Coffee Grinder
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I have an oXo and it works really well and is around $100. Plus you can pick them up at target.
Ive had an oxo burr for about 10 years now, I did replace the burrs but turns out they’re almost identical to the ones a higher end brand uses, so I ordered theirs and fit them in. I wouldn’t say I’m 100% satisfied with the grinder as a whole, the removable bean holder is a little fickle to reattach when there’s bean particles in the grinder. But hey it still works and I use it every day
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Encore isn’t much of an espresso grinder either.
Incorrect. The encore has 40 grind size levels. It is literally an espresso grinder.
In the range of 1-20, the entire grind output adjustment is around 400 microns. The slope on the burr adjustment in these first 20 clicks is 80 degrees. The actual vertical movement of the burrs across the range is only 70 microns (or about 3.6 microns per click!!!), but because the plane between the burrs is angled, each click registers about 20 microns in grind fineness adjustment.
It might not be the best espresso grinder made but it’s the best entry level brand at this price. You will only be disappointed by comparing it to machines multiple times the cost. It is not a 5 star machine but its not terrible.
Do you know what the difference is? Between a general purpose grinder and an espresso grinder?
The OP was asking for a BIFL grinder with a maximum budget of $100.
The encore has 40 grind size levels. It is literally an espresso grinder.
Um lol no, it doesn’t work like that. Doing 40 or 400 or for that matter stepless is mechanically trivial in a grinder. If that was all it took, nobody would buy Kafateks.
best entry level brand at this price. You will only be disappointed by comparing it to machines multiple times the cost
That doesn’t sound BIFL to me, if you buy it today and then upgrade to a better one when you can afford to. While not being absolutist, BIFL to me means that you have a reasonable expectation that it is the last one that you are ever going to buy. So the gear has durable enough to last that long, and good enough that you feel that it will always meet your standards.
Do you know what the difference is? Between a general purpose grinder and an espresso grinder?
Yes, OP didn’t ask about espresso at all. Espresso is a huge money sucking rabbit hole that I wisely(?) avoided entering back when I was into this kind of thing. It’s a permanent upgrade treadmill. I have several aquaintances with Kafateks, Lyn Webers, machines of the week, lab instrumentation, microscope photos of coffee grounds, etc. I decided not to care. Once in a while I go to the local cafe and have a Slayer shot and I’m satisfied. I don’t have to be able to do that at home.
As for the Encore, well, you’ve had a dozen broken ones in your shop. I’m not an abusive or especially heavy user and I’ve broken two of them myself. It’s an ok grinder but BIFL doesn’t come into it, it just doesn’t. It’s nice that you can get repair parts from them today but do you really expect the company to exist (and not be absorbed into some evil conglomerate) through your entire lifetime? The Forte (Baratza’s semi-commercial model at around $800 new) might be a plausible BIFL grinder for the average person. Basically you want a grinder made for commercial or industrial duty, so its service interval (however many thousand pounds of coffee it is supposed to grind before needing major repairs) is larger than a home user is likely to use in their lifetime. If I had unlimited funds I’d probably want a Kafatek, but mostly because I think they are cool.
Baratza was founded in 1999. Do they still sell repair parts for the grinders they were making in those early years? The part that failed on my second Encore was the burr collar, a weird shaped piece of plastic that probably can’t be gotten anywhere else. Maybe I could 3D print one but that’s beyond the call of duty.
Also don’t forget that lots of Encore users like to upgrade the burr to the one sold in the next higher (Virtuoso) model. I never bothered doing that with mine.
The OP was asking for a BIFL grinder with a maximum budget of $100.
Yes and I’m asking for a flying pony. I think it’s best to give a realistic answer, which is that what they are asking for does not exist. That happens in every area of life and adults are supposed to be used to it and not get upset. There’s a Bunn G2 on Craigslist right now for $275 and that’s totally BIFL after a mod or two. There’s also a G9 for under $200 but my coffee nerd buddies advised against that model. We don’t have to be like AI chatbots who tell hapless humans what they want to hear even if it’s nonsense.
It’s not completely impossible to keep it under $100 if you see something that is being thrown out from a restaurant or whatever. But that’s a matter of luck.
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I love my 1zpresso grinder. Great value for the price.
Do you think a hand coffee grinder (I would buy the kingrinder k6, as I want cheap) is a “buy for life” product? I never had one in my hand, but I would think that anything that “grinds” probably gets blunt in a few years, no?
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Do you think a hand coffee grinder (I would buy the kingrinder k6, as I want cheap) is a “buy for life” product? I never had one in my hand, but I would think that anything that “grinds” probably gets blunt in a few years, no?
Decent quality ones should at least last years. These grinders crush rather than cut. Should the burr get worse from too much prolonged use, some brands may allow part replacement. Though those would probably be a higher price.
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The encore has 40 grind size levels. It is literally an espresso grinder.
Um lol no, it doesn’t work like that. Doing 40 or 400 or for that matter stepless is mechanically trivial in a grinder. If that was all it took, nobody would buy Kafateks.
best entry level brand at this price. You will only be disappointed by comparing it to machines multiple times the cost
That doesn’t sound BIFL to me, if you buy it today and then upgrade to a better one when you can afford to. While not being absolutist, BIFL to me means that you have a reasonable expectation that it is the last one that you are ever going to buy. So the gear has durable enough to last that long, and good enough that you feel that it will always meet your standards.
Do you know what the difference is? Between a general purpose grinder and an espresso grinder?
Yes, OP didn’t ask about espresso at all. Espresso is a huge money sucking rabbit hole that I wisely(?) avoided entering back when I was into this kind of thing. It’s a permanent upgrade treadmill. I have several aquaintances with Kafateks, Lyn Webers, machines of the week, lab instrumentation, microscope photos of coffee grounds, etc. I decided not to care. Once in a while I go to the local cafe and have a Slayer shot and I’m satisfied. I don’t have to be able to do that at home.
As for the Encore, well, you’ve had a dozen broken ones in your shop. I’m not an abusive or especially heavy user and I’ve broken two of them myself. It’s an ok grinder but BIFL doesn’t come into it, it just doesn’t. It’s nice that you can get repair parts from them today but do you really expect the company to exist (and not be absorbed into some evil conglomerate) through your entire lifetime? The Forte (Baratza’s semi-commercial model at around $800 new) might be a plausible BIFL grinder for the average person. Basically you want a grinder made for commercial or industrial duty, so its service interval (however many thousand pounds of coffee it is supposed to grind before needing major repairs) is larger than a home user is likely to use in their lifetime. If I had unlimited funds I’d probably want a Kafatek, but mostly because I think they are cool.
Baratza was founded in 1999. Do they still sell repair parts for the grinders they were making in those early years? The part that failed on my second Encore was the burr collar, a weird shaped piece of plastic that probably can’t be gotten anywhere else. Maybe I could 3D print one but that’s beyond the call of duty.
Also don’t forget that lots of Encore users like to upgrade the burr to the one sold in the next higher (Virtuoso) model. I never bothered doing that with mine.
The OP was asking for a BIFL grinder with a maximum budget of $100.
Yes and I’m asking for a flying pony. I think it’s best to give a realistic answer, which is that what they are asking for does not exist. That happens in every area of life and adults are supposed to be used to it and not get upset. There’s a Bunn G2 on Craigslist right now for $275 and that’s totally BIFL after a mod or two. There’s also a G9 for under $200 but my coffee nerd buddies advised against that model. We don’t have to be like AI chatbots who tell hapless humans what they want to hear even if it’s nonsense.
It’s not completely impossible to keep it under $100 if you see something that is being thrown out from a restaurant or whatever. But that’s a matter of luck.
The Forte (Baratza’s semi-commercial model at around $800 new) might be a plausible BIFL grinder for the average person.
Interesting opinion.
What makes this a better grinder than the $60 Encore? Like how is it so vastly better?
Because they use the same internals. Same exact motor. Just has a different shape on the output shaft.
I wonder if the Forte breaks as easily as the Encore?
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The Forte (Baratza’s semi-commercial model at around $800 new) might be a plausible BIFL grinder for the average person.
Interesting opinion.
What makes this a better grinder than the $60 Encore? Like how is it so vastly better?
Because they use the same internals. Same exact motor. Just has a different shape on the output shaft.
I wonder if the Forte breaks as easily as the Encore?
Because they use the same internals. Same exact motor. Just has a different shape on the output shaft.
Erm, going from “The two grinders share a particular component” (even if it’s the motor) to “same internals” is quite a stretch of logic. Though I guess you could go further and reach from “they use the same power cord” to “they are the same grinder”. Try to do better. E.g.: check the gear train. I’ve never looked at a Forte closely but the plastic gears in the Encore are unimpressive. Also the burr holder and shaft, etc. Basically all the mechanical stuff. Or just lift them. Per web search, Encore=7 lbs, Forte=13 lbs, might indicate something.
I wonder if the Forte breaks as easily as the Encore?
Well you’ve had to fix a dozen Encores. How many broken Fortes have you fixed?
That said, I’m personally not that interested in the Forte. Someone recommended it when I saw a used Vario advertised cheap, but I didn’t pursue either.
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Because they use the same internals. Same exact motor. Just has a different shape on the output shaft.
Erm, going from “The two grinders share a particular component” (even if it’s the motor) to “same internals” is quite a stretch of logic. Though I guess you could go further and reach from “they use the same power cord” to “they are the same grinder”. Try to do better. E.g.: check the gear train. I’ve never looked at a Forte closely but the plastic gears in the Encore are unimpressive. Also the burr holder and shaft, etc. Basically all the mechanical stuff. Or just lift them. Per web search, Encore=7 lbs, Forte=13 lbs, might indicate something.
I wonder if the Forte breaks as easily as the Encore?
Well you’ve had to fix a dozen Encores. How many broken Fortes have you fixed?
That said, I’m personally not that interested in the Forte. Someone recommended it when I saw a used Vario advertised cheap, but I didn’t pursue either.
I’ve never fixed a broken Encore or Forte, I thought you were going to teach me what goes wrong on them.
So it’s the gears that break?
I know you said you have never even looked at the Forte, so how do you know they can be recommend as a BIFL grinder?
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I’ve never fixed a broken Encore or Forte, I thought you were going to teach me what goes wrong on them.
So it’s the gears that break?
I know you said you have never even looked at the Forte, so how do you know they can be recommend as a BIFL grinder?
I thought you said you had refurbished a dozen Encores. Why did they need refurbishing if they weren’t broken? As mentioned, I’ve broken two. On the second one, the plastic burr collar broke and Baratza told me it was a common failure. It would surprise me if that happens with the Forte, at least for light duty home users like me. I don’t remember what went wrong with the first one. I emailed Baratza and they sent me a replacement Encore under warranty. Their warranty service is definitely good.
Most of what I know about the Forte comes from IRC and forums. I’ve seen them in use but have never disassembled one or anything like that.
There is one for sale near me for $300 if you want one. I’m very slightly tempted but nah:
https://www.home-barista.com/buysell/baratza-forte-grinder-w-bg-burrs-san-francisco-t102725.html
Is OP still around? I haven’t used my Encore in a while, so if you want to buy it, PM me. I’d call it an ok entry level grinder. I wouldn’t call it BIFL.
It occurs to me, there are some manual grinders in the $100 range that are possibly BIFL. Some people like 1zpresso though I haven’t tried one myself. Manual grinding is too tedious for me in the morning when I haven’t had any coffee yet. That’s another reason to not do home espresso as well.
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I thought you said you had refurbished a dozen Encores. Why did they need refurbishing if they weren’t broken? As mentioned, I’ve broken two. On the second one, the plastic burr collar broke and Baratza told me it was a common failure. It would surprise me if that happens with the Forte, at least for light duty home users like me. I don’t remember what went wrong with the first one. I emailed Baratza and they sent me a replacement Encore under warranty. Their warranty service is definitely good.
Most of what I know about the Forte comes from IRC and forums. I’ve seen them in use but have never disassembled one or anything like that.
There is one for sale near me for $300 if you want one. I’m very slightly tempted but nah:
https://www.home-barista.com/buysell/baratza-forte-grinder-w-bg-burrs-san-francisco-t102725.html
Is OP still around? I haven’t used my Encore in a while, so if you want to buy it, PM me. I’d call it an ok entry level grinder. I wouldn’t call it BIFL.
It occurs to me, there are some manual grinders in the $100 range that are possibly BIFL. Some people like 1zpresso though I haven’t tried one myself. Manual grinding is too tedious for me in the morning when I haven’t had any coffee yet. That’s another reason to not do home espresso as well.
Why did they need refurbishing if they weren’t broken?
Used coffee grinders get oily / have grinds inside that need cleaning. About half of them had a missing hopper, lid, knob, canister etc.
I have had a dozen+ BARATZAS, but only about 5 or so Encores.
Out of all of the machines I’ve had, I had one that had a failing motor, and one had a failed timer switch from someone forcing it to far. However I’ve replaced multiple timer switches because on 20 - 30 year old machines the new knobs don’t fit without changing the timer also (different shaft shape, same timer). It’s super cool that you can install the updated parts with no issues.
Once I had a machine where the wire had been knocked off the momentary micro switch.
A lot of the machines I’ve had have been heavily used… Like in a university break room or a corporate coffee area. Like probably equivalent to 5-10X what a home used would do.
Back around 2005-2010 I also owned one for my own use.
On the second one, the plastic burr collar broke and Baratza told me it was a common failure.
Isn’t that a $5 semi-external part that you can change without tools and without opening the machine? Like just twist off the hopper by hand and it’s accessible?
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Why did they need refurbishing if they weren’t broken?
Used coffee grinders get oily / have grinds inside that need cleaning. About half of them had a missing hopper, lid, knob, canister etc.
I have had a dozen+ BARATZAS, but only about 5 or so Encores.
Out of all of the machines I’ve had, I had one that had a failing motor, and one had a failed timer switch from someone forcing it to far. However I’ve replaced multiple timer switches because on 20 - 30 year old machines the new knobs don’t fit without changing the timer also (different shaft shape, same timer). It’s super cool that you can install the updated parts with no issues.
Once I had a machine where the wire had been knocked off the momentary micro switch.
A lot of the machines I’ve had have been heavily used… Like in a university break room or a corporate coffee area. Like probably equivalent to 5-10X what a home used would do.
Back around 2005-2010 I also owned one for my own use.
On the second one, the plastic burr collar broke and Baratza told me it was a common failure.
Isn’t that a $5 semi-external part that you can change without tools and without opening the machine? Like just twist off the hopper by hand and it’s accessible?
If you were simply cleaning grungy machines I wouldn’t call that a refurb.
The Encore burr collar was a cheap enough part though the added shipping cost was annoying. I ordered a replacement and put it in, and I didn’t have to deeply disassemble the grinder. IDR for sure whether I needed tools but I think I did. But, 2 failures in 2 years = unreliable devices, and neither was heavily used. I don’t see how to call a kitchen appliance BIFL if it needs repairs annually.
BIFL is difficult for anything with model specific parts. I’m unable to get a replacement oven rack for my Whirlpool combo oven made in the 1990s. Just a wire rack, nothing high tech, but specific dimensions that don’t seem to exist as standard. Similar situation with my Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner from 2003 or so.
Anyway, we’re going around in circles so I’m going to stop.