Hario "Skerton Pro" Manual Coffee Grinder with Ceramic Burrs - Adjustable Coarse to Fine Grind for French Press, Pour Over, Espresso - Portable Hand Crank Coffee Mill for Home, Camping & Travel (Black)

This is one of the most even grinding manual coffee grinders I've ever used. It grinds evenly and predictably with minimal effort. If you are coming from an electric coffee grinder, it will take some time to get used to adjusting for your preferred grind and the effort it takes to grind coffee (a shorter handle would help).It is easy to clean with no "hidden spots" that hold coffee grounds. Not very easy to adjust the grind since you have to disassemble it to do so but once you get your preferred grind you don't have to do much. Highly recommended for coffee enthusiasts that like to grind their daily coffee.You are probably reading a bunch of reviews to decide if you want this coffee mill. This one is going to be focused around using it to help make espresso at home, so let me get the rest of its uses out of the way first.It is my opinion that this grinder really does its best overall job grinding for pourover filter coffee. It does an acceptable job at grinding everything, but its performance in the coarse range for French press leaves a lot to be desired as far as consistent grinding sizes go. A well-regarded small specialty internet company called Orphan Espresso sells an after-market modification you can use on this mill to help it do a better job in the coarse grinding range. My plan is to buy another Hario Skerton at some point and do the OE modification on it, because once you do the mod, the mill does not do fine coffee well and I primarily use this mill for espresso.You should watch a YouTube video on how the Hario Skerton works, and there are plenty out there. Currently, the mill comes with a hard plastic lid to turn the lower jar into a storage container and a soft silicone lid for the upper hopped to keep the beans in as you grind. Both work well. It also comes with a small transparent plastic washer which I lost the second time I took this machine apart. So, I went off to the hardware store and I got three items: an M8 flat steel washer to replace the plastic washer, an M6 lock washer to keep the handle on securely when I grind by hand, and an M6 hex nut to convert this mill into an electric grinder using with my drill and metric socket set. An M6 hex nut takes a 10mm socket. Again, that's M8 flat washer, M6 lock washer, M6 hex nut, 10mm socket. I got these modification tips from reading reviews, and all of them work well. But good grief! All that modification for a hand grinder? Why not just buy an electric one, even at the higher cost? And that brings us to the number one reason to buy this coffee grinder: you can't clean the burr mechanism of an electric grinder as easily and as thoroughly as you can clean the burr of this grinder.There have been mixed reviews on how well this mill does espresso. There is a ceramic conical burr in this thing that is manufactured according to precision specs (as long as you don't get a dud or a knock-off, see other reviews). However, there is a difference between how well the burr performs at the time of purchase and how it does after a few weeks of grinding, as with all grinders. When you buy this, you can expect it to be able to do a really nice, really impressive Turkish grind at its tightest settings. After a few weeks of breaking it in, the burr mechanism no longer consistently produces as well in that range, and you need to tighten the burr down a bit more than you used to before you can reproduce the espresso grind you got when you first started using this machine.You have about four consistent settings to do espresso grinding with after the burr is broken in. Before loading the beans, tighten the burr assembly completely and let it out by rotating the wheel five notches from the starting point. That's what I normally use. On high humidity days when my AC isn't running, I let the burr out one notch more. High heat and low humidity days and I'll go finer. Different beans and different roasts will call for different settings. We're talking about minuscule differences, but they make a difference if you want to chase your perfect espresso shot. Three or four settings for espresso isn't much when you look at the many levels high-end electric grinders claim to produce well.With a manual grinder, I initially worried that it would be difficult to reproduce the same grind from morning to morning after disassembling the mechanism. It's not an issue in the espresso range. After the burr break-in period, I started noticing that more parchment flakes were getting through the burr and into my coffee, just as they do with all burr grinders. The size of the rest of the particles remains consistent.Again, what makes this mill exceptional for home use is that you can quickly take the mechanism apart and wash the entire burr under running water as thoroughly as anyone could ask. When you only grind small amounts of coffee each day, over time coffee oils tend to get into the mechanism of every burr grinder, oxidize, and stink up the first grinds of the next morning, adding a bitter flavor to the first espressos of the morning. So if you only make a very few espressos every morning, as you do at home, it's an annoying problem. All that work and expense to make quality espresso at home, and the best you can do is bitter swill every morning? This grinder eliminates that problem, which common to all conical burr grinders and most common to ceramic mechanisms with rougher, more absorbent surfaces.It's this last feature that sets the Hario Skerton apart for me, and these days, my espresso game at home is at an entirely new level because of it.I am a true coffee enthusiast. I love coffee in all its forms but especially as espresso. (My Italian/Sicilian roots, I'm assuming.) I've owned many coffee grinders over the years for my espresso machines -- including some VERY expensive coffee grinders. In all that time, I haven't discovered a coffee grinder that works better than this one!Pros:1) The locking nut on this unit provides absolute grind-size REPEATABILITY, every time. If you brew espresso, you know how important that is.2) The conical burr set provides great grind-size UNIFORMITY. Again, very important to a good espresso brew.3) The shape of the burr cutting surfaces "SHAVES" rather than crushes the beans. This helps to better retain the oils in the grounds until extracted in the brewing (which results in a better tasting cup).4) The unit uses a CERAMIC BURR. That means they don't dull as quickly as steel, won't rust and should last close to a lifetime.5) The PRICE of this unit is amazing for the quality of the grind.6) The DESIGN of the unit is very well thought out. A) A silicon, non-slip cover for the bottom glass keeps the grinder on whatever surface you're using. B) The soft silicon top cover keeps beans from jumping out when you grind while easily "peeling" back to add more beans. C) The handle is kept in place with a round nut (unlike that "stainless steel" travel grinder with the same ceramic burr) so that it doesn't fall off during grinding or round the corners of the shaft. D) The bottom container is made of glass which prevents off-flavors from developing from ground coffee contact with plastic or metal. Further, glass containers are impervious to "static cling" that keeps some of the grounds in the container or shoots them off to the nether regions of your counter. E) It comes with a lid for the bottom container in case you want to store ground coffee (but shame on you if you do).7) The CAPACITY of the grinding hopper will hold enough beans for many dbl shots of espresso. Because the grinder is ceramic, you won't get any metallic "off-flavors" if you store unground beans in the hopper. (BTW, storing your beans in an "air-tight" plastic container won't keep them any fresher than keeping them in the storage hopper of a grinder. And, if you don't roast or buy fresh beans at least once a week, you're missing out anyway.)8) Its a HAND-CRANK grinder. That means it grinds slow and cool and won't alter the flavor of your beans. Depending on your level of athleticism, it will only take about 30 seconds to grind your coffee for a dbl espresso shot. Heck, your machine isn't even warmed-up enough to brew good espresso at that point!Cons:1) Its a HAND-CRANK grinder. Some people are too hurried to take the 30 secs to a minute required for grinding the coffee. If you like coffee but don't like the process, you probably don't care if your espresso is spot-on or just a little off. In that case, buy an electric grinder such as a blade (cheap), flat burr (more expensive), or conical burr (even more expensive) grinder. These options will range from $10 on sale for a blade grinder to $1500 or more for a super-duper, electronic, large ceramic burr, dosing grinder.2) The bottom container is GLASS and the burr is CERAMIC. Both materials are brittle and if you drop them they may BREAK. (On the other hand, if you do drop them, that probably means you've already had so much coffee that you're developing the shakes and you should stop, anyway. Instead of a con, think of this as a pro ... a kind of self-preservation feedback mechanism!)3) The grind consistency on the LARGER GRINDS (French press, etc) is not nearly as good as the espresso grind consistence. On the other hand, grind consistency for those methods of coffee making aren't as exacting as espresso.4) The grind size is NOT INFINATELY ADJUSTABLE. That being said, infinite adjustability is more a marketing tool than an espresso making requirement. This grinder is plenty adjustable. To the extent that the “perfect” grind size for your beans is in between the adjustments on this grinder, you can easily compensate by adjusting tamp pressure, grounds volume, etc. (Besides, repeatability of tamp pressure for the vast majority of people is inconsistent enough to render a more adjustable grind-size irrelevant, anyway.)So, those are my thoughts. If you're looking for a coffee grinder for espresso that produces an exceptional grind at an unbelievable price point, grab this grinder immediately! If you just want to push a button and don't care about the quality of the grind, get a $10 blade grinder. If you want to push a button and get grounds as good as come from this $35 grinder, be prepared to spend $1000 - $1500.Grinds 21 grams of coffee grounds in medium-to fine setting (5 clicks) in 90 seconds. The grind is consistent and there is no dust (fines) that I would notice. I used to have an electric burr grinder more than twice the price that produced an annoying amount of dust. This is just perfect. I have now been using it for more than six months and I am still very happy with it. I have given one as a present and they are also quite satisfied. I don't think that the average snob coffee drinker would notice a difference between this grinder and anything else costing hundreds of pounds more. If you are a proper hipster you will obviously spend hundreds of pounds on a grinder, although I would challenge you to tell the difference on a blind test.UPDATE AFTER 18 MONTHS using it every day, 500 days, my Skerton has ground over 25 Kg of coffee and it is still going strong. My coffee preparation has evolved and now I use the pour over method. 60 g of coffee for 600 ml water (I like it strong), ground at 8 clicks, takes 180 seconds to grind (3 seconds per gram).I bought the Hario Skerton Plus with high expectations, hoping that after two broken cheap ceramic burr grinders I will finally put my hands on a good one.It does look like being a durable coffee grinder, I'm very happy with it's built quality, but fails to provide a good grinding consistency...which in my opinion it's the most important aspect of a grinder, otherwise is not fit for purpose.It does have a stabilizing plate, as the manufacturerer says, but it doesn't keep the lower burr centered.The hole in the stabilising plate is slightly larger than the axle of the conical burr so it doesn't keep it stable at all. When grinding, the conical burr spins in an oval shape inside the fixed burr, rather than circle, which translates in an uneven gap between the two burrs, thus creating the inconsistency in the grind. I'm talking about french press and pour over grinds, but I guess that for expresso it can deliver a good grind.To be honest, I got a better grind from a £7 grinder, untill it broke, but since I can buy 5 of those with the money I paid for the Skerton Plus, I will return this one.Other than that, if you're not bothered about the grind consistency, I guess you'll be very happy with this grinder.LATER EDIT: I bought a Skerton Plus again as I wanted another hand grinder, but I removed the original stabilizing plate (which, again, is completely useless) and replaced it with a Hario Skerton Upgrade Kit from BlueHorseProducts.I'm very happy with the grinder now, even though I had an extra cost on top, but, in my opinion, this is the only way you can have a good Skerton grinder.This is my first foray into coffee hand-grinders so I caveat this review by saying I don't have much to compare it with. I went for this model as I was weary of some of the super-cheap ones (thin metal, stripped threads, etc) but did't want to risk spending a fortune on something fancy and then decide that a manual grinder wasn't for me. This one seemed a good compromise and Hario kit has always worked well for me in the past.First impressions are pretty good. It is fairly weighty and sits on the counter securely and things like the metal for the crank handle are of a good thickness. The shape of the handle and the lid means that you can 'hang' it from the side for storage but it doesn't attach in anyway so no good for transport.The glass at the bottom is essentially a thick walled jam jar. In fact, so much so it has nearly accidentally gone out with the recycling more than once! The rubber on the bottom stops it sliding around when grinding however it is the loosest of fits - basically supports its own weight but is more than happy to slide off.Issues I have in use:Due to the design the collar that you grip when grinding is pretty large in diameter - provides a decent forearm exercise first thing in the morning which isn't always what you want when you just need coffee.The glass fits into the rubber 'foot' with a ball-and-socket type feel meaning the whole unit rolls about in use. Combine that with the point above and things can feel like harder work than they should be.The grind is very easy to adjust (hold handle whilst rotating the bottom of the grind unit). However, it is both stepped and unmarked. The steps can be annoying if, like me, you find the ideal is between two steps as there aren't many of them. Being unmarked makes it very hard to jump around multiple settings (unless you do things like 'all the way right before 3 clicks left' etc). I tend to use a variety of brew methods but it is annoying enough to chop and change the settings that this now lives on one setting, which leaves it feeling underutilised (really don't want to own a brace of grinders all locked in to one setting each!).All in all, this is a decent machine which I don't regret buying and would overall recommend, but just a few usability issues keep it back from being perfect.I received my coffee grinder in the mail today and was very disappointed to find that it was NOT a Hario one as I had ordered (and advertised online). As you can see on the photos, the grinder looks like a Hario one, but it's a cheap rip off of the real thing. Hario grinders are made in Japan, whereas this grinder is made in China as stated on the box. The material feels cheap, definitely not high quality as the real Hario is known for. The sellers does not take returns and refunds, I hope this review will prevent other buyers buying this thinking they are getting a real Hario grinder.I don't know how other reviewers are having such good results. This is such a poor piece of kit that I wonder how it has attracted so many positive reviews. I bought this as a budget grinder I was hoping would do a decent enough job and I could hopefully take to work.First use today and it is evidently not up to the job. I was grinding for pourover (V60) and kept to the finer end of the range. First the grinding took a long time, on a par with a cheap ~ £15-20 hand grinder. As you can see, what I got was a mixture of course grinds and fines, leading to a pretty awful brew. Now I could spend some time trying to improve the model - there seems to be some chat online about an upgrade kit to stabilise the inner burr, but frankly if it performs this badly out of the box I don't have confidence.It comes with ceramic burrs which are known to struggle with coarser grinds, something I expect the majority of reviewers on here are looking for.I can only guess that a lot of people on here are new to burr grinders and have simply noticed an upgrade from their old blade grinder.As a reference point I have a timemore chestnut for home brewing - the stainless steel burrs chomp through lightly roasted filter grinds in no time at all and give a very consistent grind. This thing in comparison took an age to grind 20g.People looking at this grinder, perhaps thinking it is a good budget option or are simply looking for their first hand burr grinder would do well to do their research beforehand and looking elsewhere.