De'LonghiCoffee grinder KG79, Black, 1 - Pack

After studying budget burr grinder reviews here and elsewhere I decided to buy the De Longhi KG79. Some reviewers say it doesn't grind coffee fine enough for espresso, however I find the result on the minimum setting is a fine powder which works well in my espresso machine. It's at least as fine as ready ground espresso coffee and the powder clumps together as it should if held in the hand. Certainly the taste of the coffee it produces is very satisfying, which is the main thing.The De Longhi grinder is extremely easy to use. Just put enough beans in the hopper, select the grind and the amount required and press the button. I find it produces a little more powder than selected, but this isn't a bad thing. Rather too much than too little. I haven't had any problem with the ground powder not being collected properly and spilling under the machine. It all ends up where it should. Because the powder is fine some can collect in the upper corners of the box so I just tap it gently on the worktop after sliding it out and before taking the lid off.The lid on the bean hopper and the powder collection box fit snuggly and positively in the grinder. This is integral to the safety mechanism as the grinder will not work unless both the lid and the collecting box are correctly in place. It also adds to the high quality feel of the machine.Obviously grinding coffee isn't going to be silent, but I don't find this machine too noisy. If it runs out of beans the noise gets much louder, so I always check sufficient beans are in place before starting the machine. Overall I couldn't be happier with this De Longhi coffee grinder. It looks good, is well made and produces the fine coffee powder necessary for espresso machines.

I've owned blade coffee grinders in the past. They are messy and uncontrollable and produce a poor grind. Mine have been thrown away. I decided on the KG79 after reading reviews on Amazon. I've been using the grinder for a week now and I'm very happy with the performance. I can't comment on the long-term build quality of course.I like the ability to preset the number of cups and the fineness of the grind. I use two coffee makers: French press and an AeroPress. Pre-ground coffee is too fine for the French press and results in excessive fines. It's great in the AeroPress however -- but it takes longer to make a cup. After a couple of day's experimentation I found the setting for a courser grind that works well in the French press and produces full-flavoured coffee while minimising fines. It's easy to use: load with beans, press the button and in a few seconds there's your ground coffee ready to go. Nice product - I recommend it.Update 19 October 2011.I've now been using the grinder for three months. Very pleased with the grinding performance and general quality of the item. But it has a flaw. This flaw is not unique to this product but all grinders that use a particular type of plastic for the ground coffee container (polycarbonate I think it is). Static electricity. The plastic builds up a charge attracts the grounds and makes it almost impossible to get the grounds out without spilling some somewhere, usually over the kitchen bench. I used to tip the grounds out but now I use a teaspoon for most of the grounds and tip up the container only for the last bits. Even with care I still spill something, either under the machine or around the plunger. You have to remove the lid of the coffee container and this always has fine grounds clinging to it. These will spill on whatever you rest the lid on. I put it in the kitchen sink to minimise the problem.

UPDATE-28/11/14: I use it only as a spice mill in the kitchen. A year on, it still works! :) I only need to use it for a few seconds to grind a small quantity of spices for everyday cooking. It does struggle but it has lasted and I am pleased that I can use it this way..............Since I have a bean to cup machine I got this only to share some home roasted coffee with friends who use cafetiere plunger. It is compact and well worth the buy if you wish to grind small batches of freshly roasted coffee beans for your cafetiere/plunger or anything other than espresso machines. Verdict: perfect ground coffee for French plunger type coffee press. Highly recommended if this is your drinking style.If you are buying this because you just bought an espresso machine then *please do not buy this*For espresso you need much more consistent fine grind. The finest setting grind is still too coarse in this KG79. So please save your money and put it towards a *proper* grinder. You can either read reviews like this and save time and money or buy this burr grinder and give it a try anyway! I received a comment saying that my review was not helpful. so I am trying my best to say both the benefits and shortcomings of this DeLonghi KG79 burr grinder.Quality: I noticed the motor is just a direct attachment to the cone. So this is not a geared burr grinder. This is a "direct drive mechanism". Hence the low cost of manufacture. This kind of mechanism is prone to failure. This one is in use once every day for a month now. I will update on durability if it fails in the future.Ease of use: Extremely easy and safe.For me, however, it has taken an interesting turn. I am mentioning this here because someone else might find this useful as a spice mill. I grind spices with this, as I cracked my mortar and pestle. Lo and behold: it grinds whatever spice mix you put into it!! I was just about to buy a T & G capstan "Crushgrind" ceramic mill or a Peugeot Mill at a great expense. They are manual and come with lifetime warranty, however they can't cope with most of the spices. Definitely not a custom mix of spice seeds on the fly. Peugeot especially is only suited for round black peppercorns, white peppercorns and coriander seeds. It can't, for example, cope with fennel seeds, mustard seeds, sesame seeds, dried chillies, cardamom seeds, etc. This automatic burr grinder from DeLonghi can!! So I have now dedicated this one as a spice grinder. It is much better than mortar and pestle because much of the oils used to stick to the stone and the grind was uneven and loud thumping woke up sleeping children. Also, my 2 year old son kept running away with the pestle. With this burr grinder no oils are lost and there is no wastage. I can even grind tiny quantities of any spice seed mix. If you have it in your kitchen and if it is dry then this will grind it.I am still in the process of deciding on my second burr grinder to do exclusive coffee bean duty only. For coffee aficionados this may not even offer borderline acceptability for espresso grade grind. You 'may' manage a barely acceptable espresso. Maybe. But it will give poor crèma. The inconsistent grind will also cause the coffee to have a 'mixed' taste because the small particles will release coffee quicker and the more bitter constituents. The bigger particles will not release the coffee quick enough. Lengthening the extraction time is not good whatever the particle size. If the grind produces uniform size particles even if the size is not 'ultra' fine, then you can judge the extraction time and make good espresso shots. Therefore grinds by KG79 which is a mixture of ultra fine, fine, and crude particles all coming out mixed together is the worst kind of grind for an espresso! So for fine espresso grind (for coffee taste you get in Costa or Starbucks) you need to spend much more on something like a "burr grinder with geared motor" e.g. Mazzer Mini(£380), Rancilio or something in that range (or at least a Baratza?), also avoid KitchenAid Artisan grinder at £200 as cannot do the job of consistent fine espresso grind! I hope this has been helpful. Thanks for reading.UPDATE ON FEBRUARY 2017. (!!) It is still working :) I still use it only for spices, however, I grind all kinds of spices with it most days and it has worked flawlessly for this. Great alternative for a mortar and pestle for dry spices. Really pleased.