Many people think that entering the world of high-quality, home-brewed coffee may be too expensive to be worth it. Here comes the good news: great coffee doesn't have to cost a fortune.
Today we will review one of the most economically efficient manual coffee grinders, the Hario Skerton Pro.
Read on to see if this grinder is what you need.
Hario Skerton Pro in a nutshell
- Perfect grind settings
- Ease of use, updated design
- Better consistency than previous models
Hario Skerton Pro review
Hario's response to user feedback from Skerton and Skerton Plus. It presents its new model with an impressive level of innovation and improvement. Still a budget-friendly option, the Skerton Pro is an easy-to-use grinder that can grind coffee for nearly any different brew. While it certainly outperforms Hario's most popular products, its grind consistency during coarser grinding is on par with other comparable top grinders.
- Grinding consistency: 4 points
- Build quality: 5 points
- Burr quality: 5 points
- Portability: 5 points
- Price: 5 points
- Total: 4.8 points
Grinding consistency
When designing the Skerton Pro, the engineers at Hario set out to fix issues with inconsistent grinding in previous versions of this equipment. Previously, users have reported that the grinding consistency decreases as the grind size increases, making it difficult to brew french press and cold coffee.
The new Skerton Pro features a stabilizing shank and a lower burr spring to prevent burrs from wobbling while grinding. Thus, it offers you a more precise and consistent final coffee.
The Skerton Pro includes improvements in grind consistency and ergonomics.
While this innovation certainly helps, the coarse grinds produced by the Skerton Pro are still not as homogeneous as we would like, so if french press or cold brew is your preference, we recommend looking at another product.
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However, the Hario Skerton Pro has a wide variety of grind settings, from the finest grinds to the coarsest grinds. There are several grinders on the market that can grind enough for both Turkish coffee and French press.
To switch between grind settings, remove the grind part and turn the dial under the burrs. Different grind settings are marked with clicks as you turn the knob; this is a feature that lets you return to the same grind setting over and over.
Burr quality
Hario chose to use ceramic conical end mills instead of steel in the Skerton Pro.
One advantage of ceramic burrs is that they stay cool. Thus, they do not change the natural oils and aromas of the coffee while grinding. A steel burr grinder, on the other hand, typically requires a cooling system or intermittent grinding with long breaks to keep the burrs from overheating your cores. This also applies to tapers as opposed to flat burrs.
Ceramic burrs are as sharp and durable as steel burrs, but they are more brittle and prone to chipping, so make sure you don't have small pebbles in your cores before you start grinding. Steel burrs are still a great option. Therefore, it is a product we prefer for those who travel frequently.
Build quality
The grinding chamber of the Skerton Pro is made of Hario's renowned heat-resistant glass.
One of the build improvements Hario made with the Skerton Pro was to change the design of the handle to allow for smoother grinding.
Another build improvement was the addition of a non-slip silicone grip to the grinder to make it easier to hold in place as you turn the handle. We also really like the compatibility of the Skerton Pro with alternative grind holders.
Capacity
The 100g hopper on the Skerton Pro makes it easy to grind for 4+ cups of coffee or batch brewing.
With the Skerton Pro, not only does it grind coarsely enough for cold brew, but its large capacity allows you to do so without having to refill the chamber over and over.
Portability
Easy to disassemble and pack, this grinder is absolutely travel friendly. It is quite light considering its large capacity and the handle can be removed and packed separately.
The grinder has a sturdy plastic bowl, but the fragility of the glass grind holder definitely requires extra care and attention. Here is our solution: You can wrap the glass grinder in a sock.
Care
The Skerton Pro is a durable grinder and very easy to maintain. Begin disassembly by removing the swivel arm to give your Skerton Pro a thorough cleaning. Then you can remove the burrs, but be careful; they are sharp and can damage the glass grinder if dropped.
We recommend using a dry brush to remove burrs from old coffee grounds rather than soaking up the burrs or using soap.
Final decision
Taking the cheap approach to quality coffee doesn't mean you compromise on quality.
The Hario Skerton Pro coffee grinder requires a little extra elbow strength and leans towards a bit of inconsistency in coarser grinds, yet still delivers high-quality grinds for a wide variety of brewing styles. A great deal for such a travel-friendly grinder with premium burrs and high chamber capacity.
