The Baratza Encore is one of the best introductory burr coffee grinders on the market. Countless coffee connoisseurs have began their journey with this well-made grinder. Although it doesn’t feature all of the bells and whistles of the more advanced grinders on the market, it has everything you need to make anything from medium to coarse grind.
Pros
- 40 grind settings – The Baratza Encore can grind from espresso through French press and is adjusted by rotating the bean hopper
- Incredibly accurate – The Encore is incredibly accurate for medium to coarse grinds, making it a great grinder for drip, French press, pour over, and everything in between
- Low RPM – The grinder was designed to run with a very low 450 RPM which reduces heat buildup and noise
- Pulse button – Conveniently located on the front, the pulse button lets you start your grinder intermittently, as opposed to running continuously
- Sizable hopper – Holds up to 8 ounces of beans, keeping you focused on grinding and not on refilling the bean hopper
Cons
- Expensive – The Baratza Encore is hailed as the introductory burr coffee grinder, but it’s still rather expensive for someone who is brand new to craft coffee
- Noisy – Grinders are almost always noisy and this can be a surprise to budding coffee enthusiasts
- Black plastic body – The body of the machine isn’t as aesthetic as we know Baratza is capable of; that said, this is their introductory line, so we understand
- Not great for espresso – The Encore begins to lose consistency as you grind finer; this makes it difficult to use the Encore as an espresso grinder, where consistency is key
Overall Score: 4.2/5
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Quality: 4.2/5
The quality of the Encore is perfectly inline with the high commitment to quality found in other Baratza grinders. Even though it’s their entry-level model, Baratza designed a great burr grinder.
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Value: 4.2/5
The Baratza Encore is an excellent starter machine for the budding coffee enthusiast. It’s a great value for the grind consistency and power you get from this entry-level machine.
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Style: 3.8/5
Although the machine is stylish for an entry-level burr coffee grinder, as a whole, it doesn’t command the attention that a stainless steel-clad grinder would. That said, black goes with nearly any kitchen, so it’s bound to fit into yours.
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Size: 4.6/5
The grinder is rather small for a burr grinder, especially compared to the gigantic prosumer or commercial grinders you see at coffee shops. We also like that it easily fits under our kitchen cabinets.
Why You Need A Burr Grinder
Before we get into the specifics of the Baratza Encore, we want to highlight the importance of a burr grinder. This type of grinder has two mating burrs that crush the beans, rather than slice them (like a blade grinder).
Without going too far down the rabbit whole, when you slice beans, you negatively impact the flavor of the beans. When you crush beans with the burrs, however, you end up with a much better tasting cup of coffee.
Thankfully, the Baratza Encore has a built-in 40mm conical burr, making it a great first burr grinder for the budding coffee enthusiast.
Features
Even though the Baratza Encore is an entry-level burr coffee grinder, we think it does a great job of packing some slick features into a reasonably-priced machine.
Below, we’ve outlined a few of the features we think stand out the most about this grinder.
Pulse button
The pulse button is located on the front of the grinder. If you press it, the grinder will run until you release the button.
This button is perfect for use with an espresso machine portafilter. You can easily press the button while holding the portafilter under the coffee ground chute.
We like it because we tend to grind, then weigh, then grind, then weigh the coffee. If you use a similar workflow when you brew coffee, you’ll love this feature.
Adjustable grind settings
The Baratza Encore can be adjusted easily to switch between several grind settings. There are 40 grind settings to choose from. The grind can be adjusted by rotating the bean hopper.
The current setting is shown by the notch on the bean hopper that will line up with a bunch of markings just below the hopper. The smaller the number, the more fine the grind will be.
We’ve put together a table of brewing methods and the appropriate grind settings:
| Espresso | Drip and Pour-Over | Full Immersion |
| 2-6 | Brewer 13-14 | AeroPress 8-11 |
| V60 13-14 | Siphon 14 | |
| Chemex 20-21 | French Press 30-32 |
To adjust the grind setting, simply rotate the bean hopper. Make sure you always run the grind when adjusting the coarseness. If you don’t you can damage your grinder.
Stainless steel burrs
The Baratza Encore features 40mm stainless steel burrs that are easily removable and cleanable.
Stainless steel burrs are corrosion resistant and can be washed easily with soapy water. They also come out of the box much sharper than ceramic burrs, which will give you more precision when grinding coffee.
Easy on/off switch
The on/off switch looks a bit funky on this machine. There are two “On” settings and two “Off” settings. The grinder will work if you switch to either “On” position and it will turn off if you switch to either “Off”. You can also rotate the knob clockwise or counter-clockwise to get there.
Style
The Baratza Encore isn’t the most stylish burr grinder on the market, but it’s also not the most expensive. That said, we think they’re entitled to keep the design simple.
Overall we like the design. It’s pretty minimalist; Baratza even integrated the grind adjustment knob into the bean hopper so you just rotate the bean hopper to adjust the grind size.
Small footprint
The Baratza Encore is a relatively small burr grinder compared to the jumbo commercial ones you’ve seen at your local coffee shop.
The grinder measures in at 4.7 x 6.3 x 13.8 inches, making it the perfect size to fit under standard kitchen cabinets. We think it’s just the right size without seeming too overbearing on the counter.
Sleek black case
The Baratza Encore comes in any color you want, as long as it’s black. All jokes aside, this grinder is cloaked in various shades of black. Everything from the grounds bin to the bean hopper is made of various black plastics.
We think it looks pretty cool on the counter, but we do wish Baratza offered a stainless steel upgrade since so many kitchens have stainless steel accents.
Either way, the all black look is very minimalist and is nicely put together.
Cleaning and Maintenance
Not much work is required to maintain the Baratza Encore. The area that needs the most attention is going to be the burrs. You should try to clean the coffee burrs on a weekly basis or when you change the type of beans you’re using (whichever happens first). Cleaning the burrs can be done in a couple of different ways.
Method 1
The first way is to remove the bean hopper and then separate the top burr from the grinder. The top burr can be washed with soapy water to remove residual coffee oils.
We recommend picking up a small brush to clean the bottom burr more easily. Most of the residual coffee can be easily brushed from the bottom burr and will fall through the grinder when you run it next.
Method 2
The second method is to use a special burr coffee grinder cleaning agent. Most of the time, these are little pellets that can be dumped into your grinder and ground through it to help remove the residual coffee and oils.
At Triple Bar Coffee, we like to use Grindz from a company called Urnex. These guys specialize in developing products to help clean specialty coffee equipment like espresso machines and burr grinders.
Be sure to run some beans through the grinder after using Grindz so there’s no leftover powder in your grinder.
Perfect Pairings
- High quality Natural fiber bristles & Wooden handle,A well made sturdy brush for everyday use
- This coffee grinder brush is specially designed to brush away coffee ground residue without damaging the blades.
- For proper maintenance it is essential to keep espresso equipment free of grounds and this brush is great for that. Helps maintain your expensive coffee equipment
- Comfortable, round handle,Long lasting bristles,Great for grinders and pasta makers
- Makes cleaning any type of grinder quick and easy
Last update on 2023-06-05 at 23:16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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Last update on 2024-06-14 at 01:17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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Last update on 2024-06-14 at 01:17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API