Find the best coffee grinders (member content) thanks to our latest review. Plus, find out what kind of grinder you need with our coffee grinder buying guide.
Share your home cofee making experiences in the comments below.
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Spong. The one and only. Spong number 4 is my personal favourite.
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I havenāt branched into their bean slicers or mincers, but my grinder collection is nearly complete - left to right numbers 4 to 1, the number 1 being the oldest with the curved winding arm ā¦
I believe there is a number 5 and number 0 out there somewhere ā¦ no risk of burning the coffee in the grinding process with these !
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My trusty and loved Eureka Mignon MCI (not included in the 2020 update) was doing well at 7 years but I got concerned because coffee has recently started to come out clumpy.
Burrs are supposed to last a long time in a domestic setting and by the rule of thumb they should have been at most half way there. A visual inspection reinforced they looked and felt fine (sharp as burrs go), but sometimes you have to do just because.
Installing new burrs was a lot easier than expected and the difference in the grind is dramatic. Having to readjust everything with the stepless adjuster was a chore but no more clumping and visually a once again impressively consistent grind.
Can I tell it in the coffees? I drink flat whites and caps, is that enough of an answer? But the EM7000 is noticeably happier.
The moral is grinder burrs do not last forever so pay attention, especially if your grinds start coming out in little clumps even if they just break apart when you stare at them, if the grind looks inconsistent in the portafilter, or if you need to progressively go to finer settings for the same pour.
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Hmm, the burrs in my Rancilio are coming up-to 21yrs. That may be why Iāve not been able to get a good coffee out of my machine. 
Is there any difference between eBay specials and original equipment one I wonder?
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Is there to be a review of the current crop?
I keep wanting to get a grinder but am constantly wavering so I buy pre-ground coffee and store it in the fridge, which keeps it fresh enough (Iām not a coffee snob, I also drink instant) However, Iād like small grinder which isnt manualā¦ does such a thing exist anymore? A flatmate I had once had a grinder which was no more than 6ā tall, but these days they all seem to be gigantic when you look at photos of them.
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I bought mine from an ebay seller advertising āGenuineā for a few different brands. What I got was packaged 'LF Groupā that appears to be a major Euro OEM supplier. The vendor had very high satisfaction ratings; as much as one can tell visually the burr quality is right up there and indistinguishable from the original (save for lack of any wear 
) so I am happy.
A problem with ebay these days is the businesses often have to use ebay stock photos and what they are selling are not those, so if in doubt contact the seller before buying. Doing it again I would not worry about LF Group sourced parts.
I found some coffee machine businesses decline to sell parts, only parts and installation as a package. My burrs were $55 delivered from WA; the shop I bought the Mignon from wanted $140 labour+[undisclosed] price of the burrs. I found a youtube tutorial in how to change mine when I decided I wanted new burrs so had a game plan in mind; it took about 20 minutes including lots of cleanup steps, no drama whatsoever although the hints in the how to were invaluable to understand the process.
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Personal opinion is to go for a grinder supplied by a commercially oriented brand - Rancilio, Eureka, Mazzer, etc or for domestic brands the Breville Smart is usually considered better than the Sunbeam equivalent. Differences between conical and flat burrs are theoretical in practical use, but the ones with spinning blades are not grinders, they are choppers to be avoided for anything but āgrindingā spices where uneven bits are desirable.
A consideration is how well a grinder holds its grind setting. Sunbeams had slop - not sure if they ever upped their design and manufacturing to remove it. The Breville Smart almost none. You can tell how good that is by adjusting it on the shop shelf to see how it ālocksā into a setting and stays exactly there. Machines with inbuilt grinders are tradeoffs; the Breville and Sunbeams work fine for what they are, the DeLonghi somewhat less so.
A rule of thumb is heavier is usually better. Another differentiator is whether the grinder has a basket to store quantity or directly deposits grinds into the portafilter (see my Eureka image above). The latter can be messy and one learns how to minimise it.
Regardless never grind more than you are going to use at the moment, and if grinding into a basket only grind enough to fill your portafilter (or whatever device you use). Grinders with dosers are best left for cafes or high volume users since what is not put in the portafilter is in the basket drying out, and after a while it is more like store ground than fresh ground and will dry out quicker than one expects.
When Choice did the last test having the Eureka, from memory they panned it for lack of stepped settings and no safety interlock when the hopper is removed. I find the stepless adjustment to be superior with the downside you cannot change the setting and get exactly back to where you were (although you can come close). As for the interlock, the hopper is held in place with a proper screw. A person could turn it on with the hopper off, but it would have to be a very careless person disinterested in even the most basic safety.
There are lots of tutorials and advertorials on the net about grinders and grinders are probably the most underappreciated component of making good coffees.
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While this isnāt about grinders it may interest some to complete the quiz (sorry it is Bing but most of the tracking detail has been removed from the query)
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