Cleaning your coffee machine

How do I clean my coffee machine?

This is a simple guide to ensure you are getting the most out of your domestic coffee machine. We spend so much time fussing over the quality of our coffee, that can all be undone if you are using a dirty machine.

Items Needed

• Old toothbrush
• Ratchet that fits the size of your group head bolt
• Cloth
• Domestic espresso machine coffee cleaning powder (shoot me an email if you don’t have this)

Basics

The idea behind this is not to clean every single day, but to not let your last coffee you made (which could be days ago) affect the flavour of the next coffee you make. Too often I see that when people are about to make their next coffee, I ask them to flush the head just by pressing the manual water flow button, I see cold coffee grinds fall out that was from the last few coffee’s. This is a problem because if you didn’t remove them, then they would have in your next cup of coffee! Below is a brief rundown on how to do a quick everyday clean, then a bigger clean depending on how much you use your machine.

Quick Clean

You should do this clean after every coffee making session.

• Take the portafilter out and knock out all the used coffee and wipe very clean with a tea towel
• By pressing the manual flow button on the machine, let the hot water flow into the catchment tray for 3 seconds (you can see all the old coffee fall from the top)
• Get your blank group basket (the basket with no mesh holes in it) in your portafilter (coffee handle) and place in the machine
• Again, pressing the manual button, turn the water on for 5 seconds, then remove the blank head and dump the water (and old coffee) into the waste catchment area
• Repeat step 4, three times. You will see the old coffee grounds becoming less and less as they flow out of the group head
• You can then give the portafilter a wiggle back and forth in the group head while the manual button is pressed so it dislodges any old grounds stuck up there
• Empty the water catchment area at the bottom and your coffee machine is clean and ready to use

Doing this regularly helps so much that you will have less maintenance and repair needed. It is just about keeping those grounds from going up inside the machine. See below for a deep clean every couple of weeks. Don’t forget to checkout our range of beans online at BlakcMarketRoasters.com.au, where we have fresh roasted single origins and blends that we can deliver to your door.

Deep Clean

We would recommend doing this every 2 weeks if you are using the coffee machine every day, making at least 2 coffees. If it is less than that, do the deep clean every month. Basically this is meant to dissolve and remove any coffee grounds that have made its way into the coffee machine, though the group head. It can also help with cleaning the lines so the pump doesn’t work as hard.

• Do the quick clean as above
• Keeping the blank basket in the portafilter, place a qtr of a teaspoon of quality coffee cleaning powder and place in the group head
• Press the manual pour button so it runs for 10 seconds
• Stop the button after 10 seconds, leave off for 10 seconds and press again, cycle this process through 3 times (This is backflushing clean water with the dissolved chemical cleaner throughout the lines of the machine and removing any old coffee grounds)
• Take out the portafilter and flush the group head for 10 seconds

IMPORTANT

When making coffee next time you need to flush the group head for at least 10 seconds and make 1 “dummie” coffee, meaning you don’t drink the first espresso as you want to make sure all the chemical is cleaned out of the lines. (Use it as a chance to get your grind in)