Buying a coffee grinder to suit your needs can be daunting as there are so many types and makes available on the market.
This article is designed to help you make the correct decision and buy the right grinder, all the information you need is here.
You may have a quick look at this guide and think there is too much information to read through, but you will do well to take the time to do so, as this article contains vital tips that will help you choose the correct coffee bean grinder for your needs.
The information and results of research presented here are based on Iberital coffee grinders which we have been supplying for a number of years. In this article we cover the Iberital MC1, Iberital MC1R, Iberital MC2, the MC5, the MC5R, as well as the Iberital MC9 and MC10.
We have come to know and trust these grinders, all models mentioned have proven to be very strong and reliable machines.
Commercial Coffee Grinders
If your going to be busy through long periods and your restaurant, cafe, bar, pub or sandwich shop is in a good location or a potentially busy one, you should buy a commercial coffee grinder that is strong enough for the job.
Buying the right grinder to suit your needs can make a big difference to your long term outlay.
The right size coffee grinder can last you 10 years, buy the wrong coffee grinder and you could burn it out within the year.
NEVER underestimate the importance of buying a good grinder for a commercial setup, remember your coffee grinder and your espresso machine are your two main tools, without those your takings will be down and in some cases, non existent !
In an ideal world you want the grinder that gives you enough ground coffee on demand to cope, ground at the slowest speed.
In the real world when you go into a coffee shop you'll see the top hopper crammed with beans, a lot of shops leave their beans in the hoppers for a great deal of time and in some cases days at a time.
So it doesn't matter how fast or slow they grind because the coffee beans are already stale, coffee beans contain oils, these oils evaporate at room temperature, once that happens, you have stale coffee.
That is why we supply our coffee beans in 250G bags, you should only grind the amount which you believe you will use for the following 2 hours, that way you keep your coffee fresh and tasty, people will notice the difference and you will get more repeat custom.
In the commercial world of coffee you have to be realistic, if you have a massive queue and you need to grind coffee before you can serve them you are bound to loose some of the people in the queue because they get impatient and walk away.
For many coffee shops and outlets the biggest sellers are milk based drinks like Latte and Cappuccino, this is important to remember because although the coffee beans you choose are very important to the end result, for the average user the speed of grind isn't.
By the time the customer has his or her coffee drink with milk and or milky foam in, they will not be able to taste the difference between a coffee made with a fast or a slowly ground bean, trust us we have tried blind testing in a few venues to see if it made a difference, we felt this research was all important and the results were conclusive to the above point.
So for a commercial outlet the consideration of speed relates to the turnover or number of drinks produced, not the difference in taste between a faster or slower rotating grinder.
The Iberital MC5
For most establishments the Iberital MC5 is big and strong enough to do the job.
This grinder rotates at 1300RPM and gives a high quality, consistent grind. It's a workhorse grinder that is well made and has a built on tamper which sits on the front, the tamper is removeable for those who prefer to use a hand tamper, which we recommend.
The MC5 is available in red (MC5R), black (standard colour) or for a few quid extra, silver (a chrome look MC5 grinder, sometimes referred to as as the MC10).
The MC5 has a 1 Kilo Hopper (that's the big container on the top) and a 300G dosing hopper on the front (which is used to dispense the ground coffee from), it is not the quietest grinder on the market but it is very good value for money and has a life expectancy of 10 years plus.
The MC5 will work well for shops and coffee outlets that make up to 300 drinks per day, the blades will need to be changed every two years to keep them nice and sharp.
Beyond and above that kind of volume you should be looking at either buying two MC5's or go for a bigger grinder.
We suggest buying two grinders if you are running higher volume, as that way if one should jam or go down for some reason you always have the other to depend on in the meantime, in times of heavy demand survival is the most important factor, put simply if you're grinder dies so does your coffee business !.
Click here to see the Iberital MC5 coffee grinders
Iberital MC1 Coffee Grinder
So in the same vein as the MC5 but bigger you then move onto the Iberital MC1 which has a 990Watt motor and as with the MC5 this range of grinders come in red, known as the MC1R, or black as standard. There is also a silver chrome effect model which is known as the Iberital MC9.
The MC1 has a 2 Kilo main hopper and a 600G dosing hopper. It's a powerful beast and can handle almost any volume you care to throw at it, this grinder is really designed for the very high volume outlets that are always busy.
The MC1 has the same strong build quality as the other grinders in the Iberital range and spares are readily available for it.
This range of grinders are automatic, in the doser on the front there is a sensor. When the ground coffee in the hopper goes below a certain level, the grinder automatically activates and grinds more beans in order to fill the doser.
This is a handy function for a busy coffee shop or restaurant because you know that at all times you will have enough ground coffee on hand to help you kill the queues.
The automatic function stays active so long as the power button on the machine is switched to the on position.
To deactivate the automatic grind function simply switch the power button to the off position, with this grinder you get the best of both worlds. As with the MC5 the grind is consistent and reliable enabling your machine to pull the same high quality espresso shots ready for your cappuccino and latte drinks, all day long.
Change the blades on these grinders every two years.
Click here to see the Iberital MC1 coffee grinder range
Domestic Coffee Grinders - The Iberital MC2 Range
If you are only serving 10 cups an hour or less then you don’t need a grinder with a big motor, this of course also relates to those who have domestic espresso machines at home such as the Gaggia classic,Gaggia Baby, Gran Tebe or the Rancilio Silvia amongst others, if this is the case you will need something like the Iberital MC2.
The MC2 is a Domestic Burr Grinder with a Cunill motor. The Burrs (blades) are big in diameter and conical in shape, the rotation speed is slow, this is ideal for the low output situation because the coffee does not heat up very much during the grinding process, the MC2 returns accurate and consistent results time after time.
The MC2 grinder is strong, well built and comes with a 1 year return to base parts and labour warranty.
The main hopper holds 500grams of beans, the dosing hopper holds 130 grammes of coffee beans.
We believe that this is the best grinder you can buy in the £1 - £200 price bracket in terms of results, price, build quality and what is has to offer pound for pound in comparison to other machines available, remember this is light commercial machine not a 'strictly domestic' coffee grinder.
This machine is ideal for grinding decaffeinated coffee beans in commercial situations, as having a second small grinder means that you will not contaminate the hopper or workings with caffeinated beans.
The MC2 does not come with an instruction guide but you can find on here
Click Here to see the MC2 available to buy online.
Click here to read an independent review of the MC2
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