We may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. It doesn't change our rankings or cost you anything extra.

Kitchen & coffee · 5 compared

Best Coffee Grinders for Pour Over of 2026: 5 Compared for Grind Settings & Consistency

By Best Pick Guide Editorial Team · Updated

Pour over is the brew method that shows every mistake. Too coarse and the cup is sour and thin; too fine and it stalls and turns bitter. The variable you control most is grind size, and a grinder that cannot move in small, repeatable steps makes dialling in a guessing game.

Cheap grinders fail here in predictable ways: a handful of coarse-to-fine settings with nothing between them, settings that drift between uses, and no way to grind a small dose straight into the dripper without a mess.

We compared five burr grinders people buy for pour over, from a pocket hand grinder to the long-standing home standard. One gives you the full 40-step range for filter brewing, a pulse button for dosing, and the burr set coffee shops recommend to beginners.

B
Our top pick Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
  • 40 numbered grind settings
  • Full range usable for filter
  • Pulse button for dosing
See it on AmazonOpens Amazon.com in a new tab

Which one is right for you?

How we compared them

At a glance

Product40 numbered grind settingsFull range usable for filterPulse button for dosingLink
Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder✓✓✓See it
Baratza Encore ESP Coffee Grinder✓✗✓See it
OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder✗✓✗See it
Capresso Infinity Plus Conical Burr Grinder✗✓✗See it
TIMEMORE Chestnut C3S Pro Hand Grinder✗✓✗See it

Our picks

Best Overall
#1
B

Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder

  • 40 numbered grind settings
  • Full range usable for filter
  • Pulse button for dosing

Baratza's best-selling entry grinder: 40 numbered settings across the whole filter range, 40 mm hardened steel conical burrs, and a front pulse button. The grinder most pour-over guides start you on.

  • 40 grind settings covering espresso through French press, with the medium pour-over range in small steps
  • 40 mm hardened alloy steel conical burrs made in Liechtenstein, plus a DC motor
  • Front-mounted pulse button and a simple on/off switch for grinding a single dose
  • Backed by Baratza's support, with replacement parts available
  • 1-year warranty, half of what OXO offers
  • Plastic body and a smaller footprint than it looks in photos; no timer
See it on Amazon
Best if You Also Make Espresso
#2
B

Baratza Encore ESP Coffee Grinder

  • 40 numbered grind settings
  • Pulse button for dosing

The same 40 mm burr family with a dual-range dial: micro-steps 1 to 20 for espresso and macro-steps 21 to 40 for filter. Excellent if you brew both; for pour over alone, half the dial goes unused.

  • Dual-range adjustment: 20 micro-steps for espresso and 20 macro-steps for filter brewing
  • Quick-release burr for cleaning without tools
  • Front pulse button and on/off switch, like the Encore
  • 40 mm hardened alloy steel burrs and a DC motor
  • Only settings 21 to 40 are intended for filter brewing, so the pour-over range is 20 steps, not 40
  • Costs more than the Encore for a feature pour-over brewers do not need
See it on Amazon
Best Value
#3
O

OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder

  • Full range usable for filter

15 settings plus micro-adjustments, a 12-ounce hopper, one-touch start that remembers your last setting, and a 2-year warranty. Fewer steps, longer cover.

  • 40 mm stainless steel conical burrs
  • One-touch start remembers the last setting
  • 12-ounce hopper with UV-blocking tint
  • 2-year warranty, the longest in this group
  • 15 main settings; the 43 micro-adjustments sit between them but the dial is not numbered 1 to 40
  • One-touch start rather than a pulse button, so small doses take practice
See it on Amazon
Budget Pick
#4
C

Capresso Infinity Plus Conical Burr Grinder

  • Full range usable for filter

A low-cost electric burr grinder with 16 settings from Turkish-fine to percolator-coarse, a slow gear-reduction motor and an 11-ounce bean container.

  • Solid steel conical burrs with a gear-reduction motor that runs slower and cooler
  • 16 settings from extra fine to very coarse
  • 11-ounce see-through bean container and a 4-ounce grounds container
  • 1-year limited warranty
  • 16 settings leaves big jumps in the medium range where pour over lives
  • No pulse button; it grinds on a timer dial
See it on Amazon
Best for Travel
#5
T

TIMEMORE Chestnut C3S Pro Hand Grinder

  • Full range usable for filter

An all-metal hand grinder with S2C steel burrs, a foldable handle and a 25-gram capacity. The right choice for one cup at a time, at a desk or in a hotel room.

  • Upgraded S2C steel conical burrs with a dual-bearing shaft
  • All-metal aluminium body with no plastic parts inside
  • Foldable crank handle; about 530 g and 52 mm across
  • 25-gram capacity, enough for one or two cups
  • Manual: a minute of cranking per cup, and the adjustment is not numbered 1 to 40
  • No pulse button or hopper; it is a single-dose tool by design
See it on Amazon

Why Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder is our #1 pick

Forty steps, all of them useful

The Encore's 40 settings span the whole range, so the medium zone where pour over lives is covered in small moves. That is what lets you fix a sour or bitter cup by one click instead of a leap.

The burrs the shops recommend

40 mm hardened alloy steel conical burrs made in Liechtenstein, the same family Baratza uses up the range. Consistent particle size is what makes a V60 or Chemex drain evenly.

Grind one cup, cleanly

The front pulse button lets you grind 15 to 20 grams straight into your dripper or a small cup, then stop. No timer to set and no half-ground hopper to deal with.

See Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder on Amazon

What to look for

Count the steps in the middle

Pour over uses the medium range. A grinder with 40 numbered settings gives you several usable steps there; one with 15 gives you two or three. Micro-adjustments help, but numbered steps are what make a recipe repeatable.

Do not pay for an espresso range you will not use

Espresso-focused grinders reserve part of the dial for very fine steps. If you only brew filter coffee, that is money spent on settings you will never turn to. Buy the espresso version only if a machine is on your counter or your wish list.

Think about how you dose

A pulse button or a single-dose hand grinder lets you grind exactly what the recipe calls for. Timer dials and one-touch memory work, but you will overshoot while you learn the timing.

Burrs and warranty

Hardened steel conical burrs of around 40 mm are the home standard and last for years. Warranties in this group run from 1 to 2 years; longer is better, but a maker that sells replacement burrs and parts matters more over a decade.

FAQ

Is a burr grinder really necessary for pour over?

Yes. A blade grinder makes dust and boulders in the same batch, and the dust clogs the filter while the boulders under-extract. Any conical burr grinder here is a large step up.

What grind setting should I use for pour over?

Medium, which on a 40-step grinder usually means the middle third of the range. Start there, then go one step finer if the cup is sour or drains too fast, and one step coarser if it is bitter or stalls.

Can I use a hand grinder every day?

For one or two cups, many people do. The Timemore C3S Pro takes about a minute per dose. For a household brewing a large Chemex every morning, an electric grinder saves time.

Does hopper size matter?

Only if you grind for several people at once. For single cups a small hopper is fine, and beans stay fresher if you keep them in a sealed container and load what you need.

Bottom line

For pour over at home, the Baratza Encore is still the one to buy: 40 usable settings, the right burrs, a pulse button, and parts support for years. Choose the Encore ESP only if espresso is in your plans, the OXO if the 2-year warranty and bigger hopper matter more than fine steps, and the Timemore C3S Pro if your coffee happens at a desk or on the road.

Get Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder on AmazonOpens Amazon.com in a new tab

Also consider

  • Baratza Encore ESP Coffee Grinder Best if You Also Make EspressoSee it
  • OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder Best ValueSee it

Related guides

Other comparisons in Kitchen & coffee