Best Grind Setting for French Press by Grinder Brand

Getting the grind right can make the difference between rich, full-bodied French press coffee and a cup that’s bitter, muddy, weak or full of sediment.

But there’s one problem with advice like “set your grinder to 20.”

Setting 20 means something completely different from one grinder to another.

An OXO grinder may use a 1–15 scale, a Baratza Encore has 40 stepped settings, and the Breville Smart Grinder Pro has 60 settings. Other grinders use numbers, dots, clicks or continuous adjustment rather than a standardized scale.

So instead of looking for one universal French press number, you need a starting setting for your particular grinder and then adjust according to taste.

Here’s how to do it.

⚡ Quick Answer: What Grind Setting Should I Use for French Press?

For French press, start with a medium-coarse to coarse grind.

The grounds should generally look considerably larger than typical pre-ground drip coffee. Coarse kosher salt is a commonly used visual comparison.

Here are some useful manufacturer-based starting points for popular grinders:

Grinder	French Press Starting Point
OXO Brew Conical Burr Grinder	11–15
Breville Smart Grinder Pro	55–60; Breville specifically suggests 58
Baratza Encore	Coarse end of its 40-setting range; dial in by taste
Baratza Encore ESP	Coarse/filter range; dial in by taste
Fellow Ode	Start in the coarser filter range and adjust by taste
Fellow Opus	Start in the coarser filter range and adjust by taste

These are starting points, not commandments.

Your ideal setting can change according to your coffee, roast, French press size, brewing time and personal preference.

🪨 What Should French Press Coffee Look Like?

Forget the grinder number for a moment and look at the coffee itself.

French press grounds should generally be medium-coarse to coarse, with clearly visible particles rather than a powdery texture.

If the coffee looks like fine table salt or espresso grounds, it’s probably finer than you need for a conventional French press recipe.

If the grounds look like enormous chunks of crushed beans, however, you may have gone too far in the opposite direction.

Extremely coarse coffee can extract too slowly and leave your French press tasting weak, hollow or sour.

The goal is not simply to grind as coarsely as your machine allows.

The goal is to find the grind that works with your recipe.

☕ Why French Press Usually Needs a Coarser Grind

French press is an immersion brewing method.

The grounds remain in direct contact with the water throughout the brewing period rather than having water quickly pass through them.

A relatively coarse grind works well with this longer contact time.

The French press also uses a metal mesh filter rather than the paper filter found in many drip brewers. Very fine coffee particles can pass through the mesh and end up in your mug.

That’s why coffee that’s too fine can contribute to:

Excessive sediment

A muddy texture

Difficulty pressing the plunger

Faster extraction

Harsh or bitter flavors

But don’t interpret that as meaning “the coarser the better.”

If the coffee tastes weak and underdeveloped even though your ratio, temperature and steep time are reasonable, moving the grinder somewhat finer may improve it.

⚙️ OXO Brew Conical Burr Grinder French Press Setting

OXO provides especially straightforward guidance for its Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder.

The grinder has 15 numbered grind settings, with lower numbers producing finer coffee and higher numbers producing coarser coffee.

OXO divides the range like this:

1–5: Fine

6–10: Medium

11–15: Coarse

OXO specifically recommends the 11–15 range for French press and cold brew.

So if you have the OXO Brew Conical Burr Grinder, I’d start around:

Setting 12 or 13

Brew a batch and taste it.

If the coffee is bitter, muddy or producing more sediment than you like, move somewhat coarser.

If it’s thin, sour or watery, move somewhat finer.

There’s no reason to automatically turn the grinder all the way to 15 simply because French press uses coarse coffee.

⚙️ Breville Smart Grinder Pro French Press Setting

The Breville Smart Grinder Pro has a much larger numbered range, which demonstrates exactly why grinder settings can’t be compared directly between brands.

Breville’s coffee chart places French press in the 55–60 range.

Even more helpfully, Breville’s French press brewing instructions specifically recommend:

Grind setting 58

That makes 58 an excellent starting point if you’re using a Smart Grinder Pro.

Breville pairs that setting with water around 200°F and a four-minute brew.

From there, adjust according to taste.

If your coffee tastes too bitter or you’re getting excessive fine sediment, try moving somewhat coarser.

If it’s weak or under-extracted, move a little finer.

⚙️ Baratza Encore French Press Setting

The classic Baratza Encore has 40 stepped grind settings and is well suited to filter brewing and French press.

Baratza’s current guidance emphasizes dialing in the grinder rather than treating one number as universally correct. That makes sense because beans, roast level, dose and brewing technique can all affect the ideal setting.

For French press, you’ll be working toward the coarser end of the Encore’s range.

A practical approach is to start coarse and then move finer in small increments until the coffee develops the body and sweetness you want without becoming harsh or excessively muddy.

The Encore’s numbered steps make this particularly easy to repeat.

If today’s cup tastes great at your chosen setting, write the number down.

That becomes your starting point the next time you brew those beans.

⚙️ Baratza Encore ESP French Press Setting

The Baratza Encore ESP extends the Encore concept to accommodate espresso as well as filter brewing.

Because part of its adjustment range is specifically designed to provide finer control for espresso, don’t assume that Encore ESP numbers correspond directly to the original Encore.

For French press, you’ll generally be working in the coarser filter-brewing portion of the range.

Start coarse and adjust finer according to taste.

This is particularly important when moving between grinders within the same brand. An Encore setting shouldn’t automatically be copied to an Encore ESP simply because both grinders have “Encore” in the name.

Treat each grinder’s scale independently.

⚙️ Fellow Ode French Press Setting

The Fellow Ode is designed around brewed coffee rather than traditional espresso, so its adjustment range is particularly relevant to methods such as pour-over, batch brew, cold brew and French press.

For French press, begin in the coarser portion of the Ode’s brewing range rather than assuming one exact dial position will work for every coffee.

Fellow’s own grinder guidance for its brewing equipment emphasizes starting relatively coarse and moving finer as you dial in the coffee.

That’s a useful approach for French press too.

Start coarse enough to avoid excessive fines and sediment, then gradually move finer until the coffee develops the sweetness and body you want.

Because there are multiple generations and burr configurations of the Ode, I’d rely more heavily on the physical grind and taste than on a number copied from someone else’s grinder.

⚙️ Fellow Opus French Press Setting

The Fellow Opus covers a broad range of brewing methods.

For French press, you’ll want to move toward its coarser filter-brewing settings.

As with the Ode, don’t become overly attached to a single internet-recommended number.

Use a coarse starting point, brew your normal recipe, and adjust.

If the coffee tastes weak or sour, move somewhat finer.

If it becomes harsh, bitter or excessively muddy, move coarser.

Once you’ve found the setting that works with your normal French press recipe, record it.

⚙️ What About Cuisinart Burr Grinders?

Cuisinart has produced multiple grinders with different adjustment systems, so there isn’t one “Cuisinart French press setting” that applies to every model.

If your Cuisinart grinder has a labeled grind selector, begin in the coarse portion of the range.

Avoid assuming that the coarsest possible setting is automatically best.

Brew a normal batch and evaluate it.

If the coffee tastes hollow or weak, move one or two steps finer.

If the cup is muddy or unpleasantly bitter, try moving coarser.

For model-specific numbers, consult the manual for your exact grinder rather than relying on a setting given for another Cuisinart model.

⚙️ What About Capresso Grinders?

The same warning applies to Capresso.

Different Capresso grinders use different adjustment ranges, and some models provide several positions within broad categories such as fine, medium and coarse.

For French press, start within the coarse range and adjust from there.

If your model has multiple coarse positions, I’d avoid automatically choosing the absolute coarsest setting. A middle position within the coarse range often gives you more room to adjust in either direction.

Then let the finished coffee tell you where to go next.

⚙️ What About Bodum Grinders?

Bodum has also sold several grinders over the years, and their adjustment systems vary.

If your Bodum grinder labels brewing methods directly, select the French press or coarse region as your initial setting.

Otherwise, start toward the coarse end of the scale.

Because Bodum is also one of the best-known French press manufacturers, it’s tempting to assume that any Bodum grinder’s coarsest setting must be designed specifically for a Bodum press.

That’s not necessarily how you should approach it.

Your ideal grind still depends on the beans and brewing recipe.

🔢 Why Isn’t There One Universal French Press Grinder Setting?

Grinder numbers aren’t measurements.

They’re simply reference points on a particular grinder’s adjustment mechanism.

Consider the difference between two popular models:

OXO Brew Conical Burr Grinder: French press range 11–15

Breville Smart Grinder Pro: French press range 55–60

Setting 15 on the OXO is very coarse.

Setting 15 on the Breville is nowhere near its French press range.

That’s why advice that says “French press should be ground at setting 15” without naming the grinder isn’t particularly useful.

Always match the number to the specific grinder model.

🧂 What Does the Right French Press Grind Feel Like?

A coarse French press grind is often compared with coarse kosher salt.

That’s a useful visual reference, but don’t worry about making every particle exactly identical to a grain of salt.

Coffee grinders produce a distribution of particle sizes.

A quality burr grinder generally produces a more consistent grind than a blade grinder, but even good burr grinders produce some smaller and larger particles.

What you’re looking for is an overall texture that’s visibly coarse without containing an excessive amount of powder.

🔪 Can You Use a Blade Grinder for French Press?

You can, but dialing in the grind becomes harder.

A blade grinder chops coffee rather than passing it through two burrs set at a controlled distance.

That can produce a mixture of larger chunks and fine particles.

The large particles may under-extract while the fine particles extract more quickly and pass through the French press filter.

If a blade grinder is what you have, use short pulses rather than running it continuously for a long time. Gently shaking the grinder between pulses can also help redistribute the beans.

It won’t give you the repeatable numbered setting of a burr grinder, but you can still make French press coffee with it.

🔄 Should You Grind All the Way to the Coarsest Setting?

Not automatically.

This is one of the easiest mistakes to make when you learn that French press needs “coarse coffee.”

Suppose your grinder has settings from 1 to 40.

That doesn’t necessarily mean setting 40 is the best French press setting.

Your ideal grind may be several steps finer.

If the grounds are too coarse for your recipe, extraction can be insufficient, leaving the coffee thin, sour or hollow.

Start within the grinder’s recommended coarse region rather than blindly choosing its maximum setting.

Then dial in by taste.

😖 If Your French Press Tastes Bitter, Grind Coarser

Suppose you’re using a sensible coffee-to-water ratio and brewing for approximately four or five minutes, but the coffee is still harsh or bitter.

Try moving the grinder slightly coarser.

Don’t jump ten settings at once.

If you’re using the OXO at 12, for example, try 13.

If you’re using the Breville Smart Grinder Pro at 58, you might experiment with 59.

Keep the coffee dose, water, temperature and brewing time the same.

If the coffee improves, you’ve learned that grind size was at least part of the problem.

💧 If Your French Press Tastes Weak, Grind Finer

Now imagine the opposite problem.

Your ratio is correct, your water is hot enough and you’ve steeped the coffee long enough, but it tastes thin, hollow or sour.

Try grinding slightly finer.

Again, make a small adjustment.

If you’re using the OXO at 13, try 12.

If you’re using the Breville at 58, try 57.

The exact numbers aren’t what’s important.

The direction of the adjustment is.

🫘 Does Roast Level Change the Best Grind Setting?

It can.

Different coffees behave differently during brewing, which is why the setting that works beautifully for one bag of beans may not be perfect for the next.

Roast level, bean density, freshness and other characteristics can affect extraction.

That’s why your grinder setting should be treated as a repeatable starting point, not a permanent rule.

When you open a new bag, start with your normal French press setting.

If it tastes great, you’re done.

If not, adjust one step at a time.

⏱️ Grind Size and Brewing Time Work Together

Grind size doesn’t exist in isolation.

If you grind finer, the coffee generally extracts more readily.

If you grind coarser, extraction generally slows.

That means grind size needs to work with your brewing time.

For a conventional French press recipe, approximately 4–5 minutes is a useful starting point.

If you dramatically change your grind while simultaneously changing your steep time, it becomes difficult to tell which adjustment affected the cup.

That’s why I prefer dialing in the grind while keeping the rest of the recipe consistent.

⚖️ Keep Your Coffee Ratio Consistent While Dialing In

The same principle applies to your coffee-to-water ratio.

A useful French press starting point is around 1:16.

For example:

30 grams coffee + 480 grams water

If you’re trying to find the ideal grind setting, keep those measurements consistent.

Changing the coffee dose, water amount, grind setting and brewing time all at once makes troubleshooting almost impossible.

Once the grind is dialed in, you can experiment with the ratio if you want a stronger or lighter cup.

🧪 The Easiest Way to Dial In Any Grinder for French Press

You don’t actually need somebody on the internet to give you the perfect number.

Start with the manufacturer’s recommended coarse or French press range.

Then brew your normal recipe.

If the coffee is:

Bitter, harsh or muddy: Move coarser.

Weak, sour or hollow: Move finer.

Balanced but not strong enough: Consider using more coffee rather than changing the grind.

Balanced but too strong: Adjust your coffee-to-water ratio.

Make only one adjustment at a time.

Within a few batches, you’ll usually find a setting that works well for your beans and brewer.

📝 French Press Grind Settings to Remember

Here’s the simplest version of this entire guide:

OXO Brew Conical Burr: Start around 12–13 within OXO’s recommended 11–15 coarse range.

Breville Smart Grinder Pro: Start at 58 within Breville’s recommended 55–60 French press range.

Baratza Encore: Start toward the coarse end of its 40-setting range and dial in by taste.

Baratza Encore ESP: Use the coarse/filter portion of the range and adjust by taste.

Fellow Ode: Begin in the coarser brewing range and adjust finer as necessary.

Fellow Opus: Start in the coarse filter-brewing range and adjust according to the cup.

Other burr grinders: Start in the manufacturer’s coarse/French press range rather than automatically selecting the maximum setting.

Then taste the coffee.

Your tongue is the final setting guide.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

What grind setting is best for French press?

There is no universal numbered setting because grinder scales aren’t standardized. Start with a medium-coarse to coarse grind and use the French press range recommended for your particular grinder.

What OXO grinder setting should I use for French press?

OXO recommends settings 11–15 on its Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder for French press and cold brew. Starting around 12 or 13 gives you room to adjust in either direction.

What Breville Smart Grinder Pro setting should I use for French press?

Breville places French press within settings 55–60 and specifically recommends starting at 58 in its French press instructions.

What Baratza Encore setting should I use for French press?

The Encore has 40 stepped settings. Start toward the coarse end of the range and adjust according to taste rather than assuming one number will work for every coffee.

Should French press coffee be coarse or medium-coarse?

Either can work. A medium-coarse to coarse grind is a useful starting range. The ideal setting depends on your coffee, brewing time and preferred flavor.

Why is my French press muddy?

Your coffee may be too finely ground or your grinder may be producing a large amount of fine particles. Try moving somewhat coarser and plunge gently.

Why is my French press weak even though I’m using coarse coffee?

Your grind may actually be too coarse. If your coffee-to-water ratio, water temperature and steep time are reasonable, try moving the grinder slightly finer.

Should I use the coarsest setting on my grinder?

Not necessarily. “French press uses coarse coffee” doesn’t mean the maximum setting is always best. Start in the recommended coarse range and adjust according to taste.

Do I need a burr grinder for French press?

No, but a burr grinder makes it much easier to produce a repeatable grind and adjust it systematically. A blade grinder can work, but particle size is generally less consistent.