Baratza Encore Cleaning—How & How Often?

Even the most expensive grinders need cleaning—Baratza encores are no different. Luckily, the Baratza Encore is exceptionally easy to clean: it requires no tools other than the cleaning brush that comes with the grinder. 

How often should I clean my Baratza grinder?

Conventional wisdom states you should clean any coffee or espresso grinder every 1–3 months. The actual answer, however, depends on how and how often you use the grinder. 

Dark roast beans are more oily than light roasts, so if you use those regularly you may want to clean your grinder a bit more consistently—once a month. 

If you prefer light roasts, or if you don’t use your grinder all that often, you can probably get away with cleaning your grinder quarterly. 

You might also want to consider cleaning your grinder every time you switch beans—this way you’ll be able to fully appreciate the flavor of your beans without residual grounds from old beans impacting the flavor of your coffee. 

How do I clean my Baratza grinder?

1. Start by emptying any beans you have remaining in your hopper into a bowl. If you don’t, you won’t just have a big mess on your hands—you’ll waste a lot of coffee too. 
2. Turn the grinder on to make sure any beans that were in the grind chamber are ground out into the bin. 
3. Unplug your grinder—the last thing you want is to accidentally turn the grinder on while your fingers are in it. 
4. Remove the ground coffee bin and empty any grounds into the trash. Set the bin aside. 
5. Turn the bean hopper counterclockwise as far as it goes. Then, simply lift it upwards to remove it. 
6. Lift the rubber gasket out from underneath where the hopper sat. 
7. Remove the ring burr—you should just be able to pull it straight up, though it may require a little wiggling to get it loose. 
8. Wash the hopper and grounds bin with warm, soapy water and place them in a drying rack. 
9. You should also wash the gasket with warm soapy water, but be careful—it’s on the delicate side, and you could tear it by accident.
10. Use the cleaning brush (included with your grinder) to dry-scrub the ring burr from both sides to remove all coffee residuals. 
11. DO NOT GET THE BURR WET—it’s not made of stainless steel, and is rather prone to rusting.  
12. Clean the cone burr from the top with the brush. 
13. Invert the grinder and gently knock it to dislodge built-up grounds. 
14. Repeat steps 12 and 13. 
15. From underneath the grinding chamber, use the brush to further clean the cone burr. 
16. Knock the grinder to dislodge grounds. 
17. This won’t get 100% of the grounds out of the chamber, and that’s ok. 
18. If you want, however, you can use an air compressor to blow out any remaining grounds. 
19. Once your hopper and grounds bin are dry, you can reassemble your grinder! When replacing the ring burr, line the red mark on the burr up with the red mark on the grinder. It should settle nicely into place.