The Best Coffee Grinders for Camping - Expedition Portal

Camping can be a great way to get away from it all, but you actually might not want to get away from your coffee. If you can’t imagine your day without a freshly brewed cuppa, getting a portable grinder might be a good idea. Let’s take a closer look at the options available in the market and determine the best camping coffee grinder for you. You can certainly have a perfect cup of coffee while enjoying nature!

Things to consider when choosing a camping coffee grinder

As you try to find the best coffee grinder for camping, you may need to think about what your camping trips usually look like. If you spend most of your time in an RV and have access to electricity, an electric coffee grinder could be an option. However, if you do overnight backpacking, you will look only at manual coffee grinders.

You will also need to consider the brewing method you will use during your trips to make coffee and how much coffee you’d want to brew. Portable coffee grinders suitable for backpacking tend to be durable, but they usually have a small capacity. So if you plan to hang out at the campground with a bigger group of people, you may want to sacrifice portability for a bigger capacity grinder.

Weight

Backpackers are notorious for trying to minimize the weight of every item in their backpacks, so the best backpacking coffee grinder in that respect is the most lightweight manual grinder. The material it is made of can make a big difference in the gadget’s weight. Plastic and metal grinders are usually lightweight, while wood and glass can be bulkier.

However, if you spend your camping mornings at a campground or in an RV, you may not have to worry so much about the weight of your coffee grinder. You could then pay more attention to other factors in searching for the ultimate camping coffee grinder, like capacity and ease of use. An RV might even give you the option of bringing an electric grinder on your trip.

Size

You must really love your specialty coffee to carry a coffee grinder with you on a long hike. When it comes to packing your essentials for a hike, the size of your backpack is your biggest limitation. Depending on the duration of your trip, a grinder may need to fit in your small daypack. In that case, finding the smallest coffee mill possible will be a priority for you.

Remember that you will also be carrying other coffee equipment with you, like your coffee maker and some coffee beans, so saving space is essential.

The advantage of cylindrical coffee grinders is that they don’t take up much space, and some of them can even fit inside your coffee brewer, such as AeroPress. French press or Moka Pot can also store other items, not necessarily limited to coffee gear.

If you plan to stay at the campground with your family or friends, you may not have to worry about the size of your grinder or your brewing equipment, as you don’t have to carry it on your back all day. If that’s the case, you may want a coffee grinder that can hold a greater quantity of beans sufficient for a few cups of coffee.

However, if you are limited with your backpack space, grinding beans at home before the trip or buying ground coffee is also an option. It can be the best option if you use a brewing method that requires a lot of coffee, such as Random ones like click here. While great coffee is important, you need to be realistic about how much time you (or your travel companions) are willing to spend preparing it during your camping trip.

Durability

Durability is one of the most important criteria separating camping coffee grinders from grinders intended for home use.

Will you be venturing far into the wilderness or doing something where your backpack might get bumped or dropped? You may want to get a metal camping coffee grinder, as sturdy steel cannot break in the way plastic or glass can.

However, a grinder with glass parts is probably fine if you plan to stay close to the campground. In that case, you might not have to worry about getting specifically a travel grinder, as many grinders intended for home use would be capable enough.

Burr type

When freshly ground coffee is a priority on your camping trip, you probably love coffee enough to get a burr grinder. Burr grinders are prized over blade grinders to achieve a more consistent grind. Fortunately, the manual coffee grinders on this list are all burr grinders.

Within the category of burr grinders, the next big question is whether your burr grinder will have ceramic or stainless steel burrs. Ceramic burrs are often favored because they don’t get hot as they grind and don’t hold on to smells.

However, a ceramic burr can break if a piece of debris gets stuck in it while grinding. In the context of home use, this threat would more likely come from a little rock mixed in with the coffee beans. In outdoor use, debris might be easier to come by.

While breaking your grinder burr when you finally settle down to make a nice cup of coffee in the wild is not fun, it should be possible to buy a replacement. First, however, you may want to know what it costs for the burr grinder you are considering.

A metal grinding burr is not likely to break in the way a ceramic burr can. Of the two main options for metal burrs, stainless steel burrs can heat the beans as they grind, much like a blade grinder. While cast-iron burrs do not have that problem, they may be susceptible to rust.

Adjustable grind

Most manual coffee mills have adjustable grind settings, but make sure the grinder you buy can produce the right grind size for your preferred brewing method. For example, French press or pour-over coffee requires a coarse grind, while a Moka Pot works best with a medium grind which is between espresso and standard grind.

If your preferred grind is either extremely fine or extremely coarse, ensure the camping grinder you are considering covers that end of the spectrum. You might also want to look at whether adjusting the grind settings is easy enough to do so that you can get the right grind size.

Manual coffee grinders will generally require more elbow grease to achieve a finer grind, especially those from the budget range. However, if you get a mill with a good range of grind settings, you might find it versatile enough to use at home.

Budget

You often face a trade-off between price and quality whenever you shop for anything. Travel coffee grinders are no exception. Good quality grinders work consistently and last forever, so it’s worth investing in a better one, especially if you plan to use it often. The high-end burr grinders are also known for grinding coffee more quickly than their cheaper competitors.

However, if you travel very rarely and have an electric grinder at home to do most of the heavy lifting for you, you may be able to get by with a lower-priced manual coffee grinder.

Best camping coffee grinders in 2022

Camping coffee grinders come at various price points and different technology. Some are meant for travel, while others could comfortably double for daily home use.

Shopping for camping coffee gadgets can certainly get your imagination going, so it may be hard to gauge your level of adventurousness realistically. Try to stay in touch with your true needs as you choose from the best travel coffee grinders in the market.