> wrote:

> The thing that makes coffee somewhat wierd is that so many people use it
> as a drug. Those who really enjoy coffee drink it as a beverage, with its
> psychoactive properties ranking a distant second to the flavor.
>

That's me. I use it as a drug with the flavor being the secondary
consideration. I do go for the best tasting pre-ground stuff I've been able
to find (Community Dark Roast) I'm really not into coffee enough to go
through the work of roasting and grinding.

Now, with beer I'm the other way around. The only reason I'd drink something
like a Coors or Bud would be to be polite. Homebrew is in my future.

-Mike

Bill wrote:

>
>
> I keep my (coffee) beans frozen and grind them in my blade grinder for
> 10-15 seconds. I actually do it by sound as you can hear when the
> blades are no longer hitting larger particles. I keep the beans frozen
> both because we live a long way from where we can get beans (and so buy
> in bulk) and because I have found the blade grinder does a better job on
> the frozen beans. I am curious if anyone has any comments about the
> practice of freezing..



Brings back memories of me and the SO day tripping to Pittsburgh to get
freshly roasted bean at Nicholas Coffee. We would keep the main stash in
tightly sealed jars and the daily bean in a heavy wire bail jar. I
didn't do a comparative study of grinding frozen bean vs warm beans, but
freezing did seem to keep the bean alive longer than keeping it in the
refrigerator, which kept it alive much longer than keeping it on the
counter.



Coffee grinders, the thread that will not die!


Went to a persons house the other day to check out some home
improvements. During the social part of the visit this person produces a
tray with a pile of exotic herbs. This tray also had the top of a blade
grinder. What the hell?? He tells me a few short bursts in the grinder
is all it takes to break the "wheat from the chaff", as it were. Who
would have thought?


Back in the Nicholas coffee days I had occasion to use both a Braun burr
grinder and a blade grinder. It didn't seem to make a difference in
amount of coffee needed or in the flavor. Maybe someone with a more
discerning palate could tell a difference. I will say the burr grinder
was more a pain in the ass to use than the blade unit. The burr would
shoot the grindings into a container which was difficult to empty, and
grinding bean by time in stead of volume was not accurate, but since the
SO had paid so much for the contraption it had to be used, if you know
what I mean. :[


Today my blade coffee grinder is used as a spice mill, it's great for
grinding pepper. Even if someone doesn't drink coffee its worth having
one of these grinders around just for this purpose.



The mill I use for grinding coffee is an actual commercial unit from a
coffee shop, 3/4 horse or so motor, big knob to set the grind/ distance
between the disks. And can be easily taken apart for cleaning. Got it at
a flea market for .... $10?? They had three, I wish I had gotten them all.

Mark > writes:

>my blade coffee grinder is used as a spice mill, it's great for
>grinding pepper.

Stop it already. Enough! Those blade whirlers are NOT grinders, they do NOT
grind.


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

In rec.food.cooking, Mike Pearce > wrote:

> Now, with beer I'm the other way around. The only reason I'd drink something
> like a Coors or Bud would be to be polite. Homebrew is in my future.

There are definite parallels between beer and coffee on the drug/beverage
continuum. And if you'll notice, the best-selling brands of each are
bad-tasting, but cheap.

--
....I'm an air-conditioned gypsy...

- The Who

In rec.food.cooking, Mark > wrote:

> Back in the Nicholas coffee days I had occasion to use both a Braun burr
> grinder and a blade grinder. It didn't seem to make a difference in
> amount of coffee needed or in the flavor.

That's not much of a surprise. There are a load of other factors, and
there is not a huge difference in quality between a run-of-the-mill blade
grinder and a Braun.

--
....I'm an air-conditioned gypsy...

- The Who

wrote in message >...
> In rec.food.cooking, Greg Zywicki > wrote:
>
> > you could, please explain in what ways the $300 Barvousta Il Caffe
> > Squeezemout is worth so very much more than a $25 Mr. Coffee
> > Grindomatic 5000.
>
> It is able to grind to a uniform, precise particle size, is easily
> adjusted, and stays sharp and precise for a long time. No real mystery.
>
> > Maybe your proposed grinder is worth the money.
>
> My grinder cost $129. I wish now that I had spent somewhat more.

I can believe $129. That sounds reasonable.

My modus with these sorts of things is to try the cheaper one first if
I don't have any experience with the item, then go for more suitable
quality.

Greg Zywicki

In rec.food.cooking, Greg Zywicki > wrote:

> My modus with these sorts of things is to try the cheaper one first if
> I don't have any experience with the item, then go for more suitable
> quality.

The conventional wisdom in the coffee world is that excellent results can
be obtained from a fine quality grinder, even if you use a mediocre
espresso machine, but that a fine quality espresso machine will produce
crap if you mate it with a mediocre grinder.

So the usual advice is to spend on the grinder, and upgrade the machine
later. There are lots and lots of people who lament that they spent $60
on a grinder, and then spent $150, and still needed to spend $250 on a
good grinder once they got a good espresso machine. They wish that they
had just gotten a good grinder to begin with.

Me, personally, I got a medium-quality grinder which will work pretty
well, for a while, until it wears, at which time I will be sorry I wasted
the money on it. Then I'll likely bite the bullet and get a good grinder,
which will work better, and will last me for the rest of my life.

--
....I'm an air-conditioned gypsy...

- The Who