How to Clean Espresso Machine and Do Limescale Maintenance?

The quality of the machine and equipment used is as important as the quality of the coffee used when making coffee; in addition, regular cleaning of the machine and equipment directly affects the taste of the coffee you drink. You will see that regular machine cleaning is important for your health and also makes a big difference in the taste of the coffee.

VALID REASONS TO CLEAN YOUR COFFEE MACHINE REGULARLY

• As your espresso machine is used, particles and coffee residues in the water settle into the machine parts. If not cleaned, the taste of the coffee is directly affected negatively.
• Various malfunctions may occur in machines that have not been maintained for a long time.
• The corners and hot water tanks of your machine are critical areas for bacteria formation.
• The popular belief that hot water and coffee kill microbes is a myth. The temperature of the water and the acidity of the coffee may not be enough to kill all the bacteria and microbes that form.
• It is important to clean your coffee machine regularly as the formation of bacteria and germs inside it will affect your health.

It is recommended that you clean your machine regularly for both your health and the quality of your coffee. So how do you clean a coffee machine?

Important Tips on How to Clean Your Coffee Machine

Before giving cleaning tips, it is useful to classify the equipment used. Likewise, the material of the machine and equipment may require different cleaning methods. In addition, you should not use the equipment other than recommended. For example, you should not put milk in the water tanks of coffee machines/equipment. Using it for purposes other than its intended purpose may damage the machine parts or cause blockage/sediment in the equipment, as well as the formation of harmful bacteria in compartments that are impossible to clean.

Coffee brewing equipment made of aluminum (moka pots are mostly made of aluminum) should never be brought into contact with materials such as soap, detergent, sponge. You should only clean these equipment by rubbing or shaking with hot water. Otherwise, the aluminum material can react and turn into a material that can threaten your health. For details, you can check out our article WHAT IS A MOKA POT AND HOW IS IT USED?, which also includes the details of How to Clean a Moka Pot?

The materials you use in your equipment also affect the frequency of cleaning. You should clean the machine parts or equipment you use to heat and foam liquid (fresh) milk with hot water, soap and sponge after each use. Because milk causes harmful bacteria to grow in a very short time. Separating the parts such as the milk frothing bar and/or reservoir connected to your machine from the machine after each use or at the end of the day and washing them thoroughly with hot water and soap will prevent the formation of harmful bacteria. In the daily cleaning of equipment that comes into contact with coffee, Puly Caff Powder - Cleaning Powder is one of the most used group cleaning materials with its approved cleaning power. The filters and spoons are kept in 1 liter of hot water for 15 minutes by dissolving 10gr of Puly Caff Powder - Cleaning Powder and then rinsing with hot water to ensure daily cleaning. In addition, 3-5 grams of Puly Caff Powder - Cleaning Powder is put into a blunt spoon and attached to the group and after opening/closing it 5 times with 10 seconds intervals, the group is rinsed and then by opening/closing it again 5 times with 10 seconds intervals, daily group cleaning is provided.

You can also find the cleaning brushes you will need most to clean countertops, machines and equipment during the day in the barista equipment category.

It is always recommended to use clean drinking water in your machine because if the water you use has a high level of lime, lime can be observed in the internal parts of the machine and the pipes. Even if you use drinking water , lime maintenance will still be necessary over time. Some machines automatically give a lime maintenance warning when they exceed a certain amount of use and may have a special program for lime maintenance, but most machines do not give a warning for lime maintenance. You can find detailed information in your machine's user manual. If no details are given on this subject, you can follow the steps we have provided below.

Machines that have not been maintained for a long time may have their water flow paths blocked and cause different malfunctions. Therefore, you can regulate the maintenance intervals yourself by monitoring the machine and usage. If you are wondering how we can understand when it is time for maintenance on a coffee machine, the answer is actually very simple. If you observe a bitter taste in the coffee you prepare in your machine or a decrease in the flowing water volume, it is time for maintenance on your machine. Depending on usage, maintenance on your machine once every 6 months or once a year will extend the life of your machine and will not spoil the taste of the coffee.

How to Clean and Descale an Espresso Machine?

1. Remove the removable parts of your machine, such as the teapot and coffee grinder holder, and soak them in warm soapy water, then brush them thoroughly, dry them, and replace them.
2. Fill your water tank (reservoir) with warm water, add the lime maintenance solution and mix until it dissolves in the water.
3. Run the solution water through your machine without adding coffee, so the parts that brew the coffee are purified and cleaned.
4. Stop the machine halfway through the water flow and wait for a while for the vinegar to thoroughly dissolve the residue accumulated in the pipes.
5. This will properly disinfect your machine.
6. Finish by draining the solution water from the tank.
7. Rinse the water tank and fill with clean water.
8. Run the machine twice more with clean water to remove any remaining solution residue.
9. Coffee oil and lime residue accumulated in the internal parts of your machine will be cleaned in this way.
10. Coffee brewed in a clean machine will give great results for at least four more weeks.

*Always use clean drinking water to keep limescale build-up in your coffee machine to a minimum and improve coffee flavor.

*The cleanliness of the cups you drink your coffee from is as important as the machines. You can increase the flavor of your coffee by warming the clean cups by rinsing them with hot water before pouring coffee into them.

*If you run hot water every morning when you turn on the machine before making coffee, you can have a positive effect on the coffee flavor by both cleaning and heating the water flow path.

You can find information on how to maintain the limescale of Illy capsule machines in the user manuals, and we will also add it to our blog posts.