Which is better for a coffee grinder, manual or electric? What is the difference between flat knives and taper knives?

If you want to pursue a complete coffee flavor, fresh freshly ground coffee must be the most suitable choice. As the name suggests, freshly ground coffee is freshly ground coffee. If you want to make your own freshly ground coffee at home, the bean grinder is an indispensable device. But bean grinders also have a wide variety of options! As long as we open an online shopping platform and search for "bean grinder," we can see various styles and designs, prices ranging from tens to tens of thousands of yuan, and various grinding effects. It's dazzling. This has led many friends to often consult Xiangqian Street for recommendations on bean grinder backstage. Although Qianjie is not an equipment party, and the professional horizontal evaluation of bean mills is not what Qianjie is good at, at least it has been in operation for so many years, and the popular electric mills and hand mills on the market have basically been used, so it is still possible to give certain purchasing suggestions. So today, Qianjie will come to share what aspects should be chosen for novices when purchasing a bean grinder.

1. Power of bean grinders Currently, bean grinders on the market are mainly divided into two categories: hand-operated bean grinders and electric bean grinders. The core difference between them lies in the source of power. The hand-operated bean grinder relies entirely on human power to drive the cutter head to operate! By manually shaking the handle installed on the top of the bean grinder, the knife head inside the machine will begin to rotate and grind the coffee beans.

Because there is no built-in motor, general hand-cranked bean grinders are very small and convenient to carry. If you are a novice who just started and wants to explore coffee slowly, or a student at school or a user who is traveling and always has coffee, then a hand-cranked bean grinder that does not use electricity and is affordable will be a pretty good choice. The electric bean grinder relies on a motor to drive the knife head to grind beans, so it needs to be electrified to make the motor knife head operate. The advantage is that it can grind coffee beans quickly and easily without consuming too much manpower and time.

Just because of the built-in motor, most electric mills will be relatively large. In addition, it requires power to operate, so the usage scenarios of the electric mill will be relatively fixed and cannot be easily moved. If you have a sufficient budget, a fixed coffee brewing scene, and don't want to spend too much time and energy grinding beans, then an electric mill will be a good choice.

2. The price of bean grinders As mentioned at the beginning of Qianjie, the price of bean grinders on the market ranges from tens of yuan to tens of thousands of yuan. Putting aside the bean-cutting machines costing tens of yuan and the commercial machines costing tens of thousands of yuan, the price for regular home users to purchase bean grinders is mainly around a few hundred yuan to a thousand yuan. And we can also select the bean grinder based on our own budget. If you have a high budget, the electric mill is very good! Because whether it is grinding accuracy or durability, the electric mill can be said to be rolled by hand in all aspects.

However, there are certain limits to this crushing, that is, how much the price must be to have such an effect! Generally, only electric mills with a price of thousands of yuan can ensure high-precision grinding quality. Below 1,000 yuan, the advantage of manual grinding will be greater. Because the hand mill is not equipped with a motor, its cost can be largely concentrated on the quality of the grinding. Electric mills need to allocate costs to motors. In contrast, electric mills with lower prices may not be as good as hand mills at the same price. If you want to choose hand grinding, you can choose from the following four gears based on your budget: 200 - 499 yuan, 500 - 799 yuan, 800 - 999 yuan, and more than 1,000 yuan. The gear range of 200 - 499 yuan can be regarded as an entry-level hand grinder. The hand grinder at this price is very suitable for novices. The price is not high but the grinding quality is quite good, and you can pay attention to the grinding particle size of the coffee; while the gear range of 500 - 799 yuan can be regarded as an advanced hand grinder, because the quality of the cutter head and bearing will be improved, and the grinding quality and durability will naturally improve simultaneously; The 800-999 yuan gear is a high-end version of the hand grinder. Although that is said, Qianjie will not feel much different from the bean grinder in the previous gear after actual experience.

There is not much to introduce in front of stalls above 1,000 yuan, because their quality and experience will be significantly improved compared with those below 1,000 yuan. Basically, there will be no big problem with hand grinders that can reach this gear, so if the gear you choose is more than 1,000 yuan, then you can directly choose the hand grinder you like in this gear and buy it. Or if it's safer, you can choose the well-known German brand hand mill ~ But if your budget is a few thousand yuan, you can actually consider starting an electric bean grinder. Basically, you can buy one within 4,000 yuan. It's a very good electric mill! So what options are there?

Royal Little Fuji, Fellow ODE, Thai Mill Sculptor, etc. are all good choices considered by Qianjie. The precision and quality of grinding can be guaranteed to a certain extent and the cost performance is high. Just when buying electric mills, everyone should pay attention to that there are two different types of electric mills: Italian style and single piece. Due to the large difference in the degree of grinding required by the two extraction methods, most bean grinders on the market cannot be dual-use. It is best to confirm clearly when purchasing to prevent links such as the need for return and exchange that will complicate the problem.

3. The cutter head of the bean grinder In fact, the above two ideas are enough for everyone to choose a suitable bean grinder, but if we want to advance further, we can even comprehensively consider the shape and particle size distribution of the ground particles.(mainly the shape of the particles). The main factor that determines all this is the cutter head of the bean grinder (followed by the speed). The cutter heads of bean grinding machines are mainly divided into three types, flat knives, cone knives, and ghost teeth. They will change the shape and particle size distribution of the resulting coffee particles due to different grinding methods. Flat knife is a relatively common knife head. Its grinding method is mainly "peeling." After being put, the coffee beans will be cut into slices or blocks (with more fine powder) by the sharp lines of the flat knife. This shape of coffee powder will have a larger water-contacting surface area, so the faster the extracted substances will dissolve, making the coffee more intense (but it is easier to dissolve negative flavors) and richer in layers.

Similarly, cone knives are also relatively common, and their grinding method is mainly "grinding", so the ground coffee particles are mainly irregular pieces with relatively few fine powders. Because this type of particles is large and relatively thick, it takes longer for water to enter the inside of the coffee powder. This can slow down the dissolution rate of the substance and make the coffee less easy to overextract.

Strictly speaking, the ghost tooth cutter head is actually an improved version of the flat knife, because its structure is the same as that of the flat knife, and it is composed of two cutter heads, except that its blade has been changed into a gear shape. Such a change can effectively reduce the phenomenon of extrusion during grinding, make the particles more uniform and reduce fine powder. The grinding method of ghost teeth is mainly "grinding", so the grains it grinds are more like spherical polygonal grains. In addition, the distribution of coarse and fine powders is relatively uniform, so the consistency and mellow degree of brewed coffee will be relatively high. So the above are the three ideas shared by Qianjie for selecting a bean grinder. You can find a bean grinder that suits you based on your budget and needs, and then buy it from it ~

- END -