Do you clean your grinder right after you use it?

[KenRC51]

I'm very new into grinding my own beans right before I make coffee. I only grid enough to make one cup (6tbs beans). I'm using a Burr grinder. Do I need to clean the Burr every time I grind? What do you guys usually do?

 

[BoldJava]

Ken,

I have a Macap grinder. There is no need to clean after every use. My routine is:

* Every 4 months or so, take it apart - watch your thread directions. Mine screws on counter-clockwise
* Use a shop-vac to get residuals out of all the nooks and crannies.
* Use a clean cotton cloth to wipe down the areas I can reach.
* Take a toothbrush to get the stray grinds from the threads.
* Reassemble

Some folks use a soft grain product called Grindz on a more consistent basis and bypass the disassembly. http://www.amazon.com/Grindz-Tablets-Single-Grinder-Cleaner/dp/B0027DVML4

 

[peterjschmidt]

Also, your cleaning schedule will fluctuate depending on frequency of use, and especially the roast level of beans used; daily grinding of dark/oily beans will bump up the schedule a lot.

The other factor in how often I clean mine is a highly refined career of laziness, but that's a story for another thread.

 

[KenRC51]

Thanks guys. But would having some residue remainds left inside the grinder ruin the taste of the new batch your brewing? For me I never taste a difference. Probably is because there's so little from yesterday's grind mixed into today's grind

 

[MillCityRoasters]

It sort of depends on your grinder and your palate. For cupping different coffees in succession, we normally purge the grinder with a small amount of sacrificial beans to prep the grinder before each batch. I usually do the same to purge stale grounds when I grind for pourover or drip and espresso shots. All my espresso grinders are timed/doserless, so a quick pulse is all it takes.

I guess it also depends on how much coffee you have too. We roast a lot relative to our consumption; the amount of waste we generate purging our grinders is relatively unnoticeable.

 

[SingleMaltKaffe]

Greetings! New CF Member here. No, but I'll clean out my grinder when changing to a different coffee.