Anyone have a solution to the Static Cling issue you get with electric burr mills ?

[MikeLoeven]

I recently got a new burr mill and I have been having some issues with nearly half the grinds sticking to the side of the plastic container and not pouring out into the basket without using a brush and having them get all over the place and stick to your clothes and hands. Seems as though they are getting statically charged and i was wondering if anyone knows a trick to deal with this ?

 

[CCafe]

Tell us first what you bought so we can help you?

 

[PinkRose]

Check out this website: Scroll down and read what other people have tried

Avoiding static with a burr coffee grinder - Page 3 - Chowhound

www.chowhound.com/post/avoiding-static-burr-coffee-grinder-306707

 

[PinkRose]

One interesting post says "Keep a metal jar lid inside the container. The coffee falls onto the lid as it's ground, and something scientific happens, solving the problem. The lid must be metal, of course, not plastic, and as large as will fit in the container. Mine is from Smuckers peanut butter."


Another one says "At last I found a solution! It is surprisingly low tech, but works every time with our Virtuoso. Just take a stainless steel fork, spoon, or knife, and stir the ground coffee in the plastic receptacle. After a few stirs, the static is gone and you can pour the ground coffee into the filter without a mess.

And a third one says" Cut a strip of tinfoil about 1 inch wide and as wide as my roll of foil. I draped it over the side of the ground coffee receptacle equal amounts on each side (in and out) . Put on the cover, grind, and the coffee grounds stick to the piece of foil. When I open the cover I gently shake the grounds off the foil and no mess."

Please let us know what you've tried and what works for you.

Rose

 

[MikeLoeven]

Its a Cuisinart DBM-8 btw

 

[CCafe]

Well I'll tell you from the bottom of my heart that thing is the most worthless grinder I've ever owned.

So here's what I want you to do:

1. Grind a batch of coffee.
2. Without disturbing what is on the corner dump your coffee carefully in bowl.
3. Now carefully remove what has built up in the corner.
4. Compare the grind of what is in the corner to the grind of what is in the bowl.

What you will notice is that you don't have a static issue. This grinder has grind issues and for some reason it blows out extra fine particulate that compounds on the corner of your plastic bin. The problem is the coffee is so fine that it has almost the same consistency as powdered sugar. Its so fine that you can't even make espresso with it, I know as I've tried.

I originally bought this grinder for my church to help make better coffee, but when I realized it wasn't going to cut it I bought them a Bunn LPG and took the Cuisinart home. I had that grinder for about 8 years before the hopper snapped and was so disappointed with it I have never replaced it.

 

[shadow745]

Totally agree with the Cuisinart being total garbage. Been there, done that! Just a handful of variables that cause static are inferior materials being used for the grinder, burr design/material/speed, roast level of coffee, lack of humidity... Best electric grinder I have used for lack of static (and grind retention) is a Baratza Vario. The ceramic burrs no doubt help with this... Since the circuitry in it took a dump awhile back I resorted back to hand grinding in a 60+ year old KyM copper hand mill (stepless design). The fact that I get a superb espresso range grind with this hand mill and absolutely no retention, mess or static solidifies the fact that a good hand mill can hang with the better prosumer grinders on the market. Sorry for the rant (not really, lmao)!

 

[MikeLoeven]

Totally agree with the Cuisinart being total garbage. Been there, done that! Just a handful of variables that cause static are inferior materials being used for the grinder, burr design/material/speed, roast level of coffee, lack of humidity... Best electric grinder I have used for lack of static (and grind retention) is a Baratza Vario. The ceramic burrs no doubt help with this... Since the circuitry in it took a dump awhile back I resorted back to hand grinding in a 60+ year old KyM copper hand mill (stepless design). The fact that I get a superb espresso range grind with this hand mill and absolutely no retention, mess or static solidifies the fact that a good hand mill can hang with the better prosumer grinders on the market. Sorry for the rant (not really, lmao)!

Except its the only burr grinder i can actually afford if you can find me a better one for under $50 ill be in your debt
but its still an improvement over my last grinder which was basically a $5 pepper mill jury rigged to run off a hand drill

 

[topher]

I need to see a picture of the pepper grinder you modded..thats awesome!

 

[shadow745]

Except its the only burr grinder i can actually afford if you can find me a better one for under $50 ill be in your debt
but its still an improvement over my last grinder which was basically a $5 pepper mill jury rigged to run off a hand drill

Yeah I can definitely relate to that as I have never had a lot of $ to spend on equipment, but made due with what I have had. One thing I've seen done to minimize static is a few drops of water added to the coffee before grinding. Not like saturating them, but just a couple of drops.

 

[MikeLoeven]

I need to see a picture of the pepper grinder you modded..thats awesome!

Its actually really basic i just took off the crank and screwed the chuck onto the drive shaft

Hold the mill in one hand to keep it from rotating freely and pull the trigger with the other

 

[topher]

Thanks for sharing..that's pretty bad ass!

 

[CCafe]

If I didn't know any better I'd say that drill has a silencer on it!