[Itoast2joe]

The burr mill is the only way to go. It gives you the entire bean(oil and all). A blade will always burn the grind. A burr mill crushes the beans. Unless you use an old fashioned crank burr mill. Yes I have one of those too. Better control of your beans. Only bad is cranking 10 mins to grind out enough for a pot of 10 cups.

[kau]

I assume burr mills are good for drip only and can't crush fine enough for espresso?

[homeslice]

Originally Posted by kau

I assume burr mills are good for drip only and can't crush fine enough for espresso?

Burr grinder will work for espresso, but the higher end models are best. My Baratza Maestro burr grinder can grind to fineness but not to what's preferable for a good espresso quality like the Baratza Virtuoso will do.

[rico567]

Originally Posted by homeslice

Burr grinder will work for espresso, but the higher end models are best. My Baratza Maestro burr grinder can grind to fineness but not to what's preferable for a good espresso quality like the Baratza Virtuoso will do.

Our Baratza Maestro does a great job on drip or press.....which is all we drink at home, so we're very pleased. The Maestro uses a DC motor, so it's lower RPM and much quieter than our old Bodum Antigua, which was in itself a pretty serviceable machine. Got both with points from Papanicholas (see web site), so the price was certainly right....

[RichHelms]

Every espresso grinder I can think of is a burr grinder.

Blade grinders are only effective for Drip. On French press the resulting size is too inconsistent.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by kau

I assume burr mills are good for drip only and can't crush fine enough for espresso?

You're kidding right? Or highly misinformed . There are 2 main burr types for home/commercial use. Flat and conical. Conicals are more effective at lower RPMs and have longer cutting paths. Essentially leading to less heat and different tasting notes, usually highlighting brighter flavors, especially in espresso. Flat burrs are cheaper to make, are used more often, run at higher RPMs, have shorter lifespans on average and have shorter cutting paths.

I wouldn't say burrs are designed to crush beans, but rather slice/defragment them based on theory, burr design, etc. There are differences among burrs too. For example, a flat burr designed strictly for espresso grinding will not at all resemble a flat burr designed strictly for drip, press, etc.

Some of the best burrs that have lasted the longest are the conicals used in hand mills for centuries. Even Turkish style mills have conicals of sort, but they are more for pulverizing the beans to powder-like consistency.

Reason commercial grinders cost what they do is many factors... materials used for build quality... direct drive motors instead of weaker motors/gearboxes... superior electrical systems/motors that allow them to be used nearly constantly and for thousands of cycles before anything burns out... burr design/material... super tight tolerances for superb grinding consistency...

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by RichHelms

Every espresso grinder I can think of is a burr grinder.

Blade grinders are only effective for Drip. On French press the resulting size is too inconsistent.

When you use a blade chopper and brew drip what does the sludge in the filter look like after brewing? I'd guess some solid spots and alot of "melted chocolate" looking spots from all the dust.

For commercial brewing I use a BUNN LPG with 80+mm flat burrs and you wanna talk about consistency. When I dump the filter you wouldn't believe how smooth the bed of wet grounds is. No sludge caused by "dust" at all. Particle size/consistency is everything in proper brewing.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by rico567

Our Baratza Maestro does a great job on drip or press.....which is all we drink at home, so we're very pleased. The Maestro uses a DC motor, so it's lower RPM and much quieter than our old Bodum Antigua, which was in itself a pretty serviceable machine. Got both with points from Papanicholas (see web site), so the price was certainly right....

The DC motor simply means it has more torque at lower RPMs, but the real reason it spins slower is because it has a gearbox that slows things down.