Less Messy: Two Steps to Clean the Coffee Grinder

We’ll be honest – most mornings, we just give the coffee grinder a quick swipe with a damp sponge after whizzing our beans. But this does leave behind powdery grinds that build up in the nooks and crannies over time. So we’ve called in another handy kitchen tool to help us get the whole job done!

We’ve started keeping a rarely-used pastry brush close to the sink. Its bristles are stiff and flexible enough to get into the coffee grinder and sweep leftover grounds into the sink. You can find special coffee grinder brushes, but we think this pastry brush works just as well.

Then we give it a quick wipe with our sponge or a dish cloth to clean out any oils or residues on the sides of the grinder, and we’re done! Our grinder lives on the counter, and we usually leave the top off to let any moisture left from the cleaning process evaporate.

Once every month or so (read: whenever we remember), we’ll grind a few tablespoons of dry, uncooked rice in the grinder. This helps to scour away anything that gets missed in our daily cleaning and also seems to remove the coffee smell. We’ve heard that you can use a small piece of stale bread as well.

How do you clean your coffee grinder?

Related: How to Clean the Toaster

(Images: Emma Christensen)