Baratza Encore Burr Grinder: The Go-To Starter Grinder for Coffee Lovers

The Baratza Encore is a conical burr grinder with 40 grind settings that sells for around $100 to $120. It's widely considered the best entry-level burr grinder you can buy, and it's been the default recommendation from baristas, coffee shops, and Reddit's r/coffee community for over a decade. If you're upgrading from a blade grinder or pre-ground coffee, the Encore is almost certainly the grinder you should get.

I've owned a Baratza Encore for several years and used it daily for pour-over, drip, French press, and AeroPress. I'll cover exactly what makes it the standard recommendation, where it falls short, and whether it still deserves its reputation given newer competitors in the same price range.

40 Grind Settings

The Encore's numbered dial goes from 1 (finest) to 40 (coarsest). This covers everything from Turkish coffee to coarse French press. The steps between settings are meaningful. You can tell the difference between setting 15 and 17 in your cup, which gives you real control over flavor without being overwhelmed by hundreds of options.

For drip coffee, most people land between settings 15 and 22. Pour-over works well around 12 to 18. French press sits comfortably at 28 to 32. AeroPress users typically find their spot between 8 and 15 depending on their recipe.

Conical Burr Design

The Encore uses 40mm conical steel burrs. Conical burrs produce less heat during grinding than flat burrs, which preserves the volatile aromatic compounds in your coffee. They also self-feed, meaning beans drop through the burrs by gravity, so the motor doesn't have to work as hard.

The grind consistency at medium settings is genuinely good. I've compared it to grinders costing twice as much, and the particle distribution is close. Where the Encore shows its price point is at the extreme fine end (settings 1 through 5), where it gets a bit clumpy and inconsistent. That's fine because espresso isn't really what this grinder is designed for.

Repairability

This is Baratza's secret weapon. Every single part inside the Encore is available for purchase on their website. Burrs, motors, switches, hoppers, grounds bins. They publish repair guides and videos showing you how to swap parts at home with basic tools.

Most budget grinders are disposable. When something breaks, you throw it away and buy a new one. With the Encore, a $30 burr replacement or a $15 switch repair keeps the grinder running for another several years. I know people who've kept the same Encore going for 8+ years with one burr replacement.

Daily Use: What It's Actually Like

Morning Routine

I grind 22 grams of beans for a single pour-over every morning. The Encore takes about 20 to 25 seconds to grind that amount, which feels slow compared to commercial grinders but is fine for home use. The noise level sits around 70 to 75 decibels. It's not whisper-quiet, but it won't wake up the entire house.

The hopper holds about 8 ounces of beans, or roughly 227 grams. I refill it every 10 days or so. The grounds bin holds about 5 ounces and has a tinted plastic body so you can see the level at a glance.

Grounds Retention

The Encore retains about 1 to 2 grams of coffee between uses. This means that when you change grind settings or switch beans, the first dose will include some grounds from the previous setting or bean. If you care about precision, purge a couple grams after making changes. For daily same-setting use, the retention doesn't matter.

Static

Like most electric grinders, the Encore produces some static electricity that causes fine grounds to cling to the bin and the chute. The RDT method (one spray of water on your beans before grinding) eliminates this completely. Some people just tap the bin on the counter a few times and call it good.

Where the Encore Falls Short

Not for Espresso

I mentioned this above, but it's worth emphasizing. The Encore's finest settings aren't fine or consistent enough for unpressurized espresso. If you try to use it for espresso, you'll end up between two settings where one chokes your machine and the other produces a gusher. For espresso, look at the Baratza Sette 270 or a dedicated hand grinder like the 1Zpresso JX-Pro.

Build Quality Feels Modest

The plastic housing is functional but doesn't feel premium. The grounds bin, in particular, is lightweight and tips easily if you bump it. Baratza sells a stainless steel grounds bin as an accessory for about $25, which is a worthwhile upgrade if the plastic one annoys you.

Single Speed Motor

The Encore runs at one speed. You can't slow it down for finer grinds or speed it up for coarse ones. The Virtuoso+ (Baratza's next step up at around $200) has a faster motor and digital timer, but the grind quality difference between the two is minimal for drip and pour-over.

Encore vs. The Competition

Versus the Baratza Virtuoso+ ($200)

The Virtuoso+ has a faster motor (1.5 to 2.5 grams per second versus the Encore's 0.8 to 1.1), a digital timer for precise dosing, and slightly better grind consistency. Is it twice as good as the Encore? No. It's about 10 to 15% better. The Encore is the better value for most home brewers.

Versus the Oxo Brew Conical Burr Grinder ($100)

The Oxo has a similar price and comparable grind quality for medium to coarse settings. The Encore edges it out for consistency at finer settings. The biggest difference is repairability: Oxo doesn't sell individual parts, so when something breaks, you're done. The Encore's parts availability gives it much better long-term value.

Versus the Fellow Ode ($200 to $300)

The Fellow Ode is a flat burr grinder designed specifically for filter coffee. It produces a more uniform particle distribution than the Encore, especially for pour-over. But it's two to three times the price and has a narrower range (no fine grinding at all). If you only brew filter coffee and have the budget, the Ode is a genuine upgrade. For everyone else, the Encore covers more ground.

For detailed comparisons, our Best Coffee Grinder roundup ranks the top performers, and the Top Coffee Grinder guide breaks down specific use cases.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often should I replace the burrs on a Baratza Encore?

Baratza recommends replacing burrs after about 500 pounds of coffee. For a daily home user grinding 20 to 30 grams per day, that's roughly 5 to 7 years. Signs that burrs are dulling include slower grind times, more fines (dust) in your grounds, and a change in cup flavor despite using the same beans and settings.

Can I use the Encore for cold brew?

Absolutely. Cold brew works best with coarse grounds (settings 30 to 38 on the Encore). The Encore handles coarse grinding well, though you'll want to grind in smaller batches if you're making a large batch of cold brew concentrate since the grounds bin fills up quickly.

Is the Encore ESP the same as the regular Encore?

The Encore ESP is a newer model with a different burr set designed for slightly better espresso performance. It has finer adjustment steps at the lower end of the dial. It's a modest improvement for espresso but still not a dedicated espresso grinder. For filter coffee, the performance is essentially the same as the standard Encore.

Does the color matter?

The Encore comes in black and white. They're identical inside. Pick whichever matches your kitchen.

The Bottom Line

The Baratza Encore earned its reputation through years of reliable performance and unmatched repairability at the $100 price point. Buy it if you brew drip, pour-over, French press, AeroPress, or cold brew. Skip it if espresso is your primary brewing method. Clean the burrs every two weeks with a brush, run grinder cleaning tablets through it monthly, and expect to get 5 to 7 years out of it before needing new burrs. At $100, it's still the smartest first grinder purchase you can make.