List Price: $299.99
By: KitchenAid - Model: RKPCG100NP
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Coffee, Tea & Espresso -> Coffee Grinders -> Electric -> Burr Grinders
Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15
Average rating: 4.0 of 5
First really good coffee grinder I've ever had 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
The first day I got it I thought I was in trouble - it stuck and started smoking. I cleaned it out & it seemed to work fine, and has in fact worked like a dream ever since. After my last grinder, where I had to physically jam the beans down into the burrs to get them to grind, the occasional nudge with a chopstick is a breeze. And I think the coffee tastes better - cleaner and more alive. Kitchenaid support is terrific. I called to ask about the smoking and to request a missing brush; the rep spent 15 minutes checking to make sure I could go on using the grinder and the brush arrived promptly. (And btw, they tell me the warranty on this is a year, because it's a pro product, not six months). I am very, very happy.
Highly recommended, but needs a removeable bottom 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
I've been using this grinder for about a year, and I highly recommend it. Just a few small complaints though, and for these reasons, I can't give it a full 5 stars:
1) A small amount of 'grindage' (as I call it) always falls out when the glass receptacle is removed, no matter how violently I shake the machine to ensure that every last granule is in the receptacle before I remove it. There is NO WAY to avoid this issue, so every day I'm cleaning up grindage from the bottom of the grinder, which inevitably gets on the counter. A damp paper towel works fine, but I think Kitchenaid should ship a year's supply of paper towels with the machine just to be fair. An even better idea would be to have the bottom of the grinder be removable, so that you can easily dump the grindage in the trash. But do they think of these things? No. They're content to charge $200 and let their customers clean up grindage every day of their lives.
2) The grind is not as uniform as it should be for a machine of this price. For $200 I expect every granule to be the same size, but alas, it's not. However, it's close enough for my satisfaction and far better than the large earth-like clods you get from cheap blade grinders, which require a hammer to break apart.
3) For some dumb reason there's slightly extended edges inside the hopper, where a few beans always get stuck. Not a big issue; just shake the machine. Some people might prefer to use a sledgehammer, but I don't recommend that because although the machine is sturdy, it might not stand up to a sledgehammer's blunt force trauma. Better to shake it, and if anyone asks what you're doing, don't be embarrassed that you're rocking an appliance back and forth - simply tell them the truth: "I spent good money on these coffee beans, and I don't want them to remain stuck in the hopper." Any logical person would understand and not mock you.
On the positive side, the use of a glass receptacle means NO STATIC CLING, which was always my main problem with all other grinders. Words can't describe how wonderful it is to grind coffee and have it fall peacefully to the bottom in a loose heap, instead of clinging to all sides of the container. Very easy to scoop out.
The machine is fairly quiet, reliable, and extremely well-built. As mentioned above, it could definitely use some refinement in the future - but even as is, it's by far the best grinder I've ever owned and if this one broke, I'd buy another without a second thought.
PS: if you own a Keurig coffeemaker and use the K-Cup attachment filter to make your own coffee (as opposed to using the pre-sealed K-cups), don't grind any finer than 6.5, otherwise the water won't flow through the filter properly.
