The Best Burr Grinder for French Press | Top 5
So, what is the best burr grinder for french press? In one of my previous articles I covered a list of coffee grinders, which ranged from hand to electric, blade to conical burr.
Although I covered a great selection of coffee grinders, I tried to give you a list without being too specific. However, if you read that article you would have picked up that I mentioned that a good grinder for french press is a conical burr coffee grinder.
If you got a blade grinder or a hand one, you may have found that the grind can often come out inconsistent. You’ll have medium-coarse mixed with fines, but you and me both know we need coarse grind for french press.
Now that you really want to have the most amazing french press coffee, you need to have a quality bean grinder and it is best to have a burr grinder for this.
At the end of this article, I’ll tell you exactly why you need to have a burr grinder to make the best coffee grounds for brewing so be sure to check that out.
Let’s get onto the top burr grinders for french press that you can use at home.
Top Pick: Best Burr Grinder for French Press is the OXO Brew Conical Burr Grinder
Editors Rating :
The Oxo Brew conical burr coffee grinder probably has to be the best grinder for french press in our opinion.
It has been built with the finest materials, it's easy to use, it's durable and most importantly offers good value for your money.
This is our top grinder for french press pick, and is considered to have it all. The coffee grinder itself is made from high quality stainless steel conical burrs, which can create really uniform grounds.
It is considered an automatic grinder, that will grind with the push of a button. Grinding for just the right amount of time.
We consider this grinder a good grinder for french press coffee!
#1 - OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
A grinder that is considered an Amazon's Choice product with over 2700 raving reviews! The grinder ticks most of a coffee lovers boxes, so if you're in need of a grinder this is the one to get.
Boasting a massive 0.75 pound bean hopper that has a ultra violet light blocking tint, that will keep your beans fresh for longer.
The product does stand tall at over 12x7.4x16 inches, so if you have low lying kitchen cupboards, then it might pay to look at our other picks.
If this doesn't phase you at all, then the OXO Brew Conical Burr coffee grinder is a must have and it is highly recommended.
#2 - Breville BCG820BSSXL Smart Grinder
Another top burr grinder for french press has to be this Breville BCG820BSXXL smart coffee bean grinder. Although it is considered pricey, we thought what kind of coffee grinder review would this be if we didn't include a really pricey bean grinder.
The conical burrs are also made of high quality stainless steel materials, which can minimize heat transfer to the beans during grinding. This really keeps the essential coffee bean oils trapped within the bean, and only to be released when brewing coffee.
What I liked about this is that it also had a rather generous 18 ounce coffee bean hopper, perfect for using as a storage device.
The only downside I had about this one was that the machine is really noisy! Imagine grinding coffee beans for french press at 6am, when most of your family is still asleep.
If your kitchen is located far from bedrooms, then I don't think that would be a problem
#3 - Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme Automatic Burr Coffee Grinder
Another best burr grinder for french press and its the Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme automatic burr mill. With over 14,000 reviews I'm pretty shocked that it wasn't considered an Amazon Choice product.
This coffee grinder has 18 levels to grind your coffee beans, from ultra-fine to extra-coarse making it really good for french press and espresso.
It also holds an amazing 8 oz. bean hopper with an adjustable slide dial for the grind setting, pretty cool compared to a digital menu.
The only thing I have to say about this is that it can be hard to clean, so getting a nice cleaning brush to clean out the conical burr grinder will be handy.
The coffee grinder dimensions are 10.75x7.13x6 inches which is a little tall in some respect, but shouldn't be a problem for most kitchen tops.
Considering the amount of reviews, I think this grinder is really good and would have been my top pick if it were an Amazon Choice product.
#4 - Mueller Ultra-Grind Conical Burr Grinder Professional Series
This conical burr grinder is considered a professional series grinder, and is produced by Mueller. The conical burrs have been designed by Mueller themselves to control the grind size and uniformity.
Another great benefit this conical burr grinder has to offer is the amazing large capacity bean hopper, capable of holding about 8 ounces of coffee beans.
If that's not enough the removable grounds container, can be used to store grounds to produce around 30 cups of coffee.
The grind size can be adjusted with 10 settings, from fine to coarse, making this burr grinder really good for french press.
One downside of it is that, there is a small gap between the grounds container and the mouth of the burr grinder, making it prone to spilling grounds around the grinder.
Nevertheless, it is still considered a really good grinder for french press coffee and espresso.
#5 - Bodum Bistro Burr Grinder, Electronic Coffee Grinder
This burr grinder by Bodum is an electric coffee grinder that has an adjustable grind setting as well. The grinder itself is a conical burr that will crush beans with consistency, for any level of setting, which will preserve the beans flavor and aroma.
There are 12 adjustable settings making it perfect for grinding coarse grounds for french press with ease or making your grounds really fine for espresso coffee.
Bodum Bistro premium grinder also has a built in timer, which will grind your beans for the right amount of time. What I also liked with this coffee grinder, is that there was a nice glass grind catcher that has a plastic grip.
Again, the beans can tend to miss the catcher when grinding which can lead to a bit of mess. Besides that it is definitely a good quality conical burr grinder for french press coffee.
#6 - Capresso 560.04 Infinity Conical Burr Grinder
Lastly, we have the Capresso 560.04 conical burr grinder which is quite a popular coffee grinder and is considered an Amazon's Choice.
It delivers commercial grade conical burrs, capable of grinding with precision. Making your grounds very consistent and uniform, perfect if you want to make the best french press coffee.
With the added ability of gear reduction, the motor is capable of grinding much slower than most meaning it will lead to reduced noise and little static build up, all while preserving aroma.
The only downside this little conical burr grinder has is that it can tend to leave a lot of leftover ground coffee in the burrs, and if not cleaned regularly can turn stale. On the plus side, this can be easily cleaned with a brush every 2 weeks or so.
Buyers Guide to Burr Grinders that make a difference
Ok, so I’ve listed the top 6 burr grinders for your home. Don’t get carried away, you only need one of those so be sure to pick one that aligns with your needs.
Consider budget, quality and most importantly other people's opinions and comments. Before I tried these coffee bean grinders, I made sure to read a tonne of reviews before buying and trying some of them.
Now that you know what my top 6 are, and also the best burr grinder for french press, you most likely have a few underlying questions that need answering.
I crafted the ultimate buyers guide to assist you with your purchase, but if you know the answers to some of these then you can simply skim read it.
Does a Burr Grinder really make a difference?
If you’re a true coffee connoisseur like me, then you’ll immediately pick up the difference a burr grinder has.
Does a burr grinder really make a difference?
It certainly does, compared to a blade grinder, this is because a flat disc or conical burr pushes coffee beans into small cavities that crush the beans consistently.
In a coffee blade grinder, the beans are constantly being pushed around in the cavity space leading to them partially being ground up.
Of course, you can continue to grind with a blade grinder for longer, but based on randomness you’ll never get the perfect consistent grind for french press.
Are burr grinders worth it?
Yes Burr grinders are really worth it, and it can lead to some of the best grounds perfect for french press or espresso.
However, you’ll need to get a good entry level one, which can make a huge difference to the ground quality.
So whether you want a burr grinder for french press or pour over drip coffee, then you’ll need to get one a little better than an average $50 one.What are the advantages of conical burrs over flat burrs?
There are many benefits and advantages that come with conical burrs vs flat burrs. Conical burrs are considered an industry standard and used in almost all major coffee makers.
I own a Breville Barista touch coffee maker, and it has a conical burr grinder to grind my coffee beans.
The main advantage they have over flat burrs, is they have better levels of heat control. Meaning that your beans won’t be releasing any essential oils, when grinding them.
Flat burrs turned to generate a lot of heat and make a tonne of noise. If you have high heat generating components in direct contact with the coffee, it can start to burn the oils on the bean.
Do Burr grinders wear out
Like with everything that gets a lot of use, it can wear out. Below is a few signs to look out for when it’s time to replace your burr grinder;
- Inconsistent grounds: You’ve just ground up some nice pure Arabica coffee beans for a french press, but it came out very inconsistent. Yep it’s time to place your burr grinder.
- Dull Edges of the Burr: Once you’ve removed the bean hopper, and had a closer look you discover there is no sharpness to it.
- Coffee grounds come through slower: The beans are passing through, but most of them are slipping away because of the dull edges. Because the burrs can’t catch the beans, you’re ending up with less grind for a given amount of time.
How Often Should you Clean a Burr Grinder?
This is really dependent on how often you’re grinding coffee beans with it. Over time oils and older grinds can get lodged into the burrs, meaning you need to give it a good clean with a brush.
Most of the time a wipe down should be performed every 2 weeks, while a deep clean should be undertaken at least every 3 months.
I like to use my coffee machine water filter timer as a prompt to clean the grind head, as water filters will tend to be cleaned in about the same amount of time.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it, our comprehensive guide to buying the best burr grinder for french press and also the top 6 I recommend.
The thing I like about these grinders are that many of them have good features and are high quality. But the winner based on budget, functionality and ease of use has to be OXO Brew conical burr grinder.
This grinder has durable conical burrs, creating uniform grinds that retains aroma which will lead to the best tasting french press coffee
Our runner up, which comes in at second place due to its style and cost has to be Capresso 560.04 which has equal capability at grinding some quality and uniform grounds. I recommend this for those on a budget.
