How to use a blade grinder for optimum coffee flavor

August 31, 9:44 PMLA Coffee ExaminerKim Winklhofer

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Jane Austen surely would have acknowledged that a single man in possession of coffee beans must be in want of coffee. The trick is grinding the darned things. A search of Amazon yielded over 600 coffee grinders, 500 of which were blade grinders. This is no surprise. Blade grinders are more affordable. However, they’re also a tiny bit trickier if you care about the coarseness of your coffee.

Coarseness of the grind is important so you can extract the most flavor and the least bitterness from your coffee. If you use the wrong grind, you run the risk of canceling out the advantage of grinding the beans fresh.

The General Idea
Kenneth Davids, one of the foremost coffee experts, offers this simple advice:

In general, grind coffee as fine as you can without clogging the holes of the brewer or turning the coffee to mud. The finer the grind, the more contact there will be between coffee and hot water, and the faster and more thoroughly the essential oils will be released, without activating harsher, less-soluble chemicals."

Davids’ method requires some trial and error, but if you’re like me, you enjoy the challenge of figuring out what works best.

Down to the Last Detail
However, many people don’t want to bother and/or need a little more guidance than this, so here’s a handy chart.

The Nitty Gritty
Many people eschew blade grinders because they produce an inconsistent grind and the intense whirl of the blades heat up the coffee, which degrades the flavor, so for the best results with your blade grinder:

• Don’t hold the button down continuously. Pulse it for 2-5 seconds. This keeps your beans from heating up too much.
• Shake the grinder. This helps you get a more consistent grind.

Cleaning Tip
If you want to clean your grinder, I recommend unplugging it, just to be safe. Then wipe it with a damp cloth or paper towel. Alternatively, you can put some dried out bread in it, whirl, uplug, and wipe. If you really want to get the inside of that puppy shiny, try the white rice method from Ken, author of the Weekly Roast.com Blog.

Happiness Is a Cup of Coffee
In our society, it's easy to catch the "I've got to have the newest, best gadget on the market. Now!" Syndrome. But some say the key to happiness is appreciating what you have. If that's a blade, not burr, grinder, there's absolutely no need to be unhappy. Just remember to pulse and shake and you'll be fine.

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SOURCES: Ineedcoffee.com, Specialty-coffee-advisor.com, Chow.com, Espresso Machines and Coffeemakers.com

Ground coffee photo/D'Arcy Norman

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