The Best Grinder for French Press | 6 High Must Haves

Top Pick: Best Grinder for French Press is Oxo Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder

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 - JavaPresse Manual Coffee Grinder with Adjustable Setting

If the OXO Brew coffee grinder is out of your price range, and you're not really after a fully automatic coffee grinder with adjustable settings. Then we've got an alternative you need to give a try.

The JavaPresse manual coffee grinder is perfect for those with a bit of grunt in their elbows. It has a built in adjustable grind selector, that has 18 settings which gives absolute control over the grind size.

This alone makes it a really good coffee grinder for french press, seeing as we need to get a highly accurate coarse grind.

Besides being a good coffee bean grinder for french press, you can also use the JavaPresse for drip coffee and espresso.

#3 - Breville BCG820BSSXL Smart Grinder

Another top 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.

#4- Mr Coffee 12 Cup Electric Coffee Grinder

Another Amazon Choice of best seller from Amazon has to be this Mr Coffee 12 cup electric coffee blade grinder perfect for french press coffee.

It has the ability to grind with variable settings including coarse, medium and fine so would also make a good grinder for espresso.

The coffee grinder is about 5x5x9 inches, and fits on top of almost every kitchen bench top. 

The manufacturer does claim it to be automatic, but beware it is not fully automatic. What I found was that you'd set the grind setting, choose the amount of cups you want and grind. But in order for it to complete you need to be holding down the button until it completes.

Although a really good bean grinder, this feature is it's shortfall as it takes away the ability to be able to walk away from the grinder.

#5 - Black+Decker CBG110S Coffee Grinder

This is probably the most underrated coffee grinder for french press! If you want an automatic blade coffee grinder, but your budget is holding you back, then this is highly recommended.

Besides being a coffee bean grinder, it can also grind your favorite spices, herbs and grans making it really diverse.

What I like about this one is it has a lid locking safety feature, so when you grind your herbs or beans you'll feel safe because there won't be any spills.

The only downside I have with this is, the capacity is a little bit small. But hey! It is an Amazon's Choice product and that's why I included it for you.

#6 - Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme Automatic Burr Coffee Grinder

Last but not least is another best 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.

Can you use ground coffee for french press?

Yes you can use ground coffee for french press, but keep in mind that pre-ground coffee is not as coarse as it should be to produce the best french press.

The other issue with pre-ground coffee is that the full delicious flavor has mostly been lost in the manufacturing process. So when you open your bag and get it ready for your french press, it is most likely not as tasty as it should be.

That’s why I recommend getting yourself a top grinder for french press, so you can really enjoy your coffee in the morning.

Different types of Coffee Grinders

There are different types of coffee grinders on the market, some really cheap and some really expensive.

They often have different mechanisms within them that are capable of grinding the coffee beans. 

Blade Coffee Grinders for French Press

Blade grinders usually contain a couple of blades at the base of the grinder. These blades are connected to a motor and once switched on, rotate very fast which in turn slices and dices the coffee beans.

It’s often a hit and miss approach when it comes to the coffee grinding the beans, and can often lead to an inconsistent coarse ground coffee.

Some people love them as they can have multiple uses, like grinding herbs into odd sizes which makes them perfect for adding to a dish.

But for french press coffee, we need to ensure that the grind is medium coarse and relatively consistent throughout, which will often produce the best french press. 

With a blade coffee grinder you’ll have a random distribution of coffee grind particle sizes, which will affect how the water extraction process when you’re brewing french press coffee.

The other thing is, if you have random particle sizes, if they are too fine it’ll pass the sieve filter when you need to press the french press mechanism.

Disc(Flat) or Conical burr grinders

Conical burr or disc grinders, also known as flat burr grinders are two different types of grinders and very different to a blade coffee grinder.

A conical burr is a cone like with burrs arranged in one direction the burr mount is usually attached over the top of it, which creates a hollow space for the beans to fall through and get grinded. 

In most grinders the burr mount can be adjusted to produce the right consistency of ground coffee, which is what we want to achieve.

Flat disc grinders have two discs that sit one above the other, and typically made of ceramic. Which is good since ceramic can dissipate heat much faster than steel. 

An important consideration when you are grinding a lot of coffee - I mean you’d need to be working in a cafe or something, making 3 cups every 2 minutes.

So in my opinion, opt for a conical burr coffee grinder as most of you will be using it at home with limited frequent use.

Consistency of grind

As I’ve mentioned before, to make the best french press coffee at home you’ll need to have a medium coarse ground coffee.

For this I recommend getting a conical burr grinder, that has an adjustment setting with coarse, medium and fine grind.

This will allow you to not only use it as a coffee grinder for french press, you’ll be able to also use it as a grinder for espresso and also spices!

Keep it clean

Just like with anything really, you need to be able to give your coffee grinder a good clean. Always look out for grinders that can disassemble easily if they have a bean hop attached to them.

If there is no bean hop or container, then cleaning shouldn’t be too difficult because you’ll be able to see the burr head which can be cleaned with a cleaning brush.

Cleaning and maintaining it really depends on use, so if you’re grinding beans 3 times a day, consider cleaning it once a week.

Get a Coffee Grinder with Adjustable Grind

Seriously, this is probably one of the features you’ll come to use the most. When I got my first coffee machine, I was fortunate enough to have a built in bean hopper with a conical grinder.

The grinder also came with an adjustable setting, ranging from extra fine to medium to very coarse. 

I’ve used this as a way to make espresso and I also grind my beans with it for french press coffee.

If your budget allows for it, definitely consider getting a good coffee grinder with an adjustable grind setting.

How to Sharpen Coffee Grinder Blades?

This really only applies to blade coffee grinders, as over time the blades can get blunt meaning it won’t grind that great anymore.

Conical burr grinders made of steel are very durable, and are very dense compared to a thin blade coffee grinder. Since they are dense, they tend to last far longer than blade grinders.

If you do end up purchasing a blade grinder for french press coffee, then cleaning it is simple.

Simply use a cup of uncooked rice in the grinder, and then grind for 60 seconds. Once done, remove the rice and wipe out with a damp cloth and finish off by drying it.

What makes a good coffee grinder?

There are a lot of different factors that will make a good coffee grinder. It can range from the ability to grind beans from very fine to very coarse, the quality of the machine and it’s reputation with the general public.

Having a consistent grind is also an important factor and the ease of keeping it maintained. This is a huge thing to look out for, as the blades can go blunt after a while.

So let’s discuss some of the factors in detail that make a good coffee grinder!

Hard Labour or Quick Fix for Your French Press?

Now that we’ve covered all the aspects of what a good coffee grinder for french press needs, we need to discuss one final thing!

Stand there for around 5 minutes manually twisting a lever to produce a medium coarse coffee or use an automatic one?

In my opinion it boils down to preference really, for me I’m a get it done quick kinda guy. So I prefer the electric or automatic coffee grinders.

Manual grinders

There are some good hand coffee grinders out there, like the Javapresse coffee grinder I mentioned in my best grinder for french press list. They even have conical burrs which is good to produce a medium coarse grind.

Although far cheaper than an automatic coffee machine, it can often lead to longer than usual grind times. On the other hand, some of them have adjustable settings.

Electric grinders

Automatic grinders can have it all, from fully adjustable settings for the perfect grind and built in bean hoppers. These ones are the bees knees when it comes to coffee grinders.

Besides being equipped with some pretty cool features, they take the hassle out of manually grinding the beans yourself.

They do it in 9-20 seconds depending on how much coffee beans you want to grind. My personal preference is an electric grinder vs a manual grinder.

Final Thoughts