Cleaning your coffee grinder with rice actually works

How to clean your coffee grinder

There's absolutely nothing better than the smell or sound of grinding fresh coffee beans. It's the only sound that wakes me up in the morning, second to the heavenly noises of a coffee maker brewing a morning elixir to bring me to life.

But with great coffee comes great responsibility. Grinding your own coffee beans in a blade grinder can leave quite the mess, and how are you supposed to keep it clean? Similar to your auto-drip coffee maker or your single-serve coffee machine, it's extremely important to keep your coffee equipment clean. 

Coffee has a natural oil that can build up over time, which makes it difficult to clean. Plus, coffee dust can also build up in hard-to-reach places. A wet cloth can only go so far. If you leave your grinders uncleaned, it can affect the taste of your brew (especially if you add some spices into your coffee here and there). 

Luckily, there's one genius method that actually works—rice. Grinding rice in your grinder helps remove oils and dust that can build up over time in your coffee grinder. 

What you need: 

• 1/4 cup uncooked rice
• Paper towels
• Water
• Grinder (obviously)

Instructions: 

1. Put 1/4 cup of rice in your blade grinder and grind for about a minute (until it's pulverized). Once it's pulverized, oils and dust should cling to the rice. 
2. Dump the pulverized rice out of of the grinder. 
3. Using a wet paper towel, wipe out the grinder. 
4. Repeat weekly or whenever your grinder needs cleaning!

And just like that, your coffee grinder will be as clean as the day you first bought. 

[Featured Image Source: Food52]