Hi there,
Speaking of a knockbox, I keep mine for about 2 weeks until I clean it. However, by then there's mold all over the place.
How do you people deal with this ?

Luckily for me I have a clean OCD so I clean it out once or twice a day. That's really the obvious answer here. Any kind of mold presents a real problem as the spores can become airborne and inhaled. Better to deal with the little inconvenience of cleaning and washing thoroughly. You'll feel better aboout yourself and your knockbox.

The Bumper knockbox is a very nice size for allowing adequate air circulation in to the pile of pucks. By the time you pile up enough to fill the thing, the ones on the bottom have dried out. I have no mold problems in the Bumper Knockbox.

Mold can be a problem even with a Bumper knockbox. Sometimes I have mold in my Bumper; sometimes I don't. It depends on (in part) having dry pucks in the first place, something my Elektra is better at than was my La Valentina.

Only one way:

a) Clean it. Thoroughly. With soap and hot water.
b) Dry it. Thoroughly.
c) Repeat frequently.

I have a Grindenstein which I love. It needs emptying every few days (or so depending on usage) so pucks don't have a chance to mold. It is dishwasher safe (awesome) and very sturdy. "Try it, you'll like it !"

webhead wrote:How do you people deal with this ?

The counter that I make coffee on, well, the one that my grinders are on, is right above the spot where I keep my trash, compost materials, and recyclables. I've been sorely tempted to cut the bottom out of my knocker and flush-mount it into the counter top, right above the composting. At my girlfriends house I've built a grill over the garbage to keep the greyhounds out of it, and I've mounted my knockbox into that grill so the pucks go straight into the garbage (she refuses to have compost...).

Psyd wrote:The counter that I make coffee on, well, the one that my grinders are on, is right above the spot where I keep my trash, compost materials, and recyclables. I've been sorely tempted to cut the bottom out of my knocker and flush-mount it into the counter top, right above the composting. At my girlfriends house I've built a grill over the garbage to keep the greyhounds out of it, and I've mounted my knockbox into that grill so the pucks go straight into the garbage (she refuses to have compost...).

Kudos on the composting coffee grounds. I do the same. The mold can actually be a benefit for composting. Worms like coffee grounds too. I sprinkle coffee grounds on top of banana peels or rotting fruit and worms just eat it up. Maybe you can convince your girlfriend to have worms instead. Done right, worms are actually orderless. Actually composting done right is orderless too, but much more work to do a compost program. Worms can be very easily tucked into a corner of your garage.

Murky in Arlington has the knockboxes emptied (at some point) into the five found bags that they get their coffee in, and leaves them at the door for folks to take with them if they want. I'm pretty sure that it's gratis, as it's a ways away from the counter and right (outside?) the front door. I do mine in the back yard, and just have a container right next to the trash to keep a few days worth in. My yard looks like the desert this year, but next year...

Just empty it every couple of days. I take my bumper out and dump the pucks in the flower beds.

Yeah obviously I should empty it more frequently. Just that it's rather large and clumsy so I had an excuse to leave it in Maybe I need to put a layer of newspaper in or so to ease the emptying.

I head the grounds compost nicely and plants like them. Here (country, Belgium) all fruit/garden wastes are collected and sent to a compost facility so eventually they end up there.