Coffee Grinder Cleaning


 
LMichaels

LMichaels

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Just curious. How often do those of you with the "smallish" 40mm or so conical grinders pop off the burrs and clean them? IOW say, after how many single use grinds? Or if you grind like I sometimes do and put enough ground coffee up for say 2 or 3 pots at about 8 cups ea.?
I guess I was spoiled by the KitchenAid large flat burr grinder in that I really only needed to pull it apart about once a month of grinding multi day batches.
 
LMichaels said:
Just curious. How often do those of you with the "smallish" 40mm or so conical grinders pop off the burrs and clean them? IOW say, after how many single use grinds? Or if you grind like I sometimes do and put enough ground coffee up for say 2 or 3 pots at about 8 cups ea.?
I guess I was spoiled by the KitchenAid large flat burr grinder in that I really only needed to pull it apart about once a month of grinding multi day batches.
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I do that once per month or so but at least weekly, I take the bean hopper off and use the vacuum to clean out the grind chamber...gets 99% of fines, grounds but mostly chaf.
 
I'm just wondering if the large flat burrs and industrial strength of the KitchenAid sort of spoiled me. Honestly I would have never switched away from it except for the horrible static and having grinds and fines all over the counter, heck even the floor, and the glass grind chamber. Every time I would handle that thing I was scared.
Just seems the smaller size and shape of the burrs in a conical add up to more maintenance. I wonder too if my preference of using dark roasts (which seem to exude a bit more oils) tends to be more problematic as well?
 
LMichaels said:
I'm just wondering if the large flat burrs and industrial strength of the KitchenAid sort of spoiled me. Honestly I would have never switched away from it except for the horrible static and having grinds and fines all over the counter, heck even the floor, and the glass grind chamber. Every time I would handle that thing I was scared.
Just seems the smaller size and shape of the burrs in a conical add up to more maintenance. I wonder too if my preference of using dark roasts (which seem to exude a bit more oils) tends to be more problematic as well?
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We drink mostly dark roasts too. All three of our preferred beans are somewhat oily dark roast beans. I believe the only place that I see any oily residue that requires occasional extra cleaning is the removable outer burr which sits in a plastic fitting. The Baratza Encore has an O ring there and I need to use a small brush and/or wash under warm water to thoroughly clean it..same with the Delonghi Ariete at the other house.
I've had two flat burr grinders and while they didn't have that slight issue, they both did as you described...fines and grinds all over the place and static was a genuine issue.
Bottom line...I'll take conical burrs all day long.
 
I have yet to take the baratza (conical) apart to clean and we have had it now for a few years. KitchenAid, 3X maybe 4X a year when the grinds became uneven. The static problem can be very annoying. On the KitchenAid we switched from the glass catcher to a metal gold filter basket we used on the Braun (cone-shaped/reusable type basket) which helped a bit on the static front.
 
Another reason for the ask was the OXO I had I noticed even though I had not cleaned it but just a few uses prior to it "packing up" I pulled it apart (the burrs) and noticed it really was not "grinding" coffee so much as "smashing" it. The burrs were packed solid. I noticed this did not happen on the Shardor machines as they seem to run at slower speeds. (though the newer and bigger Shardor precision machine with 51 settings does seem a little "faster" and more prone to static though nowhere near the static from the KA and about the same or a little less than the OXO.
On a whim I got this one a couple days ago and have used it twice https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMP5FVGV/?tag=tvwb-20
It is pretty much the exact machine as the 1st Shardor I bought except the main body is black instead of stainless colored and the control panel gives a "cups" measure and a "time" measure as opposed tot he little Shardor which uses time measure only. Like the Shardor it's quiet and pretty static free but slower.
 
You're supposed to clean them?

I've been using an OXO daily for a couple years and just opened it up after reading this. There were a few crumbs in there, but a couple of good thwacks while holding it upside down and a wipe around, and it was clean. No sign that lack of cleaning had affected function.

Static was mentioned. This one had lots of static in the grounds container for the first several weeks if not months. I frequently washed it with soap, let it air dry, and everything I could think of to maybe reduce it. Not sure if it was any of that or just time, but now it has zero static issues.

Of course, this cleaning required testing, so I'm having an extra cup today.
 
That is weird that you had lots of static at the onset. Mine was great at the outset, but progressively until the end got worse. So far the Shidiip has been working like a charm and other than some static (not bad but noticeable) the second Shardor is also working well. Neither has malfunctioned. No error codes, nicely ground coffee, I just cleaned both yesterday. Nothing unusual in either. Just some bits and pieces. I have to give both a thumbs up
 
I wonder if it was due to the "way" I used the grinder. I would typically grind enough beans for 3 days at a time. So perhaps due to the number of cycles I was running through it in very short order? Typically about 180 grams at a time, I was getting the burrs hot? And maybe those hot burrs were causing the beans to simply "pack" in. Because it always felt like I almost had to chisel the beans out of there to clean it
 
LMichaels said:
I wonder if it was due to the "way" I used the grinder. I would typically grind enough beans for 3 days at a time. So perhaps due to the number of cycles I was running through it in very short order? Typically about 180 grams at a time, I was getting the burrs hot? And maybe those hot burrs were causing the beans to simply "pack" in. Because it always felt like I almost had to chisel the beans out of there to clean it
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That makes sense.
I only grind enough for one 16 oz cup. I don't weigh the beans, but it's 4-5 scoops of beans, with the scoop that came with the grinder. I also use a coarse grind, 11.
 
Yeah, we make about 30oz every AM so to get 3 days worth I need to grind a lot of beans and I'm thinking my first clue it was an issue should have been how, the first Shardor I had kept going into an E2 (or over heat) error every time I did my batch at the end of the grind session or very close to it simply shutting down
 
LMichaels said:
Yeah, we make about 30oz every AM so to get 3 days worth I need to grind a lot of beans and I'm thinking my first clue it was an issue should have been how, the first Shardor I had kept going into an E2 (or over heat) error every time I did my batch at the end of the grind session or very close to it simply shutting down
Click to expand...
I'm married to a tea drinker, so there's a lot less wear and tear on mine😉
 
LMichaels said:
Yeah, we make about 30oz every AM so to get 3 days worth I need to grind a lot of beans and I'm thinking my first clue it was an issue should have been how, the first Shardor I had kept going into an E2 (or over heat) error every time I did my batch at the end of the grind session or very close to it simply shutting down
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I wonder if your machine was out of tolerance.
I know I would have been.
Ps, i use plastice wrap over the grinder (simple blade grinder) to keep the grounds from molecular bonding to the rest of the kitchen. Still a lot of static.
 
Tony Coloma said:
I wonder if your machine was out of tolerance.
I know I would have been.
Ps, i use plastice wrap over the grinder (simple blade grinder) to keep the grounds from molecular bonding to the rest of the kitchen. Still a lot of static.
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Out of tolerance in what way? And which machine? The failed OXO or the E2 generating Shardor
 
Not sure. Not even if possible. But some people seemed to get a better one. Or they had no idea. But I believe you know best. If that machine overheated quickly, there was something off.
All I know for sure is; our simple blade grinder would lose on any contest.
 
I honestly think the smaller cone burr grinders (like the OXO, Shardor, Shidiip, etc) I bought. Are not nearly robust enough to do large batches of grinding as I was attempting to do. I was a little "spoiled" by the how robustly built the KitchenAid is/was. It weighed a ton, had a VERY large DC motor, very large diameter flat burr. It could grind for days non stop.
I think these smaller units (even the higher end ones) like Baratza and some others are not bult for doing more than your "morning grind". Since adjusting my expectations. The machines seem to be doing fine.
Though the new OXO that was sent to me sits still sealed in it's original box. I am finding the more I use the smaller Shiidip the more I like it. It's not "fast" but it's very quiet, (does not wake up sleeping babies), absolutely no static cling or fly away particles. So it's extremely neat and clean to use.
Does a beautiful grind (little to no "dust"). I honestly cannot complain about it
 
LMichaels said:
I honestly think the smaller cone burr grinders (like the OXO, Shardor, Shidiip, etc) I bought. Are not nearly robust enough to do large batches of grinding as I was attempting to do. I was a little "spoiled" by the how robustly built the KitchenAid is/was. It weighed a ton, had a VERY large DC motor, very large diameter flat burr. It could grind for days non stop.
I think these smaller units (even the higher end ones) like Baratza and some others are not bult for doing more than your "morning grind". Since adjusting my expectations. The machines seem to be doing fine.
Though the new OXO that was sent to me sits still sealed in it's original box. I am finding the more I use the smaller Shiidip the more I like it. It's not "fast" but it's very quiet, (does not wake up sleeping babies), absolutely no static cling or fly away particles. So it's extremely neat and clean to use.
Does a beautiful grind (little to no "dust"). I honestly cannot complain about it
Click to expand...
I believe your observation is correct. These conical burr grinders are not designed for batch grinding. They're for a large morning pot and many for espresso....which is even smaller amounts of beans.
I have never put any of the grinders I've owned to the test of more than two Moccamaster 1.25 liter pots of coffee back to back. I grind each pot's batch separately when I make two pots. In fact, the Delonghi Ariete at our beach house will automatically shut off after 1-2 minutes of grinding...a single batch(7 scoops) is not a problem but if I were to put 9-10 or more scoops in, I'd have to reset the knob to finish the remaining beans.
Easy enough to turn the knob and press the grind button but it was clearly not designed to grind even a completely full hopper of beans.
The Baratza runs until you turn the switch off.
 
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