13 of the Very Best Coffee Grinders

Blade style: Conical burrs | Noise level: Loud | Size: 5.9” x 5.1” x 13.4”

I’ve been using the Baratza Encore for a year now, and I love it (it’s one of the tools that has convinced me to up my at-home coffee game). The machine is super-intuitive to use (and initially took me no more than five minutes to set up and get a handle of). There are two simple switches — on and off — and a dial to choose from 41 grind settings, numbered 0 to 40. Mine generally stays between 25 and 30 to work with my standard coffee machine, but I’ve used the smallest setting for espresso (notoriously difficult to get as fine of a grind as you need) with no problem. And the subtleties between all the sizes are very apparent: You can make minute adjustments if you’re dedicated to landing on exactly what will yield the best cup for your particular coffee-brewing method. It takes a couple of rounds to grind a full bag of beans (how I do it, as opposed to per serving) but works quickly at about a minute per turn. In general, my biggest qualm with coffee grinders is the mess they make, but this one has nicely angled sides on the grind chamber that allow for relatively neat pouring. And it’s easy to disassemble, clean, and reassemble the detachable parts before I store it.

As a brand, Baratza came up in my reporting more often than any other. Some favor its higher-end models (more on a couple of those below), but several of the coffee aficionados I spoke with recommended this more affordable option, highlighting its quality performance and solid build — especially for the price. “It’s super-consistent,” Lareau says. Elliott Foos, director of coffee at Daymoves in Brooklyn, told us that he used the Encore at work when he previously ran the coffee shop attached to the first iteration of chef Flynn McGarry’s Lower East Side restaurant Gem. “It’s intuitive and performs wonderfully,” he says. While he acknowledges it can be a little loud — or a “touch chatty,” in his words — Foos says that’s to be expected for a grinder made of plastic and designed for the home. And Humberto Ricardo, founder of Third Rail Coffee, adds that Baratza machines are “designed to be repaired instead of thrown away should something break, which is good for my wallet and for the planet.” And speaking of repairs, Pratt noted Baratza’s great customer service. “When you have to replace the burrs every few years, they make it incredibly easy to do so,” he says.

Blade style: Conical burrs | Noise level: Quiet | Size: 7.3” x 4.4” x 10.4”

If you’re not quite ready to take the plunge on a model upwards of $100, the Krups Precision Grinder is a solid place to start. It comes recommended by Paul Schlader, owner of New York City–based Birch Coffee, who promises it has the essentials: 12 settings for selecting your preferred grind size and a “cup selector” dial to grind the exact amount of coffee you need for the number of drinks you’re making — and that’s it. The simplicity is exactly what Strategist writer Jeremy Rellosa, who bought the machine about a year ago, likes about it. Previously, Rellosa used a hand-crank model that took too much work and a blade grinder that resulted in uneven ground size; the Krups, he says, solves both these problems, giving him “the ease of an electric machine and the consistency of a burr blade,” he says. Now, he says he makes great pour-over daily and never has to fidget with the grind setting or cup dial — he simply pours his beans in, turns it on, and walks away. “The appliance also comes with a tiny brush to get all the coffee unstuck from the plastic grounds container,” he says. “But if you keep it clean, I’ve found that you rarely have to use it (the bits just slide right off as you dump them into your filter).”

Blade style: Conical burrs | Noise level: Loud | Size: 7.2” x 11.1” x 16.4”

I’m not obsessive about weighing my coffee (I measure by scoops). But for those who are, this OXO model makes it easy — and as Schlader points out, it “cuts down on the equipment you need.” You add your beans to the hopper and select from 15 grind sizes. From there, you set the machine to weigh the ground coffee one of three ways: manually so you have full control, by grams (great for espresso and pour-over), or by the number of cups of water you brew in a standard electric maker (what I tested since I use my Bonavita machine every morning). In this last setup, it allots for eight grams of ground coffee per cup, though you can also adjust that by a couple of ounces in either direction by sliding a notch at the front. Once everything is set, you simply press the knob on the front and it spits out the exact amount of grounds you need to brew. “It’s an incredibly thoughtful product,” Schlader says.

The only downside I found is the small gap between the dispenser and the opening of the jar that collects the coffee; some grounds spurt out and onto the counter during grinding. To be fair, most grinders make a bit of a mess, but it was enough that it feels worth noting. At the end, the stainless-steel body wipes up easily and cleanly — and I would say it’s not so annoying as to deter from the overall convenience of using this unit.

If you’re interested in this OXO grinder but don’t need an integrated scale, recipe developer and cookbook author Samah Dada recommends this model, which costs $150 less. “I’ve had other grinders that gave me grief with error messages for no reason or inconsistent grounds,” she says. But in the couple of years she’s owned it, she says “this one has not failed me yet” even with daily use. She also says she appreciates that the hopper is UV blocking (so leaving whole beans in there won’t age them) and that it comes off the top of the machine very easily to rinse clean.

Blade style: Conical burrs | Noise level: Loud | Size: 5.9” x 5.1” x 13.4”

The Virtuoso+ allows you to be more hands-off with its operation, thanks to its timer. You can set it to grind for a specific time, turn it on, walk away, and return to beans that are never overground. (The Encore, by contrast, must be stopped and started manually.) Otherwise, it is a bit of a general step up from the Baratza Encore, too, with stronger blades that are able to get a slightly finer grind for espresso (you can see a good demonstration in this video). If one or both of those attributes appeal, I think it’s worth the extra $50. Four of our baristas praised this model. Ricardo also notes that it’s fast and relatively quiet.

Blade style: Flat burrs | Noise level: Quiet | Size: 5.1” x 7.1” x 14.2”

If you are, in fact, ready to take the plunge on the very high end of the coffee-grinder spectrum, it doesn’t get much better than the Baratza Forte BG. The word “commercial” in the name is an indicator; it’s intended for extensive daily use in restaurants and cafés. For one, it’s virtually silent. For another, “the grind-by-weight feature is incredible,” says Reagan Petrehn, specialty coffee consultant and former branding lead of Felix Roasting Co. Petrehn adds that he loves its capabilities across the board, which allow him to use it “both for espresso and pour-over” and change his grind settings as he goes.