Useful Tips to Clean Coffee Grinders
Coffee grinders are fast becoming an appliance that is finding its way in each and every household all over the world. While it is a convenience and a great way to get fresh coffee every day, the qualm that most users of coffee grinders have is the difficulty they face to clean the coffee grinder effectively.
But, one might think what the big hassle in cleaning the coffee grinder is? The hassle is because of the static that is formed while the coffee grinder grinds the coffee. This causes the handling of the ground coffee messy and difficult. Also, it makes it difficult to clean the coffee grinder effectively.
Another difficulty is the trouble to clean around the blades if a blade type of grinder is being used or the conical shape of the grinder hopper when a bur type of grinder is being used. It makes it difficult to get the fine grind from these difficult-to-reach areas of the grinder.
Another hassle is the machinery being part of the appliance that needs to be cleaned regularly. This makes it difficult to just place the grinder items to be cleaned in a dishwasher and get the cleaning done. However, this hassle has been eliminated in some of the grinders wherein the grinder parts to be cleaned are dishwasher safe and can be cleaned in a dishwasher.
So, let us now see some of the methods people popularly use to clean the coffee grinder effectively so that it is clean and does not provide any staleness to the coffee grind.
The first and foremost thing that needs to be done is to unplug the grinder from the power source to prevent any damage to the appliance during cleaning as well as avoiding the risk of unnecessary trauma to the person cleaning it.
The next step is to use a dry cloth or a paper towel to clean out the grinder as effectively as is possible. A damp cloth can be used in some areas of the grinder to clean it but if used to clean the interior of the hopper, the static being formed during grinding can cause the process to become more messy and cause sticking of the coffee grind to the hopper. The exterior of the grinder can however be cleaned with a damp cloth but care needs to be taken not to use it in areas that can cause damage to the machinery of the appliance. Only the lid of the grinder can be cleaned using a cleaning liquid or in the dishwasher and then allowed to dry.
But, just cleaning the grinder with a paper towel will not do the trick as it will not eliminate the fine coffee that is left sticking to the insides of the grinder. In order to eliminate this, many people use different methods although the most popular of them is to grind some amount of uncooked rice in the grinder repeatedly until the rice no longer turns brown in color upon grinding.
The rice grinding will help in removing the fine coffee that is left behind that the cleaning with the paper towel could not help eliminate. Once this is accomplished, the rice is cleaned out of the appliance and then the grinder is again wiped clean with a dry cloth or a paper towel. For effective cleaning, this process of rice grinding is done once every 15 days.
Using this simple method, you can not only retain your coffee grinder spic and span, you will also ensure that it is running smooth for many years to come.