You don't need the aggravation

I received the KPCG100 from KitchenAid’s Customer Service Department as a replacement for an A9 grinder which malfunctioned after six months. First, it is important to note the excellence and responsiveness of KA’s Customer Service. This was an absolutely effortless process. However, I suspect that they have had to deal with this same issue on many occasions and were well aware of the high rate of failure with the A9. Anyway, back to the new KPCG100.

Upon opening the box, I was immediately taken aback by the sheer size of this device. It is HUGE and frankly, the amount of counterspace which this device would occupy seems to be completely out of sync with the service provided. This is a coffee grinder and those with blades have practically the same footprint as a soda can. This thing is approaching the size of a stand mixer. After setting it up, I filled the top reservoir with fresh beans (admittedly oily) and flipped the switch. To my delight, ground coffee began to fill the lower glass chamber in intermittent dribbles. Judging that I had a sufficient volume of ground coffee, I turned this grinder off, removed the lower chamber and poured the ground coffee into the basket in my coffee maker. Upon removing the lower chamber, grounds dropped from the interior of the grinder onto the grinder base and countertop and the same thing happens when reinserting the lower chamber. I decided that I needed some additional ground coffee, so I once again flipped the switch. The motor started, but this time, no ground coffee was discharged. I removed the cover from the front of the grinder, exposing the burr grinding mechanism. I could immediately see deposits of finely ground coffee caked in various positions around the perimeter of the grinding area. I used the brush included with the grinder to remove these deposits, reinstalled the cover and flipped the switch. The grinder discharged a small amount of ground coffee and then abruptly stopped discharging. Once again, I removed the front cover, brushed away the caked deposits, reinstalled the front cover, turned the unit on, etc. Each time I received only a minuscule amount of ground coffee.

My conclusion is that regardless of the coarseness of grounds selected, some of the beans are pulverized to a fine powder, which, coupled with the bean’s oiliness, forms an almost putty-like material which clogs the interior of the grinding chamber. Certainly, this is precisely the phenomenon that I witnessed and there was a distinct correlation between removing these deposits and the resurgence of grinding (albeit for a very limited period of time). Once occluded, no beans can subsequently flow from the upper chamber downward into the grinding chamber. I would guess that this problem could be avoided or at least diminished by using beans which were very dry, but who wants to do that? I don’t believe that it is tolerable to have the idiosyncrasies of a coffee grinder dictate the type of beans that you are allowed to brew coffee from. This thing is going back and henceforth, I will rely upon my far less glamorous, but consummately more reliable blade grinder.