Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill
by Cuisinart
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Our Price: $187.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-3 weeks Buy Used: from $44.99 (click here) Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill
Customer Review: Well designed for the money ...
Summary: 4 Stars
I have wanted this grinder for quite a while because of the ease of use it exhibited when playing with it in the stores. I finally made he purchase and am glad I did. Pending long term durability, which only time will tell, this system easily would of rated 5 stars except for the static problem in the grinded container. It's a small niggle, but the added expense of a glass container would of been worth while.
The grind is even, the grind size selector couldn't be easier to select and the grind amount equally as easy to set. Push the button and you have it ...
Customer Review: Not For Espresso Or Turkish
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm not concerned with looks, auto features, safety features, or noise. The only standard that is useful to me in judging this product's value is grind quality.
It turns out the Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme Grind machine is one of those "you get what you pay for" items. As a Burr type grinder, it should theoretically be superior to an inexpensive blade type grinder in granule uniformity and general taste quality of the finished product - that is, if advertising claims and hype are to be trusted. In practice though, and where fineness is required, this machine fails to work as well as a cheap blade grinder. Further, its grind `quality' cannot be compared in any way to that of a commercial burr grinder.
After receiving the new DBM-8 grinder this morning, I took it directly to a friend's coffee house where we compared it grind-for-grind with two professional grinders they use daily in the store, and an ancient Krupps blade grinder I had laying around. On the finest setting, the DBM-8 produced very poor granule uniformity that averaged a grain size about 200-300% more course than both the professional grinders set for espresso grind. The net effect is that without a fine enough and uniform enough grind, proper 15-17 bar pressure espresso machines will NOT be able to produce much crema over the finished espresso. This was comically obvious when we produced espressos from the DBM-8's grinds, and then also from the professional machine's grinds. It goes without saying here that proper grinding for the even finer Turkish coffee is impossible with the DBM-8. Coffee used for the tests with all machines was the house's light espresso blend that had come fresh out of the roaster 5 hours prior.
The irony is that unlike the DBM-8 having only timed-cycle grinding, any cheap $10-15 blade grinder at least allows you to grind a small batch of beans as long as you wish, and is therefore able to produce a much finer grind. This is not a theory, but a fact. Using the beat-up 8 year old Krupps blade grinder as a comparison, the espresso produced from ITS grind had as much crema as the professional grinding machines produced, and superior flavor to that produced from the DBM-8's grinds. Interestingly, it was not possible for two `subjects' - Baristas of the coffee house, to determine which espresso drink came from the professional machine grinds, and which came from the cheap Krupps blade grinder. In contrast, everyone recognized immediately there was something wrong with the espresso made from the DBM-8's grinds both visually and to the taste. My friend, whose family has been in the coffee plantation, roasting, and gourmet brewing business for 3 generations had this to say: "It is true that QUALITY burr grinding is superior to blade grinding, but unless you are willing to spend at least $200-300 for a basic, non-commercial grinder, you cannot get a burr machine that will reliably produce both fine AND uniform grinds similar to what a commercial unit can produce. You are better off using your cheap blade grinder a while longer while you save up for a real machine, or if you will use up the fresh roasted beans within a week, just have us grind the batch for you."
Now to find out if Amazon will accept a return, or If I just wasted $50 based on hype and theory . . .
Customer Review: Disapointed
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm a huge fan of coffee and this burr grinder is what I bought to make myself great coffee at home... and I'm giving it two stars rather than one only because it did help me make fairly good coffee for a few months. However, there were various design and function flaws that I encountered...
1. (I use a french press, so I need my coffee coarsely ground) Every time I used this grinder there would be extremely fine power that would build up around the edges and often times it would mix in with the grounds. As a result of this my cup of coffee almost always contained a significant amount on unwanted grinds.
2. This grinder actually broke on me after only a few months of use. I very well could of been at fault for this, but I prefer to blame Cuisinart. Well, the whole top of the machine shirred off from it's lower half. I really don't even know how this happened, but it rendered my grinder useless.
I will admit that Cuisinart has made some pretty great culinary products that function very well, but this is not one of them. The lesson that I've learned here is that if you're really into coffee and are looking for a grinder... then look at brand names and manufacturers that specialize in or are exclusive with coffee related products. I'm still currently on the search for a new grinder, so I can't recommend any other product. But I am confident in saying that this particular burr grinder is not worth your money or time.
Customer Review: DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY
Summary: 1 Stars
Do not waste your money on this grinder! This grinder worked great, for maybe two months. Then the strain of the grinding on the cheap plastic parts broke the neck of the hopper internally. After several attempts to repair or "hold it together" it has gone into the garbage. Get yourself a burr grinder, just not this one.Customer Review: Why do you keep making crappy products?
Summary: 1 Stars
Trying to find a good, prosumer Burr Grinder is a daunting task. This one is one of the worst. Big, Clunky, EXTREMELY Loud (gets louder after the first month...?) and messy as all-get-out. The plasticky build quality (with stainless panels hot glued on) creates a static force field which impart a lovely avalanche of grinds that defy gravitational forces.
The grind selector is ambitious with it's multiple settings, however it will only give you about 3 different grinds (coarse, medium and semi-fine)- which also needs to be cleaned about every 5 grinds to be even remotely accurate, which it isn't and I don't have time to clean this thing every 2 days.
Bloody Awful.