How to Clean a Coffee Maker

Ever taken a sip of freshly made coffee and found it to be a bit off? Follow these tips. Do it monthly, and do it properly to win the crusade against stale coffee.

Clean the Inside :

Next to age and the number of times it's been used, the true enemy of any coffee machine, regardless of brand or cost, is hard water. Hard water deposits lodge inside the machine and affect both performance and taste. You can use distilled white vinegar and follow these steps to remove hard water deposits.

Precautions: Never, ever run soap through the machine. Only use soap on the coffee pot itself occasionally. Soup is a surfactant. That means it will react unfavorably with the natural oils in the coffee. And, any soap that remains in a coffee pot after rinsing can cause the coffee to taste bad.

1. Fill the coffee pot with a mixture of two parts cool water to one part room temperature distilled white vinegar and stir well. (If you have a 12-cup pot, use eight cups of water to four cups of vinegar.)
2. Fill the coffer machine's water reservoir as if you were making coffee and hit the "brew" or "on" button, depending on the style of your machine.
3. Once the brewing cycle is complete, turn the machine off and let it cool. (Now that the pot is full of the vinegar/water mixture, see "Cleaning the Pot" below.)
4. If the water is cloudy and murky, repeat the process until your water is clear.
5. Fill the reservoir with cool water and run the machine through the "brew" cycle again to remove any residual vinegar.

Cleaning the Pot:

Now that the coffee pot is full of the vinegar/water mixture, let it stand for at least six hours. Take a scrubby sponge, not a Brillo pad or any other type of abrasive scouring pad with soap, and clean the inside of the pot.

You might have to scrub hard in spots where there are coffee or hard water stains. Rinse thoroughly with clear, cool water and it's ready to go!

Clean the Filter:

If running the water and vinegar mixture through your coffee maker did not thoroughly clean your filter, you may want to give it further attention. You can also do this in between running the water-vinegar mixture through the machine to help keep the tiny filter holes clean and clear.

• Wash your filter with hot soapy water. Use a soft plastic brush or old toothbrush for maximum cleaning power
• Soak that filter in a bowl – half water, half vinegar
• After 20 mins wash it again in soapy hot water
• Rinse it completely

Clean The Outside:

Clean the outside of your coffee maker with nice warm soapy water and a clean cloth. For stains put a little dish washing liquid and baking soda on a wet sponge and wash the plate. Wipe the machine with a soapy cloth, including the lead.

Viola! A clean, coffee maker.

Sit back, relax and take a long well deserved sip of that rich coffee you love so much.