Coffee Woes

[DellaMyDarling]

I'm a bit of a coffee snob but cannot say that I am a connoisseur.
I like a nice dark, rich coffee.
My fairly new Keurig machine used to make excellent coffee for me, until I changed the bean type.
(We never use pods, I don't believe in that sort of frivolous waste, we always use a refillable basket pod.)

On the journey to more self sufficiency, and because I appreciate fresh ground beans, I began buying more cost effective whole beans to grind at home in small batches.
I have what I believe is a Tre Spade flywheel style vintage (70's?) Coffee mill. She's beautiful and fits my farmhouse nicely. She does her job on the beans correctly, however, the newfangled modern Keurig is uber picky about it's bean grind size. Keurig wants a much finer grind in order to produce the coffee I desire.

So then I bought a mortar and pestle, something we needed anyway. I run beans through the mill, grind away with the pestle, and still the bean size is too big.

Two weeks of crappy coffee makes me a grumpy Mama.

The Mister will flip his own beans if I suggest replacing Keurig.
I don't desire to get rid of my coffee mill.
I want cost efficiency AND fresh coffee!

All internet coffee blogs say "adjust the burrs to the right grind size" which doesn't help me if I haven't a know how. (I emailed company, but not expecting a response.)

Darnit! What does one do?
Anyone have an inkling about adjusting such a mill?

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I've never even used a coffee mill. But, there should be a knob to tighten the contact between the burrs, similar to the knob on a pepper mill. I did a google search, and this is the best I could come up with:
https://welovejam.com/aij/?p=408

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Do you have a picture of your grinder?

 

[DellaMyDarling]

Here she is!

I did some playing around with the knob, threads, clip set up on the top.
Seemed to make a big difference but the Keurig still brews water flavored of coffee.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Is it possible that the Keurig is at fault? Perhaps the thermostat is not kicking the temp up high enough?

That mill is beautiful!!!!

Do you have a food processor? Blender? Could you play around with those to see if you can get a much finer grind, then... see what the Keurig will do with that? Maybe it's time to replace the Keurig with a good old fashioned coffee pot. (either electric or stove top percolator!)

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Is it possible that the coffee in the Keurig pods is somehow treated to make extraction of the coffee easier? Are you using the same exact amount of coffee?

 

[DellaMyDarling]

After some more experimentations...

Used up a particular coffee (was fresh, different brand then usual) and started working on our favorite brand.
There's been a difference in taste for the better!

Had the Mister mess with the Keurig and do a descaling thing to it. Pending results.

Unsure if coffee pods are treated or not. I do know precisely what size grind they contain. I have also researched and several websites tell me what size grind a Keurig is best suited for. After messing with the grinder settings, we should be spot on for the right grind size.
We are using the Keurig brand reusable coffee pods basket, which has inner markings for various sized brews. We tend to slightly add more than the designated brew size because we like it so rich.

I'll let you know how an afternoon cup turns out after bean change and descale.


On a side note...
I want a beautiful cast iron grain grinder, similar in beauty and antique look to my mill above. Anyone know a darn thing about that?

 

[Lazy Gardener]

No, but I'd love to hear about your search, and resulting purchase, as well as how well it works. I want a grinder that can be powered by electric, as well as by hand, perhaps even hook a drill with rechargable battery up to. Want hand grind for power outages, but need power b/c both hubby and I have shoulder issues, not to mention, age is creeping up on us at a steady rate!

 

[baymule]

No, but I'd love to hear about your search, and resulting purchase, as well as how well it works. I want a grinder that can be powered by electric, as well as by hand, perhaps even hook a drill with rechargable battery up to. Want hand grind for power outages, but need power b/c both hubby and I have shoulder issues, not to mention, age is creeping up on us at a steady rate!

I have a Family Grain Mill and I got both the electric motor and the hand grinder attachment.