Conical Burr Grinder

Going from a portable blade grinder that I’ve used for several years and looked for something to keep on my counter that had a bean hopper. Looked at many grinder reviews online and on Amazon for both types of burr grinders: burr edge and spherical conical. Conical burr is the type used by high end grinders. Common complaints in Amazon reviews are: Jammed coffee- designs with grind chamber at the top with a chute to the collection cup. Designs that have a chute tend to clog with ground coffee. Grind chamber location- designs that have the grind chamber in the main body had problems with grinds getting into the main body where the motor is housed, in worst cases filling up the main body which is bad for the unit and a waste of grinds. This design usually involves a chute too and serviceability of the chamber is not good as it is not fully removable. Durability- home units are not meant to grind a 2 lb bag of beans at once. Save that for the commercial grind machines at the store where you bought the beans. Home units are slower and the motors are not meant to run for more than a few minutes. They will also be made of some plastics and not all metal like a commercial unit. Static cling mess- I don’t consider this an issue really. I don’t think there exists a grinder that doesn’t have sone sort of mess. Stick with pre-ground coffee if you don’t want to deal with some cleanup. Price- you tend to get what you pay for but for the same $ the other factors can matter. Why I chose this grinder: 1. Design- has the grinder away from the main body with grinds falling directly into the collection cup. No chute to clog and grinds can’t get in the motor. Only place that can clog is the opening where the beans leave the bean hopper and drops into the grind chamber. This happened once since I’ve had it which was easily resolved by removing bean hopper and grind chamber. Probably could have cleared it by tapping the unit to free the beans. 2. Grind chamber- is fully removable for cleaning. Hefty feeling part with only concern is plastic gears to drive it. I bought this for less than $40, a really good deal at half of what it’s selling for only a month later in mid-Feb ‘23, so I bought the warranty plan if I run into problems and figured this into my buying decision. 3. Grind timer- grinding time can be up to 90 seconds with 4 electronic settings before that. The amount doesn’t matter to me as I am using refillable pods in my Keurig. 4. Manual grind button for espresso- it comes with an adapter that allows you to grind directly into your espresso holder. The adapter snaps onto the lower unit and pushes on a button that manually runs the grinder. I was able to use a pin to push the button so I’m thinking that if the timer or button control fails then I may be able to use the manual grind button as a backup. Again I have the Asurion warranty if needed. 5. Price- brand name with designed by Austrian company. Brands get bought by other companies all the time so this isn’t a real factor but it can only help. Some brand names on grinders are just plain weird which to me is a negative. 6. Width- to save counter space I preferred a narrower unit of less than 6” wide. It is a taller unit but not an issue with fitting under cabinets. Extras: 7. A real user manual- I was pleasantly surprised it has a very good manual that is written in English with no grammar or spelling issues. The packaging was good too. There is some assembly required but the manual explains what to do. 8. Bean holder lid has a place to hold a nice sturdy coffee scoop and cleaning brush. 9. Static cling- after grinding I tap the sides of the grin chamber and wiggle the collection cup before removing it to cause the grinds to fall. I think this is a non issue when dealing with tiny bits of coffee or anything for that matter. 8. Noise level- I measured it at 76db which is not too loud. It’s not quiet enough to sleep next to, so if that’s a concern then you could try grinding the night before. After a month of use I’m happy with this grinder and do think that the reviews are a bit underrated. I work in technology and try to DIY almost anything so I do not expect everything to work perfectly. I also have my portable blade grinder so I won’t be without coffee if something fails. I try to expect the worst and hope for the best. Update 10/21/2023 Grinder still working good. A couple times the lights circled in sequence, I (didn’t check the manual) so just unplugged it for 5 mins and it seemed to reset.

Exceptionally pleased with the grinding consistency and speed. It has endured nearly daily usage for four and a half years and still works as well as when I bought it. I wish more of my tools were as reliable as this grinder.

CONTEXT I'm a serious espresso maker. My primary home grinder is a Mazzer that cost ~$1k, is built like a tank and has already lasted 20+ years without a single issue. This Meuller was purchased for a home-office coffee station. PROS: - The Austrian design is modular and unique - very cool. - Key components of the burr module (burrs, internal housing and bracing) is built out of metal and appears to be very well engineered. - Grind fineness setting wheel is large and easy to adjust - this is great! - When set on finest grind level, it produces perfect espresso made in a top quality espresso machine from a variety of top quality beans. - For the price (here on Amazon, less than $100), assuming it lasts a year or three, it is a TOTAL BARGAIN and easily competes with grinders costing multiple $hundreds. - Grind time for a normal double espresso-size porta-filter load ~13 seconds, a bit slower than the Mazzer, but perfectly acceptable. - It has a switch below the grinder head that enables activation of the motor simply by pressing the porta-filter into position (really great!). - The design allows grinding straight into a porta-filter without using a bin & dosage lever (as in the old style Mazzer). This means every dose is freshly ground on the spot with no mixing with old grind in the hopper. This is 100% excellent for low-volume home situations. - The design enables a typical porta-filter to be held right up against the base of the exit port, so nearly 100% of the grind goes INTO the porta-filter - nearly zero waste. Love this! - Bonus: it's pretty quiet and the noise is a lower-rumbling as opposed to the higher pitch often associated with smaller grinders. Very easy on the ears. CONS: - The external case sections made of plastic do not inspire long-term confidence...but for the price, what can one expect. Just don't drop it or knock it over. - The tall lean/clean design is cool, but may be a bit taller than some will like for under-cabinet positions. - The narrow base is also cool in terms of space use; however, as anyone who grinds knows, coffee gets out/around the area below *any* grinder feeding into a porta-filter, so...this one will make some mess outside the base area. Small issue. - The plug wire is kind'a short (~2 feet). Can see how this could be great in some installations where a short cord is desired; however, in others this could force use of a small extension cord. - The hopper docking mechanism is interesting but has a flimsy spring loaded locking system that must be treated with kid gloves. One of the two screws holding this mechanism together vibrated out in a few days of use (I found it while doing a quick inspection of the hopper chute between coffee reloads). The threads were stripped, so I just left this out for now and was able to re-dock the hopper without it, but will probably put it back in and secure it with lock-tite. If this screw had somehow gone into the burrs, it would have caused major damage. Fortunately, this is NOT something you will need to interact with regularly...in fact you may never have to remove the hopper once you assemble the machine. PRODUCT DESIGN RECOMMENDATION Meuller has a great product here. In future versions they could really up the game by: - fixing the hopper docking screw problem - this is obviously an easy fix. - making a more expensive version with an all-metal housing - for $200 it would be worth every penny. - the linkage between the motor and the burrs is indirect (either geared or belt driven) from the upward facing motor in the metal-housed rear base. This linkage could, over time, be a problem, but so far seems solid. In a Mazzer or other super-high-end grinder this linkage is always direct due to high torque being transferred to the burrs. In this design, direct linkage was impossible and the benefit was extremely compact & convenient ergonomics (burrs feed direct into porta-filter without a "chute")...So, just make sure the linkage between the motor and the burrs is built to last (it may be already)!

First off... Damn, this thing is TALL. Probably the same height as a standard 10-cup drip machine, but a good 4~6 inches taller than my basic 4-cup drip machine. Check your clearances before ordering. The noise level is consistent with other burr grinders, if not a little quieter. Definitely quieter than a blade grinder. It takes what seems like f-o-r-e-v-e-r to grind two morning's worth of beans. Maybe my last grinder was really fast, but it seems like this takes over twice as long. Definitely NOT one of those speeds for when you roll out of bed before the sun and realize you forgot to grind beans the night before and dammit you need your coffee RIGHT DAMN NOW. The grind is where this thing shines. Holy jeebus this thing is impressive. It has what seems like infinite coarseness settings, from powder to (probably half-beans, but I haven't really gone that big yet). The grounds come out so consistent, a super OCD person would be proud to measure each one and find they're all within a narrow range of microns. The two things I most like about this is the way the hopper feeds into the grinder, and the collection canister for the grounds. My last burr grinder required babysitting when it ground, because the beans just would not flow smoothly into the burr without lots of banging on my part; having looked over many burr grinders when shopping for this, they are nearly all the same design, with the beans flowing from the hopper to the grinder in a partially horizontal path. This one is straight down, with a cone directly over the center of the grinder to help direct the beans into it. I have yet to need to tap or bang on it to keep it feeding -- I can finally push Go and walk away. The collection canister has a rubber plug on a lanyard, so that it doesn't get lost when removed. Nice. And the rubber plug fits tightly, so grounds stay fresh. But the best part is how tightly the canister fits under the grinder outlet port -- it literally squeezes under so that no grounds can escape. It's a solid, tight fit that doesn't make it at all hard to remove from the machine. Super nice. The only thing to keep in mind is that, to ensure that natural static electricity doesn't keep a little grounds in the discharge chute, lightly tap both the grinder and the canister before removing the canister. This is a natural issue with all coffee grinders, burr or blade, but this machine seems to do better than most with it......probably thanks to the tight fit of the canister. Oh, it's also worth noting that the measuring scoop and cleaning brush store securely on the underside of the hopper lid. No digging through the junk drawer to find them. Bottom line: So long as you don't need those grounds RIGHT FARKING NOW ALREADY DAMMIT, this is the best machine you can get. Especially if you're a coffee snob who's overly particular on your grind control.

Bit the dust today. I know exactly what happened, and I can't get the burr mechanism off to see if I can move the little spring back into it's correct place. It's completely locked down. Therefore, it's useless, and it really pisses me off that I haven't even had it a year; I don't use it every day; I have never let it run for 3 minutes (Mueller's limitation before the machine shuts down for 30 minutes), I grind in small batches (5-7 coffee scoops of whole beans, which doesn't even fill to the MAX line on the bean hopper) x 3, letting it rest between batches so I can clean out the ground bean receptacle. It's never gotten hot. I don't want repair. I don't want "parts replacement", which is Mueller's only warranty. I asked a question about cleaning the burrs, and a guy answered me saying his machine hadn't lasted a year. I should have listened to him. Oh, and BTW, this is the 2nd machine I bought from Mueller via Amazon (Amazon is innocent, they are a platform, not the manufacturer...). I returned the 1st because with the grinder set on 10 for French Press, it gave me a fine grind, for Espresso. IMHO, the entire problem is marrying thin plastic with metal moving parts. Just not ever a good design, not ever a good idea. _____________________________________________________________________________ Beans/method I use: Organic Medium-Roast Ethiopian Yirgacheffe in a French Press After looking everywhere for a grinder to replace the first Mueller I bought and returned, I ordered it again. It just has all the features I wanted, and none that I didn't. The first machine I got shredded the beans with the grind set on 10, instead of chunking them. Chunk is what's needed for a French Press. I gave it a second chance because sometimes there are one-offs, and I hoped that would be the case. It is. The one I have now is awesome. It gives me consistent chunks, no heating, is easy to clean, is gorgeous, and it's a keeper. I see a lot of complaints about the mess left from grinding, and there does seem to be quite a lot of static generated by use, but after a few sessions, I decided to put a piece of newsprint under my grinder, from the ton of junk mail flyers I get. This solves that problem - when I take the ground bean chamber from under the grinder, everything falls on the newsprint, EZPZ. I use a brush on the underside of the grinder to get all the loose grounds off, then take the parts to the trashcan to do the brushdown on the burrs. BTW, this also shows me I am losing far less coffee than I originally thought, per grind. It looks like a lot when it goes everywhere, but in actuality, it is not. I doubt it is even 3 beans worth of coffee. Pffffft, not an issue. Since I store ground beans in a jar, I bought a canning funnel (cost around $6), which has a wide mouth, to transfer grounds from chamber to jar. Another prob solved. So there's the 5 stars. I love this machine. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Sad about this machine. It's lovely. It's REALLY nice-looking, it's heavy, it's seems well-made, it even has an attachment if you do espresso so you can directly fill the portafilter. I even had nerd fun cleaning it each of the 2 times I used it, looking at how the burrs work and all that stuff. It's quiet enough, and easy to clean. It grinds slowly enough, so it doesn't friction-heat the beans while grinding. What I can't like is that it just won't grind for a French Press. The beans I ground looked like they'd been sheared, they looked like hay. I set the grind dial at 10, like it said to do. It just shredded the beans. French Press needs chunks, not shreds. As a result, my coffee was relatively taste-free, about like a cheap commercial grocery-store drip coffee. I used the machine again next day, adding more beans because I thought maybe I should use more grounds, since they're processed differently, but got the same taste-free result. So I went back to using my blade grinder. Chunks again, delicious coffee again. Same package of beans. In looking at how the burrs work, there's a shaft that holds the turning burr. I'm wondering if I got a bum machine where the shaft isn't long enough to get the separation necessary for chunks, or if the grind selector isn't calibrated correctly. While cleaning the burrs, I noticed that if you hold it up to a light and turn the grind selection dial from 1-10, you can see the top burr move away from the bottom burr. [I already know you fellow nerdy Amazonians aren't going to stick your fingers in the burrs while you're manually turning them. I trust you.] Maybe it just wasn't set right at the factory. That's a nice thought, because I think if it actually ground correctly, it would be a keeper until it died. Unfortunately, I'm going to return it.

This grinder is a tank and has been working daily for about 3 years. Feels solid - much more so than other consumer brands. Only made a weird noise once, cleaned it, and back to normal operations without having to take apart the housing. Hopefully, it'll work for several more years. It's not a vintage Singer metal sewing machine or KitchenAid blender, that lasts forever with simplistic assembly and disassembly for maintenance. Amazon sent out an email of a class action settlement. The case was about an Austrian flag deceiving consumers. I recall that the description stated this grinder was designed in Austria. As far as I'm concerned if a product works this well, it could be made by prisoners in a Siberian gulag. Unfortunately, these lawsuits may cause the price to go up. The current price is still fairly affordable. If the grinder ever does fail and can't be repaired, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. The other grinders I've tried were several levels below the quality and reliability of this one at a similar price point.

First, I will freely admit that this is my first burr coffee grinder, so I have nothing to compare against. That said, while this grinder DOES what I feel is a good job of grinding the beans, it is NOT quiet by any standard. While the company makes a big deal of their “76 db noise level”, consider that a gas lawn mower is 80db. In a quiet, early morning kitchen, it sounds incredibly loud. That is not what earned it the lower rating, however. What we find unacceptable and annoying is the MESS that this thing makes! We’ll grind our morning brew, and then we have to remove the little cup container that is included. Moving that creates a trail of coffee flakes everywhere you go. Then, when you pour the coffee into the basket or filter or whatever, there is a lot of static in the process I guess, because the coffee flakes then transfer EVERYWHERE. It is ridiculously messy. To the point where I’ve really considered buying one of those little pocket vacuums that servers in restaurants carry. And there is no way to be sure you’ve gotten every little flake out of the grinder, short of taking it off and thoroughly cleaning it every time you use it. Maybe this is all standard with burr grinders, but I kind of doubt it.

Fantastic grinder for espresso. I use it for my Pavoni machine and it works great. The feel of the machine is really nice too. Great home/hobby machine. It also doesn't take up much space so I can just kind of tuck it away. I don't think the portafilter handle is worth it because it doesn't come with very many presets for dosage, but that is just an espresso problem and isn't really related to how the machine works. Update: I have been using this machine for 6 months now. It was working great until recently. I use this machine at least once a day and line others have said, it doesn't seem to be able to keep up with that much use. It has started clogging everytime I use it. I have attempted to clean it on several occasions and been shocked to find how much coffee it is keeping after just a single use. Normally I grind about 32g per morning. Recently I have only been getting 29g out of it. I'm not sure why this happening all of the sudden but it's a big bummer. It keeps me from getting reliable output and takes a lot of my time to clean it out after every 3-4 uses. I think If your only using it every once in a while this is perfect! It's probably not for everyday use for someone who's drinking too much coffee. I changed my rating from 5 to 2 stars. I will be reaching out to customer support to see if they can help and will update again if they do.

This unit is fantastic. It’s quieter than any other grinder I’ve used. It’s a quick push button grind and the resulting grounds are perfectly even and flavourful. Most impressive is that I can detect no static in the bowl! I don’t have grinds sticking to everything outside of the filter. The bowl simply pours them all out and is clean as a whistle! Highly recommend! (Oh and it’s a lovely slender/compact machine that sits perfectly under the cupboard)

Gran producto, bajo ruido, fácil de limpiar, buena capacidad, puede moler tan fino como la mejor y graduarlo en suficientes niveles para cubrir cualquier necesidad motor reductora así que muele bien con bajo ruido y a baja velocidad y alta eficiencia, contenedores de granos y de molido de buena capacidad además puede moler y depositar directamente en el portafiltro de la expreso, estoy muy satisfecho, excedió mis expectativas además tiene buena apariencia y no ocupa gran espacio, incluso pienso comprar otra para obsequiarla a un mi hijo que comparte el gusto por el café recién molido

Sastifaite, pas compliqué à faire fonctionner, solide

De lo mejor en calidad y precio

Venía bien empacado, con instrucciones claras y en varios idiomas. El motor y las piezas de molienda son de metal en su mayoría y se ven muy bien terminados. Los plásticos de los contenedores son de buena calidad y con buenos acabados, así como los accesorios que contiene. Los controles son muy intuitivos y sencillos de utilizar, además de que veine claramente explicados en el manual. Los niveles de molienda son muy fáciles de seleccionar y la molienda es muy homogénea, al igual que otros molinos caseros de muelas tienden a entregar un poco de polvo aún con la selección más gruesa, pero es muy poco y no lo considero un problema para mis necesidades. La molienda más fina es bastante fina y homogénea, pero no es igual de fina que los molinos profesionales, esos que dejan el café como si fuera harina, aún así en mi caso me parece suficiente para poder preparar un buen express. El ruido es considerable pero menor que un molino de aspas convencional, no tiene movimientos bruscos ni vibraciones fuertes mientras muele. Los clips de las uniones de las partes que se retiran son muy precisos y bien ajustados, lo que que hace que se sienta como un producto de buena calidad. La limpieza es relativamente fácil y no existen muchos lugares donde se acumule café viejo. En general me parece un excelente molino casero por menos de 2 mil pesos de inversión. Algunos modelos más caros, de marcas más reconocidas, no ofrecen más ventajas que este molino.