Customer Reviews

Capresso 565.04 Infinity Burr Grinder, Brushed Chrome

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

If you are serious about the quality of the coffee you drink, then you know that the beans must be fresh-ground right before brewing. The beans must also be uniformly ground to prevent over- or underextraction of coffee oils during the brewing process. A burr grinder, as opposed to a blade grinder, achieves a uniform grind since the beans only pass through its burrs once. This Capresso grinder has commercial-grade conical burrs that reduce the generation of heat which can ruin the flavor of the coffee. I like the fact that the bean container holds a generous half pounds of beans, so you can fill it and forget it for morning after morning of perfect coffee. The 16 grind settings allow grinds for every coffeemaker and blend. Cleaning the unit is a breeze. The top burr is easily removable, and the unit can then be cleaned with the included brush. The grinder operation is quiet. If I have any complaint, it is that the timer, marked from 1 to 10, is hard to correlate with grind time and the resultant amount of ground coffee. Although the fineness of the grind makes grind times vary, the enclosed booklet, which has tips for use, should have included some guidelines for timer/grind settings/yield to minimize the guesswork. I recommend this grinder for the coffee gourmet.

Eileen Rieback

Finally, a coffee grinder that grinds coffee the way I like it. As you all know, you get a much stronger cup of coffee with a powder like grind and you use less coffee. I have had a couple other models that do not grind it very fine or always clog up. I buy french roast beans that are oily. This grinder I am very pleased with, it grinds to a powder. I would highly recommend this for anyone who likes to do their own grind. FYI I have the black plastic model, I think it is the 560 model. The only difference between the 560 & 565 is the outer. The inner parts are identical. Enjoy your coffee!

I was in a W-S store two weeks ago and saw this grinder, saw a rep demo it, and knew I had to have it to go with a newly acquired super-special-deluxe ultra turbo chraged espresso maker. So, I bought it. Also, the other coffee grinder I had, had, after years of faithful service, died.

With my old grinder, which only featured the ability to load the beans and then grind them until your finger got tired of pushing the button, imagine how delighted I was with this baby. Settings which let you just load it, then grind the beans so fine that it's almost like silk. I was in heaven. In fact, for my espresso, I have to leave the grinder selector turned quite down on the "fine" setting or else it becomes to fine. And the grinder, motors and overall build of this baby are super solid, so I know I will be having it for years, and years to come.

Flash forward to this weekend. Was in another store and came across Kitchenaid's Proline Burr grinder. About $60 dollars more, but I absolutely fell in love with it. Also, the Kitchenaid features glass containers vs. plastic (which the Capresso has). I was in heaven again. SO much so, I bought the Kitchenaid, lugged the beast through the mall and to my car with a dozen or so other packages (no small task), ready to return the Capresso. But then I decided to put them side by side and see which performed better.

Loaded them both up with beans, put them on the various settings and let them go. The Capresso, always produces a finer grind. It actually grinds for Turkish coffee, something the Kitchen can simply not do. Even when you have the Kitchenaid on the FINEST setting allowed, it produces an espresso grind that is coarser than the almost the "lowest" espresso setting of the Capresso if you follow that. The Kitchenaid, I concluded, is simply not for espresso fans. It will be good for those who favor drip or French Press. Or, as I learned when I put the Kitchenaid model on the lowest setting "1", if you like a grinded coffee bean that resembles asphalt or marbles, then its for you.

However, if you like an extremely solid, very well built grinder that will delivery ANY, ANY, ANY type of grind you want, then get this one. It's even a great price too, certainly as compared to other grinders in this area (like Kitchenaids). This is simply an outstanding product.

Now, off to return the Kitchenaid....

I have had many expensive grinders - when grinding very fine they all burn the coffee to some degree - it is warm to the touch after the gringing. This grinder is more like a $800.00 grinder low rpm around 400 rpm's - in that it grinds at a low rpm. After a very fine grind setting the coffee is cool to the touch - no scorching at all. Well made! Great range of settings.

I loved this grinder. It was the best I ever used, the grind was perfect every time. HOWEVER, one day, while cleaning the grinder as advised in the instructions, I dropped the plastic bean holder on the floor. Part of the bottom flange splintered into a dozen pieces, mostly tiny. The result was that the grinder would no longer process beans. Called Capresso; a new bowl was only $5.00. OK, so far. Then an additional almost $5 for shipping and handling. OK, so far. But the order processing fee of $50.00, yes, $50.00, brings the cost of repairing the grinder to almost $60.00, for a $90 item. My next grinder will definitely not be made by Capresso.

I recently bought the Capresso MT500 drip coffee maker, which sold me on the Capresso name. (I've posted a review on that unit here on Amazon.)

This conical burr grinder (I have the black plastic, not chrome, finish) is another welcome addition to my coffee making. It's powerful yet fairly quiet, and very sturdy and seems well made. Sixteen settings ensure you'll get exactly the grind you want, and the unit holds up to about 1/2 lb. of whole beans. Access to the burrs is easy.

My only extremely minor gripe is that the numbers on the grind-time knob are fairly meaningless -- they don't seem to correspond at all to the number of whole bean scoops you've placed in the receptacle.

All in all, good value for the money. (The black plastic unit sells for about $99 vs. the $139 for the chrome. All internal parts are identical.)

I bought their beans. I bought their coffee pot. I used filtered water. I continued to spend hundreds of dollars per year buying their coffee by the cup because all of my efforts failed to satisfy my taste.

In comparison, my coffee lacked body and flavor. Was it the water? Couldn't be the grinder, could it? How can heat from the grinding process affect the flavor? You heat the coffee to brew don't you?

Having tried everything else I finally broke down and splurged on the Capresso 565. And to my surprise the grinder really does make all the difference in the world.

The first thing I noticed was that the ground coffee was "fluffier" than what came out of my blade grinder. The blade tended to pulverize the beans to the point that it actually compressed a good portion of the grounds against the bottom of the chamber. This, I conclude, is the real "heating" issue ascribed to blade grinders.

Now, two by-products of fluffier grounds are static and tastier coffee.

I've heard many complaints about burr grinders and static but this doesn't seem to be much of an issue in my experience with this machine. A few simple taps on the collection container helps to keep the coffee in place.

Also, cleaning time and maintenance has been minimal. In fact I have never cleaned it. As long as the coffee grounds remain fluffy I just fill 'er up with beans and go.

The bottom line is this: the grinder used is every bit as important as the beans. Burr is better than blade. The Capresso burr grinder is well built, easy to use and results in great coffee. And at $2 bucks a cup it will pay for itself in about 3 months!

If you appreciate machinery that is close to perfection in form, function and feel this machine is for you.

If you use fine and very fine grinds it may border on necessary for you. The fine grinds are neither overheated nor is a lot of filter clogging powder created. Whirl-a-gig grinders can't do it and neither can most burr grinders.

Several reviewers have complained that the indexed timer switch operation is not properly detailed. It would be pretty hard to do so as there are many variables involved. Basically, the timer switch is merely to keep one from overheating the grinding heads by accidentally leaving it running for an extended period.

The timer setting is variable by grind, amount of coffee being ground and, believe it or not, the type of coffee bean being ground. My first grinding was 1.6 oz of beans. I felt quite smug when I selected a timer index of "5" which was dead perfect.

When I finished with the first pound of coffee I bought something quite different from Africa and soon found that for it an index of "7" was required to grind 1.6 oz. Why? Because the beans are much lighter and take a greater volume to make 1.6 oz.

Here's how you use the timer. Pick an index number. If it doesn't finish grinding, give it a bit more time. If it continues running after grinding is finished, give it less time next time. Hey Capresso, you could add that line to your instructions and save some folks heart burn.

After suffering for years with blade grinders and cheaper burr grinders, I decided to take the plunge and get the Capresso Infinity in brushed chrome. This grinder addresses all the problems I had with the lesser machines: it's fairly quiet, free of static, grinds evenly, and is easy to clean (although unless you use really oily beans, you shouldn't need to clean it very often).

I don't make espresso, but I've used it to grind coffee for moka pots, French press, and drip coffeemakers, all with great success.

Just a note on its construction: the difference between the chrome versions and the ABS plastic version is more than just the finish or a metal skin. The chrome versions have a "zinc die-cast housing," weigh almost twice as much as the ABS plastic version, and are very stable.

Also, as usual, Amazon has inflated the price to make it seem like they're offering us a bargain when they're not. The list price on the manufacturer's website is $139.99, not $190. I got mine locally at Sur la Table.

This grinder does a great job. I had a less expensive burr grinder and it basically chopped the coffee up to the same degree no matter the setting. It also was impossible to clean. This burr grinder is very adjustable and the coffee is definitely ground, not chopped up. It comes apart so is easy to clean and is much quieter. I have the black model, didn't want to pay extra for a fancy metal housing. You can grind the coffee fine enough to make coffee in a Greek briki. It does a super job.