Krups 203-70 Electric Coffee and Spice Grinder with Stainless-Steel blades, White
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Krups 203-70 Electric Coffee and Spice Grinder with Stainless-Steel blades, White
Customer Review: Simple but great!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had this Krups coffee grinder for over 15 years now. When I first decided to buy coffee beans and grind my own, I knew nothing about it. Just went into a cook store, saw several grinders, and chose Krups based on its looks and simplicity. I have not been disappointed. I make 2-3 pots of coffee a day. [multiply that times 15 years and that's a lot of use!] It has had the usual wear and beating [oops, I dropped it, etc] and now is yellowed and has brittle teeth around the lid edges from use and abuse, and that's the ONLY reason why I have decided to get another one. The motor is still going strong and the blades still work great.
This is a simple machine to use. Put in the coffee beans, and depending on how strong you want the coffee, grind the beans longer for a finer grind. It took a bit of experimentation at first [which I enjoyed since it was a new thing I was learning] to decide how much and how long depending on how much water I was using, but now it is just automatic to measure, grind, rap the sides, and pour.
I like the safety feature that won't allow you to "accidentally" grind without the lid being seated - the trigger to start it is on the lid. That's the only "button" to push.
Spilling coffee isn't a problem either. After grinding, and before taking off the lid, just rap the sides to help loosen the coffee from the lid and sides. Then take off the lid and dump the coffee into the filter of your machine. The only thing easier would be if the grinder was in your coffeemaker already. However, the more bells and whistles on an appliance, the more possibilities for things to break or go wrong. [My Krups grinder has outlasted at least 3 coffeemakers already. It's worth it to me to keep it separate.]
Since I had such good luck with the first one, naturally I'm getting another. It's still the same number as the one I bought years ago. When something works great, why change it. 15 years... Now, that's pretty good for any appliance!
Customer Review: Faulty safty switch, impossible to clean well.
Summary: 3 Stars
Milling spices with the slightest bit of moisture or oil left in them makes this machine difficult to clean.
It does a great job, and will mill stuff to a fine powder if you allow.
However the blades and stainless milling cup do not come out for cleaning or service.
Additionaly the power switch works like a food processor in that the lid must be on for it to work. In about 2 weeks of use ours got stuck in the on position down inside the mill body. Now the machine turns off and on when you plug it in and unplug it.
The problem here is that if you aren't thinking actively about the process, at best you wind up with a mess all over the kitchen. If fingers happen to be in the way .. well the blades are sharp and moving really fast.
I can see that there is some took needed to hold the blades and a special wrench needed to turn the nut that holds the blade in place. The cup will probably come out after this is removed. Those items are not available to the public. And the mill is cheap enough that it beggs the question on if it's worth servicing or just replacing. However that could get expensive quickly if you go through several. I personaly hate the idea of just dumping a relatively new aplience that only needs to have it's inner parts cleaned or a spring replaced because it's economically not worth it. That isn't very "green" if it's important to you.
On the other hand ome people above seem never to have had a problem with theirs. It could just be mine or an operator error.
The lid is plastic and plastic stains from some spices. Oil and Plastic are chemically close and this is why some spices (which contain oils) will discolor the lid. the oil elements try to bond to each other. It's the same as trying to clean greas out of a plastic bowl.
Customer Review: Top Rated Inexpensive Spice Mill
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been using my Krups Model 203 (which has since become available in white) for years, and just bought a new one. My prior one lasted roughly 7 years (guess) of fairly regular use. In my case, I mostly used it for grinding my own spices, rather than for coffee.
COFFEE (4 stars): As indicated in magazines like Cooks Illustrated, this unit does a very adequate job of ginding coffee beans - provided you master the skill of replicating the optimal degree of grind for different uses (i.e., automatic drip, espresso, percolator, stove-brewed turkish style, etc.). However, any serious coffee aficianado will quickly agree that a proper "burr grinder" yeilds better (more evenly ground) results than a buzz grinder like this one. Still, for what it is, and for its price, it's still one of the best 'buzz' grinders available.
SPICES (5 stars): After blending and toasting my own whole spices (for things like fresh homemade garam masala, sambar masala, etc.), I let them cool and then grind them with my trusty krups, which, in 2 passes, can grind enough to fill a standard spice bottle. The only spice the krups (and all comparable models) has trouble with are whole cloves, which tend to be very resiny, and clog the machine.
OTHER (5 stars): Although not really designed for it, the krups can do an adequate job of: grinding dried rice and/or dried lentils into a very very fine grit (almost but not quite a true flour). It can also grind granulated sugar into confectioner's 10x sugar.
Bottom line: It's strong, compact, powerful, durable, simple to use, fairly easy to clean, and inexpensive ... what more could you ask for ?
Customer Review: Powerful!
Summary: 4 Stars
I was looking for a small grinder to use with my French press at work and I lucked out when I found this on sale. It was the cheapest grinder available through Amazon. I was expecting great things from the truncated oval shape. I believed, like another reviewer, that the irregular chamber would promote a more even grind by driving the beans inward. It does seem to help when producing finer grinds for drip and espresso machines, but it has just as much trouble producing a coarse grind as any other blade grinder. I still have to shake as I grind.
It's definitely the most powerful blade grinder I've ever used. It nearly jumped out of my hand the first time I used it.
I highly recommend this for drip coffee machines and grinding spices, but if you're a French press user, I'd suggest upgrading to a burr grinder.
UPDATE: Since using the Mr Coffee grinder, I've demoted this one down to spice-grinding. That's not a bad thing at all. This ginder's forte was grinding things to dust, and that's usually the fineness I want from spices. It's a perfect fit. The only downside (and this is true of MANY grinders) is the plastic lid. Oil permeates plastic and most of the flavors in spices & coffee are oils, which means all my spice grinds bear a slight hint of coffee from its former duty as a coffee grinder. Likewise, it could never be recommissioned as a coffee grinder because my coffee would then taste likes spices.
Customer Review: Great for no frills grinding
Summary: 3 Stars
I have had this grinder for about two years now, and find that for the most part it does its job well, but it isn't exceptional. Previous reviews mention a few of the problems I have with this model. I have to upend it to dump the grinds into the lid, and if you aren't fairly careful about pulling it apart, coffee can go everywhere. With the finer grinds that I prefer, it makes a lot of coffee dust, that gets packed in under the blades, sometimes nearly 1/4" thick. I have to wipe this dust out every time, and usually need to use this to make my coffee. This is fine if I am using a paper filter, as it catches this dust, but if I am using my reusable filter, the dust goes through and I end up with sludge at the bottom of my coffee pot.This grinder isn't very easy to clean. I use a damp paper towel to wipe out the bottom stainless steel portion, but getting close to and under the blade is a pain. I have cut myself doing this. The top portion is simply rinsed out in my sink or occasionally run through the top rack of my dishwasher.
Another problem I am having is that the motor occasionally simply doesn't work. So far, banging the grinder on the counter while depressing the on button seems to kick it into gear, but as this problem is slowly becoming more frequent, I expect that sooner or later it just won't go.