Cleaning the Mazzer Mini E

I've owned my Mini E just over 7 months now. How many times have I actually given it a thorough clean? I have to admit that to date I have never taken the upper burr off and my grinder cleaning routines with the Mazzer have so far been limited to the bi-weekly vacuuming the burr area and swiping the hopper clean with a paper towel. A month ago I purchased some Urnex Grindz grinder cleaner but so far I have only run it through the Mazzer once. I guess the main reason for not partially disassembling the grinder before are the horror stories claiming that cleaning the Mazzer is difficult.

A friend, Mads, had had the same concerns with his Macap and he suggested that we get together and do ourselves (and our grinders) a favour a give them a thorough cleaning. The dirty upper burr wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - the burrs apparently pretty much clean themselves (although the fact that I did run some Grindz through a few weeks ago might also play a part).


The lower burr itself wasn't too bad, either, but the need for cleaning is more apparent here. Below are the pictures showing both burrs after a quick clean with a couple of brushes, some toothpicks and a chopstick. Having now taken the grinder apart and cleaned it, I have to say that taking the upper burr off the Mazzer is almost as simple as it was on the Rocky.


Here's the how-to:

1) Unplug the grinder
2) Take off the hopper and wipe it clean
3) Remove the stop screw on the grinder adjustment collar (observe the grind setting you have at this time)
4) Turn the collar clockwise until it comes off


5) Once the collar is removed, just lift out the upper burr out
6) Clean the both burrs and vacuum (take out the three tension springs to help in cleaning and to ensure that hey do not end up in the vacuum cleaner)
7) Make sure the threads are clean, put the tension springs back into their slots and put the top burr back on
8) Put collar back on and turn it clockwise while pressing it down slightly

9) When you feel / hear the collar nudge into the position where the first thread engages, start turning the collar counter-clockwise. Keep doing this until the burrs touch and then come back until you are at the same grinder setting you had before taking the upper burr off. Make sure that you do not cross-thread (if you feel resistance, back off and try again).
10) Reattach stop screw to collar, reattach the hopper and voilá, you are done!

This was so much easier than I thought it would be and there is no need for two people to do this. Oh why had I put this off for so long?

While I was working on the grinder I noted that the area that probably benefited most from the cleaning was the chute leading from the burrs into the funnel. In the Mini E this only a short ledge (compared to other grinders I have seen), but I noted that coffee tends to collect there and to some extent clog the chute. The wire mesh that is placed there to break coffee clumps and prevent static accentuates the clogging.


Since I had had the finger guard in place in the fear that its removal would cause static problems, the chute area really is not accessible for cleaning. I decided to take the finger guard off to allow for easier access to the chute. My impression is that the removal of the finger guard does not cause any problems.