Baratza recommends against rice for cleaning their grinders

#1: Post by **allon** » February 18th, 2014, 7:06 am

http://www.baratza.com/rice-its-just-no ... -cleaning/

Baratza wrote:Using rice to clean your grinder is not a good idea. Our experience repairing Baratza grinders has shown that using rice or other natural materials to clean a Baratza grinder can cause mechanical damage to your grinder. This damage would not be covered under our warranty.

#2: Post by **dsc** » February 18th, 2014, 7:55 am

From my experience, rice puts a hell of a lot of stress on the parts of a grinder, depending on the grinder the damage might be massive or close to none. Parts rated / strong enough for coffee and coffee alone will fail / break when put under more stress via rice grinding. Seems reasonable for Baratza to issue a statement like this to stop people claiming under warranty for rice grinding related damage.

Regards,
dsc.

February 18th, 2014, 8:06 am

So far, I've only used Grindz, or my elbow grease and a brush to clean my Vario. I have the ceramic burr model. I've always been wary of feeding it rice, although I know many people swear by it for cleaning and seasoning new burrs.

I know some distinguish between using raw rice and instant rice. I imagine raw rice would be a lot harder than the instant variety.

#4: Post by **Boldjava** » February 18th, 2014, 8:36 am

canuckcoffeeguy wrote:...

I know some distinguish between using raw rice and instant rice. I imagine raw rice would be a lot harder than the instant variety.

Instant rice has been preboiled and dehydrated, yielding a softer grain. Regardless, I use only Grindz, a toothbrush on disassembly, and vacuum to clean the Macap MC4. Thanks for the reminder.

#5: Post by **WSH** » February 18th, 2014, 9:19 am

The key phrase is "Baratza recommends against rice for cleaning Baratza grinders".

OTOH, Ditting is fine with, actually recommends, using rice to break in their burrs. Plain, regular, raw, uncooked rice. As much as you like!

And I suspect both are correct!

#6: Post by **rjamadagni** » February 18th, 2014, 10:41 am

canuckcoffeeguy wrote:So far, I've only used Grindz, or my elbow grease and a brush to clean my Vario.

This weekend i am planning to use my 12v tire inflator with a suitable nozzle to pressure clean my vario. I hope it will survive it and be a bit clean. Not too much of air pressure though, a little bit should do the work better than a brush, no ?

#7: Post by **turtle** » February 18th, 2014, 10:58 am

I have never used any "grinder cleaning" products (commercial or voodoo recipes).

I take my Baratza grinders apart and use a series of brushes to clean the burrs, paddles, and throat. Once every 2 to 4 months or so I will put the burrs in hot soapy water and scrub them squeaky clean then use hot water to remove any stubborn oils in the throat. I try NOT to put any cleaning products (outside of hot water only) inside the grind chamber and throat to avoid any residue effecting the taste of the beans. The burrs are removable so can be soaped up and thoroughly rinsed.

This reminds me I need to clean the super jolly as the last time I looked down inside the grind chamber (a few days ago) it looked a little skanky (oily / nasty).

sigh.... It's a never ending battle but it's worth it in the cup

I should also point out that this is what I DO based on my coffee consumption.... not a recommendation for what you should do.

February 18th, 2014, 12:58 pm

Their grinders are so easy to clean, I wouldn't bother with Grindz or instant rice to clean them out, just use a wire brush.

February 18th, 2014, 1:49 pm

WIRE!?

Toothbrush, sure. Grouphead brush, fine. But not wire.

#10: Post by **LaDan** » February 18th, 2014, 3:09 pm

Randy G. wrote:WIRE!?
Toothbrush, sure. Grouphead brush, fine. But not wire.

Yeah, with a Dremel too.