If your coffee does not taste as fresh as you like, your grinder needs a deep cleaning. Like any other kitchen appliance, coffee grinders require a regular cleaning routine. Maintaining a coffee grinder is almost essential for the machine's life and the quality of your coffee.
You can easily clean the coffee grinder with rice. We all have rice in the kitchen. Rice can clean the inside of a grinder, removing oils and dust residues, and it does not affect the coffee flavor afterward.
However, if you use uncooked rice, you can end up damaging your grinder. Long-grain rice has a very hard texture. Coffee grinders are not made to grind rice, so they can damage your expensive appliance.
This article is all about cleaning the coffee grinder with rice. We will discuss whether you should clean the coffee grinder with rice. What type of rice to use? And ultimately, what other methods can you use to clean the coffee grinder? We are discussing a burr grinder here, not a blade grinder.
Why is it important to clean the grinder?
A lot of coffee dust infiltrates the tiny spaces inside the grinder. Despite your daily cleaning routine, it is important to clean the grinder inside to remove oil and coffee dust.
Coffee cleaning tablets are available in the market that are effective in soaking up oils inside the machinery and corners and sticking to the dust, but these commercial products are expensive.
Oil and dust residues that are difficult to clean may build up over time. These oil residues and coffee particles stuck inside the nooks and crannies of the grinder can become rancid due to the decaying process caused by constant heat and oxygen.
If not cleaned regularly, this buildup can not only jam your machine, but the stale coffee oil left in the grinder can start affecting the taste of your coffee.
Daily Cleaning Routine
Make sure you remove the hopper and burr every time you grind the coffee beans. Use the vacuum to remove dust and leftover grounds from the surface and put the hopper and burr back to its place.
You may need to use some brushes as well. Besides a daily cleaning routine, deep cleaning once a week or two(depending on how much you use the grinder) is essential.
Deep Cleaning Routine
Opening up the machinery and cleaning it deeply inside is a time-consuming task. You still can't reach every corner and crevice to remove oil and dust. Coffee tablets and rice soak the oil and dust inside and clean the machine from the inside.
It requires hardly 5-10 minutes weekly but goes a long way to maintain your appliance and increase its lifespan.
Is Using Rice Safe for the Coffee Grinder?
Using regular rice to clean the grinder can damage the grinder. Regular rice grains are very hard compared to coffee beans. Your coffee grinder is not made to grind the hard rice grains. So yes, using rice to clean the coffee grinder is not safe. However, you can use the Minute Rice (Instant Rice) for this purpose. Minute Rice is pre-cooked rice available in the market.
Some people recommend using parboiled rice, but we don't recommend using parboiled rice. Both regular and parboiled rice are hard, and grinding them can damage the coffee grinder.
Minute rice or pre-cooked rice is already cooked. If you check them, you can break the grain easily with your fingers. They have a brittle texture, somewhat similar to the texture of beans.
When you run rice through your grinder, It will soak up the oils clinging to the grinder wall and other difficult to reach parts.
You can dissemble the machine and use a brush and vacuum to remove the dust and the remaining ground from the grinder.
How to Clean Coffee Grinder With Rice?
Here is the step-by-step method:
- Clean the hopper and burr using a vacuum and remove all the dust and beans trapped in the hopper.
- Add half a cup of minute rice to the hopper and run it through the grinder.
- Run the grinder and remove rice from the machine.
- Add old beans to the grinder and run it one more time to remove all the traces of rice from the grinder.
- Unscrew the hopper, take the burr out, and take out the rubber ring.
- Use a vacuum cleaner to remove any leftover ground coffee or rice from the top.
- Now it's time to use a brush to disengage the dust and stuck coffee grounds inside the machine.
- Vacuum inside again to remove rice leftovers still in the machine's upper chamber.
- Use a brush to remove the coffee around the thread of the hopper and upper burr. Wipe the rubber ring with a damp towel or kitchen cloth. Don't use paper towels inside the grinder. They can leave residues as well.
- Reassemble everything back in place.
What if You don't have Precooked Rice?
Instant rice is easily available, but even if you don't want to buy it, you can easily make it home with some leftover rice. It is only regularly cooked dehydrated rice grains. Spread the cooked rice in a baking tray. Put it in an oven or a dehydrator and leave it to dehydrate. Once they are all dry, you can store them in a container and use them to clean the grinder.
What other methods can you use to clean the grinder?
Having a daily cleaning routine is important after you are done grinding. However, once a week or two, you can use commercial coffee grinder tablets or rice and a brush to clean the grinder inside thoroughly.
Final Words
With good maintenance, you can enhance the lifespan of your machine and keep enjoying a fresh cup of coffee. Make sure you use minute rice or instant rice. It is already cooked and dehydrated rice. Regular rice can be too hard for the grinder and may damage the burr of your grinder.
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