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  • Cleaning your grinder?

    Far out, it looks I hijacked my own thread in its early stages...............



    Originally posted by Thundergod link=1174962624/0#7 date=1174978354
    I have a small plastic concertina style pump that forces a blast of air down the top of the grinder which blows the chute clean.
    Ive got a lens cleaner around here somewhere that I can try. For the more hard core blow out I have used the 40L compressor downstairs!

    Originally posted by luca link=1174962624/0#12 date=1175089573
    Id bet that it was manufactured for LM by conti valerio.
    I reckon youd be dead right. That fluted glass model looks like a modernised version of the other vintage grinder LM marketed.

    Regards,
    Phil

  • #2
    Re: Pictures of vintage La Marzocco Vulcano

    A lens cleaner might not have enough puff.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Pictures of vintage La Marzocco Vulcano

      Originally posted by Thundergod link=1174962624/0#14 date=1175149528
      A lens cleaner might not have enough puff.
      Back in my darkroom days, I used to have plastic reagent bottles of about 1L capacity that had concertinad walls to minimise airspace. They had about a 2" cap, which wouldve been a great fit for the mouth of the grinder. Alas, all gone....

      Regards,
      Phil

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Pictures of vintage La Marzocco Vulcano

        Originally posted by phil jeffery link=1174962624/15#15 date=1175149883
        Back in my darkroom days, I used to have plastic reagent bottles of about 1L capacity that had concertinad walls to minimise airspace. They had about a 2" cap, which wouldve been a great fit for the mouth of the grinder. Alas, all gone....

        Regards,
        Phil
        I never understood that obsession with clearing out the exit chute. Yes, it looks terrible, but if you dismantle the burr set after grinding, without cleaning anything out, arent you going to find a whole bunch of coffee immediately outside the burrs? (Take a look at the two sweepers outside where the burrs sit in the seventh photo in this thread) So if you just focus on purging out the exit chute and then grind, youre only getting rid of some of the stale coffee. The only way to get rid of it all is to grind a bit to purge the coffee out.

        ... or am I jumping to conclusions/missing something/just plain wrong?

        Cheers,

        Luca

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Pictures of vintage La Marzocco Vulcano

          Originally posted by luca link=1174962624/15#16 date=1175168347
          I never understood that obsession with clearing out the exit chute. Yes, it looks terrible, but if you dismantle the burr set after grinding, without cleaning anything out, arent you going to find a whole bunch of coffee immediately outside the burrs? (Take a look at the two sweepers outside where the burrs sit in the seventh photo in this thread) So if you just focus on purging out the exit chute and then grind, youre only getting rid of some of the stale coffee. The only way to get rid of it all is to grind a bit to purge the coffee out.

          ... or am I jumping to conclusions/missing something/just plain wrong?

          Cheers,

          Luca
          Word. Brushing out the chute is not only a waste of time, but futile...unless I am transporting my grinder and dont want ground coffee on my car floor if the grinder falls over.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Pictures of vintage La Marzocco Vulcano

            I find that if I can brush out the chute easily with a thin artists brush.
            A final burst of the grinder usually spits another small amount of grinds which I can also brush out.
            This all goes into the basket to minimise waste.

            I know there is a very, very small amount of grinds left over because when Im cleaning the grinder I can blow those remaining bits though with my pump.
            But the amount is very minimal.
            There is also a few grinds left in the doser (it needs the sweeper tape mod).

            Yes there also seems to be some grounds stuck on the burrs that I brush loose during cleaning.

            It is very easy to get most of my freshly ground bean into my basket using a brush to clear the chute.
            I consider the amount in the chute worth reclaiming.
            If I dont it holds back the first of the next grind and that wastes even more as Id have to make sure I grind enough to clear the stale stuff.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Cleaning your grinder?

              Luca,

              I guess the whole espresso routine is seen by the average person as obsessive. I feel that clearing the exit chute has a practical purpose however. Being for home use, I only grind on demand, so anything that stays in the chute means I end up with insufficient in my filter basket. Id rather not leave grounds in there to get stale and wasted either.

              The sweepers that you mention and the vanes on the underside (see pic) in conjunction with the motor speed do a good job of keeping that area clear of grounds to all intents and purposes; so the only bottleneck is the chute. As I mention, I use a spatula, itd just be nice not to have to.

              Regards,
              Phil

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Cleaning your grinder?

                I dunno - dont mean this as send-up, but to get a skerric of sienna out while shuffling to make a shot seems a short-cut to schizophrenia

                I love a bit of alliteration late at night

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Cleaning your grinder?

                  Has anyone had an experience using the Urnex product "Grinz" to clean their grinder?

                  The product is a non-toxic product that goes through the grinder (inplace of the beans) and absorbs the oils.

                  Thoughts appreciated.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Cleaning your grinder?

                    Hi Glikatho,

                    Ive been researching brushes (in a different thread) but I saw your question about this particular product, and it got my attention.

                    I think the correct spelling is "Grindz"

                    Ive not seen it before, but on the manufacturers website it is described as:

                    "The world’s first and only product for cleaning coffee grinders, Grindz™ Grinder Cleaner is a patent-pending innovation launched in June of 2005.  The product is an all-natural, food-safe, and flavour neutral combination presented in coffee bean shaped tablets.  Grindz™ quickly and effectively removes stale coffee residue and flavoured coffee odors from the internal burrs and casings of coffee grinders.  Requiring no grinder disassembly, Grindz™ users simply run the product through the machine just like coffee. "

                    Sounds good to me. I like how theyve made the product into coffee bean shaped tablets.

                    I hope that by bumping up this thread, someone may be able to comment on Grindz.



                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Cleaning your grinder?

                      Ive used Grindz a few times. It does a great job of cleaning the burr teeth, far better than I could achieve myself manually. Expensive and not sure how often one would need to do it on a home grinder (once a year?). Every few months I just break down the burr carrier area, poke around with a toothpick and vacuum cleaner. Cant afford to use Grindz too often. Probably be great in a commercial environment.

                      http://temesblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/cleaning-mazzer-mini-e.html
                      http://www.home-barista.com/forums/urnex-grindz-espresso-grinder-cleaner-before-after-photos-t63.html
                      A reply from one of the people at Urnex is on home-barista.com

                      I did want to offer a few insights into our development process if you are interested... I noticed a lot of people talking about using rice or oatmeal or other organic products. Believe me, as the mad wizard behind Grindz, I personally tried (or oversaw the testing of) hundreds of items and formulations to get what we have now... The problem with some of the more traditionally mentioned items came down to three issues:
                      Dust and ability to be purged,
                      Chance of locking up motors,
                      Ability to absorb oily residue.
                      We found rice to leave huge starchy/dusty residues that just could not be removed easily. It also had a tendency to lock up the burrs if the setting was too fine or the relative humidity was too high. What Im saying is that the small particles fell between the burrs and never left. As more piled up you got a cake of rice that was strong enough to hold up the revolutions of the burrs. Of course, this causes a major risk to burning out a motor. We saw similar results with oatmeal and many other similar textured products.

                      Looking to avoid this problem, we found some other products that were just way too hard. They were natural and safe, but a few even chewed up some lesser quality burrs.

                      The goal with Grindz Grinder Cleaner was to find the right combination of hardness and oil absorbing properties from a number of different ingredients that all did good things when passed through a grinder. We needed something hard enough to mechanically push coffee grounds out of the crevasses, but spongy enough to absorb oily residue. Of course, it all had to fit into the grinder AND could not carry the risk of locking the burrs with the motor running.

                      Hope that helps you a little in your travels and discussions. All feedback is always welcome. It helps us to make better products. We try to incorporate everything we hear back into our development process. Thanks again.

                      Josh

                      P.S. I noticed someone mentioning the size of the jar was too large for the home user. Partially in response, we are already in development on a consumer package that will be somewhere around 2-4 uses per jar. It might serve as both corporate sampling and a consumer resale item through some of our distributor partners (bricks and mortar or web based).

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Cleaning your grinder?

                        Ive ordered some off the internet.  Should get to me at some stage, hopefully soon.  Ive noticed that theres a really rancid sort of smell coming from the grinder, which I suspect is old coffee oils. :-X

                        This stuff seems very pricey, so I bought the biggest bottle there is - Ive only used my grinder for 3 weeks and it smells, so I think Ill be cleaning it on a fairly regular basis, i.e. maybe once every month. Ill report back once Ive tried the product. 8-)

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Cleaning your grinder?

                          Ive ordered some off the internet. Should get to me at some stage, hopefully soon. Ive noticed that theres a really rancid sort of smell coming from the grinder, which I suspect is old coffee oils.
                          Hi TTV8, Have you tried the Klik-Klak lid mod, it does a good job blowing the grinds out before they go stale.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Cleaning your grinder?

                            3 weeks?

                            Doesnt sound right.

                            Even if it wasnt cleaned out often, the older grinds should be pushed through by the fresh grinds and Im assuming you are grinding daily.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Cleaning your grinder?

                              Originally posted by tempestv8 link=1175149027/0#11 date=1177932307
                              Ive noticed that theres a really rancid sort of smell coming from the grinder, which I suspect is old coffee oils. :-X

                              ...Ive only used my grinder for 3 weeks and it smells, so I think Ill be cleaning it on a fairly regular basis, i.e. maybe once every month. Ill report back once Ive tried the product. 8-)
                              Im presuming your grinder was new 3 weeks ago and not 2nd hand. If the machine is fairly new, maybe the rancid smell might be something like a machine lubricant that is heating up when the machine is running?

                              Comment

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