How to clean a coffee mill

Peugeot coffee mills are elegant, timeless pieces made with excellence, designed to extract the entire range of aromas from coffee while respecting its fine flavour.

Take the time to grind your own coffee beans as part of your coffee ritual and you will be rewarded. Enjoy the intensity of fresh coffee that you have carefully made yourself, an experience unlike any other.

The unique knowledge of how to look after your coffee mill has been passed down over the years. This vital skill is not only important to make sure your mill works well and lasts the years, but also to avoid giving your coffee an unpleasant taste from a build-up of ground residue.

As a general rule, coffee goes rancid quickly. Cleaning your mill means you won’t be making coffee with stale grounds mixed in.

For all these reasons, you should thoroughly clean your coffee mill on a regular basis.

Peugeot manual coffee mills are made with high quality materials for a precise grind, the first step in making excellent coffee. For the best possible result, these materials require the greatest attention and care.

For the best upkeep of your coffee mill, we strongly recommend that you clean the mechanism each time you use it, so as not to let residue get encrusted on. This also means that cleaning will be faster and easier, as coffee grounds will be cleaned out before they get embedded in the mechanism.

We recommend that you deep clean your coffee mill approximately every three months.

There are a few different signs that you need to clean it:

• The handle is slow to turn or shows resistance when you grind the beans,
• The grind is not as good,
• There is a rancid taste from the oil that comes out of the coffee when it is ground.

1. Step 1: Unscrew the notched wheel that adjusts the grind setting

If you have a coffee mill like the Nostalgie or the Antique, first you need to unscrew the notched adjustment wheel under the handle as much as possible (turn it anticlockwise as far as you can). You will reach the coarsest possible grind setting.

If the mechanism and body of your mill are inseparable like the Brésil coffee mill, you will need to unscrew the bottom of the mill to access and clean the mechanism.

2. Step 2: Clean the stainless steel components

Peugot coffee mill mechanisms are made from stainless steel. To clean this kind of material, you will need a brush that is clean and dry.

First, remove the coffee grounds drawer and use the brush to remove coffee residue. Be sure that there is no coffee left in the hopper. Then open the hopper and repeat the cleaning process using the brush.

The mechanism is made of two parts. When the adjustment wheel is set to the coarsest grind, the two parts will separate from each other and can be cleaned using the brush.

3. Step 3: Cleaning and maintaining the wooden body

To remove any old varnish marks or dust on the wooden part of the mill, gently rub the wood with a slightly damp cloth, going with the grain. Once you have done so, the final step is to oil the body using a brush or cloth. If the wood is very dry, oil it several times before polishing it using a cloth.

Note: Do not apply oil inside the mill, otherwise the coffee will be contaminated by oil.

Once you have cleaned your coffee mill, you can place it back on the table, ready to greet you first thing in the morning.