Cleaning bean hopper for grinder

[grinderz]

When we had smoke damage in our house, a strong mixture of Simple Green and TSP was the bomb for removing nasty, greasy smoke residue. Since then I've used it to clean a lot of stuff to great effect.

Personally, I would use Cafiza on it as I know it cuts the coffee grime and I've never noticed any ill effects on the plastic items I've used it on.

[Badam]

For what its worth, this is the hopper/doser combo I cleaned with Cafiza. I had no issues with any hazing.   

TSP is a moderately strong base (pH=~12) which might not be tolerated by the (usually) polycarbonate hopper at high concentrations. However, at high concentrations, citric acid and phosphoric acid will not be any more tolerable, possibly less.

[peter]

I dissolve TSP and Cafiza, and then run about a cup through my grinder to clean the burrs.  Is that bad?   

[ptrmorton]

I dissolve TSP and Cafiza, and then run about a cup through my grinder to clean the burrs.  Is that bad?

How bad can it be?  Unbelievably, TSP is still an FDA approved food additive!    Plus, Barista will love refurbishing your grinder when you get out of the hospital.

[Badam]

I dissolve TSP and Cafiza, and then run about a cup through my grinder to clean the burrs.  Is that bad?   

No way! Just make sure to pour about 5 cups of water through to rinse! ;P


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[sloanhoo]

A bit late to the discussion, but I have a question: Why do you need to "clean" the grinder at all using soap or any chemicals? The best solution offered here seems to be to a) take it apart and brush off the coffee dust, and b) use vegetable oil for the rest. I assume that the oiled grinder will have a few rounds of throw-away beans run through it before use to suck up the oil (defeating the purpose of the oil?)

Here's what I do for your consideration:
1-Take it apart and wipe with a clean, dry cloth as much as possible.
2-Reassemble and run a couple batches of dry oats through it to collect stale oil.
3-Run one small batch of throw-away beans through to flush out the oats.

I don't remember where I read about this cleaning technique, but it works for freshening up the machine, eg, removing stale oils. Beyond that, it is a used grinder--who is expecting a factory new gift?