Dec 11 2008
Manual Coffee Grinders
Manual Coffee Grinders: How to Clean your Manual Coffee Grinder
By Sirena Van Schaik
When it comes to spring cleaning, there are always a few things that people forget to clean. This can be the blinds for some, behind the stove for others or the storage closet for still more but there is always something that you think about long after your energy is gone and you just want to forget that spring has anything to do with clean.
One of the often missed items that never seem to be cleaned is the coffee grinder. It sits on the counter or in a cupboard and the only time you use it is to grind down a few beans. It is constantly getting fresh beans so why does it need to be cleaned. Well, if it cleaned itself out every time, then chances are, it wouldn’t but generally, coffee grounds stay in the grinder and begin to accumulate.
And that isn’t all. In all of those coffee beans is natural oil. This might not seem like a big deal but that oil builds up over the year and begins to grow rancid. This creates an acidic taste to your coffee and you begin to find that no matter how expensive and wonderful the beans are, your coffee still tastes horrible.
It is for this reason, that you should regularly clean your coffee grinder, although you only need to do a major cleaning once or twice a year.
Before you begin cleaning your manual coffee grinder, take a few moments to look through your owner’s manual for the machine. Many companies will have cleaning suggestions in the manual and you will be able to see which parts can come off for cleaning and which parts shouldn’t; no matter what.
Once you are familiar with your machine and the cleaning steps, it is time to start dismantling it. Make sure you clearly mark the pieces and you may want to jot down where each piece goes if this is the first time you dismantled it. This way, you are sure to get it back together without too much hassle or extra parts left over.
The parts that you have removed can be cleaned gently with a dish soap and water solution, the same as when you wash the dishes by hand. Make sure you wash all the extra oil off the parts and then dry them completely before you reassemble the machine. To do this, simply towel dry the excess water and then allow them to air dry for a few hours or overnight.
Once the machine is reassembled, hopefully without any spare parts left over, you should clean the outside of the machine with soapy water or a mild cleaner; nothing abrasive or course. If the base of the machine is wood, wash it with a mild wood cleaner. Make sure you do not clean the drawer with a cleaner since the coffee grounds will absorb the taste of the cleaners.
At this point, you are ready for the next process in cleaning your manual machine. Take a cup of rice and pour it into the top of your coffee grinder. Grind the rice up and then remove it from the bottom of the machine. This not only cleans the coffee grinder but it also sharpens the blades found in the machine (if it is a bladed machine).
And your machine is clean and ready to use again. You can clean it periodically through the year by grinding a cup of rice. The rice will remove the excess oil and will keep build up to a minimum and then you will only need to dismantle it and wash it once per year, when that pesky spring cleaning begins.