Our Ultimate Guide To Cleaning Your Coffee Grinder
Over time you will need to give your coffee grinder a good to clean to ensure it’s grinding your beans properly, this is because coffee beans leave a lot of residue and oils behind when being ground.
Both a blade coffee grinder and burr coffee grinder need to be cleaned differently, on blade grinders you can use rice and on burr coffee grinders you can use a brush or cleaning tablets.
We’ve made a short guide below which will go over why it’s important to clean your coffee grinder and how often to clean it as well as a step by step guide to cleaning your burr coffee grinder and blade coffee grinder.
Why Is It Important To Clean Your Coffee Grinder?
A build-up of coffee grounds and coffee oils in your grinder can negatively impact your coffee taste which is why it needs to be cleaned regularly.
Coffee residue starts to go stale over time and can potentially taint your coffee tomorrow morning if left to sit for a long time. Oily coffee build-up could also burn out an electric coffee grinders motor as it causes too much blockage.
How Often Should I Clean My Coffee Grinder?
To keep your cup of coffee high quality you want to make sure you are cleaning your coffee grinder at least once or twice a month or according to what your grinder manufacturers suggest.
If you are using your burr grinders or blade grinders more regularly then you should clean your electric coffee grinder at least once a week.
Our Step By Step Guide To Cleaning a Burr Coffee Grinder
Burr grinders are harder to clean than blade coffee grinders, they also need to be disassembled completely to clean each part properly.
We’ve listed a step by step guide on how to clean your burr grinder with a damp cloth and small brush below as well as how to use cleaning tablets to clean your burr coffee grinder too.
- Step one – First of all remove the hopper on your grinder and wash it with some damp water and dry with a microfibre cloth to get rid of any bit of coffee dust, repeat with any sealing gaskets on the grinder too.
- Step two – Next turn on the grinder to get rid of any spare beans left inside, you can also bang it out onto a cloth to release any stuck beans which might be hiding inside.
- Step three – Now disassemble your coffee grinder and handwash all the parts inside of the grinder which get a coat of coffee oil during use, do not wash the burr.
- Step four – Take out the conical burr or flat burr type discs, use a small brush to take out any stuck grounds on the burrs, use a microfibre cloth to take off any layer of coffee oil, avoid using soap as this can cause the burr to rust. Make sure you dry it properly.
- Step five – Reassemble all the parts then make your cup of coffee!
Using Cleaning Tablets
- Step one – Remove the hopper and repeat the same process as above, washing the damp parts with water and getting rid of any spare beans inside of them.
- Step two – Pour the cleaning tablets into the grinder till they all disappear into the bin of the grinder.
- Step three – Grind some coffee beans through after to remove any traces of the cleaning tablets inside.
Our Step By Step Guide To Cleaning a Blade Coffee Grinder
Blade coffee grinders do not require as many tedious steps to be cleaned, you can clean your blade grinder with a handful of rice!
We’ve listed the steps to cleaning your blade coffee grinder down below.
- Step one – To begin measure out around 1/4 cup of bags of rice or any other absorbent grain then place into the hopper of the blade grinder, let the grinder run on power until the rice inside becomes a powder.
- Step two – Unplug the grinder then pour out the rice or grain powder contents into a bin, take a microfibre cloth to remove any debris inside, you can make this slightly damp for the exterior part.
Tips For Cleaning Your Coffee Grinder
Although cleaning both types of coffee grinders is pretty simple, there are some worth knowing tips and tricks to clean your grinder properly.
We’ve listed them below to help you out.
- Do not use rice to clean a burr grinder – Rice can be used to clean a blade coffee grinder but should never be used to clean a burr grinder, you can seriously damage your burr grinder by using rice, stick to using a brush or a microfibre cloth to clean this type of device.
- Clean more for dark roast coffee – Dark roast types of coffee beans contain much more oil and are harder to clean than light roast beans, if you drink dark roast types of coffee then you should make sure to clean your device more often.
- Clean it regularly – Don’t let residual coffee oils build up too much in your grinder, try to clean it regularly on the schedule, if you let it get too built up then it will be much harder to stay on top off.
- Don’t use too much water – Too much water and soap especially can rust your grinder, never wash your burr with water and always be conscious about how damp your cloth is, make sure to dry all parts well with a microfibre cloth.
- Check your manual – If you are unsure about how to take your clean grinder apart and put it back together always consult the manual which comes with your model, there should be a step by step guide included about how to take each part off individually without damaging the device.
Frequently Asked Questions About How To Clean a Coffee Grinder
How do I know when to clean my coffee grinder?
Some signs to indicate it’s time to clean your grinder are if it’s not grinding as fine as it used to be, or a rancid taste in your coffee could be from stale leftover ground coffee.
Are darker roasts more oily in coffee grinders?
Yes, darker roasts such as French roast and Italian roast are a lot more oily than lighter roast coffee.
How do I get rid of persistent coffee oil on my grinder?
To get rid of persistent coffee oil in your grinder try using a small brush, you could coat this with vinegar to help cut through the thick oil.
Last Words
Overall, cleaning a blade coffee grinder and burr coffee grinder is simple as long as you have a small brush and microfibre cloth on hand. Burr coffee grinders are slightly more complicated and need to be taken apart, you should also avoid using too much water as this can cause your grinder to rust.
Make sure to clean your grinder at least twice a month for it to produce top-quality coffee.
