If you are making coffee every day and looking for a burr grinder in the $100 range, the OXO Brew coffee bean grinder is among the easiest to recommend. We analyzed dozens of grinders in this category and this particular model has most of the basics right, including stainless steel conical burrs that provide a uniform grind, 15 settings including fine tuning and intuitive controls. It is also sleek, and it comes in three finishes, including a pretty blue color.
In short, the OXO Brew is a great option if you are looking to make drip or pour over coffee, as well as use a French press or need a reliable everyday grinder. Below, we’ll go through the features that stood out, what we liked, and a few areas where this coffee bean grinder could have done better.
OXO Brew Specifications
| Spec | What you get |
|---|---|
| Burr style | Stainless steel cone |
| How it runs | Turn the timer dial, then push once |
| Motor | DC |
| Hopper shield | UV blocking tint |
| Brew styles | Drip, filter cones, plunger pots, slow cold steeps |
| Warranty | 2 years on the current matte black model |
Why This Grinder Earns Its Counter Space
Conical Burrs Give You More Control
The part we like most about the OXO Brew Conical Burr Grinder is the stainless steel conical burr setup. Your beans pass through a fixed gap, and changing that gap changes how fine or coarse the coffee comes out. That gives you much more control than chopping beans with a blade grinder. OXO also says the burrs are designed to produce uniform grounds.
That makes this Burr Grinder easier to dial in for everyday coffee. If your pour over tastes weak, move finer. If it turns bitter or drains too slowly, move coarser and try again. Serious Eats has also praised this OXO coffee bean grinder for its grind quality and simple operation at this price level.
15 Settings Are Plenty for Everyday Brewing
You get 15 numbered Grind Settings plus smaller adjustments between them. OXO coffee bean grinder puts settings 1 through 5 in the fine range, 6 through 10 around medium, and 11 through 15 on the coarse side. That covers espresso style grinding, pour over, drip coffee, French press, and cold brew.
We also like that you can remember a number and come back to it later. Once you find the setting that works with your brewer and beans, there is less guessing the next morning.
The Timer Makes Daily Grinding Easy
The timer runs from 0 to 30 seconds, and the grinder remembers the last time you used. Set your grind size, turn the dial to the time you want, press the button, and it takes care of the rest.
This is where the electric burr coffee grinder setup feels convenient. You still get control over the grind, but there are no complicated menus to deal with before your first cup. If you care about exact dosing, weigh the beans before dropping them into the hopper.
The 12 Ounce Hopper Is Generous
OXO coffee bean grinder gives you a 12 ounce Bean Hopper. Turns out, there is pretty enough room to keep a decent amount of coffee ready to grind. The hopper also has UV blocking tint and a trap door that keeps the beans inside when you remove it.
We think this setup makes the most sense if you normally stick with the same beans for several days. If you change coffee every brew and weigh every dose separately, a dedicated single dose grinder may suit that routine better.
How Well Does the OXO Brew Grinder Perform?
Every OXO coffee grinder review you’ll read lands on the same point. Results depend on what you brew. The dial gives you plenty of room, but the middle of the range is where this machine shines.
Drip Coffee and Pour Over
This is probably where the OXO Brew coffee grinder feels most at home. Medium settings cover drip and pour over, and once you land on a number that works with your coffee, getting back to it the next morning is easy. OXO recommends settings 6 through 10 for these brewing methods.
It also makes a good coffee grinder for pour over because you can move the grind one step finer or coarser and actually keep track of the change. The timer remembers your previous grind time too, keeping the daily routine pretty straightforward.
French Press and Cold Brew
Move toward the coarse end and the OXO covers both French press and cold brew. Settings 11 through 15 are OXO’s recommended range here.
It’s indeed flexible enough to work as a coffee grinder for French press and a coffee grinder for cold brew.
For French press, any fines that slip through can leave more sediment in the cup. Cold brew is generally more forgiving because the grounds are filtered after brewing.
Espresso
OXO does list settings 1 through 5 for espresso, so the grinder can go fine enough to get you started.
After spending a lot of time with researching and checking this OXO coffee bean grinder, we could safely say that we can keep our expectations sensible here. Espresso usually needs very small grind adjustments, and this grinder gives you less room to dial things in than a dedicated espresso grinder.
It makes more sense for occasional espresso or a machine with a pressurized basket. If espresso is what you make every day, you should spend more on a grinder built around that style of brewing.
How Even Is the Grind, Really?
Through the middle of the dial, grind consistency is the OXO’s best trick. Pieces come out close in size, with far fewer boulders than a blade model.
At the finest settings the grounds look nearly as fine as baking flour, and the grind stays very fine and even, though. Coarse settings are where it slips. A fair amount of dust hides in the pile, and you’ll notice it in a plunger pot cup.
That’s what we think is normal at this price. Pricier grinders cut cleaner at the extremes. Few do it for around a hundred bucks, and the OXO Brew grinder holds its own at that level.
Static, Mess, and Grounds Retention
Static is better controlled than on plenty of cheap grinders, but the OXO is not mess free. The stainless steel grounds cup is designed to reduce static, yet fine coffee and chaff can still cling to the cup or show up around the chute, especially with drier beans.
Retention is another small downside. Some coffee can stay inside the burr area or chute after grinding, and you will notice it more when you open the grinder for cleaning. It is not a huge problem for normal drip coffee, but people who switch beans often may find it annoying.
If you are changing to a completely different coffee, brush out the chute or run a small purge first. That keeps less of the previous grind mixed into the next batch.
How Easy Is OXO Coffee Bean Grinder To Clean?
The OXO Brew grinder does not take much effort to clean. What you need to do to make it pretty clean is run it empty for about 10 seconds first, unplug it, take off the hopper, and pull out the upper burr. OXO recommends using a small bristle brush around the burrs and grounds chute.
Its lowest burr is indeed a problem though. It stays fixed inside, and make access quite annoying and difficult. You can hand wash the bean hopper, grounds container, and lids with warm water and mild detergent anyway. Let em dry fully before putting everything back together. The outside of the grinder only needs a soft damp cloth.
It is not a hard grinder to maintain, but brushing the chute and burr area regularly is worth doing if you use it every day.
What We Like
- Steady, even grounds for daily brewing
- Roomy 12 oz hopper
- Far less static than many rivals
- Solid value for a first real grinder
- Good looking
- Pretty decent price
What We Don’t Like
- Coarse setting produced too many boulders.
- Fine setting still produced midsize grinds.
Is the OXO Brew Grinder Really the Best Under $100?
Close, but there’s a catch. OXO lists it at $109.99. That misses the cutoff by about ten bucks. Sales pull it under that line now and then. Also if you go with it’s silver color it’ll cost you $98.99.
So, if you want the best burr coffee grinder under $100 with zero fuss, it still makes a strong case cause it gives you pretty good conical steel burrs, plenty of grind adjustment, a useful timer, and good performance for drip, pour over, French press, and cold brew.
2 Best Alternatives to the OXO Brew Grinder
OXO is a good all around pick, but these two make sense if you are still looking for an alternative. Capresso keeps the price under $100, while Baratza asks more and gives you a wider adjustment range. Both use conical burrs, so you are still getting a proper coffee bean grinder for fresh grinding at home.
Capresso Infinity Plus: Best Same Budget Alternative
The Capresso Infinity Plus is currently $99.99 in black and white, making it the easier choice if $100 is your hard limit. You get 16 grind settings, an 11 ounce bean hopper, steel conical burrs, pulse grinding, and a removable upper burr for cleaning. The grinder also shuts off if the hopper is not locked into place.
Its slow gear reduction motor is another nice touch, especially if you want a simple grinder for drip, pour over, French press, or everyday coffee. Capresso does list espresso among its supported grind range, though 16 settings give you less room for fine adjustments than an espresso focused grinder.
Baratza Encore: Best Upgrade Alternative
The Baratza Encore currently costs $149.95, but you get 40 grind settings and 40 mm conical steel burrs. Its wider adjustment range gives you more room to play around with different beans and brewers.
The regular Encore can grind fine, but Baratza clearly positions the Encore ESP as the model for people who want more precise espresso adjustment. The ESP costs $199.95 and gives settings 1 through 20 specifically to higher resolution espresso grinding.
OXO Brew vs Capresso Infinity Plus vs Baratza Encore
| Feature | OXO Brew | Capresso Infinity | Baratza Encore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current price | $98.99 (silver color) | $99.99 | $149.95 |
| Burr type | Conical steel | Conical steel | Conical steel |
| Grind steps | 15 plus micro | 16 | 40 |
| Hopper | 12 oz | 11 oz | 8 oz |
| Espresso | Limited | Limited | Limited |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How many grind settings does the OXO Brew have?
It has 15 main steps, plus micro adjustments between them. That gives you plenty of room to fine tune for most brew methods.
Which coffee grinder is better, OXO or Cuisinart?
For most people, the OXO. It has steel cone burrs, a metal catch cup, a memory timer, and a UV tinted hopper. The Cuisinart Supreme Grind offers 18 positions and an 8 oz hopper for roughly half the price. It runs louder, though, and its plastic grounds chamber builds up static.
Can I use an OXO grinder for espresso?
Not for true espresso. The fine settings suit a moka pot or an AeroPress. A proper espresso shot needs finer, tighter steps than this dial gives you.
Final Verdict: Is the OXO Brew the Best Grinder Under $100?
The OXO Brew grinder is an easy grinder to recommend for everyday coffee. It is quick to set up, simple to adjust, and gives you enough grind range for drip, pour over, French press, and cold brew. The stainless steel conical burrs, 15 main settings, and repeatable timer also make it feel like a proper step up from a cheap blade grinder.
