Conical Burr vs. Flat Burr Grinders: Which One Should You Use?

crazy by Editorial Staff | Updated on April 1st, 2023

Whether you own a coffee shop or make coffee at home, a coffee grinder is one of your most crucial equipment. Unfortunately, varying grind sizes produced by low-quality equipment will result in irregular extraction rates and a muddy cup.


Once you’ve decided to buy a burr grinder and decided on a price range and build quality, you should think about the shape of the burr.

Conical Burr vs Flat Burr Grinders

What do flat burr & conical coffee grinders do?

Coffee is ground in a burr grinder by applying pressure as it passes between two surfaces, called burrs.

Two rings that are laid flat on top of one another make up flat burrs. They often have angled teeth and are horizontally inclined. The distance between the rings determines the size.

However, with conical burrs, the grinding is vertical. Burrs sit inside one another. An elongated, hollow ring with angled teeth makes up the outer burr.

The internal burr has a larger base and a conical shape. It can resemble a star or a flower if viewed from above. This is so that the beans can funnel through the present channels. Additionally, it has small, angled teeth.

What effect does burr style have on your coffee?

Conical VS Flat Burrs:

Burr shape

Conical burrs are, well, shaped like a conical cone. With a few exceptions, these are the most common burrs found in manual grinders and are present in both commercial and household grinders.

A conical burr set has an inner burr shaped like a cone and an outer burr shaped like a ring. The outer ring-shaped burr is fixed while the inner burr rotates. The distance between these two burrs determines the size of the grounds.

The grind is finer the closer they are to one another. The beans go down the chute into the grinds catch or portafilter using gravity to move from top to bottom, slipping between the burrs where they are ground.

Flat burrs are two spherical, serrated burrs that resemble donuts and are usually aligned horizontally with one another. Although they can be found in more expensive home grinders, they are more often seen in commercial espresso grinders.

One stays still while the other spins, just like the conical burrs. The gap between the burrs causes the beans to be forced through and crushed to the right size. The grinds, however, are expelled via the sidewalls as opposed to conical burrs.

Grind consistency

grinding coffee

You are already aware of the significance of grind uniformity if you are currently transitioning from a blade to a burr grinder. So naturally, when comparing flat burrs versus conical burrs, this is one of the first questions anyone should ask.

Because they produce particles of similar sizes, burr-style grinders offer the best chance to get the most from a cup of coffee.

The grounds from a flat burr and those from a conical burr would not be distinguishable to the naked eye. But when those reasons are looked at closely, a different tale unfolds. The two particle sizes produced by a conical burr grinder are large and small. Moreover, this particle size distribution stays true with a conical burr’s finest grind setting.

However, the uniformity of a flat burr grinder can be affected by one factor: heat retention. Compared to conical burr grinders, flat burr grinders heat up more daily. As a result, flat burrs take more mechanical power, which explains why.

Noise & retention

When choosing a burr grinder, noise and retention are two crucial considerations. Although these factors are important, the type of burr used in the device has nothing to do with them. Noise is often influenced by the body material, burr shape, and burr RPM, as well as the overall design.

Retention is measured by how much-used coffee is still in the grinder. This is usually stuck in the machine’s grinding chamber, chute, or other obscure places.

Since there will be some “exchange” every time you grind, high retention is a concern. In addition, it implies that some old coffee might leak into your portafilter.

The most crucial factor in retention is not whether to use a flat or conical burr. Instead, the grinder’s general design is far more important.

Grind settings

The range of flat vs. conical burrs’ ground settings can also be confusing. It can be easy to assume that flat and conical burr sets have a unique range of grind settings due to differences in the pattern of cutting edges or size in burr sets. However, that may not always be the case.

The burrs’ job is to break and cut down a bean so the particles can pass through a certain space. You can specify a range of grind sizes by adjusting the gap. The size of the grind particles it lets through increases with the gap size.

However, the brittleness of roasted coffee can affect the sizing. Therefore little adjustments to this gap can make a significant effect in terms of flavor. Some of our grinders include micro- and micro-adjustable grind settings as a result.

Grinder waste

Waste is an important topic in our discussion. Every single ground matters as you strive for perfection in your brewing. Unfortunately, the conical burr grinder grasps this idea better than the flat burr grinder.

A conical burr offers consistent taste with less cleaning effort, is easier to clean, and wastes fewer grinds.

Due to their shape, some grinds will become stuck in the flat burr grinder. Depending on how often you clean your grinder, these retained grinds could contaminate subsequent batches and alter the flavor of your drink.

Heat

Additionally, flat burrs generate more heat than conical burrs. Higher RPMs result in higher friction, which raises the temperature between the burrs.

Therefore, when burrs spin faster, there will be more friction, resulting in increased heat production. Heat can be a problem since it causes the coffee’s taste to shift and causes the grinds to become less uniform.

Price

Conical burrs are often less expensive than flat burr grinders. For less than half the price of a high-quality flat burr grinder, it is easy to

find high-quality conical burr grinders. In addition, conical burrs have significantly easier mechanisms than flat burrs, including the motor and burr machinery, which makes them less expensive.

Conical Burr Pros

  • High Level of Control
  • Low Heat
  • Low Noise
  • Low Cost
  • Low Energy
  • Heavy Body, Rich Flavor

Conical Burr Cons

  • Bimodal Distribution (Imbalanced Flavor)
  • Limited Realm of Possibility
  • Slower than flat burr

Flat Burr Pros

  • Unimodal Distribution
  • Higher Extraction % Enabled for better espresso
  • Greater Espresso Variability and Creativity

Flat Burr Cons

  • High Heat
  • High Heat
  • High Energy
  • High Noise compared to conical

Frequently asked questions

Are conical burr grinders worth it?

Conical burrs are indeed worth buying. Compared to blade grinders, they are far superior. Additionally, they are usually less costly than flat burrs, which makes them a useful starting point for those new to grinding.

A conical burr can be used to brew wonderful coffee, but you’ll need to practice.

How do I pick a burr grinder between a conical burr and a flat burr?

It is difficult to recommend the best option without knowing what coffee you prefer. For example, pick a cone burr if you love sweet-tasting coffees. Instead, use a flat burr if your inclination is for bitter coffees.

Conclusion

The overall flavor of coffee is affected by several technical differences between conical and flat burr grinders, yet both still produce top-notch coffee. Ultimately, one choice can be better, depending on your needs and tastes.

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Editorial Staff

The editorial staff at Crazy Coffee Crave is a team of coffee enthusiasts & Baristas who enjoy the one thing we all think about as soon as we get up in the morning. Trusted by thousands of readers worldwide.