# Is it worth getting an electric grinder for Aeropress?



## Robbo (Feb 17, 2016)

Hi, Im new hence the silly question.

I was looking in the grinder section and have seen the comments about how important a decent grinder is, but my tiny brain is asking, wouldn't this only be relevant to espresso machines where grind size really affects the water travelling through the compressed coffee?

I can see even with the Aeropress you need a fairly even fine'ish grind but if at some point i was to replace my Rhinowares handgrinder with a £300 'entry level' grinder or even a £1000 with brass knobs jobbie, would it really make much of a difference to the end result drink and would it be a case of paying an hundreds of pounds for the convenience of not hand grinding?


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

All depends which grinder you go for, a second hand Santos would be a great step up for aero press or French press etc, alternatively get a much better hand grinder like a lido 2


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

A Rhino is adequate for Aeropress, what you do in terms of recipe has by far the biggest effect. You could spend several hundred and just end up paying for the convenience & speed with little benefit in the cup. But, convenience & speed have significant value


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

I agree in some respects. Getting a repeatable recipe/method sorted is the single best thing you can do but in my opinion you would notice a big difference between a rhino, I.e Porlex and something like a Lido 3. The burrs are better and the grinders themselves are more stable so you'll get better results in the cup. So, spend an extra £100 and get a lido three (or a Hausgrind/Feldgrind) if you want better results in the cup. Think of the baratza preciso as a motorised lido 3, same burrs, same results as far as I can tell. Just less elbow grease required.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

foundrycoffeeroasters.com said:


> I agree in some respects. Getting a repeatable recipe/method sorted is the single best thing you can do but in my opinion you would notice a big difference between a rhino, I.e Porlex and something like a Lido 3. The burrs are better and the grinders themselves are more stable so you'll get better results in the cup. So, spend an extra £100 and get a lido three (or a Hausgrind/Feldgrind) if you want better results in the cup. Think of the baratza preciso as a motorised lido 3, same burrs, same results as far as I can tell. Just less elbow grease required.


How would you quantify how much better the results are in the cup, or their relationship to cost?


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

More even extractions due to better consistency of particle size, so clearer flavours, cleaner brews, more consistent results etc. The big difference for me between the two grinders is how the burrs are held in place and the quality of the burrs themselves. In the cheaper grinders, they just move around laterally loads when grinding.

I think the burrs used in the lido 3/preciso are particularly good for brewed, for the cost

As far as cost goes, I guess that's about how much the improvement is worth to you, an individual thing I guess. For me, it's well worth the money.

I used a Porlex grinder for a year or so and erred about buying a better one for ages, I couldn't go back to using them now.

Don't get me wrong, we sell the rhino grinder and for £30 or whatever, it would be easy to argue that it represents excellent value for money and I think they are a great first grinder.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

foundrycoffeeroasters.com said:


> More even extractions due to better consistency of particle size, so clearer flavours, cleaner brews, more consistent results etc. The big difference for me between the two grinders is how the burrs are held in place and the quality of the burrs themselves. In the cheaper grinders, they just move around laterally loads when grinding.


I haven't found this in grinders that are in normal tolerance. Can you define "better consistency of particle size"? All use small conical burrs, which have wide distributions.

Yes, Lido & Feldgrind are great grinders, because they grind faster, or hold more coffee, or are more practical & a joy to use (which is worth paying for), but I'd be wary of making any claims beyond that.


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

Are you saying you think that that results in the cup are not any different when using say a Porlex or a Lido 3? That the differences are purely in the practicality? I'm not making any claims, just sharing my experiences of using both grinders.

The Lido use 40mm steel burrs, the Porlex/rhino uses smaller ceramic burrs. It's pretty well know that the cheaper grinders have issues with burr wobble, because they are cheaply made and the shaft upon which the burrs are mounted isn't particularly robust. This means that the burrs move much more laterally when grinding, producing a less uniform grind than the more expensive grinders. This is despite the smaller ceramic burrs being spring mounted in an attempt to mitigate some of these effects.

Maybe we'll have to accept we have different opinions but I'm pretty surprised that you think they produce comparable results in the cup, for me they're leagues apart.


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

Minor difference, but the burrs in Lido/Hausgrind/Feldgrind are 38mm, not 40


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

PPapa said:


> Minor difference, but the burrs in Lido/Hausgrind/Feldgrind are 38mm, not 40


The cutting edges are neither, conical burrs are sized by the size of the hole they drop into, or widest part of the outer burr including any boss. Feldgrind & Rhino inner burrs are both nominally 30mm in diameter, for example.


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## GlennV (Mar 29, 2013)

For me, the coffees I drink, the way I brew them, there is absolutely no comparison between the porlex/hario (I have both) and the feldgrind. The feldgrind offers far greater clarity of flavours.


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

I think they're 48mm in fact. According to the OE website at least. What's a couple of mm between friends? I'm not sure about the porlex ones size wise.


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

I would add that all my opinions are purely subjective! I'm confident that there are differences in the cup and I am making assumptions and guesses as to what might contribute to these differences.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

foundrycoffeeroasters.com said:


> Are you saying you think that that results in the cup are not any different when using say a Porlex or a Lido 3? That the differences are purely in the practicality? I'm not making any claims, just sharing my experiences of using both grinders.
> 
> The Lido use 40mm steel burrs, the Porlex/rhino uses smaller ceramic burrs. It's pretty well know that the cheaper grinders have issues with burr wobble, because they are cheaply made and the shaft upon which the burrs are mounted isn't particularly robust. This means that the burrs move much more laterally when grinding, producing a less uniform grind than the more expensive grinders. This is despite the smaller ceramic burrs being spring mounted in an attempt to mitigate some of these effects.
> 
> Maybe we'll have to accept we have different opinions but I'm pretty surprised that you think they produce comparable results in the cup, for me they're leagues apart.


I'm saying the result in the cup is much more down to you, than which of the grinders under discussion that you use. If you can't get a decent cup with any of them then change something you are doing, none of the grinders magically ensures a good cup, in a limited sample you could get luckier with one over the other.

Lido burrs float too depending on model, the ceramic burrs are designed to float to mitigate damage from foreign objects. If you're right & they are leagues apart let's establish that, it should be pretty obvious surely? I have a bunch of hand grinders and, as yet (I could still be wrong) I haven't established any significant difference, preference-wise, between 6 of them over a bunch of brews. I wouldn't want to grind 30g in a Rhino, but I've had brews from Porlex & Aeropress as good as with any other grinder.


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## Wobin19 (Mar 19, 2013)

I have been using a porlex at work for 18 months and recently upgraded to a feldgrind. There is no question paired with my Aeropress that the flavours open up significantly. I had the best aeropress of the foundry Rocko with that combo today.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Wobin19 said:


> I have been using a porlex at work for 18 months and recently upgraded to a feldgrind. There is no question paired with my Aeropress that the flavours open up significantly. I had the best aeropress of the foundry Rocko with that combo today.


And you can be 100% certain that this isn't down to any other factors like grind size, extraction, or some other factor?


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

Hmm, I think we're talking about a lot of different things all at once, as often happens. Getting lucky with one grinder and making a better brew than you did with another one of course happens. It could happen with an EK and a porlex but surely that doesn't mean there is therefore no real difference between the two? I agree that method and technique are really important, but once you have some sort of routine that you do consistently, then surely you'd expect different grinders to produce different results in the cup.

Maybe you just got lucky with your Porlex brew. Maybe you'd get lucky more often with a lido 3? For what it's worth, the lido 3 is actually a complete pain to use , the adjustment mech is ridiculously unfriendly.

I know what you mean and agree with some of your points. The best shot of espresso I ever made at home was on a Silvia using a Hausgrind. I don't know how it happened, I couldn't even get close to repeating it but it was in the top three shots I've ever tasted.

It's interesting to think about how we would establish anything here as far as measurement etc goes, given that we're talking about differences in clarity of taste in the cup. Any ideas?

The only thing I could think of would be to make drinks of one coffee, use two grinders and make brews with EY of say 19% and blind taste them? That'd be pretty interesting.


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

Let us, people, be biased.

Back to the OP. For brewed I wouldn't bother with an electric to be honest, I once had to grind over 300g of coffee over two mornings (had to make some coffee for a group of friends in a mountain hut over New Years) and while it takes a little bit of time, it wasn't too bad at all. It's good fun, isn't it?


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## tambu (Sep 7, 2015)

Wobin19 said:


> I have been using a porlex at work for 18 months and recently upgraded to a feldgrind. There is no question paired with my Aeropress that the flavours open up significantly. I had the best aeropress of the foundry Rocko with that combo today.


For the same method? I have a method per grinder - e.g., when i'm travelling with porlex it's a finer grind and a quicker brew. With a lido I can go coarser and leave it for a bit. I tend to prefer fruit/acidity in coffee, and a thicker filter - I usually use a couple of AP filters, and have a preference for v60 and chemex in general, and not so much the higher extraction long steeps - but I guess the point i'm making is that for AP my experience is similar to @MWJB. For pour over though, I find that it's more difficult to adapt the technique to match the grinder. I used to sieve porlex grinds, and to be honest that makes a better cup than an unsieved LIDO (at the end of the day the LIDO is a conic, so it produces more fines than a flat - or so the story goes&#8230. That being said, it's a massive pain and I mostly can't be bothered to sieve.


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

When I bought my dad an AeroPress for his birthday/xmas or whatever day it was for last year, I gave him my Isomac conical grinder. When it broke (bottom of the burr chamber fell to bits) he gave it back to me. I fixed it but he told me to keep it as he uses the old wall mounted antique thing.. he reckons it's ok but I said he needs to grind a little finer as its a bit sour.He uses it for the V60 as well...

It's one like this..










No idea what the burrs are like, but it is adjustable. I mentioned a hand grinder but he's sticking to this.. Oh well, the Isomac is perfect for V60 (not sure about AeroPress, but I would reckon it'd be fine).

Anyway, just thought I'd mention it lol


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## Wobin19 (Mar 19, 2013)

Everything the same except the grinder as far as I can tell. I adjusted the grind to the same fineness by eye and feel nothing scientific.


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## coffee_q (Jan 15, 2016)

I use a porlex grinder but considering going electric! Is it worth it?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

If the time & effort it takes to grind in the Porlex means you end up avoiding making a brew, then yes, it's worth it.

Hand grinders with steel burrs tend to be faster grinding than the ceramic burrs in the Porlex, so they might also be an option (portable, low maintainance & low retention)?


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