Steel Cut Oats in My Coffee Grinder?

#1: Post by **Franck** » November 24th, 2015, 6:42 pm

So I got home today and I was in shock and horror to see oatmeal particles in my Compak K3 Touch Grinder.
Turns out, the wife thought it was a good idea to use our coffee grinder to finely grind the steel cut oats I eat for breakfast to add to some recipe of hers.

Not sure what the impact to my grinder is, but I was pretty pissed. I don't even want to use oily coffee beans in my grinder, let alone something completely different like oats.

Does grinding oats in my grinder mess up the burrs in any way?

I've only ever used beans and Grindz in my grinder. Since Grindz is a wheat-based product maybe the one-time grinding oats is not so bad.

If anyone knows, please let me know. Thx.

#2: Post by **aecletec** » November 24th, 2015, 7:01 pm

Only one thing for it I suppose... disassemble and clean, check by looking and feeling then grind again and see how it performs.
If the oats were steamed then were probably soft enough to not cause any damage but I don't know the ins and outs of steel cut oats.

November 24th, 2015, 7:46 pm

I could be wrong but I seriously doubt any damage was done. I'd expect rice to do more damage...

#4: Post by **chipman** » November 24th, 2015, 8:38 pm

I don't think steel cut oats are any harder than coffee beans.

#5: Post by **aecletec** » November 24th, 2015, 9:56 pm

Oh dear. A rabbit hole... http://www.mtt.fi/afs/pdf/mtt-afs-v13n1_2p113.pdf

Seems like it's not an easy answer... so assessing it first-hand would probably be best...

#6: Post by **day** » November 25th, 2015, 1:10 am

Not having any experience but wanting to chime in I would break it down as best I could:

Burr risks
1. Flavoring
2. Chipping

Motor risks
1. Dust and particles
2. Jamming/burnout

I would be really surprised if they could chip it, so would personally dismiss that. Flavoring seems unlikely as well. So burrs are probably ok. If the motor is running then the main risk I would assume from all the smaller softer particles jamming up and gumming causing the motor to burn out didnt seem to come to pass, so its probably ok as well. Nothing to do but keep running it anyway. small particles could be present, but given the fines produced in espresso I would gamble that your motor is fine. Probably just vacuum and brush it out personally and keep on rolling.

#7: Post by **chipman** » November 25th, 2015, 10:57 am

So maybe steel cut oats may be the new and improved method for 'seasoning' the burrs!!~!! Rice is so 2014.

#8: Post by HB » November 25th, 2015, 11:17 am

Franck wrote: Since Grindz is a wheat-based product maybe the one-time grinding oats is not so bad.

Bodka Coffee wrote:I could be wrong but I seriously doubt any damage was done.

chipman wrote:I don't think steel cut oats are any harder than coffee beans.

day wrote:Probably just vacuum and brush it out personally and keep on rolling.

Add me to the "I seriously doubt any damage was done" list. Many have suggested using precooked rice for seasoning new burrs:

And I don't recall any problem reports (that said, I use stale coffee beans for burr break-in with 30 seconds on, 2 minutes off to avoid overheating the motor). Even if we were to assume oats are significantly harder than coffee beans, given the motor wasn't overheated, the worse case is a little extra wear on the burrs. *shrug*

Franck wrote:Turns out, the wife thought it was a good idea to use our coffee grinder to finely grind the steel cut oats... Not sure what the impact to my grinder is, but I was pretty pissed.

This isn't a relationship advice forum, but in my experience, it's best to file such mishaps under "Stuff Happens".

#9: Post by **Marcelnl** » November 25th, 2015, 12:15 pm

Perhaps we need a section for 'coffee associated relation issues' ...I'm sure there is a need

I'd also clean the grinder and forget it, unless kilo's of oats were ground nothing much will have happened.
I am curious about the recipe that called for a pro espresso grinder though, something from El Bulli perhaps

November 25th, 2015, 10:38 pm

Franck wrote:So I got home today and I was in shock and horror to see oatmeal particles in my Compak K3 Touch Grinder.
Turns out, the wife thought it was a good idea to use our coffee grinder to finely grind the steel cut oats I eat for breakfast to add to some recipe of hers.

Soooooo...how was the new breakfast recipe? Get her a refurbished VitaMix...just not for Christmas, BDays or anything "big" or you'll be sleeping in the tuff shed...if you have one.