KitchenAid KCG0702CS Burr Coffee Grinder, Contour Silver

We had to pay a premium for this grinder because it seems it’s discontinued. The style and motor are very much like the mixers everyone loves so much. It’s a straight forward design that’s easily cleaned. Noise level is low for the monster motor they attached to this. It’s a very low speed grinder so that might be why. The grind quality seems consistent but I’m not scrutinizing it that much. It’s early in the purchase time but so far this was worth the money over some of the newer plastic options. This unit has almost no plastic except for the knob and a little on the base. It’s all metal and glass.

i’m pretty partial to kitchenaid products so i confess that was part of the reason i bought this.

i was in the market for a coffee grinder. i usually get preground, but wanted to start making more cold brew, and trying some local coffee (best enjoyed freshly ground.) i tried a few really cheap options. like. less than $25 options. one was the hand grinder variety which worked well, but ionly for small batches. another i pretty much threw away immediately.

i knew i was going to have to put some cash down for this grinder. i just didn’t know where to start. reviews were all a mixed bag except for some truely expensive models, which i knew i was not going to go for. i could risk another cheaper variety but i had enough of that. this one seemed to be a good compromise.

here’s the skinny. this thing is big and this thing is loud. it looks good but you should only get this thing if you plan on using it often as the casing is solid metal. the motor makes a huge racket. but most of my best appliances do. ever hear a vitamix chew through 16 cups of ice?

as far as i can tell, the grind is pretty darn consistent. there is a way to adjust the default settings to how course or how fine you want it to be from 1-10. since i don’t use espresso techniques i adjusted the factory settings to be slightly more course at the far end so i could play around with grinds for my cold brew.

the jar that catches the grounds can get messy. it’s not a sealed container so sometimes adding and removing the jar can result in stray grounds falling from the grinder. big whoop. if you actually do pour over, it is likely that you can fit a #2 size cone right under the grinder. i have a plastic melitta that uses paper filters and i stick it right under instead of the jar for single cup brewing. so easy and much less mess.

this is a straight forward grinder. turn it on. grind. turn it off. that’s really all i needed out of my grinder. i measure the beans i need pour then into the hopper. turn it on. when i feel the dial stop trembling from the grinding i turn it off. i suppose if i timed it i could add a bunch of beans to the hopper and have it ready and just switch it on for x amount of seconds, but again it’s not really for storing beans. keep your beans in an opaque air tight container.

note to those who are reading that the lid does not fit in reviews: the lid to the hopper //isn’t supposed to sit tight//, it just rests on top to keep it covered. this is by design. the hopper is not meant for storage. you lift the lid with ease to add your beans and then set it back on top.

wow this review was longer than i meant for it to be. i guess the only thing now is to see how long it lasts. i bought this late last year and use it daily (multiple times) and have had no issues. the price can be yowch, but man, cheap electric grinders just aren’t worth it.

In our house we drink allot of coffee and grind beans every time so we use the grinder just a little less than a coffee shop. So we have gone through many grinders, I wanted to spend more for something that will last. This thing is so solid you can tell just by looking at it and lifting it that it will last for ever. The motor is somewhat loud but much quiter than my previous grinder. You can tell just by the lower hum of the motor and the motor seems to barely strain when grinding. The only thing missing from this grinder is a timer but not having a timer and just a solid switch makes it one step more reliable. The grind settings appear simple with just 5 steps but you can take off the the knob and plate and make fine adjustments to get it just once. And its cast metal and glass very well constructed. I would be surprised if it didn’t last a lifetime.

So first, the good:

This grinder is obviously made for the long haul. Build feels high-quality and seems like it will last for years (4 and counting for me with zero evidence of wear).

If you are going for fine coffee grounds, this thing slays the day! You have 15 options, and if you go for the finest, you end up with commercial-grade powder. All evenly done. The result is a work of art. You can definitely notice the difference compared to cheaper, non-burr types. Also, the capacity is pretty great if you need to stock up.

On the flip side, there are a couple of issues. If you are going for the coarsest settings (perhaps for French Press), there is a static electricity issue with the glass bowl receptacle as well as the output end of the grinder. It may depend on what kind of coffee beans you get, but mine always wound up annoyingly sticking to the outside of the glass, as well as even around the shaft. So, your mileage may vary. Again, if you do medium or fine grinding, no issues.

There is one design issue that may perhaps be unavoidable (as it is similar to my paper shredder) — it can get kind of messy with leftover grounds which don’t make it down into the bowl. Even when I try and curtail this by shaking the bowl against the output shaft before removing it to access the grounds, there is often some residual powder that exits afterwards and I feel like I have to repeat the cleanup a few times. Minor, and again, might be par for the course.

On a final note, I wish the bowl receptacle could stay a bit more “fixed” in place while grinding. It just kind of sits on base of the machine, and often the grinding vibrates enough that the bowl starts to move off the base. I get nervous that if left unattended, it would completely slide off and stop catching the grounds. A very minor quibble, though.

I know that I sound like I don’t like this product, based on these comments, but I do feel it is a 4-star product. It does an *excellent* job. If KitchenAid does “Rev 2” of this product, and fixes these tiny issues, it would be unbeatable. Nevertheless, I have no regrets about this purchase!