Review of the Hamilton Beach Custom Grind

The Hamilton Beach Custom Grind

Ok. Today I am reviewing the Hamilton Beach Custom Grind coffee grinder. Recently I was in the market for an inexpensive coffee grinder. As anyone who has ever shopped for a coffee grinder knows there are two basic types. One is the burr grinder and the other is the blade grinder. Basically burr grinders crush the beans while blade grinders chop the coffee beans. With all things being equal burr grinders are more expensive than blade grinders. That being said, you get three guesses which type of grinder is said to produce the richest tasting coffee. You guessed it, burr grinders are believed by most coffee aficionados to produce the best tasting cup of coffee. Most believe that the problem with blade grinders lies in the fact that they do not produce a uniform grind of coffee. With most blade grinders the coffee grinds will be of varying sizes and many believe that this results in unevenly extracted coffee. However, if price is a factor, and it was for me, then a blade grinder, like the “Custom Grind” may be your best choice. Certainly though, even using a blade grinder, having freshly ground coffee is far superior to using coffee that is ground at the roaster prior to being shipped to the store. With coffee, just like with most things, freshness is the key and that even applies to when your coffee beans were ground.

Now, on with the product review. The Hamilton Beach Custom Grind is certainly compact in size. If counter space is an issue then you will be pleased with the small footprint of this machine. Also another great clutter reducing feature of this grinder is that it has a retractable cord. You can adjust the length of the cord just by turning the base of the unit. This eliminates a lot of slack cord cluttering up counter space and presenting a hazard. The custom grind is an automatic grinder. That is once you place the beans in the unit you simply place the grind select switch to the amount to be ground and the desired fineness of the grind and then press the button. It has three grind settings. There is percolator, auto drip, and espresso. Within these three setting you can select quantities of 4, 8, 12, or 15 cups. The grind settings of percolator, auto drip, and espresso are also marked coarse, medium, and fine respectively. After selecting the proper grind setting, and the number of cups, you simply press the ON button and the grinder will start and then automatically shut off when the grind is completed. If the coffee is still not ground finely enough you may press the button again to restart the grinder, then a second press will shut it off, thereby, “custom” grinding the beans.

While being a dependable and economical means of grinding coffee, as with other blade grinders, the Custom Grind is not the most ideal choice for either espresso or French press grinds. This is because of the uneven size of the grinds which is an inherent problem with any blade grinder. If you are using a French press to brew your coffee then you may find that even on the coarsest of settings some of the coffee may be too finely ground to be contained by the strainer. On the other hand, if you are using an espresso machine then even with a fine setting you may find that some of the grinds are too coarse resulting in under extracted coffee or even possibly a clogged portafilter.

But, if you’re on a tight budget, and I am (lol kid in college), then the Hamilton Beach Custom Grind is a great choice to get freshly ground coffee.

You can purchase the Custom Grind as well as read additional customer reviews on it by going to http://www.gourmetcoffeespot.com/. Right now there is a great deal on the Platinum model which features a removable grinding chamber for easy cleaning. Just go to http://www.gourmetcoffeespot.com/ and click on the “Coffee Makers, Pods & Accessories” category in the left column. Then click on “Coffee Grinders” and type in “Hamilton Beach”.

Happy grinding!