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Step 1
Select a grinder. The electric single blade grinders are effective but noisy. They chop up the bean, sometimes producing an uneven grind, and the heat from the blade causes the beans to heat up, losing some of flavor. Burr grinders are like the older grinders, where you fill the hopper with the beans and they pass through the grinders one time. The grind is uniform and adjustments are easier.
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Step 2
Choose between electric and non-electric. Electric is fast but noisy and lacks the hands-on charm of grinding your own beans. The hand grinders take more time and are available in a wide variety of price ranges. Whichever one you decide on, look for the ability to adjust the grind for different brewing methods.
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Step 3
Pick the freshest coffee bean you can find. Look for the roasting date, rather than the expiration date. Coffee beans are best if used within one week of roasting. The beans need to be stored in airtight containers, rather than the bins that most stores use. Coffee beans emit carbon dioxide for about 2 weeks after they are roasted, causing their packaging to expand, so if you see vacuum packaging that conforms tightly to the beans, they are probably not fresh.
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Step 4
Adjust the coffee grinder to the proper grind. Most hand grinders have two adjusting nuts on the handle shaft. By loosening the top one, you are able to adjust the bottom one to the proper grind and then re-tighten the top nut to keep the setting secure. With the whirly grinder, you have to keep an eye on the grind and continue until it chops the beans to the desired size.
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Step 5
Decide on the fineness of the grounds based on the brewing process you are going to use. If you are going to expose the grounds to hot water for a short duration, you need a fine ground. The longer the exposure, the coarser the ground needs to be. If you grind the beans too fine for the brewing method, you expose too much of the surface to hot water, and the result is a bitter taste. However, if the grind is too coarse, the coffee may be weak and watery.
