Baratza Encore 485 Coffee Grinder
- SPECIALTY COFFEE ASSOCIATION AWARD WINNING GRINDERS – Baratza grinders are preferred by coffee professionals and backed by Baratza’s world class support.
- GO-TO ENTRY LEVEL GRINDER – Baratza’s best-selling grinder, with its small footprint, is THE choice for brewing coffee at home. Available in White and Black.
- USER FRIENDLY – A convenient, front-mounted pulse button, plus a simple ON/OFF switch make it easy to grind fresh coffee.
- 40 GRIND SETTINGS – Commercial-grade conical burrs help you explore the extensive range of brew methods (espresso, Aeropress, Hario V60, Chemex, French Press, and automatic brewers).
- WARRANTY/QUALITY PARTS – Engineered with 40mm hardened alloy steel burrs manufactured in Liechtenstein, Europe, plus a powerful DC motor. This combination creates a consistent grind and durability to ensure the longevity users have come to expect from the Baratza brand. The Encore is backed by Baratza’s world class support and a 1 year warranty.
$900.00
This tried and true grinder has been on the market since 2012 and is our most widely used grinder.
Its grind consistency and reliability make it a great little workhorse for your home espresso, drip or French Press coffee setup.
Specification: Baratza Encore 485 Coffee Grinder
| Weight | 7 lbs |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 5 × 6 × 14 in |
| Brand | Baratza |
| MPN | ENCORE |
| UPC | 838823004857 |
User Reviews
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justin grimm –
After scouring reviews and a recomendation from a local roaster, my wife purchased this grinder for me as a gift. It’s reasonably priced, grinds consistent and doesn’t leave a huge mess on the counter. Late one Saturday morning as I was grinding some beans it just quit! Insert sad face here. Fortunately I had enough grounds for a pot but, what would the week ahead be like without my favorite cup of joe? I emailed the customer support address, not really expecting a response, but to get the ball rolling. They responded within the hour. After multiple emails and links to trouble shooting guids I determined this was outside my experience level. Obviously disappointed considering the grinder was only about a year and a half old I was left with a choice. Either I send the grinder in and wait for them to repair it under their flat rate repair program or buy a new grinder. After reading reviews and considering different price points I found myself leaning towards purchasing the same grinder again. I like the grinder and it works well. Next day free shipping from Amazon helped finalize the decision. Even though I felt like the grinder should have lasted longer I wanted to have my beans ground by Monday. Once the new grinder arrived I decided to package the old grinder in the new box with a $45 check to have it repaired. I received my old grinder back in a week with a voided check packaged at the top of the box. The invoice said they had replaced the motor at no charge. The 1 year warranty had expired so I assumed that there was a mix up considering I had packaged the old grinder in the new box. I emailed the customer support folks again and told them there must have been a mistake. It was a new box and an old grinder. I didn’t expect anything for free. Their response, no mix up, the motor should have lasted longer, the repair was free. Mind blown! They stood behind the product even though the warranty had expired. Not only would I recommend the product, they have a customer for life. In this day and age it’s refreshing to have a company stand behind their product. Buy the grinder.
Garrett –
I already knew what I was getting on this unit so its features are only a plus for me. I don’t grind for espresso and there are doubtlessly other (more expensive) grinders better suited for this task. I am a manual brew fanatic, and this grinder is perfect for the range of fine, medium, and medium-coarse grinds. Easy to operate, relatively easy to clean (see Seattle Coffee Gear’s cleaning instruction videos). I haven’t needed to re-calibrate the burr elevation from the factory settings.Coming from a Hario Skerton manual grinder, it is light years ahead in convenience. Already paid for itself in time and energy saved from cranking out servings. I agree with other posters on the static issue; I gently smack the sides of the grinder before taking out the hopper to avoid a shower of post-grind coffee chaff. Clogging is a non-issue unless you grind cheap, oil soaked beans from Walmart/Costco.I don’t mean to sound like a snob, but if you really care about getting better flavor from your coffee, you really should buy better beans for your nice equipment. You wouldn’t put AARCO gas in a luxury car, so don’t put cheap beans though a +$100 grinder. Plus, there’s almost no benefit to precision grinding cheap coffee in terms of flavor. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, and you can’t make good coffee with stagnant beans that have been on the shelf for months. If you can’t taste the difference, don’t waste your money on better brewing equipment. There is NO substitute for quality, fresh roasted coffee beans, and these tools merely add to the ease and consistency of producing coffee at home which matches or is superior to coffee from your local cafes.Edit: two years later, no issues with the grinder after heavy use, probably 50+ lbs/year. Same as the day I bought it. I periodically clean out the coarse and fine bits that get stuck in the hopper receptacle and blade area. What more do you want from a grinder?
M. C. Lee –
I seldom write reviews (because I am too lazy) but in this case I felt that I must review it. First of all, the grinder itself does an excellent job in grinding coffee. But I am giving it 5 stars not for the product itself but for the excellent customer service. The grinder worked flawlessly for over a year and then it broke 2 weeks ago. The unit was 2 months out of warranty. I checked Baratza’s website and they have a repair program. The price for reasonable ($45 for repair.) I figure it was worth the repair since a new one is more expensive one year later. I shipped it to the service center with the payment enclosed and I got it back 10 days later. They fixed it by replacing the broken motor and re-calibrate the unit. Not only was the turnaround quick, but they also didn’t charge me for the repair (void check returned.)I was somewhat disappointed that the product failed after a year (I clean it after grinding 2 pounds of beans.) But the company appears to stand behind their product and for that I am very happy with.
Randy –
Well built. Grinds well. Not terribly loud; anyone complaining of the noise shouldn’t be grinding beans, because I’ve used grinders that could wake up the whole house; this one will wake up the dog. What I don’t like… you can’t set it to grind a certain amount of coffee for a certain amount of cups. You just grind a bunch of grounds and then scoop out what you need… leaving some coffee sitting in the bin drying out for later use. My last mill could be set to grind for 6 cups etc; I miss that feature. But, this is a good mill, even though I am left feeling that maybe I paid a little too much for it. I’m hoping that price is justified by how long it keeps working for me. I purchased this 9-10-18.
Andrew Schwartz –
Grinds beans pretty fast. Coffee has been tasting fantastic since buying this; I’m coming from a blade grinder and had been using a manual burr grinder but have found the effort a little much for a daily coffee for two. It runs far quieter than the (cheaper) Cuisinart that a roommate used to have, so it’s a pretty acceptable noise level but by no means silent. Pictures give a sense of scale on a countertop. Overall I’m very happy with this purchase!
hektik –
When the machine works, it does the job very effectively: a good consistent grind that makes a satisfying cup of coffee.The quality of the craftsmanship lets it down though: the performance has been erratic, and has now given up the ghost less than 3 months after purchase. I was happily grinding beans, stopped it to empty the collector, turned it back on again…. And nothing. Cleaned it, taken it apart, put it together again, but no joy.There is also a lack of definition between grinds: yes, it has 40 settings, but there is no discernable difference between half of them, even from big changes to 8-25. It’s recommended grind size was initially very poor, with larger lumps in the grind. It was only on further Internet research I found that you had to take it apart to get finer grinds…why not do this at the factory rather than making your customer have to attack their new purchase with a screwdriver a day after buying??
D. Hart –
Appears well made and quite substantial.Grind for espresso on setting 1, which is what I wanted it for, is OK with quite a heavy tamp. I think it is possible to adjust it further by moving shims, so I might look into that. My Rancilio Silvia seems to have a very powerful pump which requires a very fine grind, more-so than my old Gaggia Classic needed.Grind for filter is very good with quite a lot of adjustment in the region of 13-14. Not tried it for Cafetierre/French Press yet.The additional power button on the front to just grind enough for straight into the portofilter is a really useful little touch.All in all, it seems pretty good.Update December 2014 – Review upgraded to 5 stars…As per the original review above, I was a bit concerned about the fine grind for espresso being fine enough. Anyway I was thinking about adjusting the machine from the advice on Baratza’s website (Thanks for the link in the comments area Mr.S Mellins) but when I had a look I noticed the opening advice from Baratza was don’t be too hasty to adjust, let the machine settle down first.You’re probably ahead of me here, but guess what, after about 5 hoppers’ worth of beans ground, the fine grind is quite a bit finer. In fact on the finest level it now chokes out the Rancilio. So on that basis, I do think this is an excellent grinder for the money, worth 5 stars and if you do get one, give it some time to bed in before recalibrating it finer. It may well sort itself out.
MrTummyGiggles –
I’ve gone through two of these grinders, both eventually coming a cropper to the same issue. Out of the box, you’ll get a consistent grind with a lot of settings, including fine enough for espresso. The problem is the machine randomly dying.The first lasted me about 14 months before the power just died out of nowhere. The second didn’t even last 7 months before the same thing happened.Baratza’s website is dead and appears to have been so for a while now, making getting any support next to impossible.
Kat –
Tired of replacing $90 burr grinders every few years, I thought I would double my investment and buy a better model. With space in my kitchen being at a premium, I wanted something that would fit in with a low profile. The Baratza Encore was good on the size front, no noisier than any other burr grinder I have had, and did have the added convenience of allowing you to add more beans to the hopper even while it was grinding.On the downside, it did not have a timer or measurement function. Once you turned it on it stayed on until you turned it off or the compartment was packed full.Mine also completely quit grinding nine months after I bought it despite regular cleanings. I have gone back to the $90 models.
Amazon Customer –
Broke after 13 months. Impossible to contact the company because their website is always down. Avoid at all cost.
nicolas –
What a pleasure to move from manual intensive grinding to Encore. A few seconds you are ready to brew. Very happy with the quality of the grind too. I just wish the machine has an integrated scale. But for the price we can not complain.
Scott –
After my delonghi grinder failed it was time toUpgrade! Fantastic bit of kit was 30 grind settings. Great for Pourovers etc, (not used it for espresso grind so can’t comment on that ) great entry level grinder for those who are serious about homeBrewing! The only bad thing If I have to say one is it’s a tad messy ! Other than that nothing bad to report 🙂 it’s also very compact considering 🙂
Billy W –
Paired with a Rancillo Silvia. Produces good grind for that machine (albeit looking online I will investigate whether I can improve the calibration for even better still). A lot of plastic on this machine. The bean hopper feels a tad flimsy, as does the rubber hood that funnels the beans towards the burrs.
Lucas B1000 –
This is by far the best burr grinder you can get for the money. 💲😁Not only does this burr grinder work very well, 👍but the company that sells it, Baratza is a very respectable company. 🏭👍Baratza specializes in making burr grinders ⚙☕and this is the lowest costing grinder in its model lineup. 👍💲😁These machines are more complicated then a rotary grinder and it’s tough to make a quality model at a lower price than this.💲😂 That is why I did not buy some of the lower cost options🤔 offered by OXO or Krupps. It was a tough decision though😰🤔, because some of the 100 dollar grinders still preform decent and have some gimmicky features that seem appealing at first. 😅However, the ultimate reason I choose this grinder over the competition is that you can repair it🔨🔧🔩 and Baratza encourages it. 👍😁You can order a replacement part🚢 for any component in the grinder, and Baratza will provide you with the instructions 📄on how to repair it. They also engineered this product to be easily repairable so that even grandma 👵🏼👴🏼can do it. This is why I said they are a respectable company, ✅😁👍because they believe in the right to repair your product, and not throw it out in a landfill.🌲 So ultimately, if I bought the OXO burr grinder, it would end up in a landfill🗻🐁 because at some point in the next several years, something will break. But this product seems like more of a smarter investment since 10 years from now when something breaks, I can fix it instead of buying a whole new grinder.👍😁🔨🔧When this grinder arrived I was a little overwhelmed by the size and learning curve. 😰🤔It certainly was not as simple as a rotary grinder. 📄The instructions although clear and concise, lack pictures which made it take a little longer to understand. ⏳ However, once I figured it out, I realized just how amazing this new purchase was going to make my life.🧬😁✅👍 I have been using a rotary grinder my whole life, 👶🏼👴🏼 which is impossible to get a consistent grind size with. Rotary grinders have small chambers for beans,👎🏼😵 and only grind well when they are half full. Rotary grinders are tedious ⏲😒to use and never produce a perfectly extracted coffee ☕because of the inconsistent grind size.😒 With this burr grinder I will be able to fine tune 📻 my coffee grind size to get the perfect coffee extraction during brewing. ☕☕That is the reason the grinders are superior, they produce a consistent grind size and proper extraction percentage to make the best tasting coffee. 😋☕👍This coffee grinder also has a larger hopper so you can fit a whole pot worth of coffee in it. With my small rotary grinder I would have to grind the coffee in batches if I was making a full pot.⏳⏳😒This grinder is on/off and doesn’t have other features. 🤔This is good because your money is going towards a quality grinder 👍😁and not a timer⏲, or LCD screen 💻or scale ⚖ which are just sales gimmicks added to other burr grinders.👎🏼I weigh my beans before I put them in the grinder anyway,⚖ which is the most accurate way to make coffee. 😁✅The timer method will vary based on you bean type and will give inconsistent results. 👎🏼😲The built in scales on some burr grinder are just inaccurate and add to the cost👎🏼💲😲. Baratza has designed features in the grinder to reduce static ⚡💡🔌which helps reduce the chance of coffee grounds ending up on the counter. 🟤🟤🧹Some grinds do end up on my counter, but it has been very minimal and less so than my rotary grinder. 🧹😁At first I thought maybe I made a mistake buying this machine, 😰🤔because it was large a little complicated, but once I learned how to use it properly, I realized this was a great purchase and my coffee will forever taste better. ✅😁👍
Sagi –
If you need a grinder for Drip Chemex French not espresso read on. The second thing I noticed is that it’s heavy, built like a tank, all metal chassis. This is not a toy it’s the same build quality as the pro level models. The first thing I noticed is how small it is. Oh and grind quality for drip is great. Don’t waste time, get it.