Sainsbury's Home coffee grinder review
Like the simple pleasure of grinding coffee beans by hand? This easy-to-use grinder from Sainsbury's is easy on the pocket, but did it stand up to the test?
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Sainsbury’s Home coffee grinder – discontinued
Pros: looks great, easy to use, fun
Cons: difficult to access grinding mechanism for cleaning, grind can be slightly inconsistent
Overall rating: 4/5
This product is no longer available. Find more like this in our review of coffee grinders.
This lovely looking, hand-operated grinder produces better results than might be expected of such a reasonably priced product.
At its most open setting, it grinds coffee very coarsely – ideal for use with a French press.
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But at the opposite end of the scale, the granules don’t come out quite as fine as they do in some of the other grinders we tested, which means this may not be the ideal grinder for fans of espresso or Turkish coffee. Its consistency of grind is pretty good, especially when a relatively fine setting is used.
The grinder’s capacity for coffee beans, which is not specified in its manual or online, seems ample to meet the needs of most domestic users. If this proves not to be the case, you could always decant your ground coffee into another container and add another load of beans to the grinder.
This was definitely the slowest grinder we tested, taking several minutes to work through enough beans to make a few cafetières of coffee.
It will suit users who enjoy the task of hand-grinding their beans, which it does quietly and steadily – until you get to the last few beans, at which point little pieces start leaping back into the top of the grinder.
While this grinder demands more time and effort than others, it is extremely simple to use. The grinding method is a cinch, as is the task of assembling and disassembling the two halves of the grinder.
Having said that, it did take us a few minutes to master setting the grind level via the grinder’s adjusting wheel, and we would encourage anyone confounded by the same task to look closely at the diagram in the grinder’s instruction manual.
The grind settings available between the coarsest and finest are practically unlimited, since they are based on the position of a screw up a thread. This allows for endless tweaking in the pursuit of your ideal setting.
Another benefit is that this grinder is fairly easy to clean. The receiver box that collects the ground coffee can be wiped with a soft cloth, with plenty of room for your hand to reach inside.
The partially concealed section into which beans are poured is trickier to get at, but should only require occasional cleaning with a soft brush.
Both the 'bean bin' and the receiver box feel very robust and well-made, cast in light, tough metal. The grinding mechanism seems slightly flimsier, but does its job. Be sure to fasten the screw nut at the top of the mechanism tightly, as this will help ensure a smooth action.
We found this grinder perfectly simple to store, roughly the width of a regular-sized cafetière and with a conveniently low profile. It’s quite a looker, so you may choose to leave it out on a shelf.
We appreciate the attention to detail in its design, especially the gold-coloured screw nut at the top of the grinding mechanism and the plum-coloured grinder housing.
With minimal packaging and zero electricity consumption, this would be a good choice from an environmental standpoint.
This product is no longer available. Find more like this in our review of coffee grinders.
Specifications:
Grinder type: burr
Grind settings: manual (fine to coarse)
Time settings: manual
Power: manual
Capacity: medium-high
Read our full review of the best coffee grinders
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This review was last updated in March 2020. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability, please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.
