How To Clean A Coffee Maker – Easily

The very first thing you must learn after knowing how to use a coffee maker is how to clean it because it is not just hygienic but also greatly determines the taste of you coffee. Making coffee in a dirty coffee maker will give the coffee a really bitter weird taste so you must learn how to clean the machine and ensure to frequently clean it. For people who use hard water to make coffee, it is best to clean the coffee maker after every month of use because residue builds up in the filters and if not cleaned early enough the machine may even get clogged. Now if you are thinking, cleaning the coffee maker will give you one hell of a hard time, you sure got all wrong because with the steps I have provided here the process will be much easier and quicker than you thought.

Necessary materials:

To make cleaning the coffee maker really simple and fast you must have the necessary materials so that you can easily reach out for whichever item you need to clean the different parts. These materials include:

• White vinegar
• Soapy hot water
• Sponge
• Water
• Damp dish towel
• Dry dish towel.

Steps:

1. Empty the machine: maybe you forgot to remove the coffee grounds that remained in the filter or left some coffee in the machine, the first thing you should do is getting rid of all crap that might have been left there.
2. Make a vinegar and water solution: for thorough cleaning of the machine you will definitely need this solution because plain water alone may not be able to give you thorough results. If you have taken a really long time without cleaning the coffee maker make a mixture of half vinegar and half water so that the solution is strong enough to get rid of that stuck in dirt. Also remember not add any bleach or acid to the vinegar for the reason that it may end up forming a poisonous gas.
3. Make use of a filter: this is very simple, the normal way you have been putting a filter in your coffee maker is the same way you should do it.
4. Fill the water chamber with the mixture you made: it is now to make use of you vinegar and water solution, pour it into the part of the machine where you usually pour water.
5. Turn the coffee maker on: this will be more like a half brew session so start the coffee maker so that the solution you added can go through and after the solution has run through totally you should turn the coffee maker off. This usually takes half the time you use for an entire brewing session.
6. Remove the filter and solution: shortly after running the solution through your coffee maker, remove the filter and also pour out the solution.
7. Let the machine cool: since the coffee maker has just gone through a brew session before you go ahead to more steps of the cleaning session please turn it off and leave it for about 15 minutes so that it can cool.
8. Rinse the jug by running a fresh water cycle: pour fresh plain clean water into the water chamber, this time with no vinegar and allow it to brew the way you did with the solution. For thorough rinsing you can run the water cycle more than just once so that all the vinegar smell and the toughest residue can be removed. However you must always let the machine cool before you start each other new brew cycle.
9. Smell the jug: if you smell no more vinegar in your coffee maker then it has been cleaned well, but if you still smell vinegar them you might have to make another rinse to get rid of that smell entirely.
10. Wash the filter basket and pot: use a sponge and hot soapy water to wash both the carafe and basket filter in case your machine uses basket filter. Rinse them with clean water, dry them with a dry clean dish towel and leave them to dry well before re –arranging the machine.
11. Clean the surface of the coffee maker: for hygienic reasons you do not only stop at cleaning the interior of the coffee maker the exterior also becomes dirty. Soak a dish towel in hot soapy water leaving the towel just damp and wipe the exterior of your coffee maker until it is sparkling clean.
12. You are now done: re-arrange the coffee maker putting all its parts back in place and make a whole new clean and fresh cup of coffee.

How often should you clean the coffee maker?

• For the removable parts of the coffee maker, it is advised that you clean the parts after each use. These parts get really dirty each time you brew coffee so you must be hygienic enough to clean them frequently. You should remove all remaining coffee grounds and coffee. Always use warm soapy water to exhaustively get rid of bacteria.
• For the other inner parts of the coffee maker, you can clean just once every month. By the end of the month, the machine will be clogged with residue from hard water.
• If coffee maker is taking a lot more time to brew than the time you expect it to or if the coffee brewed has a weird bitter taste then you have to clean it because these are signs that the machine is dirty.

How to clean you coffee maker without vinegar:

• Use lemon juice: if you do not want to use vinegar or in case you do not have access to vinegar then you can use lemon juice as a substitute. It contains the same acid amount as vinegar and can thoroughly clean your coffee maker without leaving any odors behind. Make a solution of half water and half lemon juice then follow the same cleaning procedure like the one I provided above for using vinegar. The good thing with lemon juice is that even the smell it may leave behind will make such a great flavor to your coffee.
• Baking soda: some use baking soda to clean their machine but personally I would not advise you to use it because it may add more to the already existing residue in your coffee maker. If you are not an expert to cleaning the coffee maker then just use lemon juice or vinegar and leave baking soda alone.