Hand-Crank Coffee Grinders

[David Conwill]

I just put on a pot of coffee and it got me to thinking about coffee grinders. I was given one last Christmas and pretty much always grind my own coffee now, as I love the smell (to be honest, I haven't noticed much of a taste difference, but maybe that's the beans I buy). However, with an 11 month old and her mommy still sleeping most mornings, I hate to use my LOUD KitchenAid electric grinder. Furthermore, I don't see the point in using electricity to be doing something I could do by hand.

So, any suggestions for manual grinders? I know cowboys used their revolver butts, but most Colt Peacemakers our out of my pricerange right now.

-Dave

 

[KittyT]

I just put on a pot of coffee and it got me to thinking about coffee grinders. I was given one last Christmas and pretty much always grind my own coffee now, as I love the smell (to be honest, I haven't noticed much of a taste difference, but maybe that's the beans I buy). However, with an 11 month old and her mommy still sleeping most mornings, I hate to use my LOUD KitchenAid electric grinder. Furthermore, I don't see the point in using electricity to be doing something I could do by hand.

Well, you can always grind the night before, or grind whatever you need for the week at once and store it in an airtight container.

Also, the amount of electricity it takes to grind coffee is completely negligeable.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Antique Store?

We had one of those in my first apartment, but that was 20 years ago. I think they got it even then at an antique shop but it may have been new from a fancy food shop. Even Vermont Country Store doesn't have it in their latest catalog. I found this online for you. http://store.gourmethomeentertaining.com/fk-119c-.html It's only 15 bucks.
The darker one looks most like the one we had. Or you might try scouring the antique shops.
My roommate always found it soothing to sit there and grind beans to make delicious coffee.

 

[KittyT]

It does appear that there are companies making new ones. I don't know if the antique ones will allow you to adjust the grind, but the newer ones will, which might be an advantage depending on what type of coffee maker you use.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hand+coffee+grinder&btnG=Google+Search

 

[59Lark]

non electric appliances.

We run a shop and one of the things we sell is treadle sewing machines so we know a little about non electric devices, i have seen a kitchenaid mixer that has a crank, now there is a place in ohio that is called lehams,non electric catalog, now i may not have that spelled right check it out on the web they have a web site, and they probably have a handcrank coffe grinder thank you 59Lark. home of the studebaker and the singer treadle sewing machine.

 

[duggap]

Actually my mother (she's 87) still grinds her own coffee using an antique grinder she has mounted on the wall. It works great as many a time I have drank her coffee. By the way, grinders have been around for a long time. There was actually a brand of musket carried in the civil war that had a coffee grinder in the stock of the weapon. They are rare but one is on display at Chickamauga Battlefield.

 

[skyvue]

Well, you can always grind the night before, or grind whatever you need for the week at once and store it in an airtight container.

Also, the amount of electricity it takes to grind coffee is completely negligeable.

My wife is a coffee professional (she's been a barista for years, writes a popular coffee blog -- www.meetthepresspot.blogspot.com/-- and is about to start working as a rep for one of the top roasters on the East Coast), and she would, I'm sure, have me insert here that one should ideally grind the beans as close to the moment of brewing as possible. Grinding the night before is not the way to get optimal results and definitely not a week in advance.

I don't what she thinks of hand-cranked grinders -- I don't know if she has ever worked with one -- but I could ask her.

 

[59Lark]

manual coffee grinders looked it up.

Fella fedora loungers well i went to the website of Lehmans non electric catalog and sure enough they sell a antique style coffee grinder $39.95. part no 1065135. . have a look. anyone for repro items, this outfit sells a lot of stuff , and lots of motion pictures outfits have bought period looking items for making sets look period from this company. We used to have their catalog and the biggest problem is people borrow it and dont return it. 59Lark.

 

[KittyT]

and she would, I'm sure, have me insert here that one should ideally grind the beans as close to the moment of brewing as possible. Grinding the night before is not the way to get optimal results and definitely not a week in advance.

Yes, but Conwill also mentioned that he hasn't noticed a taste difference with grinding his own beans, so chances are that he wouldn't notice much of a difference between grinding the night before and grinding the next morning, especially with the ground coffee kept in an airtight container.

I think most average coffee drinkers, I mean, people who don't have a really highly refined taste for coffee, aren't going to notice a huge taste difference in coffee ground one or two days previously. I'm sure it's definitely more noticeable with high quality coffee also, but most people don't drink really high quality coffee either.

 

[Orvil Newton]

I've been looking for a hand crank coffee grinder too; for my boat. Unfortunately, the description for the one in Lehman's catalog says

"These reproduction grinders add a nostalgic look to any kitchen counter or china cabinet. They will grind coffee, but not well enough for daily use. They are more for decorative purposes."

It looks to me like the one from Gourmet Home Entertaining:

"Classic style hand crank coffee grinder. Features steel grinding wheels and adjustable settings from fine to coarse grind"

would be more practical.

 

[skyvue]

The wife says she'll do a little research for you, if you can wait a day or two. She's not used hand grinders, but she has colleagues who have.

 

[cooncatbob]

This site sells Hand Coffee Mills that are even precision enough for grinding for espresso.
http://www.espressozone.com/hand-coffee-mills.html

 

[skyvue]

My wife did a little research on hand-cranked grinders, but it's a crazy week for her, so she didn't have too much time to devote to it, unfortunately.

But here's what she wrote:

I am having a hard time finding recommendable models.

However, I am reassured that manual grinders can be great and useful, but that the ones that are actually designed for grinding and not decoration can run upwards of $50 (which is a steal considering the least you'd want to spend on an electric grinder is $150)

The keys are to make sure it is a burr or wheel grinder, that the burrs can be cleaned and replaced easily, and that it is not manufactured for design purposes but for actual use.​

Then I sent her the url that cooncatbob shares above, and she wrote:

That is exactly right! Those are exactly what he'd need.
​

So it looks as though CCB came through in the clutch.

 

[David Conwill]

Wow, thanks everybody. I loved discovering Lehmans, even if they don't have what I want. CCB's link is very helpful, and I can't thank Skyvue's wife enough for putting in the time to figure this one out for me. I know what I'm asking for for Christmas!

-Dave

 

[cooncatbob]

Thanks. Those mills are recommended over at coffee geeks to people who don't want to spend $300 plus for a decent electric espresso grinder.

 

[hotrodmama0201]

Hand-crank coffee grinder sounds neat. In my attempt to be more frugal and also live a more vintage-like lifestyle, I would love to start grinding my own beans. I am assuming this is the way they did it back then?

I was actually thinking about coffee tonight while watching "The World's Fastest Indian"....in the beginning he is having coffee prepared for him by his neighbor, and the kettle of hot water is heated up, then poured into another kettle......it got me thinking, how did they make coffee in the Golden Era? Im sorry if this is off topic, I did a search but didn't find anything.....and I thought some coffee lovers would be reading this thread.

If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be great.

 

[David Conwill]

I think there were a few different ways it was done prior to the automatic drip percolator. I don't remember the scene you're discussing in World's Fastest Indian but I may have assumed they were drinking tea, since they're New Zealanders.

The method I'm most familiar with is the stovetop/campfire percolator. You grind (or crush with your pistol butt, if you're a cowboy) the beans and put them in a basket inside the percolator. The basket is held near the top by a flange. A tube hangs down from the basket and a perforated lid goes on top. On top of the entire pot is another lid with a glass dome into which the top side of the tube goes. You fill up the pot with the desired amount of water and put it on the stove to boil. The water siphons up the tube, hits the glass dome, and percolates down through the basket of coffee. Eventually, the brewed coffee is boiling up through the tube and you can see it in the dome. When you think it's strong enough (and this is trial and error as far as I've determined, my percolator came without instructions) you take it off the stove and pour.

Does that make any sense? That style of percolator is readily available through camping outlets brand new, though I might try getting an antique as they seem to be better made.

-Dave

 

[Big Man]

... how did they make coffee in the Golden Era? ...

Take a pot, put in water, put in coffee, set on stove, boil, add a dash of cold water to settle the grounds, drink.

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

About this subject, well, I own a large Macap (electrical) grinder but, since I usually only make at most 3 espresso's at a time, I've gotten accustomed to using the old Zassenhaus I won on the bay for 15 Euros and restored. It grinds very fine and you don't have as much work as having to, each time, vacuum the insides (spout, top part of burr-holder, hopper...) of the electrical machine. Also, it provides some necessary ...muscle motion (read: excercise) and, moreover, it reminds me of when I was a kid, as grinding coffee was a daily family chore, back in those dark post-war European times that lasted until about 1960...
I think Zassenhaus still exists, but erratically so, you might have more of a chance looking for a Peugeot one (yep, same company as the cars and bicycles...)
About coffee, in general: I've grown used (spoiled..) to espresso; I make some kind of longer macchiato with rather more milk than the true Italian drink, sweetening it profusely with Canderel-based sweetener (I'm diabetic) and...mmmmmm.... a daily ritual as I get home from work. Perks one up, it does, old chap! (Especially if one has to first hand-grind that coffee...)

 

[David Conwill]

Perks one up, it does, old chap! (Especially if one has to first hand-grind that coffee...)

Hmm, that sounds like what my dad always said about heating with a woodstove - wood is "the fuel that warms you twice" (assuming you chop it yourself). I guess hand-ground coffee would be "the drink that warms you twice!"

-Dave