Five Tips to Care for your Coffee Maker

Coffee Makers Proud owners of coffee makers will know that once you let one into your life, it’s difficult to live without it. So we’ve come up with five of the best tips to keep your coffee machine healthy and happy.

Descale

Over time, limescale and other impurities can build up inside your coffee maker, which can significantly shorten its lifespan and cause permanent damage. If left untreated it will also prevent the boiler from heating properly and impair the taste of your coffee.

Regular descaling of your coffee maker keeps the internal components clean and hygienic without leaving any residue. As a guide you should aim to descale around every 400 coffees, or every 4-6 months, but do check the manufacturer’s instructions. You can find coffee maker descalers that are suitable for use with all of the major brands.

Keep it Clean!

I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep your coffee maker clean on the inside as well as out. Build-ups of sour milk residue and rancid coffee oils, as well as being generally yucky, will cause odours in the machine and affect the taste of your coffee.

If your coffee maker has a frothing attachment, this should be cleaned after each use by running steam or water through the nozzle. The capsule holder and jaw device should be rinsed out on a daily basis, and the water tank, drip tray and milk container should be washed regularly with a mild washing-up detergent.

Change the Water Daily

The quality of the water you use really affects the taste and quality of your coffee. You should change the water in the tank on a daily basis, and clean the tank regularly using a mild washing up detergent.

Run water through the machine without a capsule every day to flush out any stray grounds and other gunk that may have settled in the system. You should do this ideally before your first cup of coffee and again after your last cup.

Let it Flow

It is important that the liquids can flow easily through your coffee maker to get your coffee just right. If you think that the flow of your coffee isn’t working properly, firstly check that the water tank is filled and fitted properly in place. If this isn’t the issue, you may find that keeping the capsule-holder clean will help, as dried up coffee from used capsules can block the system.

Make it a Hot One

If you’re finding that you’re coffee isn’t quite hot enough, here are a few things you can try;

  • Try pre-heating the cups by rinsing them with hot water, or place them on the cup-warming plate if you have one.
  • Heat up the machine before your first coffee of the day by running a cupful of water through it.
  • Check that your machine isn’t affected by build-ups of limescale as this can affect the temperature of your coffee.

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One Comment

  1. Edgardo

    May 18, 2011 | 00:50 - Reply

    What an excellent article, I’m a huge espresso fan too. I just found this website offering free reviews on steam espresso machines.

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