As part of trying to move into the world of freshly ground coffee I’ve been doing some haphazard reading into tips in the use and care of coffee grinders. One idea that pops up is the idea of seasoning a new grinder by running cheap coffee through it before using it for real. Some sources claim it isn’t needed with others recommending it. Of those that recommend it they don’t all agree on why it should be done, how much coffee should be sacrificed, and just how necessary it is (best practice vs. essential).
I suspect that the lack of consensus may be a case of people chasing every improvement possible on one hand and folks not willing to invest quite so much effort to that aim on the other. Any insights and information would be appreciated.
What even is seasoning a grinder? My assumption is just that you’re filling up micro pores in the metal with fines.
You could probably just grind about 10g of coffee beans almost as fine as possible. It shouldn’t take much. If you don’t want to waste it, use the results in a baking dish like chocolate chip cookies or brownies. It can add some richness to counteract the sugar.
A home grinder isn’t going to be that fussy.
I also think that just beginning to use it normally is fine too. The only reason not to would be the idea that an unseasoned grinder somehow ruins the resulting first coffee, which is clearly not true. And seasoning with shit coffee is just gonna make your coffee taste a little bit shittier.