Any barista or coffee lover will tell you that having freshly ground coffee is key to getting the best flavor from the beans.
From French press grind to espresso powder, getting the grind you want is vital for getting the most from your coffee. The Bunn G series of coffee grinders can whip through a pound of coffee beans in no time. While these were designed for restaurant and coffee shop use, coffee lovers have taken to buying them for their homes, too.
Fans of professional-grade Bunn coffee grinders modify their G1, G2, and G3 coffee grinders, turning them into “Bunnzillas” by using adapters to fit them with Ditting burrs.
Will a Bunnzilla get you the best coffee for your espresso machine, French press, or pour-over coffee maker? Let’s find out.
What Is a Bunnzilla?
A Bunnzilla is the result of fitting your G series Bunn coffee grinder with a conversion ring designed to be fitted to a set of Ditting burrs. If you have G1 burrs that are worn, replacing them with Ditting burrs could optimize your coffee experience by grinding more flavor from the beans.
What Is a Ditting Burr?
Major coffee shop chains use Ditting coffee grinders because of their durability and performance. Their burrs have a record of chewing through thousands of pounds of coffee, consistently producing fine powders for Turkish coffee or coarse grinds for French-pressed cold brews.
The Bunn G Series
A well-known name in restaurant coffee making, Bunn makes high-performance coffee makers and grinders. Their G series coffee grinders will hold up to a pound of coffee beans in their hoppers. Bunn dials up the flavor by providing precision grinds to your specifications.
If Bunn coffee grinders are good enough for cafes and restaurants, they’ll provide you with the same rich coffee flavor that you get at your favorite coffee shop at home. The aroma of freshly ground beans will lead to a superior cup of coffee, espresso, or latte.
Bunnzilla Pros
There are distinct advantages to using a Bunnzilla to grind your coffee. Among them are these pros.
Better Flavor
“Coffee grinder” is a bit of a misnomer for Bunn. Bunn coffee grinders use precision burrs to cut, not grind, coffee, which extracts more flavor from the beans. Baristas know that using a Bunn coffee grinder can result in customers coming back for more coffee. You’ll find yourself drinking more coffee at home with Bunn coffee flavor.
Best of Both Worlds
Turning your Bunn coffee grinder into a Bunnzilla means adapting it to using Ditting burrs. Ditting burrs, one of the best-known names among coffee fanatics and restaurateurs, provide precise cutting of coffee beans, reducing them to the finest powders for espresso or a flavorful coarse grind for cold brews without a hint of bitterness.
A Bunn coffee grinder with Ditting burrs gives coffee shops and home coffee makers the best of both worlds. Whether you call it a Bunnzilla, a Frankenstein, or just a customized coffee grinder, a Bunnzilla is a monster when it comes to performance and precision.
Updating a Bunn G Series Grinder
The most sensible way to create a Bunnzilla is to already have a Bunn G series coffee grinder with worn burrs. Buying a new Bunn coffee grinder and then making it into a Bunnzilla seems like a waste of money since they come with their own precision burrs.
Another way to make a Bunnzilla is to buy a used Bunn coffee grinder. While restaurant quality doesn’t come cheap, you may be able to find a used Bunn coffee grinder for a fraction of the cost of a new Bunn G series grinder.
Sometimes restaurants want to update their coffee grinders and sell their used ones. Those who own Bunn coffee grinders for home use may want to do the same thing, or they may be downsizing. Bunn coffee grinders are large and might not fit in smaller kitchens with less counter space. Either way, you could get a used Bunn coffee grinder for a great price.
Superior Performance
Burr coffee grinders deliver far more precision than blade coffee grinders. However, you still have to think about the quality of the burrs.
High-quality Ditting burrs with the power of a Bunn cut coffee beans for optimal flavor and richness no matter what grind you choose. From powders fine enough for making a mocha frosting for a chocolate cake to coarse grinds for French-pressed coffee, a Bunnzilla brings the blend of Bunn and Ditting to your restaurant or home.
Bunnzilla Cons
Is a Bunnzilla the best choice for grinding your coffee? Are there better choices out there? You decide.
Size
Bunn coffee grinders are not small. With a Bunn G1 coffee grinder measuring 15.9 inches by 22.8 inches, coffee lovers will need some counter space to use a Bunnzilla to grind their coffee beans. A Bunn coffee grinder weighs nearly 50 pounds, so clearly, there are smaller options for grinding your coffee.
If you own your own coffee shop, a Bunnzilla may be worth making room for, but if you have a small kitchen, a Bunnzilla’s size might make you think twice about making it a fixture in your house.
Cost
A new Bunn G series coffee grinder could set you back as much as $1,000, although you can get used ones for a fraction of that price. Even if you find a used Bunn coffee grinder for a few hundred dollars, there are still less expensive options for grinding coffee beans, especially for home use.
Then there is the cost of an adapter ring for your Bunnzilla and also Ditting burrs. The Ditting burrs can cost a coffee lover hundreds of dollars.
Added up, creating a Bunnzilla can cost nearly as much as a new Bunn G series coffee grinder. A Bunnzilla is a bit of a financial commitment for even the biggest of coffee lovers. You’ll have to weigh a Bunnzilla’s cost against its benefits to decide if it’s right for you.
Other Options
Bunn and Ditting are well-respected in the coffee industry. Still, they’re far from the only ones, especially in home coffee grinding. Plenty of quality coffee grinders provide flavorful results. Breville, Bodum, OXO, and Baratza are just a few of the coffee grinder manufacturers that offer tasty results for far less than it would cost to build a Bunnzilla.
For home use, you may find that a smaller coffee grinder produces better small-batch results for less money, leaving you more to spend on coffee beans, mugs, coffee makers, and milk frothers.
You can also grind coffee beans in a high-powered blender if you’re looking for coarsely ground coffee for your French press or cold brew. If you already have a blender, you’re set for home grinding coarse coffee – just be sure to rinse your blender well before making your next strawberry smoothie!
Blenders won’t do double duty for finer grinds. Espresso powder requires a good quality coffee grinder.
Or do you even need a coffee grinder at all? You might find that freshly ground coffee beans from your favorite shop or roastery will stay flavorful when properly stored at home.
Grinding It Out
There are plenty of Bunn and Ditting fanatics who insist that these companies make grinders that cut coffee beans to release exceptional flavor. Building a Bunnzilla by adding an adapter ring to Ditting burrs to make them fit can bring you the best of Bunn and Ditting in one monster of a coffee grinder.
A variety of grinds, powder to coarse, and everything in between, are available for your coffee-making style.
There’s no question that a Bunnzilla will deliver excellent results for a superior cup of coffee, but a Bunnzilla isn’t for everyone. Even if you use a used Bunn coffee grinder as the basis for your Bunnzilla, making a Bunnzilla can cost hundreds of dollars.
A Bunnzilla also takes up a lot of counter space, so you’d need to be ready to make room for it in your kitchen. It’s heavy enough that you wouldn’t want to store it between uses.
Whether a Bunnzilla is right for you may come down to your coffee use. Do you own a coffee shop, bakery, or restaurant and want a coffee grinder that will hold up to customers’ expectations?
Or are you a java lover who wants the same great taste you enjoy at your favorite coffee shop at home? Do you make coffee for a crowd, or just occasionally for yourself, a cup at a time?
Bunnzillas provide superior coffee for any coffee maker. Still, cost and size may make them best for grinding coffee beans in volume at home or in your coffee shop or restaurant.
Happy Caffeinating!
