Cleaning burr coffee grinder

Question

I have a medium-end, drop-through burr espresso coffee grinder (a Solis Maestro Plus). I haven't cleaned it since I first bought it, and I thought it was about time. Both the plastic bean funnel and the grounds drawer were coated in extremely stubborn caked-on coffee oils and grounds. So, some questions:

1. Getting the caked coffee oil off the plastic parts was very difficult, requiring multiple soakings in hot water and citrus-based dishsoap. Was there an easier way to do this?

2. How do I clean the burrs themselves, now? I can't remove them from the machine. Presumably I can't use water, and I certainly can't soak them.

Thanks for any advice!

Answer 1

I use Minute-Rice to clean mine (any instant-rice will do - it's partially cooked, so it's softer than raw rice and does a better job cleaning). I just run a bunch of rice through until it's coming out clean, then run some old beans through before using it for coffee.

Here's a Youtube video on it. I'm sure there are tons more. Check out the CoffeeGeek or Home-Barista forums for more information than you ever wanted.

Answer 2

I would suggest a soak in neat vinegar to try and get the caked on coffee off the removable parts. You could also try running a vinegar cycle through where you normally use water. This will of course require several rinsing water runs before you use the machine again. Another solution that you could use is scalex. It is very strong acid and eats through multiple sins of grime. You can purchase it from hard ware stores.