Hario "Skerton Pro" Ceramic Coffee Mill

I had been searching through all the grinders that look like glorified pepper mills and not finding one that gave me that YES gut reaction I happened on the link to the original of this model in a blog on cold brew coffee and followed the link to arrive at this upgraded model. I loved the look and the reviews, got the YES I was looking for, and ordered 2, one for home and one for work. The grinder has a nice sturdy feel to it. The base is fairly thick clear glass with no bubbles or defects. and the rubber base thing keeps the unit firmly in place on the counter while grinding. The grinder is efficient and didn't require an egregious amount of work to grind the 8 tablespoons of beans. The grinder handle is sufficiently long enough to provide more than adequate torque to provide a nice smooth grinding action. Adjustment of the grind size requires the base to be removed and the bottom nut advanced or retarded to close or open the gap between the grinding faces, and there is no grind size guide other than your best guess based on that gap. As I'm only grinding coarse for cold brew coffee that's not an issue for me, however, if you perform multiple grind sizes this adjustment process might get old. There is also nothing in the grind adjustment to prevent locking the faces against each other or getting then to close and damaging them when going for a really fine grind. Finally, for my purpose this grinder is ideal. I got rid of the noisy electric burr grinder that disturbed my morning peace and produced as much fine grind as it did coarse.

My Melitta electric burr grinder kept clogging due to worn burrs. Can’t seem to find replacements. So I bought a hand crank. I make press pot coffee in a 2 cup Bodum. I use 2 scoops - or 18g when weighed - which is better, but a hassle in the morning. My fist concern was that cranking would be a hassle. For my small amount it is not. In fact the clean crunch and smooth operation makes it a bit meditative. Perhaps if I was making coffee for a crowd, yes, but buy it ground for that occasion. Hand crank - no problem. My old grinder put grounds all around it. I got use to that. Also, getting the coffee from the ground coffee receptacle into the press pot was always messy. I did it over the sink. And static. Oh boy. The Hato mates up to the press pot and all the grounds slide in neatly. Nice. The unit is easy to disassemble, just don’t lose the spring down the drain. Cleanliness - great. Most important: after your first grind you’ll wonder why coffee never smelled so good. I can grind very coarse and very fine, but the grinds are consistent. The adjustment has clicks so it is easy to fine tune. As for my coffee: I use to have a fine sludge at the bottom of my cup. A lot. Turkish coffee lot. Now? Much reduced. Taste? My coffee taste different. Now I can taste more of the subtlety. All in all this was a great replacement for me and what I do. If I go camping, I can bring it - I wouldn’t bring a plug in appliance camping - especially the noise. And the noise. The crappy vacuum cleaner sound is replaced with the zen like cracking of the beans right in my hand. Fun.

I originally started off with the Hario Skerton and was OK with it. It was a burr grinder at the right price point, however, it carried quite a few flaws. The Hario Skerton Pro addresses all previous grievances with excellent results. Working Top down, the crank is now die-cast and is set on a hex top creating much better momentum and torque making it *so* much easier to grind. Also, it literally just pops right off *angels start heavenly chorus*. Second, the hard plastic lid is a welcomed addition. It's durable, feels better, and adds to the sturdy construction. Third, the the burr mechanism is completely supported from top to bottom. Where as the original is basically free floating, allowing the burrs to rock and create a very inconsistent grind. The big up grade is the new adjustment mechanism. There is not a special nut that both keeps the bottom burr on and adjust the grinds with a nice *click*. Incredibly more convenient. Lastly, the bowl is squared on the bottom giving it a stable bottom. Having used this grinder for 6 months now, I am very pleased. It's sturdy, much easier to grind lightly roasted coffee, and *sturdy*. There are tons of hipster grinders coming out, but they don't hold a candle to the sturdiness and consistency of this grinder. The reason I knocked off a star is that the slip mat has stretched over the 6 months and now constantly falls off. I'm thinking of just tossing it out, but it's a nice addition because of my toddler kids being a little rough with my stuff if they get a hold of it. If they give the slip mat a tighter fit, this would be 5 stars.

Cordless and without batteries. Runs on renewable energy. Gives a great grind— from espresso to french press. Enjoy a good cross fit aerobic and anaerobic morning exercise ritual. Great sound. Great feel. This is a good coffee grinder, make no mistake. It sits on my shelf. The amount of handle turning necessary has turned out to be a strong deterrent to using it. I got most of the way through a bag of beans, then started buying ground coffee again. At first, with a coarse grind for french press, it was okay. Doing a slightly finer than regular grind for the italian coffee maker was simply that, a morning grind. To use-up the bag of beans I left the grinder on the counter all day, giving it sessions of a few minutes at a time such that, by the next morning, I had enough to make that essential cup of java. I thought it would be useful as well for grinding spices and cocoa nibs. It is not. In fact, that isn't a good idea. It gums up the works. You can factor-in that I tried that and had to clean it up. Perhaps it wasn't the same afterward. Seemed the same to me. Stuck to grinding coffee with it. As you see, I still give it five stars because it works very well as designed. It is a super good coffee grinder. It's only that manual coffee grinding turned out to be an unwelcome addition to my day. What I might look for (unlikely) is a grinder that has more grinding surface area. it isn't hard to turn the handle. It's only that you have to turn it a lot. If it was grinding more bean, with more effort and less time turning the crank... Yeah. I guess not. I like the idea. I like the idea of doing yoga and meditating every day. This turned out to be one of those.

I had a blade grinder before this and my coffee beans would always end up in all different sizes. The Hario Skerton does an amazing job at giving you an even and equal grind. All the parts are incredibly solid and come apart easy for cleaning and storage. Every part of this grinder is made with quality and I see it lasting a very long time. It even gives you little extras, like the rubber boot for grinding on a hard surface, or a plastic cap to keep your grounds stored. You get a lot for your money. The only downside is it does take a little muscle to grind. You do a lot of spinning to get a few tablespoons of grounds and a bean can catch it just right and add some extra resistance. For the money you can't really do better - but know that the hand grinding option will take more effort than pushing a button.

I have to admit that I looked at other cheaper imitation manual grinders before deciding to spend the extra money for an actual Hario Skerton Pro. I was motivated by the idea of a stronger glass bowl and ceramic grinding implements that would withstand the stresses of regular use, and an overall product that would pay for itself in the long run. The design is very simple and easy to understand after taking a few moments to look at it. The bowl holds about 4-5 tbsp of whole beans. Since I use this for brewing cold brew at home, I needed to be able to make a coarse grind, and the coarseness is determined by rotating the mill’s grind nut left or right. You can see more or less of the inner burr as you rotate the grind nut left or right, and that should give you an idea of how coarse your grind will be. Of course, grinding the beans will confirm if you need to make any adjustments, which is the benefit of having the glass bowl, so you can see it yourself. I’m very impressed with how easy this manual coffee grinder was to use. The lever was sturdy and didn’t slip off during use, but is easy to remove as needed. The black non-slip silicone rubber which covers the base of the glass bowl isn’t attached, but it held on decently during use and is a really good addition to the design as you can experience some rocking of the bowl. So far, no complaints about this coffee mill. This is a welcome addition to my kitchen as I look to prepare and brew my own coffee at home.

This is a great bean grinder for beginners trying to decide if they want to venture into pour over or fancier coffee at home. I keep it on reserve now for flavored coffee only since I've since gotten a nicer grinder. It's kind of amazing how much of a step up spending an extra $40 on a grinder can do. Once I used the new one it was obvious how different the quality was. That being said, this is great value for the money but you're gonna work for that coffee. I usually set it on the table and hold with one hand and grind with the other and my arms tire out somewhat quick! After a week or so of use you get used to it though. Setting the grind was easy but a bit inconsistent in the actual grind. That's why it's good for beginners! Easy to clean, like the reservoir and it's a work horse.

This thing produces fairly consistent grinds, but only when it is new and only at very fine settings. It has some major problems, partly related to keeping it’s production cost down and partly because of design flaws. The first major problem is that it is a very intense hand workout to grind fine beans, largely because a) the crank grip thingy is too small and so it will slip out of your hands when cranking unless you really pinch it with your fingers and b) there is no way to hold the body of the grinder upright besides just holding it in your grip. If the body had a mug handle that you could brace against your wrist, it would relieve all of the difficulty from the hand that is holding the body, instead of relying solely on grip strength. These two issues are design flaws in my opinion, which could be easily remedied for very little cost. I have to imagine they exist because of space saving and packaging demands. The other major issue with this grinder is that it has no real bearings holding the burrs, just a plastic sleeve. This means that the fit is not very tight and at a fine grind setting you risk rubbing the burrs into each other, and at a loose grind setting you get a wide variety of grind sizes because the leverage on the crank overcomes the strength of the plastic sleeve, causing the burr to be off center. Lastly the grind size adjustment is very primitive, with loose detents in the wing nut that holds the burrs at their distance. These problem areas would cost a lot to redesign and implement and there are other grinders on the market with those features and prices that reflect that. I gave this Skerton Pro 2 stars because while it does work, it is a huge pain and it will not last long in your kitchen unless you are a real fitness freak in the forearms. In my opinion it is not the magical $50 replacement for a $350 electric grinder that people claim it is. It’s actually highly flawed!