Testing Devices: Electric Coffee Grinders

Devoted to those, who cannot imagine their lives without coffee.

If there is no coffee-making machine – an ordinary or a capsule one – in the house, coffee beans need grinding before making an eye opening brew. This is an easy task if you use an electric coffee grinder: all you need is to press the button and there it is – ground coffee beans. However, is it really that easy? Let’s find out by testing 4 electric coffee grinders of famous brands: Bosch, Vitek, DeLonghi and Profi Cook.

Electric coffee grinders for domestic usage can be two different types: with a rotary blade or grind wheels. In the first ones, grinding is provided with the help of a rotating blade, usually it is two-bladed. In models of the second type, beans are ground between two metal ratchet disks. Coffee grinders with grind wheels have better capacity; they are much safer as the grind wheels are ‘hidden’ inside of the body, whereas using ones with blades there is a close contact. Moreover, an automatic regulation of the grinding degree is available for different ways of making coffee. However, coffee grinders with grind wheels have their disadvantages too: they are usually bigger, than those with blades, and they are more expensive.

Coffee Grinder Bosch MKM6003: Incarnation of Simplicity

Design. A coffee grinder for ascetics. There is nothing needless: neither in the design, nor in the functions. Simple shapes, known to everyone since time immemorial. The model made in black will fit any interior of any kitchen. (There is also the same model in white – МКМ 6000).

Specifications. This type is equipped with a rotary blade made of stainless steel. The capacity of the container for coffee is 75 gr. Pour coffee beans, close to the top (otherwise, you won’t be able to switch this model on) and pressing the button pulsed, grind the beans up. Regulation of the grind degree is fully performed by the user – the less time you grind the beans up, the coarser the grinding will be.

Blades in this coffee grinder can’t be removed, so for regular cleaning of the container, using a brush is quite convenient. Unfortunately, the producer doesn’t provide a cleaning brush together with the device.

The power of this model is 180 W. The more powerful the engine is the higher the speed. This value is considered to be the best for a good-quality grinding.

In actual practice. There were no problems while testing Bosch MKM6003. We managed to get fine grinding (for espresso coffee machine, this took us 10 seconds) as well as middle grinding ( for a French press, about 7 seconds) and coarse grinding (for infusing coffee in the coffee pot or right in the mug, 5 seconds). We tried grinding both a little amount of coffee beans and a full container – this coffee grinder coped with all the tasks. Also, it didn’t produce much noise: we can’t say it is a quiet one, but the noise level can be defined as an acceptable one. Besides, it’ll take you only a few seconds, you’ll easily put up with it.

Price. An average retail price of the electric coffee grinder MKM6003 is about US $65.00.

Coffee Grinder Vitek VT-1548 BK: More Opportunities 

Design. Quite a nice device, however, it is rather plain. Maybe, this is even for the better as it won’t take away from the interior design of your home. It is black, in the front of the body there is a removable vessel for coffee beans made of clear plastic. As for the dimensions, it is bigger than the Bosch, because it is fitted with the grind wheels. But it can’t be called a huge one: height – 22.5 cm, width – 9.5 cm, depth – 15 cm.

Specifications. As it has already been noted, this is a coffee grinder with grind wheels. These grind wheels are removable and can be easily cleaned, for this purpose there is a special brush coming together with the coffee grinder. The most important part of this is to set all the parts up again – this can be a difficult thing to do the first time, you need to get used to it.

On the front part of the body there is a rotary controller – you use it to choose the amount of the portions (up to 12 cups) for which you need to grind coffee beans. For one cup it makes about 7-8 gr of coffee (we weighed it) – this will create a classic brew. However, there is always the option to change this amount – just turn the controller.

On the side of the body there is a grinding degree regulator. It changes the gap between the grind wheels, thus making it possible to produce the right coffee powder for this or that way of preparing the beverage. Digit 1 stands for coarse grinding, and 8 stands for the finest grinding.

The capacity of the vessel for coffee beans of this coffee grinder is 125 gr. Unlike with models fitted with blades, ground coffee doesn’t remain in the same container, it goes into the removable one. This is convenient. Remember, that coffee loses its aroma very quickly even being carefully packed, thus it’s better to pour into a grinder the amount of beans that you need to prepare the desirable number of cups (you’ll learn it with time).

The coffee grinder won’t work without the inserted container for ground coffee or with an open lid of the vessel for coffee beans.

Vitek VT-1548 BK isn’t as powerful as the Bosch grinder — 100 W. However, this is enough for the device fitted with grind wheels — rotational speeds here are less.

In actual practice. As it was with the previous ‘guinea pig’, we faced no problems while using it. The coffee grinder coped with all the tests: it ground different amounts of coffee with coarse, middle and fine grinding. We chose different number of portions. We cleaned the grind wheels with the brush – wanted to find out whether it was convenient or not. Everything went smoothly without any trouble or surprises. The noise level is acceptable – we recommend this coffee grinder for everyday domestic usage.

There is just one ‘but’ – there isn’t any automatic switch-off, if there aren’t any beans inside. Taking into account that the user doesn’t need to push the button all the time (i.e. to be near it) – this can end in the device going out of order.  However, when it runs out of beans, the sound produced by the engine changes significantly, so you should listen to it carefully if you go out of the room when you are grinding.

Price. The recommended retail price of the coffee grinder Vitek VT-1548 BK is US $41.81

Coffee Grinder DeLonghi KG89: Expensive and Tasty

Design. This model, perhaps, looks more expensive than all other tested samples. Such an effect is produced by the combination of black and darkened clear plastic with the metal trimmings of the body. The latter always makes things look more ‘premium’, but has an obvious drawback – stains and finger prints become much more noticeable. And in this sense KG89 – is a classic nice design, but requires a thorough cleaning not only of the inner working parts (as all the coffee grinders do) but also of the exterior elements.

Specifications. According to its specifications, this model is very alike the sample by Vitek: it is equipped with grind wheels too; you can choose the amount of the ground coffee setting the number of cups and specify the required grinding degree as well. Besides, the manufacturer claims simplicity of usage to be among the specifications of the model – this is written on the official website. Oh, this marketing!

It should be noted that there is a so-called Dual Safe System: the coffee grinder won’t work until the vessel for beans is inserted or if the container for ground coffee is removed. In fact, this is the same safety system as the model Vitek has, but with a better sounding name (thanks to the marketers!)

This model has power of 110W, the capacity of the vessel for coffee beans is 120 gr. Dimensions are the following: height – 26cm, width – 13 cm, depth – 16 cm. It is bigger than the Vitek.

In actual practice. This coffee grinder wasn’t an exception: we managed to achieve the desired results without any additional effort: we ground coffee for different number of cups, chose different grinding degrees – everything went smoothly. Grind wheels can be easily removed and cleaned providing that you have something to clean it with – there isn’t a brush included to make this procedure easier. It’s a trifle but a displeasing one, taking into account that it’s the most expensive coffee grinder in our testing.

Here we did face the same problem as with the Vitek model – there isn’t an automatic switch-off when the vessel for beans is empty. So, if there aren’t any coffee beans, you hear a muffled sound of the working engine. Meanwhile, Coffee machines equipped with an installed grinder inform their users (on the display, for example), that you need to pour some coffee beans.

Price. The recommended retail price of the coffee grinder DeLonghi KG89 is US $83.50

Coffee Grinder Profi Cook PC-KSW 1021: Two in 1

Design. The body of this model is made of metal. It isn’t trimming, it does have a metallic body, although there are plastic elements. This model looks very stylish, especially together with the clear top and metal rimming. However, as any metallic ‘thing’ – the problem is that dirt is noticeable on the body. Although, it seems that it is less obvious than in case with DeLonghi. On the whole, it is, perhaps, the most beautiful coffee grinder out of the tested samples.

Specifications. Profi Cook PC-KSW 1021 is a two-purposed model. It’s engine can be attached to (as in stationary blenders) a coffee grinder-container or a vessel with four bladed knife for milling little amounts of products (nuts, onions, herbs, chocolate and so on). It is important not to mix them up and no to put garlic, for instance, into the coffee grinder.

The coffee grinder Profi Cook PC-KSW 1021 is equipped with a rotary double-bladed knife. Everything is simple: pour coffee beans into the vessel (85 gr), install it onto the station and put on the top. Next you need to hold the device with one hand and push on top of it with your other hand – and, there it is, it started grinding. You need to control the grinding degree yourself.

Profi Cook PC-KSW 1021 has the power of 200 W. As for the dimensions, it is a little bit wider (its diameter is longer) than the Bosch model, but it is smaller than the other tested samples.

In actual practice. You need to get used to the fact that there isn’t a button, common for coffee grinders with blades – instead you have to push on the whole top. At first, the grinder was working by fits and starts. Nevertheless, little by little everything started to work smoothly. As a result, we managed to get ground coffee of different grinding degrees.

By the way, as the engine here is more powerful than the Bosch model has, you should be more attentive in order not to overgrind your coffee and get it with the right grinding degree.

Price. The recommended retail price for the coffee grinder Profi Cook PC-KSW 1021 is US $38.96.

Summarizing

So, there were no failures in grinding with any of the samples. All of the grinders coped with their tasks (each in its own way), and we got ground coffee of different grinding degrees. So which grinder is the best? In our opinion, there are two leaders in the test. This is Vitek VT-1548 BK that has a reasonable price and offers both good grinding and a range of added options (different number of portions an autoregulation of grinding degree). And the Profi Cook PC-KSW 1021. Here, having paid only once, a user get two devices in one: a coffee grinder and a blender for milling different products. Don’t forget the successful design of this model, in our point of view. Bosch MKM6003 works well without any failures. If your only purpose is to grind coffee beans it’ll perfectly suit you. As for DeLonghi KG89, we consider it to be overestimated: $80 -85 is too much for such a device. In fact, you pay more only for the famous Italian brand (even though it was made in China) and for some metal trimming in the body.

A comparison chart of the specifications of the tested electric coffee grinders.