DeLonghi Blade Coffee Grinder KG49 Review

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Delonghi sell more coffee machines than any other manufacturer worldwide so it makes sense to consider them when you are looking for a grinder to turn those beans into the powder that will create the perfect coffee

There are three types of coffee grinder, Burr, Blade and Manual.

Manual is as it sounds. You need to turn a handle and the beans will be crushed in between two disks to produce ground coffee.

Most people go for electric which leaves blade grinders and burr grinders. With both, you throw some coffee beans into the top and press a button and the grinder does the rest.

The difference between the two is firstly price and secondly consistency of the grind. Blade grinders will chop up the beans with the blades and burr grinders will crush the beans and provide a more consistently even grind resulting in an overall better flavour.

It is possible to pay hundreds of pounds for a burr grinder so if you are not that bothered with perfection then choosing a premium brand for your blade coffee grinder is a pretty good place to start.

This grinder sits at the upper end of the pricing range for a blade grinder. Let’s see how that stacks ups when you break down the detail.

Overall Score 8.4/10

Design 9/10

Delonghi dominates the coffee machine arena so if you have one of their machines and you are happy with it then it makes sense to consider one of their grinders.

As with most Delonghi products, this is a well-designed item that feels like it is made of solid components when you hold it in your hand. Some of the less expensive blade grinders are very light and plasticky. This is not the case with the Delonghi KG49 coffee grinder.

They have thought through the design well. The curved base and curved top are pleasing on the eye and we were drawn to this item when it was lined up against other grinders.

A clear plastic top allows you to see the number of beans in the container. The rest of the grinder is a mix of black matt plastic and matt stainless steel.

Overall a well designed and good looking appliance.

Functionality 6/10

This is a manually operated grinder which will grind up to 12 cups of coffee in one go but just be aware that this is just an estimate and depends on how much coffee you choose to use for each cup.

As a bit of a tip, instead of just pouring the beans straight into the container for grinding, you can add the amount of coffee you actually need by only adding the amount of coffee to the grinder you want to brew at any one time. This avoids any waste and keeps the ground coffee at maximum freshness.

Around 14-18 grams of coffee is a good amount for 1 cup so if you have some scales you can measure it out and grind what you need. If you don’t have any scales then 1 tablespoon of coffee beans is about 7 grams so use 2 tablespoons of beans per cup.

Once you add the beans to the container press down the lid and grinding begins.

There is basically one setting to help the grinder understand how long it should grind the beans for and that is the “number of cups” setting at the bottom of the grinder.

You spin the base round to reflect the number of cups and the grind time will adjust accordingly. Be aware though all this does is increase the time of the grind, it doesn’t actually grind the number of cups of coffee selected.

There are 3 lights above the cup setting. Once grinding begins each light will illuminate to let you know the fineness of the grind – coarse, medium or fine.

Coarse is best suited for cafetiere, medium for filter machines or stove top and fine for espresso.

We found that the cup setting and lights are a bit gimmicky and don’t really do what they say. They are just a guide. After a few goes you will get used to what works for you and how long you should grind for.

This grinder also comes with a neat little cleaning brush which sits behind the bean container for safekeeping.

Ease of use 10/10

This is not a multifunctional device so it needs to be simple to use and it is. Pour some beans in, push down on the lid and that’s it.

You are certainly not going to have any problems using this grinder.

Value For Money 7/10

This is not an expensive product and it pretty much does what it is supposed to. It really just depends on how precise you want to be with the grind. For the price, it is good value for money.

To give you an idea of what is possible at the other end of the scale check out the Sage “the smart grinder pro”

Last update on 2024-04-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API