Top Tips for Maintaining Your Coffee Machine

You have splashed out and bought an expensive coffee machine for your home where you have fresh coffee on tap. You enjoy making your own coffee at home whenever you want but like any other appliance you must take the time to maintain your coffee machine to have the best tasting coffee all day, every day. Here are some top tips for ensuring your coffee stays fresh and your coffee maker stays as clean as the day you bought it.

1. Get into a routine of cleaning your coffee maker thoroughly. Ideally this should be once a week to stop the buildup of residue of mineral deposits. Water, particularly hard water, contains a lot of calcium and minerals that don’t do us any harm, but build up on appliances such as coffee makers and washing machines. The buildup must be regularly removed to ensure our appliances continue to work at their best. Set aside some time aside every weekend to clean all parts of your coffee machine to ensure it stays as close to perfect working order as possible.

2. Baking soda is a great way to remove stains on the glass carafe. Dilute a teaspoon of baking soda in warm water and rinse through the carafe. If there is a particularly stained portion of the carafe or anywhere else, gently scrub with dry baking soda and then rinse with warm water. The emphasis is on gentle, as you don’t want to scratch your coffee maker.

3. Vinegar is one of the most versatile products around and has been used for thousands of years for cleaning, medical, beauty as well as cooking uses. To use in removing mineral build-ups, mix a solution of 50% white vinegar with 50% warm water and then pour the mixture into the coffee pot and turn it on. The acidic properties of vinegar break down the mineral deposits and flush them out of the machine. If you have not cleaned your coffee maker for a while, then repeat this step to flush out all mineral build-up.

4. Remove all traces of vinegar from the coffee maker. Vinegar will not do you any harm but it may make your coffee taste or smell more than a little usual. The best way to get rid of the vinegar smell and taste is to run water through the coffee machine several times to ensure all vinegar residue is removed.

5. If you are not keen on vinegar and prefer not to use it to clean your coffee maker, you can use fresh lemon juice to do a similar function in removing mineral deposits. Squeeze the juice of a fresh lemon into warm water and run it through the machine. Rinse out afterwards with clear water to remove any lingering build-up or smell.

6. Ensure you thoroughly dry the coffee pot after cleaning. Ideally, use a soft cloth and make sure you get into all the corners so that mould does not have the opportunity grow in whatever drops of water remain.

7. Don’t forget to change your filters regularly.

8. Finally, make sure you handle the carafe with care. Glass can break easily and although you can buy new carafes, it will mean you are without your coffee machine – and more importantly, coffee – until you get the replacement.

Looking after your expensive coffee maker should not take very long and you will see the benefits immediately. Get into the habit of cleaning it on a regular basis to ensure your machine lasts a long time and that you can enjoy fresh coffee whenever you want.