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Cleaning your coffee grinder: daily, with pellets and inside

Oct 04, 2026

Coffee contains oils that stick to the burrs, the grinding chamber and the bean hopper. Over time they go rancid and give the coffee a stale, bitter note. Old ground coffee in the spout also affects the dose. A clean grinder gives a more even grind and a cleaner taste.

Why not water?

The burrs are usually made of steel and rust if they get wet. Baratza states explicitly that the burrs must not be washed with water. The grinder body, cable and plug must never be immersed in water. The only things you wash are removable plastic parts such as the bean hopper, lid and grounds bin, and then by hand. Sage and Macap advise against the dishwasher.

Daily and weekly

  • Brush away ground coffee around the spout and the fork after use.
  • Single dose grinders: blow out the grinding chamber with the bellows after every grind.
  • Wipe the body with a dry or slightly damp cloth. Avoid the power switch and display.
  • Run the grinder empty of beans if it is going to stand unused for a few days.

If the grinder is used daily, Baratza recommends brushing the burrs about once a month.

Cleaning pellets

Pellets dissolve oils and remove odours without you having to open the grinder. They are softer than beans and do not damage the burrs. Mahlkönig specifies weekly cleaning with Grindz for the X54 with frequent use. At home, less often is usually enough, depending on volume and roast level.

  1. Grind the grinder empty of coffee.
  2. Cafetto GC2: add pellets and grind on the coarsest setting. Urnex Grindz: one capful (35-40 g) for espresso grinders, grind on a medium-coarse setting.
  3. Then grind a portion of coffee beans (Baratza specifies about 30 g) and discard the ground coffee.
  4. Reset the grind setting.

Pellets will not clear a blocked grinder and should not be used in bean-to-cup machines with a built-in grinder.

Opening the grinder and cleaning the burrs

A couple of times a year, or when the grinder grinds unevenly, you can clean the burrs and the grinding chamber.

  1. Unplug the grinder and grind it empty. Remove the bean hopper.
  2. Note the grind setting. Remove the adjustment dial and the upper burr carrier as described in the manual. On the Eureka Mignon, loosen the screw on the lid and the screws holding the upper carrier. On conical Baratza grinders, lift the ring burr straight up by its tabs.
  3. Brush the burrs, grinding chamber and spout with a dry brush. A vacuum cleaner or compressed air removes fine dust.
  4. Check that the threads are clean and reassemble. Find the zero point again as described in Setting up your grinder.

The bean hopper

The oil in the bean hopper flavours new beans. Eureka and Ascaso specify cleaning at least once a week, Bentwood (H75) daily in commercial use. Wash it by hand with hot water and mild washing-up liquid, rinse and let it dry completely before refitting it.

If you notice that the burrs are dull despite cleaning, read Replacing the burrs on your grinder.

Barista & Espresso