Time for an intervention? My Preciso cleaning routine

Confession: I like to keep my coffee gear in decent shape. I don’t consider myself a fanatic about it though. For example, as far as I know my Clever dripper has never encountered a cleansing agent other than hot water. Still, it doesn’t seem reasonable to expect a coffee geek like myself who may or may not have OCD tendencies to self-diagnose! For that reason, I figured I’d describe my usual grinder cleaning practice and solicit your expert feedback on the issue of whether or not I need an intervention.

Potentially relevant before I dive in: I single-dose, mostly because I like variety. In other words, the hopper doesn’t get used. This might change once my Esatto arrives. Did you notice it’s available now on ROASTe, by the way?

After grinding, I get the coffee brewing (often in the Eva Solo with an iPhone timer counting down from 4:00) and then do the following:

1. Vacuum the Preciso’s chute from the bottom with the grounds bin removed using a dustbuster with a telescoping crevice tool, which features a beveled edge that works well for this application. The Preciso has what’s generally accepted as low grind retention—on the order of 0.4-0.5 grams in my experience—but I don’t let that reassure me.

2. Reinsert the grounds bin, remove the hopper lid, and brush the interior of the hopper so that any stray bits of ground coffee or chaff fall into the general area of the burrs.

3. Remove the hopper and brush these bits and any others I find along the sides of the rubber gasket down in between the burrs.

4. Reattach the hopper and, while pushing the button to grind, rotate it clockwise to about setting #20 (finer) and then back up to the coarse end where I’m normally at (in the vicinity of setting #34). I believe but can’t quite prove that this helps keep the burrs free of gunk.

5. Pulse a few times after giving the grinder a few gentle knocks on its left side to free up any ground coffee that might still be stuck.

6. Remove the grounds bin and brush any fines into the trash.

This all takes maybe 2 minutes and is completed well before my coffee timer goes off. I do sometimes postpone the routine if the baby’s sleeping nearby (dustbuster noise) or if I’m grinding for espresso (no down time during the process), but it always gets done before the Preciso’s next use. Anyway, thoughts? Too much? Don’t hold back! In the meantime, maybe I’ll go see about soaking that Clever in JoeGlo or something…