There is certainly no shortage of burr grinders for sale on the market today, largely thanks to the booming sales of coffee. If you are looking for an easy way to grind your coffee beans, you might be struggling to decide on a suitable model with so many to pick from. One potential range to consider is the Capresso Infinity conical burr grinder line.
These models are a popular choice as they sit somewhere in the lower to middle of the price bracket range for burr grinders, but how does it measure up to the competition? We intend to find out, so let’s see what all the fuss is about.
The Capresso Infinity Range
Now before we begin looking at the these models, we should clear up one or two things which can be a bit confusing. The Infinity range has a few different models including the Capresso 560.01 which is black in color, and the Capresso 560.04 which has a stainless steel finish (pictured). Confusingly, they also sell the Capresso 565.05 model which looks almost identical to the 560.04 model. So what are the differences between the various models? The 560.01 and the 560.04 models all retail for around $90, while the 565.05 retails for about $140. The main difference between these models are that the cheaper 560 models have a plastic housing, whilst the 565.05 model has a heavy duty zinc die cast housing.
This means the Capresso 560.01 and 560.04 models weigh around 3 lbs, whilst the heavier 565.05 model weighs double that at 6 lbs. Telling them apart can be tricky, but remember that the 560.04 model has more of a matt stainless steel finish, whilst the 565.05 has a shiny finish to it. The 560.04 also has a black timer dial, whilst the Capresso 565.05 has a stainless steel finished dial. It would have been better if Capresso had done a little more to differentiate between the two Capresso infinity burr grinders, but they both look quite good so we can’t complain too much.
Now let’s look at the 560 models.
The Design
We begin by taking a look at the design. As mentioned above, you have the option of black or a stainless steel style finish to pick from here. Both these color choices have a modern feel to them, but the stainless style option would be our choice here. The long curved lines add a sleek feel to it, and the ground chamber blends in quite well with the front of the machine.
This ground chamber can hold up to 4 oz of coffee, and is easily removed simply by pulling it outwards. It has a max level near the top, so be careful not to let it fill above this as the beans can back up into the feed chute which will cause issues.
Above that we have the timer dial, and the different grind settings to pick from. On top of the we have the hopper, which can hold a decent 8 oz of beans. This model does not occupy too much counter space, and has dimensions of 5.5″L x 7.75″D x 11″H. The 560 range are powered by a 100 watt motor, which runs at a a slower 450rpm. This helps to ensure that the heat produced by crushing the beans is kept to a minimum, as heating the beans after they have already been roasted usually results in some flavor loss.
The Burr Grinders
It is not too noisy when in use thanks to the slower speed motor, but the plastic housing does mean it generates a little more noise than the heavier 565.05 model. This is a conical burr grinder, which has two stainless steel burrs.
These burrs are manufactured in Switzerland, and hand assembled there, so it certainly seems like they are built to last. The upper burr is easily removed by pulling it upwards, and from there you can clean the lower burr, the chamber and the feed chamber.
Capresso include a little cleaning brush to help you with this task, but keep in mind that the removable burr is not dishwasher safe. You will need to clean it more often if you use dark oily beans, as these tend to stick and build up faster.
The Capresso Infinity burr grinder models gives you 16 different grind settings to choose from, all the way from extra fine to coarse. In order to start grinding beans, you need to first align the hopper using the black dot on it with the white dot on the base, then drop it into place.
Settings
From there you move the hopper counter clockwise until the black dot aligns with the desired coarseness.
There is a bit of a gap between the white dot on the base and the coarsest setting, and the machine will not function if the black dot on the hopper is between these two areas. This means you can also stop the machine by moving the hopper counterclockwise to this point, which will invoke the safety cutoff.
Once your current grind setting is selected, you can start the Capresso Infinity conical burr grinder by moving the timer to the desired number. The timer works from 5 seconds up to 60 seconds, so often you will need to guess how long you need to get the job done. It can be a little tricky getting the estimation right, as coarse grinds tend to go through at a much faster rate compared to finer grinds.
If you only need one particular grind size on a daily basis then you will get an idea which timer setting to use with a bit of experimentation.
We can happily say that the many different grinds settings all come out very evenly, no matter which setting you pick. The machine makes short work of coarser grinds, and the finest setting gives a lovely fine grade which is suitable for Turkish coffee.
The two burrs work well together, and produce quality results. Capresso have done a great job here, and the results really shine compared to some of the uneven sized grounds we have seen come out of cheaper models.
Are there any issues?
The 560 Capresso infinity burr grinder models are very good for the most part, but there are one or two quirks. As mentioned above, you set the timer for how long you need. However if it grinds through all the beans before the timer finishes, then it will continue grinding. In order to stop the motor you must move the hopper counterclockwise past the coarsest setting, which stops the motor working but leaves the timer counting down.
The manual specifically mentions not to turn the timer backwards to switch it off, so you must follow the steps outlined above. This is a rather odd way to do it, and a simple off switch would have been a better option in our eyes. Of course it’s not going to break the machine if you leave it running without any beans to grind. However it’s a minor complaint, and it’s the only real one we could find worth mentioning.
Summary
So that is a look at some of the most popular Capresso Infinity conical burr grinders. These models look good in your kitchen, and do a fine job of grinding coffee. The lack of an off switch is a little annoying, but we can easily ignore this given how well the machine works. At the time of writing this model had over two thousand 5-star user reviews on Amazon, which is pretty impressive! You can read some of those many positive user reviews over, and get more info on this model over on the Amazon page.
