Steel Burrs Vs Ceramic Burrs

V60 1 point 4 years ago.

Steel burrs vs ceramic burrs. Grinding coffee generates heat. The best burr coffee grinders on amazon use either ceramic or steel burrs. The key advantage that ceramic burrs have over their steel alternatives is that they are much harder. Ceramic burrs transfer less heat compared to steel ones this means that the type of burr used can affect the taste of coffee.

Ceramic burr are less thermally conductive than steel this means these burrs transfer less heat than steel burrs see below on heat. Marco tells me that dalla corte s burrs are around 300 450 microns to make them suitable for espresso while some grinders are designed to be more flexible instead. Ceramic burrs run a little cooler than steel burrs and there are some coffee experts who think the extra heat burns off some of the oils and impacts the flavor of the coffee. If you re not doing espresso then you don t have worry about the ceramic burrs since the steel are designed for a courser grind.

Ceramic is harder than steel which means the burrs will stay sharp for longer. I haven t noticed this myself and i m not sure the argument would even apply to hand grinding. Coffee beans and heat. The main thing that impacts the cost of a grinder is whether it is automatic or manual though not the blade material.

They are great for blends and particularly coffees roasted for espresso. Heat is an important factor when it comes to coffee grinder burrs because any extra heat impacts your coffee s flavor since it burns off some oils present on the beans. Yet it s also more. Some people also have a preference for ceramic or metal alloy burrs.

On the other hand stainless steel burr grinders tend to cost less up front but their blades will warp and become blunt faster than ceramic ones. The cup flavors are complex and usually have more body and mouth feel in comparison to the steel burrs depending on the coffee. Or so the argument goes. With regards to tasting espresso specifically we have noticed that the ceramic burrs produce a traditional espresso flavor profile.

Ceramic burrs are more brittle than steel so you could chip the ceramic burr if a very hard rock was hiding in the beans. And this heat is the problem according to most coffee. Both of these burrs handle your roasts pretty much equally. Don t try and swap between espresso and drip either you ll pull your hair out and never get consistent results.

Since ceramic and steel burrs have different heat conducting abilities. First off ceramic burrs run a bit cooler compared to steel burrs or in other words they don t heat up as fast or retain heat as much as their metal counterparts. That means your first steel grinder probably isn t going to be your last one.