Manual coffee grinder, any questions?

If Manual coffee grinder can grind
as well as an electric one, would
you be interested?

Manual coffee grinder's major difference from those electric ones is the lack of automation (pretty obvious right!). While, there are skepticism on their capability to achieve a fine grind, but they really comes with grind selection function, so should be able to get the different grind.

How to make coffee without machine?

How many grams of coffee for V60?

How to brew coffee using coffee sock?

How to use French Press as a coffee maker?

How to use a Drip Coffee Bag?

Learn about these methods and more (such as coffee cupping) in our free coffee classes.

A collection of the various Drip Coffee Methods

On the question, if all manual coffee grinder are able to produce find ground meant for espresso, it is difficult to say. But, the one I know that can definitely achieve this fine grind would be the Zassenhaus.

Great, maybe there is one that can achieve espresso grind but it is difficult to use? It is different from an electric grinder?

The difference would lead to plenty of questions and I believe the 2 main ones would be the adjustment of the grind and the maintenance of the grinder.

Some models might differ (I am using a Zassenhaus as my base), all things being equal, most of these hand or manual grinder, comes with handle by the side and ground collection boxes at the bottom. And some them even uses Burr grinder.

If it is a manual coffee grinder using burr, it should work like this. Look for a knurled adjusting nut, usually on the handle. Turn it anti-clockwise fully until it cannot go any further.

At this setting, it would grind out the finest ground meant for the espresso. Yeah, it sounds pretty scary with the burr rubbing each other (solution: get a Zassenhaus, it comes with a 10 year warranty!), but that is the way it should work in order to grind the coffee beans finely.

For filter drip coffee, turn it clockwise half a turn. Start operating the handle turning it clockwise, if there are no resistance, throw in the beans and in minutes you should get your coffee grind for filter coffee. If you want the coarser grind then burr has to be further away from each other. That is, more turn in the anti-clockwise direction. Turning it 3/4 anti-clockwise would give you grind for a French Press.

Having said so much about the setting, there is an important thing to note, always turn the handle clockwise when grinding. This is how most burr works and I believe the same for most manual coffee grinder.

To keep it in good condition, the 2 things that really need to be cleaned are the exterior and the grind. The drive shaft usually comes with nylon or maybe brass bearings and does not need any maintenance or lubrication.

For the exterior nice wood finished, clean it with 0 PH body soap. It is best not to use normal dish washing or detergent as the high alkaline content is not good for the wood finished.

Cleaning the burr, usually we used rice or "minute rice". Grinding 1/3 cup of the rice would keep the burrs clean. Any other ingredients is really not recommended as it would have some left over flavor, tainting your coffee flavor.

Unless, you are always using the finest grind and there is huge amount of sediments left in the grinder, then you would have to unscrew the burrs and clean them with an old toothbrush. If not, there is really not a need to meddle with it.

And that is the reason, why we highlighted in another article that manual coffee grinder is really meant for the normal drinker. If the consumption is high especially for espresso, electric coffee grinder makes more sense. Manual coffee grinder is not difficult to use or maintain but for the same pricing, there are many other solutions that are simply easier...

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OCM (OnCoffeeMakers.com) was started in 2007 with the first webpage about coffee machines. And for a number of years, we focused on helping people find their desired coffee machine (we still are helping folks with that! So, if you are looking for coffee machines for office or restaurants - check out the link).

In 2010, we started getting enquiries on restaurant marketing and we start to help food and beverage brands with their marketing. Below are campaigns and events that we have done over the years:

OCM's campaigns: F&B Marketing Ideas by OCM

OCM's Events: F&B Industry events by or with OCM

Check out this restaurant marketing guide to learn more about the many campaigns and companies we have worked with.

Since then, we have also created many marketing workshops and classes for the F&B industry. Many of these modules are still running in tertiary institutions such as Temasek Polytechnic Skillsfuture Academy and also ITE College East COC classes, below are some snippets of our lectures and workshops:

OCM’s F&B workshops: Food and Beverage Marketing Lectures | Workshops - click to watch classes on customer journey map, JTBD and more.

So, if you are looking for industry practitioners to help you scale your coffee or F&B businesses, do drop us a message or book an appointment. Do also check out our various social media platforms on regular F&B and coffee market updates:

For regular coffee (F&B) related videos: OCM Youtube

For Daily Coffee Inspiration (fun coffee content): OCM IG

For insights into the coffee (F&B) industry: OCM LinkedIN

PS: For the coffee lovers, we continue to share coffee articles (and videos) and have also started a free coffee class section (with free online coffee training supported by coffee partners).