I bought the Mr. Coffee 8 oz. Burr Mill Grinder from an eBay auction and as there wasn't a photo, I expected something a bit different. Mea Culpa.
At any rate the Mr. Coffee 8 oz. Burr Mill Grinder does the job of grinding beans. The directions state that you can put a lot of beans in the hopper and grind just the amount you need. They also warn you not to fill the hopper with beans and try to grind the whole lot as the receiving bin will not hold the volume of coffee that will be generated by a full or near full hopper. Why they would design this grinder in this way is not explained. I have found it best to measure out the beans and grind just the amount needed for each brewing session. In this way once all the beans that were poured in have ground, the motor runs free until shut off. If the grinder had beans in the hopper when started then it would be forced to start with a full load at stall speed and this could cause the fusible link to burn out, as it did to me. Good thing I am handy with tools.
The grind settings seem to work well enough. I experimented until I found a setting that works for me. The casing wipes clean fairly easily and maintenance is low.
I suppose the biggest drawback to this grinder is not specific to this model or make but a condition common to all such small grinders: they just don't seem to make as good coffee as the larger and more powerful slow speed grinders. There is something about the small electric grinders that flay the beans apart with high speed blades or burrs that does a poorer job of enabling the coffee flavor to be extracted from the beans. The pamphlet accompanying the Mr. Coffee 8 oz. Burr Mill Grinder speaks of the devices burr method as not 'burning' the beans as a bladed grinder supposedly does. I'm not so sure that isn't a bit of ad hyperbole. I think what I'm going to do is get myself a big slow grinder and use the Mr. Coffee 8 oz. Burr Mill Grinder for an emergency backup. The little fellow does grind coffee alright, but if you spend a little more, coffee can be ground better.

Recommended: No