Coffee grinders need regular cleaning to keep them running at peak performance just like an espresso machine. A few things you can do to keep your grinder maintenanced is to remove the upper and lower burr carriers and clean old grounds and oils that have built up in areas which should be clear to disipate heat. Make sure that all pieces are surgically clean upon assembly. Certain items which previously where lubricated with food safe grease can get re-applied (there is no need to add more than what was previously applied as more is not better!).

Part of the maintenance schedule involves keeping track of how much coffee has been ground through a set of burrs. Each burr set is rated for a certain amount of ground coffee and which then should be replaced. If you have no idea how much coffee has gone through your grinder, you can check by removing the upper burr carrier and running a finger nail across the upper and lower burr and a sharp burr will remove a fine sliver of finger nail. Below is a guide for different manufactuer’s recommendations on burr replacement.

Manufacturers Burr Lifespan Recommendation:

Anfim Caimano (75mm flat burr) – change at 1,300lbs throughput

Bunn G Series – change at 40,000lbs throughput

La Marzocco Swift (64mm ceramic flat burr) – change at 3,300lbs coffee throughput

Mahlkonig K30 – change at 1600lbs coffee throughput

Mahlkonig EK43 – change at 14,300lbs coffee throughput

Mahlkonig Tanzania – change at 8,000-10,000lbs coffee throughput

Mazzer Mini (58mm flat burr) – change at 660lbs coffee throughput

Mazzer Mini E – (64mm flat burr) – change at 660lbs of coffee throughput

Mazzer Super Jolly (64mm flat burr) – change at 880lbs coffee throughput

Mazzer Major (83mm flat burr) – change at 1,300lbs coffee throughput

Mazzer Kony (63mm conical burr) – change at 1,640lbs coffee throughput

Mazzer Robur 110V (71mm conical burr) – change at 1,700lbs coffee throughput

Mazzer Robur 220V Three Phase (83mm conical burr) – change at 1,800lbs coffee throughput

Nouva Simonelli MDX (64mm flat burr) – change at 1,200lbs coffee throughput

Nouva Simonelli Mythos (75mm flat titanium burr) – change at 1,500lbs coffee throughput