Krups F203 blade coffee grinder
A Krups F203 blade grinder was purchased to replace an aging 40-year-old Krups F208 blade grinder. This unit was purchased on Amazon for $18.98 along with a new three quarter inch premium paint brush to aide in the removal of ground coffee and cleaning of the grind chamber. I batch grind fresh coffee beans one pound at a time. This is enough to last me about one week. The F203 is an updated version of the older F208.
While the overall look and shape are the same there are some major differences. The bean grind chamber is the same shape but is about twice the size on the F203 holding about 85 grams of beans while the F208 held about 50 grams. The grinding blade is different, the F203 has one up and one down blade tip while the F208 both blade tips point down. The motor on the F203 is more powerful than the motor on the F208. The on/off button is interregnal with the lid on the F208, it is a separate piece on the F203. They both make noise while grinding but to be honest it is to be expected and the smell of freshly ground coffee more than offsets any noise. I find neither to have a problem with being messy as many claim with burr grinders, spewing coffee grounds all over the kitchen counter.
I mentioned earlier that I grind one pound of coffee beans at a time. With the older F208 I filled the grind chamber up, put the lid on and pushed down on the lid for 10 seconds and the beans would come out a perfect medium grind for a drip coffee maker. No shaking or calisthenics needed just push the button and go.
The F203 is another story. No matter how full you make the grind chamber you must shake the grinder like you are mixing a cocktail while grinding the beans if you want a consistent grind. I have found that if you fill the grind chamber full and grind the beans while shaking the grinder for 10 seconds you will get a pretty decent medium grind. I don't know if this is because of the larger grind chamber size or the orientation of the grind blade tips or a combination of both, but the F203 does not grind as well as the older F208.
Overall, this is still the best blade grinder on the market. I gave it 4 stars because it does not grind coffee beans as well as the model it replaced. Overall, I am still very pleased. Americas test kitchen has done extensive testing on coffee grinders and they like conical burr grinders the best. Their panel of experts could taste the difference between coffees brewed using a conical burr grinder and a blade grinder but couldn't tell which one was which. Both brewed coffee that produced exceptional results. Save you money and learn how use it, you will not regret spending the 19 bucks.
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