Coffee Grinder Care.

Coffee grinder care is important if you want to make good coffee... actually, I am convinced that coffee grinder care is ESSENTIAL for good coffee!!

coffee grinder care


Coffee beans contain coffee oils, and although these oils are exactly the reason for the flavour and aroma of the coffee we drink, they are also the main reason for the grinder getting dirty.

During the grinding process these oils warm up and some of them end up on the surface of the grinder's parts:
  • the burr-plates,
  • burr-carrier,
  • the grinder-bowl,
  • the grinds chute.
Even the hopper can get coated with a film of oil, if you regularly use deeply roasted beans.

These oil residues react to the oxygen in the air around us exactly the same as other oils: they oxidise, and that means that they "go off', and get rancid.

So, apart from a sticky layer of oil and fine coffee-grinds coating everything inside your grinder, after a while you will also get a rancid smell AND taste.


Maintaining your grinder is therefore very important, and needs to be done at least every month, or maybe every week if you grind more than 1 kg of coffee per week.
  • Unplug the grinder !!
  • If the hopper is removable, take it off and wash it with very hot water and a good dish-washing liquid.
  • If the hopper is not removable, lay the grinder on its side and place a partly wrung dry cloth (hot water and detergent) on the inside of the hopper.
    After one side has soaked and can be cleaned, turn the grinder on its other side and repeat the process.
  • The burr plates  and burr carrier should be removed and also soaked in hot water with dish-washing liquid.
If the coffee oil layer does not come off either hopper,  burrs or burr carrier, you may have
to use one of the specialised detergents made for back-flushing coffee machines.  These  are great in getting those stubborn coffee oils off; simply dissolve some detergent in very hot water to soak any grinder-or coffee machine part which needs cleaning.
  • While the burr plates are soaking, use a small brush to remove any grinds which are still sitting in the grinder.
  • Use a cloth or paper towels,  soaked in hot water and detergent, to remove any sticky residue from under the burr carrier and around the entrance to the chute.
  • Brush the chute clean.
  • If your grinder has a doser, brush the doser -chamber clean and check if there is sticky residue under the vanes of the doser mechanism; if so, you will need to take the doser apart and clean this off.
  • Let all parts dry thoroughly before you re-assemble the grinder.