If you’ve done a ton of research like me and used a fair number of coffee grinders over the past few years, you probably know that the Baratza Encore is the best coffee grinder for the vast majority of people looking for a good home grinder to buy. There are several reasons why people like me and a lot of other reviewers recommend the Encore over other models, but the main reasons are the quality grind it delivers and its practical price.
Best Coffee Grinder After Testing Multiple Models
After using and testing most of the popular models on the market today, the Baratza Encore came out on top and offered the best grind quality and consistency on different settings, including fine, medium, coarse, and everything in between. This machine also possesses most of the features you’ll want to see in a coffee grinder, like ease of use and maintenance.
The Encore is not only easy to use and almost without a learning curve so much so that a complete beginner without any previous coffee grinding experience can learn how to use it in a few minutes, it’s also easy to clean and maintain and has a small footprint, which means it’s ideal for large and small kitchens alike. I can’t think of any type of individual whose grinding needs this machine can’t satisfy, except for huge coffee afficionados who don’t mind splurging on extremely expensive machines that brew the best-tasting coffee a human can possibly make.
The Encore is a burr grinder, and this is the kind of grinder you want to be buying if you’re serious about making great coffee. Blade grinders just won’t cut it unless you don’t really care about the quality of your coffee. The burr set in the Encore are fast and durable and are responsible for the excellent grind quality this machine delivers.
Alternatives to the Baratza Encore
A great alternative to the Encore is the Baratza Virtuoso – another model from the same brand that is just as good as the former. It also features a durable burr set and a timer which enables you to choose how much coffee grounds you want the machine to produce. The Encore lacks the timer feature, so if you’re looking for a great burr grinder with a timer, the Virtuoso is a better choice.
Another advantage that the Virtuoso has over the Encore is sturdiness. It’s a bit more sturdy than the Encore, so it should deliver more consistent results in the long run compared to the Encore. Lastly, the Virtuoso produces coffee grounds faster, but the quality is pretty much the same as that of the Encore, so in that department, they’re equal.
Since the Virtuoso is more expensive than the Encore, I recommend you only purchase the Virtuoso if a timer is important to you, otherwise you’re better off saving your money and buying the latter. If you want a coffee grinder that is just as excellent as these and sells at a similar price but from a different brand, then check out the Oxo Brew coffee grinder.
Can a Hand Grinder Replace an Electric Burr Grinder?
Of course, you can save a significant amount of money and get a hand grinder, but I advise against doing that unless you’re just buying it as a backup option for situations where you need to grind some coffee beans and electricity isn’t available. If you have power, you absolutely should be using an electric burr grinder.
A lot of people wonder if they can use their electric grinder for grinding nuts and spices, and my answer to that question is always no, but you can use a hand grinder for that if you want, and that’s another good reason to buy one.
