Grinder Cleaning Essentials: Routine Care & How to Prevent Clogs

Why Cleaning Matters

Coffee contains oils, tiny particles, and, depending on roast level, chaff. These materials can build up in your grind chamber (where the burrs are) and exit chute, affecting:
 

• Flavor clarity
• Grinding speed
• Consistency
• Risk of clogs

A cared‑for grinder performs better, period.
 

Routine Cleaning (Every 4–6 Weeks)

1. Remove hopper and upper burr. If you have a Sette Series grinder, remove the lower burr.
2. Grind through any remaining coffee, then brush out loose grounds and residue.
3. Clean inside the burr chamber and chute.
4. Wash hopper and grounds bin with warm soapy water and dry thoroughly.
5. Optional: Grind some grinder cleaning tablets to absorb oils. This is highly recommended if grinding primarily dark roast coffee.

Some of these steps may not sound important, but they all work together to make grinding coffee a simple and delicious process. Even regularly washing your hopper is important for flavor, especially if you are using darkly roasted coffee. The oils that stick around in there can even keep the coffee beans from flowing into the grinder as intended and may appear like there is something wrong with the grinder.
 

Roast Impact On Cleaning

• Dark roasts: need cleaning more often due to the oils they leave in the grinder. Not only can this impart a sour flavor in your coffee, but it significantly increases the risk of the grinder clogging since coffee sticks to the oil.
• Light roasts: less oily but can create more static and chaff. This means that you may not need quite as much deep cleaning, but just a surface-level brushing off.
   

What Causes Clogs

• Grinding too much coffee at once, overfilling the grounds bin
• Grinding far too finely (like the consistency of flour)
• Re‑grinding previously ground coffee
• Freezing/refrigerating beans (when condensation forms on the beans)
• Very oily or flavored coffees
   

How To Prevent Clogs

• Grind on demand
• Keep bin below 2/3 full
• Don’t re‑grind coffee
• Avoid flavored beans as they are coated in oils
• If grinding frozen coffee, do not let defrost before grinding, and never keep your coffee in the refrigerator

How To Clear A Clog

1. Unplug grinder.
2. Remove hopper and upper burr.
3. Use the handle of your cleaning brush, or a small, stiff item like an unfolded paperclip to push packed coffee out of the chute. Check from above and below to make sure that every bit is cleared out of the grinder.
4. Reassemble and test with a very coarse grind to make sure everything is in working order. This is especially important if you were grinding very fine before clogging, as it can demonstrate that your grind was too fine with the coffee being ground.
    

Bringing It All Together

While cleaning can feel a bit tedious, keeping your grinder in top shape ensures that there are as few barriers between you and delicious coffee as possible. By keeping up with grinder maintenance, your grinder can serve you well for years and years to come.
 

We grind. You brew.