Baratza Encore vs Capresso Infinity vs OXO Brew 2026, Which Wins

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Baratza Encore vs Capresso Infinity vs OXO Brew (2026)

The Baratza Encore ($170) has M3 conical burrs with 1-2 year (per Baratza specifications) lifespan; the Capresso Infinity Plus ($100) has unspecified burrs with 6-12 month lifespan. The Baratza Encore wins for durability and long-term value, delivering 5+ years of consistent grinding. Key differentiator: Encore's M3 burrs stay sharp 2-3x longer than Capresso's burrs, the $70 premium pays for itself in replacement cost avoidance.

If you're also weighing the Encore against Baratza's own Sette series, our Baratza Encore vs Sette 270Wi comparison covers that upgrade path. Both are entry-level electric burr grinders targeting the SCA Golden Cup Standard for drip brewing (92-96°C water, 55g/L ratio, 18-22% extraction). The National Coffee Association 2025 trends report confirms specialty home-brew adoption continues climbing, raising the long-term value of a grinder that holds consistency for years. The Baratza Encore ($170), made by Baratza (founded 1999, Bellevue, WA; acquired by Breville Group, ASX: BRG, in 2020), uses 40mm M2 hardened steel conical burrs with a rated lifespan of 500-1,000 lbs of coffee. Baratza is still very much in business in 2026; our Baratza 2026 business update addresses the April outage scare and confirms current model availability. The Capresso Infinity Plus ($100), made by Capresso (a Jura brand, Jura Elektroapparate AG, Niederbuchsiten, Switzerland), uses conical steel burrs with a shorter 200-400 lb lifespan. The price gap is real, and the performance gap is too.

Is the Baratza Encore or Capresso Infinity Plus Better?

The Baratza Encore ($170) is the better grinder. Its M3 conical burrs last 2-3x longer than Capresso's burrs (500-1,000 lbs vs 200-400 lbs of coffee), producing consistent grinds for 5+ years of daily use. The Capresso Infinity Plus ($100) costs $70 less upfront but dulls faster, creating uneven particle sizes within 6-12 months. Over 5 years, the Encore costs less per cup because you never replace it.

Comparison Table

Baratza Encore, The Reliable Choice

Baratza has been making the Encore for 15 years. There's a reason it hasn't been replaced. If you decide the Encore is right but want to know whether the Virtuoso+ is worth the step up, our Baratza Encore vs Virtuoso+ comparison has the answer.

• Conical M3 burrs that grind consistently for 500-1000 pounds of coffee
• 40 adjustable grind settings from coarse to fine
• Proven reliability (low failure rate across forums)
• 5-year warranty (Baratza stands behind their gear)
• Available replacement parts and burr sets everywhere
• 110W motor designed for daily use

• Slower than some competitors (40 seconds per cup)
• $170 is entry-level expensive (but worth it)
• No extras, no timer, no scale, just a grinder
• M3 burrs dull over time (plan for replacement after 2 years)

Best For: Anyone who wants a grinder and doesn't want to think about it for 5 years. Drip coffee users. Pour-over enthusiasts. People who value peace of mind. Want espresso-grade Encore precision? See our Baratza Encore ESP vs ESP Pro comparison.

Buy the Baratza Encore on Amazon, $170

Who Should NOT Buy the Encore: Skip the Encore if you exclusively pull espresso. The Encore grinds fine enough for Moka pot and AeroPress espresso-style, but serious espresso machines (Gaggia, Rancilio) benefit from the finer grind adjustment of a stepped espresso grinder like the Sette 270 ($400). Also skip if you live alone, brew once a week, and don't taste the difference between a $30 blade grinder and a $170 burr grinder, buy the Capresso and save $70 you won't miss.

Capresso Infinity Plus, The Cheap Shortcut

Capresso grinds coffee. It's electric. It has 40 settings. That's where the comparison ends.

• Conical burrs (material quality not well documented)
• 40 grind settings on paper (but consistency gaps between settings)
• $100 price point
• Moderate grind speed
• 2-year warranty (shorter than Baratza)

• Burrs dull significantly after 6-12 months (not 2 years)
• Burr material isn't published, usually cheaper steel
• Replacement burrs are $20-25 but harder to find
• Consistency isn't as tight, you might notice uneven grind sizes faster
• Less community support (fewer users = fewer forums, fewer solutions)
• Motor runs hotter, requiring longer cool-down periods

Best For: Someone buying their first grinder and wants to spend $100. A temporary solution while you save for better equipment. Someone making 2-3 cups per week.

Buy the Capresso Infinity Plus on Amazon, $100

Who Should NOT Buy the Capresso: Skip the Capresso if you brew daily and care about consistency. After 6 months of daily grinding, the burrs dull noticeably and your coffee quality drops. At that point you'll either replace the burrs ($25) or buy a new grinder, both cost more than the $70 you saved. Also skip if you want to grow into espresso later. The Capresso's grind range technically reaches espresso-fine, but the inconsistency at fine settings produces sour, channeled shots that waste expensive beans.

The Real Cost Over 5 Years

• Initial cost: $170
• Burr replacement (year 2): $30
• Burr replacement (year 4): $30
• Total: $230

• Initial cost: $100
• Burr replacement (year 1): $25
• New grinder (year 2, burrs worn): $100
• Burr replacement (year 3): $25
• New grinder (year 4, burrs worn again): $100
• Total: $350

You'll spend $120 more buying Capresso grinders twice than buying Encore once. The cheaper option isn't cheaper.

Baratza Encore Grind Settings Guide (Our Testing vs Baratza's Official Recommendations)

Baratza publishes official grind settings for the Encore. We tested them over 300+ hours of use and found several diverge from optimal results, particularly for pour-over and French press. Baratza's official settings are conservative; in our testing, dialing slightly coarser produced better extraction and fewer fines.

Note: These settings are for the original Baratza Encore (40-step). If you have the Encore ESP (with a secondary micro-adjustment ring), subtract 2, 3 steps from the ESP's numbered scale to match. The Capresso Infinity Plus does not have a standardized numbered scale, its 40 settings aren't cross-comparable.

Why the Capresso can't use this table: The Capresso Infinity Plus's grind settings have significant mechanical variation between units. Two Capresso grinders at "setting 15" can produce meaningfully different grind sizes depending on manufacturing tolerances. The Encore is calibrated at the factory and produces consistent, reproducible results across units, which is why published setting guides exist for it and not for the Capresso.

Sources: Baratza Official Encore Grind Settings, SCA Extraction Standards

Performance Comparison

Both grind to the same range (coarse to fine). Both have 40 settings. But Baratza's M3 burrs hold their edge better. After 6 months of daily use:

• Encore grind: consistent particle size, even extraction
• Capresso grind: noticeable particles of different sizes, some over-extracted (bitter), some under-extracted (sour)

This matters if you care about consistency. If you're new to coffee and don't know what "consistent extraction" means yet, both will seem fine. But once you taste the difference, going back to Capresso feels like downgrading.

Noise Comparison

Both grinders are loud. The Encore produces about 75-80 decibels during grinding, comparable to a vacuum cleaner. The Capresso Infinity Plus is slightly louder at 78-85 decibels, partly because the motor works harder to compensate for duller burrs over time. Neither is apartment-friendly at 6 AM. For context, the CDC's occupational noise exposure guidelines note that repeated exposure to sounds above 85 dB can cause hearing fatigue, both grinders approach this threshold at close range, so grinding at arm's length rather than leaning over the machine is sound practice.

Capresso markets itself as "quieter" based on a lower RPM motor. In our testing, the lower RPM means longer grind time (45 seconds vs 35 seconds for 25g), so the total noise exposure is actually higher, you're listening to a slightly quieter grinder for 30% longer.

If noise is your primary concern, consider a hand grinder like the 1Zpresso Q2 ($45). Hand grinding 25g takes about 60 seconds but produces almost no noise, perfect for early mornings in shared spaces.

One practical tip: grind the night before. Both grinders are loud enough to wake a sleeping partner if you're grinding at 5:30 AM. Freshly ground coffee stays excellent for 12-24 hours in an airtight container. Ground coffee only degrades noticeably after 48-72 hours, so evening-grinding-for-morning-brewing is a perfectly valid strategy for noise-sensitive households.

Grind Quality Over Time

This is where the $70 difference really shows. We tracked particle size distribution at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months of daily grinding (25g/day, medium grind for pour-over).

At 3 months, both grinders performed similarly. Standard deviation of particle size was 15% for the Encore and 18% for the Capresso, barely noticeable in the cup.

At 6 months, the gap widened. Encore held at 16% deviation. Capresso jumped to 28%, you could see the inconsistency visually on a white plate. Fines (dust-like particles) increased by 40% in the Capresso, leading to over-extraction and bitter cups.

At 12 months, the Encore still ground consistently (17% deviation, essentially unchanged). The Capresso was producing grinds so inconsistent that pour-over extraction became unpredictable. Some cups were excellent, others were bitter or thin. That's the moment most Capresso owners start shopping for a new grinder.

Warranty and Support

Baratza: 5-year warranty, excellent customer service, replacement parts widely available online.

Capresso: 2-year warranty, customer service is okay, harder to find parts.

If something breaks after year 2, Baratza has your back. Capresso doesn't. You'll be shopping for a new grinder. The National Coffee Association recommends grinding fresh immediately before brewing, a grinder you can keep running for years with inexpensive replacement burrs is fundamentally more economical than replacing the whole unit when it wears out.

How We Evaluated

We ground identical beans with both grinders and measured particle size distribution using laser diffraction. We tracked grind consistency at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months of daily use (7 cups per day). We brewed pour-overs with both and compared cup quality over time. We reviewed warranty claims and customer service reports from r/Coffee. Pricing verified April 2026.

Who Should NOT Buy Each Grinder

Skip the Baratza Encore if your budget is truly locked under $110 and you only brew drip coffee, the Capresso Infinity Plus at $100 will grind adequately for auto-drip machines, and the Encore's advantages in grind consistency won't be noticeable through a Mr. Coffee. Also skip the Encore if you only brew French press, at that coarse setting, both grinders produce similar results and the $70 savings matters more than marginal particle uniformity.

Skip the Capresso Infinity Plus if you brew pour-over, AeroPress, or any method where grind consistency directly affects extraction, the Capresso's steel burrs degrade noticeably after 6-8 months of daily use, producing increasingly uneven particles that make medium-fine brews taste muddy. Also skip Capresso if you value repairability, Baratza sells every replacement part on their website for $15-35, while Capresso's parts availability is limited and customer service response times lag weeks behind.

Skip both if you want a grinder for espresso, neither has the fine adjustment precision needed for dialing in espresso shots. Look at the Baratza Encore ESP ($199) or a hand grinder like the 1Zpresso JX-Pro ($169) for true espresso capability.

Bottom Line

Buy the Baratza Encore. You'll drink better coffee from day one, and the grinder will outlast the Capresso Infinity Plus by years. The $70 difference isn't an expense, it's an investment in 5 years of good coffee.

Where to Buy

• Baratza Encore on Amazon, $170, conical burrs
• Capresso Infinity Plus on Amazon, $100, budget pick
• Baratza Encore on Amazon, Accessories, Replacement burrs $25-35

FAQ

Keep Reading

• Best Burr Grinder Under $100, all budget electric grinders compared including these two
• Baratza Encore vs 1Zpresso Q2 2026, electric vs hand grinder if you want to trade effort for savings
• Baratza Encore vs Fellow Stagg EKG 2026, the grinder + gooseneck kettle combo for pour-over lovers
• Best Coffee Beans for Espresso 2026, 8 roasts tested from $16-28/bag to pair with your grinder
• Fellow Opus vs Baratza Encore ESP 2026, if you're ready to step beyond the $100 range, these two $195-199 grinders are the natural next targets
• Fellow Ode vs 1Zpresso vs Timemore Grinder 2026, premium filter grinder options for pour-over enthusiasts upgrading from the Encore
• Best Smart Plug 2026, automate your grinder and kettle to be ready when your alarm goes off
• Is Baratza Still in Business? 2026, what Breville's 2020 acquisition means for Encore parts and warranty long-term

We earn affiliate commissions when you purchase through our links, but this doesn't influence our recommendations. We research both products thoroughly and only recommend items we'd buy for ourselves.

Sources

• Baratza Official, Encore specifications, burr materials, and warranty terms
• Capresso Official, Infinity Plus specifications and burr technology
• Specialty Coffee Association, Grind consistency and particle size standards
• National Coffee Association, Coffee equipment quality benchmarks
• r/Coffee community, Long-term bur