Cuisinart Burr Mill Grinder

Exactly 364 days ago, I bought this grinder. I was at the time (and still am) using a Zojirushi drip coffee maker with a gold metal basket that I bought used off of eBay about a year earlier; beggars couldn't be choosers in the early days of the pandemic when everyone was out of stock of everything, and me finding myself suddenly single and living with non-coffee drinkers, I had to rectify the situation and take what I could get. At first I used pre-ground coffee from the grocery store but after a while decided to up my game and get a grinder again. Well, I learned stuff, but it was frustrating. Previously I'd been using first an older Zojirushi and then when that literally fell apart after 10+ years of use (the plastic housing cracked) and later a Bonavita drip machine paired with a cheap Mr. Coffee burr grinder. I didn't really like the Mr. Coffee; my main complaint was that the hopper wasn't securely retained so it was very easy to knock it when e.g. moving the grinder out from or back under kitchen cabinets, resulting in a flood of beans. It did however make an acceptable pot of coffee, so I didn't put much thought into it. When I needed a new grinder (the old one was actually my ex's, so it didn't come with me), this Cuisinart appeared to be a slightly more upscale version of the Mr. Coffee and addressed my issues with the hopper. I was so, so wrong. While in overall concept and ergonomically yes, in fact this was very similar to the Mr. Coffee and did in fact correct my main complaint, it is not a good coffee grinder, and I've been suffering with substandard coffee. Using pretty common Costco Colombian beans, I would use the grinder on the "12 cup" setting (the Zojirushi is ostensibly a "10 cup" coffeemaker, but remember, it's Japanese, so while we call a cup 6 oz. theirs is 6.75 oz. just because) and was puzzled as to why my coffee always came out weak and watery. Additionally, just from inspection, the grounds appeared larger than I'd expected and inconsistent in size. I ended up adjusting it finer and finer until it was hard against the "fine" stop with no improvement. Eventually, a few weeks ago, I decided enough was enough. I stepped up my grinder game and purchased a Baratza Sette 270Wi. Yeah, I know, I know, even as factory refurbished the Baratza is literally almost an order of magnitude greater cost than the Cuisinart, but I was just sick of the coffee I was brewing at home being disappointing compared to the institutional packets run through a bog standard Bunn drip machine at work. The Baratza arrived yesterday and I set it up, set the burrs per Baratza's recommendations, and gave it 5-6 clicks toward "fine" just because I like a strong cup (more later). Ran 80g of coffee through it on the theory that the first so many would be waste, cleaning the burrs. Observations: the grinds from the Baratza about 3/4 of the way to the fine end of its adjustment were significantly and shockingly finer than the grinds from the Cuisinart. They were also at least by inspection more uniform, although I suppose that is to be expected comparing a $600 MSRP grinder to a $60 MSRP grinder. What I also learned was that when I took a small mixing bowl and kitchen scale and measured out 67g of coffee off the top to leave in the basket for my morning brew (there's differing opinions on how much coffee per unit water you used, but I started with 10g/10 fluid oz., I've seen other recommendations go all the way up to 10g/6oz cup however. Also, pearl-clutching coffee snobs can back off, I'm pretty sure my housemates would throw me out on the street if I were to run a coffee grinder at 6 AM, and I myself am none too sharp at that hour either, so grinding the night before and setting a timer is the way to go), that amount of coffee was by inspection about twice the volume of coffee that the Cuisinart spit out when set on the "12 cup" setting. This is of course somewhat my fault for not checking either with a measured scoop or kitchen scale before, but you'd think it'd at least be in the ballpark. The scale on the Baratza appeared to be pretty close to accurate however, although I'll check it more thoroughly later when I get to know it and go to post a review of THAT machine. So, my expectations were pretty much met although I was wrong to not follow Baratza's grind recommendations. Rather than being weak and disappointing, this morning's coffee came up out of the cup, grabbed me by the throat and yelled "WAKE UP" in its best Serj Tankian voice. Definitely going to dial it back closer to official recommendations. The Cuisinart is now in the trash can waiting for trash day; I'm not even taking it to Value Village as I would feel bad if anyone paid for it. Lessons: this is not a good grinder, but if you have one, at least take your kitchen scale and check how much coffee you're using; or use a measured scoop if you prefer. If you are making a full pot on a 10 cup machine, there may not be an automatic timer setting on this grinder that results in enough grinds meaning you'll have to either weigh or scoop every pot, which makes the ostensible convenience of a timed grind utterly useless. My own fault for not doing that. However, you may find that even when you have the weight or volume right, you may or may not get a fine enough grind for a standard drip machine. I would definitely expect that this is utterly and completely worthless for anything requiring a finer than drip grind. In short, unless my grinder was simply defective, it's most glaring and unfixable flaw is that it doesn't grind fine enough for even drip coffee on its finest setting and as such is useless. Rather than giving me flack for comparing it to a 10x as expensive grinder, I submit: 1) if you check, you can get a refurb Baratza for significantly less than MSRP 2) Baratza makes much less expensive grinders that still are quite acceptable; I just went big because I had the money and my inner engineer thinks the integral scale is cool and most importantly 3) even if I had paid MSRP for the Sette, if it lasts 10 years it will still have the same operating cost over time as the Cuisinart, and at the end of those 10 years probably will still be working fine or at worst will need a burr replacement which is a DIY job on that machine, and most importantly, I wouldn't have spent a year drinking substandard coffee and being frustrated. My advice, if you are looking at this grinder, is get something else - hop on Baratza's web site and get a refurb is my specific advice. If you can't afford even a refurb lower end Baratza, I would offer that buying pre ground coffee and measuring "one scoop per cup" will result in a less frustrating coffee experience than using the Cuisinart grinder. I'm not kidding. I'm finally happy with the Zojirushi (as I was with its predecessor), although if it died today I might be looking at a Technivorm Moccamaster with a thermal carafe (I'm a big fan of thermal carafes, that was the impetus for me to go Zojirushi in the first place) or alternately the Behmor Brazen looks really appealing. But I'm getting off topic, but I think you've got the point... which is, don't buy this grinder. I haven't a clue why it seems to be well reviewed on some sites, I'm far from a coffee snob but I was just very disappointed by this thing.