The Purpose Of Coffee Grinding

Compared to other brewing methods, espresso requires the finest grinding (except Turkish coffee), which means that to get the same amount of coffee, espresso has a much heavier grinding load than filtered coffee. When the specialty coffee shop offers more espresso than filtered coffee, the load on the grinder will be heavy, so an espresso grinder for espresso is even more needed.

Espresso grinders can be divided into cone-knife grinders and flat-knife grinders. Both of these are like Ford vs. Chevrolet, and both have their own fans.

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Cone-knife grinders have been the industry standard for coffee for many years: the ubiquitous Mazzer Robur and Compak K10. As its name implies, the cone-knife type is a cone shape consisting of a male and a female, which makes the grinding speed of the cone-knife type higher than that of the flat knife type.

The cone-knife grinding mechanism has a bimodal particle size distribution. When you look at the ground coffee powder under a microscope, the powders of similar particle size will gather together again and are mainly divided into smaller and larger particles. The particles limit the water flow rate through the coffee powder so that larger particles have more time to reach saturation. Traditional espresso recipes rely on this method to slow down the flow rate.

The cone shape causes a bimodal distribution of grinding results, which will make the brewed espresso more saturated and rich. The proponents of the flat-knife grinder pointed out that the particle size of these bimodal distributions and the particles' size will produce different saturation speeds, and different saturation speeds determine the extraction rate.

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In recent years, everyone has improved the flat-knife type grinder. The flat-knife type is composed of two matching grinding discs, which do not interfere with each other. This forms a more uniform particle size distribution so that the barista does not have to worry about it when extracting coffee. The fine-grained coffee powder extracts a bitter taste. The flat-knife grinder cannot control the flow rate because of less fine grinding, but this also forces the barista to fine-tune the grinding scale (with its limits) or lengthen the brewing time. Use these grinders to make large-volume concentrates easier to cook, and if you want to escape the SCAA concentration parameters, you need a flat-knife grinder to do it.

Whether you choose to use a fan or a heater, make sure that the espresso grinder can adjust the temperature.

Using EK43 to prepare espresso is very cumbersome. Still, it at least opens a new era of imitating the large-size cutter head of EK43 and also opens up a way to prepare espresso with a coffee machine. The first company to respond to this new demand was Nuova Simonelli, who launched the Mythos series. In 2015, Mahlkönig published the Peak grinder, named after the unimodal particle size distribution of the 80 cm steel cutter head.

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Whether you choose a cone knife or a flat knife grinder, all espresso grinders have two difficulties to overcome: temperature fluctuations and grinding residual powder.

Friction generates heat, and when grinding coffee beans for espresso, the coffee beans must be ground extremely fine and constantly rubbed. Any barista who is busy knows that the temperature fluctuations caused by the espresso grinder will seriously damage the espresso coffee. Parameter, during peak hours of operation in the morning, the brewing time will increase as the temperature of the grinder rises, and the machine can only be stopped to cool down.

The previous theory was that temperature fluctuations caused the expansion and contraction of the cutter head, but this theory has been overturned. Even when the grinder is hottest, it cannot reach a temperature sufficient to deform steel and titanium. Recently, a theory has been proposed that the coffee temperature changes due to the difference. The lower the temperature, the easier it is to grind the coffee beans, and the finer the grind. Conversely, the fineness decreases when the cutter head causes the coffee beans to become hotter. The lower the degree of fineness, the faster the flow rate, which explains why continuous large amounts of grinding will change the brewing time.

The ideal brewed coffee should contain the finest grinding, and all three companies use flat-knife grinders.

The most advanced espresso grinder uses a fan to solve the temperature problem. When the temperature rises, the fan will start to lower the temperature of the grinder. In the case of Mahlkönig Peak, the barista kept the fan running. Nuova Simonelli added a heater to the Mythos Clima Pro-One machine. This can keep the temperature of the grinder between 30 and 40 degrees and maintain the temperature range by increasing or decreasing the temperature. In order to maintain the stability of the temperature, we will not see too many changes.

Regardless of whether you choose to use a fan or a heater, make sure that your espresso grinder has the function of adjusting the temperature. Cheap espresso grinders cannot adjust the temperature, and coarsely ground coffee beans may lower extraction rates. Coffee is even more impossible to cope with the large demand.

For baristas, the more headache of the grinder is the residual powder. Some coffee powder will stay in the groove and between the cutter plate of the grinder. This means that grinding the coffee will accompany some of the previous coffee residual powder.

I think there is still a long way to improve the coffee grinder's core function. My main concern is that there will be stale beans. Grinders have many opportunities to have nearly ten grams of coffee residue left in the grinder. The groove and the area where the cutter head runs. The most important thing about coffee beans is freshness. From my point of view, there is a slight difference in the quality between the flat knife and the cone knife grinder.

When discussing the issue of freshness, the residual powder is still a problem when adjusting the parameters. Even if you grind two or three servings of beans, you still can't fully confirm that the previously ground coffee is not in the machine. Therefore, the ground coffee will be different. The size of the particle size leads to uneven extraction and increases the chance of clogging.

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Although the espresso grinder has many arduous challenges, we must also select and maintain it. The grinder grinds larger and coarser coffee powder, which means that it must be able to withstand a larger amount and provide precise particle size distribution.

Yield is also important. If you want to brew two gallons of drip coffee per hour, you will need a grinder to achieve the required output. You don't want the grinder operation to be affected and damaged due to overuse.

The leading manufacturers of mass-produced grinders are Mahlkönig, Ditting, and Bunn. Because household single-product grinders require extremely fine grinding, all three companies use flat-knife grinders.

For coffee shops that offer both pour-over coffee and espresso, this is a good investment. If you have to remove the cutter head of the grinder, you still need another grinder to operate.

When you finish brewing every day, you must use a vacuum cleaner to clean the inside of the grinder and clean the bean container. (Coffee sprouts recommend that if you want to clean the bean container, please use a sponge and don’t use the vegetable cloth to avoid scratching the bean container.)

Baratza Forté is a customized pour-over coffee grinder. The flat knife type and innovative grinding weight technology allow the barista to weigh the coffee powder accurately. This reduces the manual process and also reduces the things a barista has to worry about. This is very suitable for use in restaurants or offices, controlling how coffee shops brew their coffee.

If you want to brew better, you can search for more articles on coffee to learn.

After choosing an appropriate grinder, proper maintenance and maintenance are very important to the function and durability of the grinder. At the end of each day, the grinder must thoroughly clean the inside and wipe the grooves clean. The espresso grinder must be disassembled and maintained regularly to clean the accumulated fine powder and grease. Be sure to watch the instruction manual and contact the manufacturer before disassembling the grinder.

The manager of the coffee shop must record how many pounds of coffee the grinder grinds each year. Different cutter heads have different life cycles, but a good business coffee shop must regularly replace the cutter head of the main grinder every year.