Cleaning your grinder is a bit of a contentious subject – some clean it religiously and others…not so much.

We asked our online community for their opinion on how often you should clean your coffee grinder and why they wait the length of time that they do. Keep reading to find out their thoughts.

Robbie

Personally, every two weeks or so I pull it apart and just use a soft brush to get all the excess coffee out, or maybe a wooden toothpick of you have one. I don’t use water and soap just incase I get some nasty flavours.

Gareth

I blow out my grinder with compressed air about once every 6 months. I’ve never found a need to clean it any more frequently. The motor has never been “choked” or even slowed down by any buildup. No taste difference between before and after cleaning. Only once I deep cleaned it after grinding a single dose of beans. It was coffee from New Mexico, the beans were really pungent and not good at all for espresso.

Sarah

I don’t believe there is a reason to clean it unless it has not been used in a while. I would imagine after 2 weeks of disuse it might be worth grinding some rice through it. Certainly after 4+ weeks. Otherwise, the new coffee is cleaning it out every time it’s used.

Toby

I usually run Grindz through after 2 x 500g bags of coffee, and will do a deep clean every 4 bags.

I take the upper burr out, and use a brush to thoroughly clean that and the inside of the grinder. It works better after you’ve run Grindz through because it clears out a lot of the oil, and the dust from it binds to whatever is on the burr, making it easier to clean out with a brush.

I also blow air through (stick your face on the top and blow hard – it’s not pretty but it’s effective!) to blow out all the chaff and retained grinds.

Michelle

I brush the bottom of the burrs every time I grind. Then twice, sometimes once a month I take it apart and clean. Depending on when I have free time really.

Edwin

Single dosing electric grinder (commercial), I purge every time I use it and clean the chute. Then I will do a full cleaning with the burrs out every 2 weeks. If I have a cafe, and have a hopper full of coffee, I will vacuum and clean every time the hopper is empty and will do a full clean and inspection every month.

For my manual grinder I will purge and use compressed air every usage and a full strip down every month. I don’t like oils building up and corroding my grinders.

Jean

Depends if you have a doserless grinder or not. Doserless grinders with low retention don’t need to be cleaned that often, especially if you use it daily as the new coffee beans just push out the stale ones.

I’m cleaning my grinder twice a year and I have seen no issue what-so-ever of stale taste or inconsistent grinding. I also change to different coffee beans and re-adjust the grinder every month or so, which might help dislodge any stuck ground coffee.

Rebecca

With oilier beans like darker roasts I would clean it more frequently with Grindz or something similar roughly every 2-3 months. Medium roast beans would be closer to 6 months as the grinder tends to stay cleaner for longer without affecting the taste of the coffee.