Friday, May 27, 2011

Food tips - Coffee Grinders

The origin of coffee as an energy drink is an age old concept. Though found in Ethiopia the essence of coffee intoxicated all nations within no time at all. Spreading from eastern Mediterranean from places likes Yemen, Turkey Mecca Arabia to Western Europe people invented new ways and methods of preparing coffee. Thus the progression of this beverage and also the popularity. Though each nation has their "ways" and preferences to consume coffee, much of the preparation is processed by a particular device used for grinding coffee beans.


How Coffee Beans Were Pounded In Olden Days

In ancient days, coffee beans were pounded with a pestle on a mortar. This was a very laborious process and required lengthy hours. Only skilled hands could grind to the exact proportion that didn't spoil the essence of the beans. However with the growing popularity of coffee and its demand in every day life potential coffee grinders were invented all round the world.

The Turkish coffee grinder is the more traditional one. With its chic metallic exterior and ornate designing it is also called the Degirmen. The Turkish coffee grinder is a two compartmentalized device, where the upper part with is burr blades grinds the coffee beans into a fine powder which is collected in the lower compartment of the device. The Turkish coffee grinder is one of the smallest grinding machines throughout the world. It looks similar to pepper mills and often has two handles for the mechanism.

The Turkish coffee grinders are well known for there quality to produce very fine coffee powder. As the Turkish people believe in sprinkling the grounds over cold water and sugar rather than decoction of the beans, the Turkish grinders play an important role in the preparation of espresso.

The grinders in the Arab world are very similar to that of the Turkish grinder. However the coffee grinders come in a variety of models which have different motifs reflecting much on the culture of that particular place.

Modern Day Coffee Grinders

Previewing it more on a general basis there are three types of coffee grinders with manufacturer's specific features and types. These are the burr grinder and the blade grinder.

Burr coffee grinder: the burr coffee grinder crush the beans between a moving wheel and a fixed surface. The grounded beans are then collected in a lower compartment adjustable to the device itself. However the burr grinders can further be categorized as wheel grinder and conical burr grinder. While the wheel grinder can crush coffee beans faster than the conical grinders, it not a very utility device and tends to become messy. Conical grinder on the other hand slowly crushes the beans and produces a better consistency in the texture of coffee powder.

On the other hand the blade coffee grinders are less preferred. The beans are not pounded with uniformity which in turn reduces the essence of the coffee. Also it has to be manually operated. Excessive heat also at times renders a burnt taste that spoils the coffee

The demand of coffee has risen so much that it has become impossible for a person to grind coffee beans in the ancient way. Cafeterias or bistros which serve hundreds in a day cannot indulge in the luxury of pounding coffee beans in a mortar. They need an instantaneous processing of the coffee beans. So the electric grinders of various companies have become popular. They accelerate the rate of grinding and also save on the manual labor of a person.

Most places now use the electronic coffee grinders. The ancient ones are more appropriate for home use where a hostess can really treat the guests with a unique experience of coffee grinding rather than making instant coffee.

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