Can I Make a Coffee Grinder Quieter?

Making a cup of coffee as part of your morning ritual should be a relaxing and quick process in the morning, and for many of us who are interested in buying a coffee grinder, you might be wondering just how noisy a coffee grinder can be. 

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Coffee grinder devices can be noisy depending on whether you are using electric grinders or manual grinders, but luckily, there are some ways to make your grinder quieter, one of them is by choosing a conical burr grinder rather than a flat burr grinder, but there are many other options too.

So as you can understand further how to make your cups of coffee quieter in the morning, we have listed out the types of grinder you can buy for your coffee below, what quiet coffee grinders are and how to buy the best quiet coffee grinder, along with tips for minimising the noise. 

Let’s get into it!

What Types Of Coffee Grinder Options Are The Quietest?

To ensure you are buying the quietest type of coffee grinder on the market, we will go over the different kinds of grinder options that are available and discuss which are loud grinder types which grinders have a lower noise level according to their grind operation.

Manual Coffee Grinders

Manual coffee grinder types are the quietest option for your coffee making in the morning in comparison to other grind operation systems.

These manual burr grinders use their teeth to ground coffee and produce no loud noise of grinding as the grind operation is done by a hand crank rather than a motor noise from an electric model. 

Not only are these grinders free of mechanical vibrations but they don’t need a power source, which makes them much more portable allowing you to use your manual burr grinders in a different room to reduce the noise level further.

These do however require some more time to grind your coffee to the perfect size, and they also need user effort. 

Pros 

• You can move them to another room. 
• No high-speed motor noise. 
• No vibration sounds. 
• Easy to use & cheap.

Cons 

• Time-consuming. 
• User effort needed to turn the crank.

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Burr Coffee Grinder Types

Burr coffee grinder types are second place on our list in terms of being quiet grinders. A burr coffee grinder comes in two different types; flat burr grinders or conical burr grinders. 

The grinder works by crushing the coffee beans against these two burr wheels and you can adjust the coarser grind settings to the consistency you want with multiple settings.

Flat burr grinders are louder in their grind operation yet cheaper, while conical burr grinders are quieter in their grind operation but more expensive.

They’re hard to clean however and although they make a precise grind, the strength of vibrations produced by the motor on these machines can be noisier than manual burr grinders.

Pros 

• Conical burr grinders are quiet and precise with their grind operation settings. 
• Long-lasting burrs. 
• Grind timer settings.

Cons

• Expensive. 
• Flat burr grinders have a high level of noise. 
• Hard to clean.

Blade Coffee Grinders

Lastly, we have blade grinder models which are popular among coffee drinkers due to their affordable price. These grinders use their blades to cut up the ground coffee into different grind sizes but are not the quietest coffee grinders on the market because of this process. 

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The heat of these blades can also potentially affect the taste of the grounds produced but is still a great option for a coffee drinker on a low budget who doesn’t care about noise issues. 

Pros 

• Affordable for grinding coffee beans. 
• Easy to use. 
• Perfect grinder for the average coffee drinker.

Cons

• Very noisy from the blade sounds. 
• Heat can affect the taste of the coffee.

Which Is The Quietest Type Of Coffee Grinder?

To conclude the three types of coffee grinders above, the quietest grinder for making your coffee is a manual grinder, as this has no electrical features, thus producing a quieter crunching sound and little vibrations as all it requires is for you to turn the crank, no motor needed.

However, not everyone wants to manually grind their coffee so if you after a quiet electric model, we would suggest going with a conical burr coffee grinder as these models are quieter in operation than cheap blade grinders and flat burr grinders.

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How To Buy The Best Quiet Type Of Grinder For Coffee 

Now we know that a conical burr coffee grinder is the quietest grind operation (electric) that you can get on the market, we have composed a list of the most important features you can be looking for in your electric burrs grinder model or manual coffee grinder to make sure it is as quiet as possible. 

• The capacity – One of the most important features to look for in a quiet coffee grinder is the capacity, this is because a small capacity can require you to grind batches of beans, rather than all at once, this will prolong the noise of your grinder and annoy your household further.
• Electric or manual – As we mentioned above when comparing the types of coffee grinders on the market, you should either buy a manual grinder for quiet operation or a conical burr coffee grinder if you want an electric quiet operation, avoid cheap blade grinder models at all cost if you after quieter noise transfer.
• Adjustable settings – If you have no choice but to grind your beans early morning and you don’t want to risk waking up people, adjustable speed settings and grind settings on your model is a must, the slower you go, the less source of noise will come from your machine.
• Noise rating – Some coffee grinders will even come with a noise rating which is very useful to consider, a great noise rating to look for in your grind operation is around 80dB.

Tips To Minimise The Noise Of Your Coffee Grinder 

Although buying the quietest type of coffee grinder can help a lot in reducing the background noise people hear from your coffee grinder, you might be wondering if there are any additional ways you can reduce the sounds from your grind operation, especially when grinding in the early mornings. 

We have put a few tips and tricks below you can implement to reduce the sound of your grind operation.

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Place Your Grinder On a Towel

One of the noisiest parts of the grind operation from a coffee grinder is the vibration it can create on surfaces when left to grind, this especially loud when you get noise transfer to kitchen countertops.

A way to help reduce the vibration and stop additional noise from your grinder is by putting it on top of a towel during operation to muffle the grinder surface and cushion it.

Fill You Level Burr Grinder To The Max

This tip might not work for everyone, but some suggest by filling your electric coffee grinder to the maximum you can reduce the noise that comes from electric burr grinders during operation as there is less movement inside of the machine as the beans are packed compactly.

Grind Your Coffee The Night Before

If you are unfortunately stuck with loud burr grinders or a noisy blade grinder then you might want to consider grinding your beans the night before when it wouldn’t disturb people. To preserve the quality of your ground coffee and prevent it from oxidation you can put it in an airtight container overnight then use it the next morning. 

Lower The Speed Of Your Grinder

It’s not the most effective way to reduce noise, but adjusting the settings on your coffee grinder can also reduce the sound, especially if you set it to a slower setting, this is important on blade grinders more than burr models, as the high rotation of the blade is what makes grinding the beans very noisy.

Frequently Asked Questions About Coffee Grinders & Noise

Are coffee grinders noisy? 

This really comes down to the type of coffee grinder that you buy, as some model are noisier than others, however, typically grinders are only noisy when you are in the room with them, for people in other rooms or neighbouring spaces, the grind operation sounds more like white noise.

How long do coffee grinders take to grind beans?

Luckily, although noisy, coffee grinders will only have to be in operation for around 30 seconds to a minute, so not a long time to bear with noise in the morning.

Why are blade grinders noisier than burr grinders?

Blade grinders are noisier than burr types as the rotation of the blade shatters the beans which is what makes it noisy, burr grinders on the other hand crush them, thus less noisy.

Last Words 

Overall, it’s hard to make a coffee grinder quieter as it all comes down to the type of grinder that you own, as this will determine how noisy it is as it grinds your beans.

We recommend going for a conical burr grinder or a manual grinder if you want to avoid noisy coffee grinding, but if you already have a grinder you are trying to make quieter, try implementing our tips above to see if they can help quieten the noise your grinder is making.