Kitchenaid Pro Line burr grinder: Rugged. Accurate. Easy to clean and maintain. No outside dust while grinding. Selectable grinds from coarse for a plunge pot to very fine for espresso. The grinds consistently come out even with no "rocks" or "sand" as you might find from other machines. Priced in line with other burr grinders. Wish all of the Kitchenaid stuff was made as well as this is.

Thanks again everyone. I'll let you all know if/when I decide or what I get. You all have certainly given me a lot of food for thought. Cherryfizz, no you didn't get off topic at all, since I'm looking for whatever it takes for a good cup of coffee. I 'had' a coffee press, (got it used in a box from an auction) and gave it away without even trying it. Maybe I need another one, even if it is just for those rare occasions when the power is out, yet I can still heat things because I have a gas range. Maybe before getting a grinder I'll try some various coffees freshly ground in the store and invest in a vacuum sealing coffee canister. hmmmm.............

Beany coulda handled this but after laughing during my innaguration as King of the Bean she wouldn't dare... Jessy rattled at the doors of my cage to get me to read your question. I started a new job and have been buried with new challenges for a month and barely have time to swing by right now. Claire, I'm not familiar with that particular machine but the theory of getting a good pour is the same. The results will definitely be inhibited by the linitations of a machine, the blend, quality, and freshness of the bean, and ultimately by your technique. I have a machine that cost more than braces for my niece and I still manage to get lousy shots way more often than I wish. Here's a copy and paste of something I wrote on the Appliance forum last year: ************************************************* A little bit of knowledge should help sort out some of the points being expressed here. Great coffee comes from understanding and by then chasing down the methods and hardware that can make it happen. Warning! This is a slippery slope, in that nothing culinary on earth is as finicky, and so subject to tiny mistakes as is coffee. Once you start up this path, perfect bean juice obsession can lead you into a kind of pergatory... an insanity that can be very expensive. Of this I can speak with much clarity and assurance. 1. Beans need to be fresh. Once roasted they can keep 10 days, maybe squeaking up to 14 days, but no longer than that. Air and moisture is coffee's natural predator so air tight storage and no freezers because of the condensation (moisture). Once ground, flavor loss begins immediately, and the difference between a great drink and so so, or down-right bad, is a matter of minutes. So you want fresh beans and a grinder. Hard core espresso afficiandos need a burr grinder, hardest core drinkers, a conical burr grinder, average non espresso coffee drinkers will do ok with a 20 dollar blade grinder. The degree of the grind (fine to course)must be matched with the style or method of preperation. 2. Ultimate espresso requires the correct water temperature to extract the desired flavor compounds (over 600 different identified compounds- more than fine wine). The temperature needs to remain stable throughout the entire extraction process- 202-205 farenheit, depending on the bean and the degree of roasting. 3.Correct water pressure is required to push the water through the grinds and at a pace slow enough to dissolve the flavors, but fast enough so as not to over extract the bitter aspirin-like flavors of caffeine. The target is 22 to 28 seconds depending on the bean, the roast, and the equipment. Department store priced units are typically unable to fufill this pressure requirement and always unable to sustain the temperature requirements stated above. 4. Points 1-3 is what drives the obsessed-for-espresso-perfection junkie to financial insanity. Java Man's advice at this point becomes paramount; if you're satisfied with what your equipment can produce, if you've never had a store bought espresso that you didn't like,then don't worry about the ramblings of a coffee lunatic. BUT, don't spend money on equipment if you haven't had a chance to taste the results first. If you like it, go for it and don't look back. Enjoy your freedom and your life. I got into this a long time ago, over 30 years, and for me it's too late; I know too much. I spent 6000 on a machine for my home and still strive for better results (remember what I said about insanity). For years, coffee had the influence of the stock market much like oil today. It is still a powerful force in the world. "What coffee brewer should I buy" is not a simple question to answer. Go forth and achieve great bean juice! ************************************************** So, with that said Claire, make the best of the machine that you have. Your desire for a burr grinder is more important than you know. If the goal is to dissolve the chemistry outof the ground bean by using water as a solvent, it's important that you offer the water the very best opportunity to do it's job. A typical grinder chops up the beans in to all different sizes, from powder to chunks. If the best of the flavor is extacted in about 25 seconds of very hot water, you can see that a chunk won't give up the stuff while powder will give up too much. Anyway, I'm drifting here... Figure out what works for your machine. Pay attention to the grind size, the water temp, the amount of pressure packing the grounds into the porta filter; try to be exactly the same in your technique; particularly how much goes into the filter, how hard you tamp, and shoot for 20 to 25 seconds to get about 3/4 of an ounce in each shot glass (1 1/2 oz total). The very best baristas try not to change anything but the grind coarseness. If the the volume of grinds, tamp pressure, and time remain constant, the only variable to change is the grind. One more scientific thought; coffee is very hydroscopic; if moisture is in the air, coffee absorbs it, if the air is dry it pulls moisture from the coffee. That's why we adjust the grinder. On a typical Seattle spring day, from cold mornings to warm afternoon to cool evening, in the shop we might have adjusted the grinder 20 or more times a day. At home we don't change it nearly as much but again, if anything changes, it should be the coarsness of the bean. Had enough? One more thing. Coffee expands when water hits the packed filter so be sure not to overfill it. Test that by looking at the spent "puck" after pouring a shot. If you have a big impression from the screen screw (unless you don't have a removable screen)pack a tiny bit less in. Pay attention to every shot, every detail, every time and you will get it. In many years of professional and personal culinary pursuits, I've not found anything as finicky as coffee. Whew, I need a coffee! michaelp Here is a link that might be useful: the goal...

Jeaninwa, I totally agree with you. But sometimes "they" just have us over a barrel. I probably would never have made that purchase if I hadn't had that gift card, but now that I have the item, if it ever needed to be replaced, I would look for the exact same item again. Kind of off topic, but DH and I like REALLY strong coffee and had trouble brewing it to our liking until I discovered that the beans alone did not make all the difference. I also make a very strong pot of coffee at work, but we start with already ground coffee, not beans. Yet the coffee tasted better than what I made at home. I decided that the pot made the difference and I was right. We have a DeLonghi Esclusivo at work that sprays tiny amounts of heated water at regular intervals, allowing the water to soak the grounds before actually starting to drip into the pot. I bought the exact same coffee maker for home (and paid way more than I wanted to) and IMHO, I now make the best coffee in the universe, LOL. And if it dies, I will search for that very same pot again!