NOW, compare the cheepo dollar store scissors to a pair of Fiskars scissors. The Fiskars are going to cut easier and more accurately with less fabric dust getting in your coffee... ;-)

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