Coffee Grinder Engineering

Burrs, motors, particle distribution, adjustment and grinder performance.

Burr geometry

Flat and conical burrs use different geometries to shear and fracture coffee. Burr design, alignment and geometry all influence particle-size distribution.

Particle distribution

A grinder produces a range of particle sizes. Fines can extract quickly while larger particles extract more slowly, making distribution important to brewing behaviour.

Adjustment

Stepped and stepless adjustment systems change the gap between burrs. The usefulness of a grinder depends on repeatability as well as the number of available settings.

Retention and exchange

Coffee retained inside the grinder can affect dose consistency and flavour carry-over. Retention depends on grinder design and workflow.

Heat and speed

Motor speed, duty cycle and burr load can affect temperature and grinding behaviour. Higher speed is not automatically better or worse.