A New Coffee Grinder
I inherited a an old aero press and coffee grinder from work last year. While the aero press was in good working order after a good clean, the grinder was a little problematic. It worked for a small while, but it soon began to grind more slowly, and eventually seized completely. I pulled the grinder apart to see if anything could be done about this. To my surprise, everything seemed to be in reasonable good condition, except for the blades. I could see where the flutes in the grinding rings had been clogged by coffee grounds, and turned a wonderful shade of charcoal from being burnt by the heat of the friction the grinder generated. Looking at the steel blades, it seemed that they were quite worn, and not user-replaceable (they were riveted in place). I cleaned out the flutes, but it almost immediately seized again. This is when I decided I need a new coffee grinder...
I bought this fine hand-powered coffee grinder as a replacement. It's a very compact, Japanese-made (Porlex) ceramic-burr grinder, which is actually small enough to fit inside the plunger of my aero press. The manufacturer claims a "smooth" hand-powered operation, but at >100 turns per coffee, you'll certainly feel it if you like more than a single shot (I intend to do something about this, but that's another project).
The grinder holds up to two shots worth of beans, and due to its simplicity, it is incredibly easy to clean. There is a thumb screw on the bottom (the white "+" shaped widget in the photographs) which once removed, lets you completely disassemble the unit for cleaning, although I usually just get away with blowing out the basket, and the the top where the beans go in (Mind you, I wouldn't do this inside. Your face will also smell of coffee afterwards).
