Advise Needed: Grind Setting for Cuisinart Supreme Grind™ Automatic Burr Mill

[nakedland]

Good morning friends and thank you for taking the time with us. We are new here and excited to read thru it all.

We have this burr grinder. Yes, cheap and nothing fancy but we're in our 90's and not the coffee experts you all are. We just moved and had it packed away for almost 2 months. I cleaned it out good before packing. Should I do any special cleaning to it now that we have unpacked and ready to use? And we received a cone filter coffee maker for Xmas from our great grandkids. What is the proper grind setting for cone filters with this machine?
I contacted Cuisinart but their response was :the proper setting is what you prefer when making your coffee". Seemed like a form letter response and not much help to us.

Thank you for taking the time with us. I am grateful for your help.

Lester

 

[PinkRose]

Hello Lester,

Welcome to the Coffee Forums website.

Did the new cone filter coffee maker come with instructions? Is it an electric coffee maker (such as Krups, etc) or is it a manual pour over type?

Please take a look at this website page. If you scroll down the page, you will see some information about different types of coffee makers and the kind of grind to use with them, and what the grind size should look like.

How to Grind Coffee - Learn About Coffee Grinding

Your grinder should have clearly marked settings for the different grind levels. You may need to experiment to find the right grind for your taste.

Since your burr grinder hasn't been packed away for too long, and you gave it a good cleaning before you put it away, just grind a handful of coffee beans (preferably old ones) in it, and practice getting the grind setting where you want it to be. After that, grind some fresh beans and you should be good to go!

Rose

 

[peterjschmidt]

Hi Lester,

I don't blame you for looking for help - nobody wants to waste beans - but the response from the manufacturer was good advice. Coffee beans, water, personal preference all play a part so there's no universal answer. Try it right in the middle, and then work your way finer a notch or two. A good habit at first will be to take notes; this will not only help when you try other settings, but more importantly will force you to "investigate" the cup flavors; too many times we get to the bottom of our cup, and all we can say about the coffee is that it as good or it was not so good.

Another thing to watch (depending on what type of cone filter holder it is) is how fast the coffee drips through it. You don't want it gushing through, nor do you want the filter getting clogged and dripping too slowly.

You'll get the hang of it, and it sounds like you're the kind of person who will enjoy the tinkering.

 

[nakedland]

Thank you for your wonderful information.

We have a Bonivita coffee maker. Our second one. We gave our first one to our grandson after we got a new one yesterday. We have a gold filter for it. Best coffee maker we've ever owned. Perfect hot coffee.

OK, so if I understand correctly, start in the middle and go finer and not towards coarse. Am I understanding that correctly? Basically, it's like a hot pour over with these coffee makers.

I took the grinder a part to clean a tad more after taking out of the box and noticed some rusting on lower burr blades. (are they called blades?) it was minor rust but now I worry about that.

 

[peterjschmidt]

Some people suggest running a little Minute Rice through a burr grinder now and then to clean the coffee oils off the burrs.

 

[PinkRose]

I took the grinder a part to clean a tad more after taking out of the box and noticed some rusting on lower burr blades. (are they called blades?) it was minor rust but now I worry about that.

Are you sure it's rust? Could it just be residual coffee grounds/oils? As mentioned earlier, grinding some dry white rice should help.

Here is a link to a website that describes how to clean your burr grinder with uncooked dry white rice.

http://ineedcoffee.com/cleaning-your-burr-grinder/

Rose

 

[nakedland]

Will try a little dry rice. The top blades just have a tinged of rust on some of the blades. It's rust, for sure. I was pretty anal about cleaning it well after grinding the real oily beans. Thanks for the info and help. I am grateful

FYI no link appears for cleaning

 

[PinkRose]

I apologize. I don't know what happened. . . .

Here is the link:

Cleaning Your Burr Grinder - I Need Coffee

 

[nakedland]

Thanks for all the help. All clean and ready to be tested. Will update

 

[nakedland]

Thanks for all the help. All clean and ready to be tested. Will update

My apologies folks. Caught a bug so had to rest.

So, put some beans in hopper and it threw itself off the counter when we hit grind button. Checked to see if rice in and wasn't. Called company to find out why and they said the blades locked up so that caused this. They didn't have a explanation why it did this.
Anyway, it broke some plastic parts inside chamber so now in the garbage.

So, if anyone knows a great deal on a conical burr grinder for this old folk, I'd certainly appreciate it.

Lester

 

[peterjschmidt]

Lester,

Without knowing your financial situation, I STRONGLY suggest you pick up a Baratza Encore... you'll thank me later.

 

[nakedland]

Lester,

Without knowing your financial situation, I STRONGLY suggest you pick up a Baratza Encore... you'll thank me later.

I had been looking at those. They have refurbished ones are less expensive

 

[Kudzu]

I had been looking at those. They have refurbished ones are less expensive

You would not regret springing for the Baratza. There are certainly better coffee grinders available, but I do not believe there are better grinders available at the price. Besides doing a good job grinding your beans, especially in the middle of the grinder's range where you will be using it, they are very durable in home service. Baratza's customer service is excellent and replacement parts, should you need them, are available and reasonably priced. Having owned several, given several more as gifts, and recommended them numerous times, I have not had a bad experience with a Baratza coffee grinder.

 

[nakedland]

You would not regret springing for the Baratza. There are certainly better coffee grinders available, but I do not believe there are better grinders available at the price. Besides doing a good job grinding your beans, especially in the middle of the grinder's range where you will be using it, they are very durable in home service. Baratza's customer service is excellent and replacement parts, should you need them, are available and reasonably priced. Having owned several, given several more as gifts, and recommended them numerous times, I have not had a bad experience with a Baratza coffee grinder.

Thank you. Great information.

 

[peterjschmidt]

Buying a refurb directly from Baratza would have the advantage that you know they've gone over it with a fine-toothed comb, but once you add in the shipping it's about the same cost as buying a new one... a horse apiece, as they say.