Coffee Maker Geek: Tricks to Remove Static from a Coffee Grinder Easily

What is my (and probably yours, too) #1 headache grinding coffee? The static!

But don't you love some freshly ground coffee beans? Are you at the level where you write down the date of grinding? I'm not, lol! But I admire that. If you are, though, you are probably somebody who is particularly aggravated by static scattering your precious coffee grounds.

Here are some tips to help you easily get red of this common nuisance -- grinder static!

How to Remove Static from a Coffee Grinder Easily

#1 Trick for Removing Coffee Grinder Static by Connecting the Ground Wire to the Burr [Some Electrical Know-How Required]

Ground your grinder's grounds!

My coffee grinder (a DF64) was driving me to madness with its static issues. Coffee was literally flying up onto the grinder. I was losing over a gram or more to flying grinds.

So here's what I did. I opened up the coffee grinder, located the ground wire, and attached that to the burr chamber.

Static gone!

Why? The coffee grinder's body can no longer hold a charge. No charge, no static. Thank you, Saint Drogo, patron saint of coffee.

So again, connect one end of the wire to the metal base of the burr chamber. Splice the other end of the wire onto a ground wire from the power cable. Any ground wire should work. That's typically any black or green-coated wire.

So what if you connect the red wire instead of the black wire? Quick way to turn your coffee grinder into a coffee roaster!

So why aren't grinders made like this? It's just one, short length of wire. The connection required just a little conductive tape. No soldering required. There may be a good manufacturing or legal reason not to do this. So heads up!

But the proof's in the pudding ...

My DF64 coffee grinder performs so much better now. This technique even seems to be preventing the chute clogs that plague coffee grinders.

Here are some DF64 grinders that you can use this technique on:

All of these are sleek and have a relatively small footprint, too.

Here's a nice D64 coffee grinder from MiiCoffee:

Here's a 2nd generation coffee bean grinder from Fellow. It has handy, separate settings for drip, French press & cold brew:

And here's a coffee bean grinder from Baratza, the Encore ESP:

Sidenote: What does DF64, SD40, DF83, and DF64E mean? What does that DF number mean for Coffee Grinders? And What's a Coffee Grinder Burr?

These coffee grinder numbers refer to the millimeters of the burr.

DF64, for example, uses 64 millimeter flat burrs. These standard sizes makes it relatively easy to purchase new burrs or explore different options than just the stock burrs.

Well, you might ask, what's the burr?

The burr is the cutting mechanism in a coffee grinder. Coffee grinder burrs are usually made from cast or machined metal. Ideally, they are sharp to the touch. Be careful, a new burr can easily slice you up.

Burrs cut your coffee beans as opposed to crushing them, which is what a blade coffee grinder does, for example. Burrs are more precise than a blade grinder.

A coffee grinder uses multiple burrs. One burrs is fixed or stationary. The other burr rotates beans against the stationary burr using an electric motor (the source of all that static) or, in the case of the manual coffee grinder, hand power.

Not all coffee grinder burrs are made from steel. Reinforced ceramics are also used for burrs. Ceramic burrs stay sharp longer than steel. That's the pro. The con is that they are more brittle than steel.

#2 Trick for Removing Coffee Grinder Static by the Ross Droplet Technique

The last technique used a wire to ground all that excess electricity that was creating the static electricity. This technique uses some water droplets.

You can use water droplets to create a "conducive environment" for the coffee to reduce the amount of static built up when grinding.

Just add a drop or two of water to your beans before grinding!

This is known as the Ross Droplet Technique. This coffee grinder droplet technique was introduced to the home barista community back in 2005. Perhaps named for Central Perk's Ross Gellar? Who can say for sure?

Here are the steps. It’s super simple. Maybe not as sure fire as the wiring option above, but a lot less complex.

Weigh out your coffee beans. Just like normal.
Gently wet the back of a spoon with a droplet or two of water. We're trying to use only a tiny amount of water. Wetting the back of spoon -- not the bowl! -- means you're only getting the water molecules that stay adhered to the metal. Make sense?
Stir your beans with the moistened spoon.
Grind right away! Add your coffee beans to the hopper.

Here's the trick! Use only the tiniest amount of water. We're dealing with electrical components, so too much water can damage the coffee grinder. Coffee grinders aren't rated for rainforest-level moisture content.

Here's another trick! The Ross Droplet trick works only for single-dose brewing. The slightest bit of water, when added to coffee beans, starts to break down the natural compounds responsible for the coffee's flavor. So grind the coffee beans immediately.

#3 Trick for Removing Coffee Grinder Static the Old-Fashioned Way

Get a manual coffee grinder! You may hate this option, but hey! It works.

Here are some great, modernized, updated versions of the manual coffee grinder:

This one is a sleek, stainless steel option by JavaPresse, a manufacturer I like. It's especially good for use while camping with the family. Do I mention family camping enough? Ahhh, fresh, fireside camp coffee.

Here's the Cardellino Premium Manual Coffee Grinder. It's all stainless steel except for the aluminum housing. The grinding burr of this one is conical, as opposed to flat. The grinding burr is 5-axis with 12 different, adjustable settings:

Here's a manual Coffee Grinder with ceramic burrs. I wrote about the pros and cons of ceramic versus steel burrs above. This is the Triple Tree Hand Coffee Mill with Two 11oz Glass Jars, plus a brush and tablespoon scoop:

While we're talking about Grinding Coffee ...

Handy Coffee Grind Size Charts

Here are some handy Coffee Grind Size Charts to help you decipher your grinding needs and what all this means:

Coffee Grind Size Chart, from honestcoffeeguide.com

LEGAL DISCLAIMER for Removing Static from your Coffee Grinder

DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY WIRING OF ANY KIND if you lack the knowledge and understanding required. Otherwise personal injury and/or death as well as property damage or loss could occur. Electricity is dangerous and can cause personal injury or DEATH as well as other property loss or damage if not used or constructed properly.

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