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Coffee Grinder
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this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2026
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For espresso or drip?
The only (finely adjustable) espresso grinders < $100 are probably going to be used or maybe Baratza brand. Baratza does sell many of the replacement parts online, but occasionally the designs get updated and older models can be hard to repair without having to change lots of internals. The models share a lot of their internal designs however and they are quite durable. Used baratza is around $60-75. Burrs can run $40.
Hario makes some good simple hand grinders that you can get new burrs for. The skerton model can screw onto a mason / ball wide mouth jar if you break the glass canister. They can usually make an okay espresso grind but definitely a tier below an electric machine for quality and speed. Hand grinders take about 3 minutes a shot if you are grinding finely. For drip grind levels these are fast enough.
There are plenty of good higher end grinders. I had a Rancilio Rocky that I got second hand, made in 1985, used multiple times daily for years and only needed a small repair to the Doser lever spring. I changed the burrs a couple of times and gave it to a friend and it's still running perfectly as a 40 year old workhorse. Not fancy but quite solid. The only real weak point is some plastics on the case, but they sell replacements. The designs have been fairly maintained over the years and parts are available. I'm pretty sure that if I bought a new Rocky it would outlive me today. A used rocky is about $125 USD @ eBay, street price for new is about $275. They are not the most finely adjustable if you want to fully nerd out on espresso but you can make a damn good shot.
Baratza's lower models work ok when they are new but I wouldn't call them durable. Hario Skerton is crap. If I can find mine, you can have it for free. I'll give OP first dibs though, and will say I don't recommend it except as a backup. Rancilio Rocky is a reasonable choice I guess.
What would you recommend that not Baratza for a, sub-$100 grinder that's repairable and maintainable?
Baratza grinders are not the nicest grinders known, but they do sell every part and you can replace the burrs.
Like I recently sold a KitchenAid double burr grinder that runs double the price of a Baratza Encore. New burrs are not available and all the parts of the KA are breakable glass and unobtainable for repairs. That to me seems crazy, but the flip side is that a $60 Encore is a screaming deal at that price level, for the features of being 100% repairable.
I've refurbished about a dozen Baratza grinders (many old and heavily used) but I have only ever seen one with a motor issue (worn brushes). The most common issues are damage to the plastic exterior parts from being dropped. The main mechanism is surprisingly durable.
Is there a better $60 grinder you're aware of?
https://www.baratza.com/en-us/landing/product/parts
Part cost is VERY reasonable and they ship cheap and fast
As far as I can tell, the top line Baratza models use the same gearbox and motor as the base models
Baratza will sell you the main circuit board for under $15 and the gear box rebuild for like $10. In my opinion that's admirable. Talking like BIFL ethics, the company obviously wants you to be able to repair any issues, versus being disposable.
( Silly question: why do you own a Skerton, and why isn't it broken?)
If you've had to refurbish a dozen Encores, that doesn't sound very durable. Bunn G1 = buy once, use forever. It's a commercial grinder like you'd see in a grocery store. No home user will ever cause significant wear on one of those things. I've seen them on craigslist in the 300 range fairly often. I don't have one because it's too big for my tiny kitchen.
I don't know where to get a Baratza Encore for $60 even used. They are $150 new. Hmm I do see one on Craigslist for $75 right now, so that's pretty close. It's a good value in a cheap grinder, but it's not BIFL in any meaningful sense of the word that doesn't include "keep fixing it forever".
Re Skerton: I don't remember exactly how I got it, but I didn't understand at the time what crap they were. I used it a few times and got an Encore which I still have, which has broken twice so far (once replaced under warranty, once I bought a repair part from them). The Encore doesn't suck but it's light duty and semi-disposable IMHO.
Again if you think of spreading the grinder cost across say 5 years (that's not long for a BIFL item) and compare it to the cost of the coffee you're going to run through it, that helps put the initial price tag in perspective.
I resell electronics and a lot of related stuff so I have gone through a lot of items over my career. My insight into what breaks and what doesn't comes from seeing hundreds of used items weekly. I've handled many many brands of grinders and refurbished a bunch of them. I have 2 Baratzas I'm selling right now and sold a Hario earlier today. I also sold another Baratza part this week.
I never claimed the Baratzas don't ever break, but the motors last decades and everything else is cheap and simple on them, they are made to be serviced, which makes them extremely good value. This is why they are a good recommendation for the super cheap price. I know iof no sub $100 grinders that don't have some problem eventually. Think of the price tag. A $60 grinder is dirt cheap.
Baratza Encores currently cost about $60-75 on eBay on the lower side of the price range That would be a used working machine covered by a money back guarantee. A couple have sold for just $50-55 in the past 90 days.
I don't dispute some of what you're saying about a commercial grinder like that $1200 Bunn G1, but that grinder only has 7 grind adjustment settings. It's really not comparable to an espresso grinder. The special feature of the Bunn is grinding a pound of coffee in 30 seconds. Like you can't get an espresso shot calibrated with that style of machine. Of course, that's not a home machine and it's not really designed for the purpose of a careful grind size / weight. However, end of the day, that grinder is $475 for a used model. If a Baratza lasts 20 years for $60, is a Bunn 10X as good?
The OP question wasn't about seeking a cheap grinder, it was about seeking a BIFL grinder. I can accept that there's no realistic way to get both without being lucky.
I seem to remember there is a way to get stepless adjustment for the grind size in a Bunn. Also the Encore isn't much of an espresso grinder either.
Incorrect. The encore has 40 grind size levels. It is literally an espresso grinder.
It might not be the best espresso grinder made but it's the best entry level brand at this price. You will only be disappointed by comparing it to machines multiple times the cost. It is not a 5 star machine but its not terrible.
Do you know what the difference is? Between a general purpose grinder and an espresso grinder?
The OP was asking for a BIFL grinder with a maximum budget of $100.
Um lol no, it doesn't work like that. Doing 40 or 400 or for that matter stepless is mechanically trivial in a grinder. If that was all it took, nobody would buy Kafateks.
That doesn't sound BIFL to me, if you buy it today and then upgrade to a better one when you can afford to. While not being absolutist, BIFL to me means that you have a reasonable expectation that it is the last one that you are ever going to buy. So the gear has durable enough to last that long, and good enough that you feel that it will always meet your standards.
Yes, OP didn't ask about espresso at all. Espresso is a huge money sucking rabbit hole that I wisely(?) avoided entering back when I was into this kind of thing. It's a permanent upgrade treadmill. I have several aquaintances with Kafateks, Lyn Webers, machines of the week, lab instrumentation, microscope photos of coffee grounds, etc. I decided not to care. Once in a while I go to the local cafe and have a Slayer shot and I'm satisfied. I don't have to be able to do that at home.
As for the Encore, well, you've had a dozen broken ones in your shop. I'm not an abusive or especially heavy user and I've broken two of them myself. It's an ok grinder but BIFL doesn't come into it, it just doesn't. It's nice that you can get repair parts from them today but do you really expect the company to exist (and not be absorbed into some evil conglomerate) through your entire lifetime? The Forte (Baratza's semi-commercial model at around $800 new) might be a plausible BIFL grinder for the average person. Basically you want a grinder made for commercial or industrial duty, so its service interval (however many thousand pounds of coffee it is supposed to grind before needing major repairs) is larger than a home user is likely to use in their lifetime. If I had unlimited funds I'd probably want a Kafatek, but mostly because I think they are cool.
Baratza was founded in 1999. Do they still sell repair parts for the grinders they were making in those early years? The part that failed on my second Encore was the burr collar, a weird shaped piece of plastic that probably can't be gotten anywhere else. Maybe I could 3D print one but that's beyond the call of duty.
Also don't forget that lots of Encore users like to upgrade the burr to the one sold in the next higher (Virtuoso) model. I never bothered doing that with mine.
Yes and I'm asking for a flying pony. I think it's best to give a realistic answer, which is that what they are asking for does not exist. That happens in every area of life and adults are supposed to be used to it and not get upset. There's a Bunn G2 on Craigslist right now for $275 and that's totally BIFL after a mod or two. There's also a G9 for under $200 but my coffee nerd buddies advised against that model. We don't have to be like AI chatbots who tell hapless humans what they want to hear even if it's nonsense.
It's not completely impossible to keep it under $100 if you see something that is being thrown out from a restaurant or whatever. But that's a matter of luck.
Interesting opinion.
What makes this a better grinder than the $60 Encore? Like how is it so vastly better?
https://www.baratza.com/en-us/product/100-120v-d-shaft-motor-for-flat-burr-grinders-sp0100771?sku=SP0100771
https://www.baratza.com/en-us/product/100-120v-motor-for-conical-burr-grinders-sp0100799?sku=SP0100799
Because they use the same internals. Same exact motor. Just has a different shape on the output shaft.
I wonder if the Forte breaks as easily as the Encore?
Erm, going from "The two grinders share a particular component" (even if it's the motor) to "same internals" is quite a stretch of logic. Though I guess you could go further and reach from "they use the same power cord" to "they are the same grinder". Try to do better. E.g.: check the gear train. I've never looked at a Forte closely but the plastic gears in the Encore are unimpressive. Also the burr holder and shaft, etc. Basically all the mechanical stuff. Or just lift them. Per web search, Encore=7 lbs, Forte=13 lbs, might indicate something.
Well you've had to fix a dozen Encores. How many broken Fortes have you fixed?
That said, I'm personally not that interested in the Forte. Someone recommended it when I saw a used Vario advertised cheap, but I didn't pursue either.
I've never fixed a broken Encore or Forte, I thought you were going to teach me what goes wrong on them.
So it's the gears that break?
I know you said you have never even looked at the Forte, so how do you know they can be recommend as a BIFL grinder?
I thought you said you had refurbished a dozen Encores. Why did they need refurbishing if they weren't broken? As mentioned, I've broken two. On the second one, the plastic burr collar broke and Baratza told me it was a common failure. It would surprise me if that happens with the Forte, at least for light duty home users like me. I don't remember what went wrong with the first one. I emailed Baratza and they sent me a replacement Encore under warranty. Their warranty service is definitely good.
Most of what I know about the Forte comes from IRC and forums. I've seen them in use but have never disassembled one or anything like that.
There is one for sale near me for $300 if you want one. I'm very slightly tempted but nah:
https://www.home-barista.com/buysell/baratza-forte-grinder-w-bg-burrs-san-francisco-t102725.html
Is OP still around? I haven't used my Encore in a while, so if you want to buy it, PM me. I'd call it an ok entry level grinder. I wouldn't call it BIFL.
It occurs to me, there are some manual grinders in the $100 range that are possibly BIFL. Some people like 1zpresso though I haven't tried one myself. Manual grinding is too tedious for me in the morning when I haven't had any coffee yet. That's another reason to not do home espresso as well.
Used coffee grinders get oily / have grinds inside that need cleaning. About half of them had a missing hopper, lid, knob, canister etc.
I have had a dozen+ BARATZAS, but only about 5 or so Encores.
Out of all of the machines I've had, I had one that had a failing motor, and one had a failed timer switch from someone forcing it to far. However I've replaced multiple timer switches because on 20 - 30 year old machines the new knobs don't fit without changing the timer also (different shaft shape, same timer). It's super cool that you can install the updated parts with no issues.
Once I had a machine where the wire had been knocked off the momentary micro switch.
A lot of the machines I've had have been heavily used... Like in a university break room or a corporate coffee area. Like probably equivalent to 5-10X what a home used would do.
Back around 2005-2010 I also owned one for my own use.
Isn't that a $5 semi-external part that you can change without tools and without opening the machine? Like just twist off the hopper by hand and it's accessible?
If you were simply cleaning grungy machines I wouldn't call that a refurb.
The Encore burr collar was a cheap enough part though the added shipping cost was annoying. I ordered a replacement and put it in, and I didn't have to deeply disassemble the grinder. IDR for sure whether I needed tools but I think I did. But, 2 failures in 2 years = unreliable devices, and neither was heavily used. I don't see how to call a kitchen appliance BIFL if it needs repairs annually.
BIFL is difficult for anything with model specific parts. I'm unable to get a replacement oven rack for my Whirlpool combo oven made in the 1990s. Just a wire rack, nothing high tech, but specific dimensions that don't seem to exist as standard. Similar situation with my Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner from 2003 or so.
Anyway, we're going around in circles so I'm going to stop.
Skerton is good for a backup and camping / traveling and the like.
Exactly. I use one during camping and when the power is out.
The skerton is a funny grinder where it makes a very consistent finer grind (like espresso levels), but does a lot worse for coarse grind (drip / french press / pour over) where it loses consistency when the burrs are further open.
Its exactly opposite of most hand grinders where its strong at the one thing that many cheaper manual grinders don't get right.
I have a camping espresso press so it suits my scenario.