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: Not really for spices
Summary: 3 Stars
This grinder was the top recommended spice grinder in Cooks' Illustrated, and it does a good job, but it just won't come clean. Some reviewers have said that it is difficult to clean, but that's an understatement: it is impossible to clean after using it for spices.
I bought this grinder last night and after just one use of grinding spices (a mixture of dried chili peppers, coriander, cumin and black pepper), it looks five years old. Even after soaking the plastic lid in warm, soapy water and scrubbing it, the bottom half of the lid is a dingy brown: this staining would occur even in the black model since the lids of both the black and white are the same. The plastic lid has two textures: smooth and cloudy; the staining occurs only on the cloudy portion, but not on the clear portion. Also, the interface between the metal bowl and the white plastic is stained and it smells strongly, even after I wiped it with soap and water and a toothpick. While I don't mind the smell, in a few months the oils from the spices could turn rancid.
Update: January 2011: Three years ago at a big box store, I bought a Black and Decker coffee grinder for half the price of this one. It has stayed clean even from grinding hot spices. It also works for grinding flax seeds.
Customer Review: No longer trust the quality
Summary: 1 Stars
I had a version of the Braun blade grinder which crapped out prematurely. I used it only for grinding spices, and in the two years I had it, it couldn't have been used more than 30 times. It was cleaned after every use, never submerged in water, and often I simply ground dry white rice and a little course salt, and dry wiped the bowl to clean it. Then the motor seized on it one day when I pulled it from the cabinet. I attempted to get the unit open to see if I could find a fix, but In my opinion it should have had many years of life left with my usage pattern and the care I gave it.
So I ordered a replacement and after two uses I noticed several cracks in the plastic housing around the area of the metal grinding bowl. It was within the Amazon return period so I sent it back for a replacement, this time thoroughly inspecting the grinder as soon as it arrived. Again, there was a crack in the housing, I can only presume the manufacturing process of pressing the metal bowls into the plastic is causing stress fractures, and their quality control is lax.
I won't waste my time with Braun coffee grinders in future, and will consider whether they're the best brand for other appliances on a case by case basis (and most certainly after reading others' experiences).
Customer Review: Short cord and improper packaging
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this product as a replacement for my existing grinder of the same make/model. Was very happy with the old one...good quality for the price. Bought it again as I've used my old one for over eight years...solid product but became noisy after my wife improperly cleaned it once and later (much later) it completely stopped working. The only difference that I seen between my old grinder and this new one is that the electrical cord is much shorter. The old cord had plenty length where the new model's cord, when plugged into an counter outlet, isn't even as long as the counter width. Way too short.
The other problem was the grinder had two cracks in the casing side when I received it. So I returned it for an exchange...then the second grinder arrived up with the same two cracks. In both cases, the grinders were improperly packaged with little padding material so I don't know if they were damaged in shipping or due to manufacturer defect. So I returned the second grinder for a refund, took my old one apart and found a broken solder connection. Re-soldered it, and I'm still using it.
Customer Review: Fantastic grinder/ Not so fantastic after all
Summary: 5 Stars
To be brief - after contemplating the merits of burr versus blade grind, I decided that although we love our coffee, we're not such aficianados that we need to spend loads of money for a grinder. This is our first one and honestly, it's terrific. Put the beans in, press the gizmo, and badabing badaboom, ground coffee. What a wonderful aroma. Highly recommend this product.
7/09
After using the grinder problem-free for a couple of years, we began to have problems with it. The beans kept getting stuck under the blades and couldn't grind. No amount of jiggling, cajoling, cleaning helped. We liked it so much though that we bought a second one to replace it and AGAIN the same problem after about 1 year. When it's working it's exactly what we want in terms of size, efficiency and power. I haven't seen anything in the price range and size to compare with it.However I really don't think it's an item I'd buy again, even with the inexpensive price - having to keep replacing it, eventually will be too costly. It's a shame - I really love this little grinder, at least while it's working.
Customer Review: Better than the Braun
Summary: 5 Stars
A little over 6 months ago we read about the benefits of grinding flaxseed and eating it with cereal, and decided to try it. So we bought the Braun KSM-2 grinder for the purpose, and it worked reasonably well.
However, while staying at a friend's house we tried the same thing with a Krups grinder, and found that
1. it ground the flaxseeds more thoroughly (we think it is because of the oval shape), and
2. it was quieter
We like the Braun's space for winding up the cord, and the Braun seems sturdy enough, so it's not a bad unit. But we bought the Krups and have been using it for a few weeks now, and we prefer it.
Our theory is that the key to the Krups's better grinding is the shape -- seen from above it is an oval with one end chopped off. This shape appears to stop the forward momentum of the flaxseeds (or whatever) so that the blades hit them with more impact. That is, in a circular grinder the seeds tend to pick up speed and swirl around with the blades, but the shape of the Krups doesn't let the speed build up so much.