Wirecutter

This compact grinder is easy to use and has a wider range than most budget grinders, but it’s a bit less consistent than pricier machines.

Consumer Reports

CR’s take: The Oxo Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder is one of the more affordable models that does well in our tests. It receives strong scores in our grind-performance tests, making it a good choice for any brew method you want to use, including cold brew. It also earns a Very Good rating for convenience, thanks to its clearly marked and easy-to-use controls. Our testers find it quite easy to clean, too, due to its removable hopper. This Oxo is a bit noisy, but nothing like the Bodum above. It features 15 grind settings, a 12-ounce bean hopper (one of the largest), an auto-stop feature, and a timer.

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This all-around workhorse grinder produces a consistent grind, which is required for brewing delicious coffee, and it doesn’t cost a fortune.

This no-frills workhorse coffee grinder produces a super consistent grind.

This all-around workhorse grinder produces the consistent grind required to brew delicious coffee, and it doesn’t cost a fortune.

CR’s take: The Baratza Encore Conical Burr Grinder performs especially well in our tests for coarse- and fine-ground coffee, making it a great choice for espresso as well as cold brew. This machine is very easy to clean and convenient to use, though it’s somewhat noisy. And though the Baratza allows for precision with 40 individual grind settings, it's more expensive than the other models here and lacks features such as the ability to select a preset number of cups and an auto-stop feature to halt grinding after a certain number of cups or minutes.

America's Test Kitchen

This grinder is bare-bones: Just select one of the 40 grind settings and turn it on; it mills beans until you turn it off. It was too minimal for novice testers who wanted more guidance, but its no-fuss design is perfect for experienced users. It doesn't include a scale, so you need to weigh beans beforehand.

Burr Grinder Comparison