Need a burr coffee grinder to freshly grind your beans but don’t want to break the bank? Here are your best options.
The best burr coffee grinder under $100 is the OXO Brew Conical. It produces decently uniform grounds with few enough fines to produce delicious coffee. It does a good job for anything from percolators to French press but isn’t optimal for making espresso grounds since it lacks some adjustability.
There are a few other options you can check out below. They all have their own benefits and drawbacks, keep reading which one is best for what you want.
In this budget, you’ll get higher quality grinders if you get a hand grinder. Click here to find the best hand grinders under $100.
4 Best Electric Burr Coffee Grinders Under $100
1. OXO Brew Conical Grinder
The OXO Brew Conical (Amazon) is a very good burr grinder for the money and is priced quite competitively. It’s fast, has good grind distribution with not too many fines and has enough size adjustment. It can’t really do espresso grinds well but no grinder in this price range can.
While it can grind finely enough, it lacks some of the fine adjustment necessary for really dialing in your espresso. If you don’t care too much about getting the best espresso shot possible and are using a pressurized filter basket, this machine is workable.
Suggested: Can any coffee grinder make espresso grounds?
It’s not the quietest but also not super loud and since it grinds pretty quick, you don’t have to listen to it too long. The burrs are stainless steel which means they stay sharp for a long time and produce uniform grinds with less fines which is good for the taste of your coffee.
Suggested: Is it cheaper to grind your own coffee beans?
2. Baratza Encore
OK, I am cheating a little bit here. The Baratza Encore (Amazon) is the quintessential ‘beginner coffee enthusiast’ grinder, however, it’s slightly over our budget. They go up and down in price a bit so check the current price on amazon by clicking here. If you can afford the new one, I would recommend it.
If you really want to stay under $100 check the Baratza site. They sometimes have refurbished models for sale for a nice discount. However, availability is inconsistent. Looking second hand is also an option.
The grind quality of the Encore is very comparable to the OXO while the feel and build quality is a bit better. It retains less grounds in the burrs which is a very good thing and has a bit more adjustability although it’s still not optimal for espresso although fine for pressurized baskets.
The big benefit over the OXO is the replacement parts availability and the fact that you can upgrade the burr set. The burr set from the Baratza Virtuoso is very easy to put into the Encore and suddenly you’ve got a much faster and more uniform grinder. This upgrade can be bought directly from the Baratza site and will cost you about $50.
The benefit of having that upgrade option is that you can do it later and don’t have to spend the cash immediately. Then, when you feel the need to upgrade, you don’t have to buy a whole new machine.
3. Bodum Bistro Burr
If the Bodum Bistro burr grinder (Amazon) is a good choice depends on which price you get if for. Sometimes these are discounted pretty deeply and you can get them for well under $100. In that case it is a good deal. For the full price, the OXO and Baratza are better choices.
The bistro grinder produces quite good quality grounds although a touch less consistent than the OXO or Baratza. You’re only really going to notice the difference if you taste a cup of coffee from the other ones next to this one though.
The main drawback is the static and spilling issue this grinder has. Grinding tends to get a bit messy and while it’s fast, some grinds tend to get on and around the grinder but not in the jar where they’re supposed to go.
4. Krups Precision Grinder
The Krups Precision Burr Grinder (Amazon) is not as good as the ones above but also only costs about half the price. It’s a bit plastic feeling but the results you get for your money are quite good. This grinder has flat burrs which is a feature you usually only see in very expensive models.
The benefits of flat burrs are a more consistent grind, and more size control. However, they also require more energy, produce more heat and can be noisier.
That said, the results are pretty decent for how much you pay for it. The grounds this produces are much more uniform and have less fines than a blade grinder while only costing a little bit more.
However, if you want to spend this amount of money and don’t mind a manual grinder, you can get a TimeMore C2 grinder for a few dollar more and that’s a much better grinder overall, except for the fact you have to do it manually.
