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Cleaning a drip coffee maker


snowangel

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I have a drip coffee maker. It's a Phillips I got at Target many years ago. Long enough ago that it was made in the Netherlands. I run the pot, gold filter and the thingamabob that the filter goes in through the dishwasher periodically. Other than that and wiping it out, I haven't cleaned it. I recall women at church talking about running vinegar through the thing to keep it clean.

????

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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Yep, I don't know if it's recommended by your manufacturer but this is a technique I've used sporadically for years. In addition to the surface cleaning you're already doing, just run plain, distilled white vinegar through a brewing cycle and dispose. Follow this with a plain water cycle to clean out the residual vinegar aromas and flavors. Then you're ready to dirty up the works again with your favorite ground beans.

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I do this every three or four months with my coffee maker. It depends on how much you use yours. Run vinegar through it. But I find I need to run at least three loads of clear water through it to make sure the vinegar residue and taste has disappeared.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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In addition to the above, it is important to wipe the drip area with a damp paper towel (until it comes clean) every time you make a pot. You may already do this, but since it is usually out of sight, it does not occur to many people. The difference in taste is more than noticeable.

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Yep, I don't know if it's recommended by your manufacturer but this is a technique I've used sporadically for years.  In addition to the surface cleaning you're already doing, just run plain, distilled white vinegar through a brewing cycle and dispose.  Follow this with a plain water cycle to clean out the residual vinegar aromas and flavors.  Then you're ready to dirty up the works again with your favorite ground beans.

A better way to descale your coffee maker is to use citric acid powder. You can find it in the spice area as sour salt but can find it at a better price if bought in bulk. It doesn't leave that vinegar smell, will not taint your coffee is rinsed well and does a great job of descaling. Most commercial coffee/espresso descalers are citric acid based. A product called Cleancaf has both descalers and chemicals that not only descale but desolve coffee oils. Is food safe and non-toxic.

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But don't confuse espresso machine "cleaning solutions" that have names such as Cafiza or Purocaffe with "descaling solutions". The cleaning solutions are more aggressive. Don't know about toxicity but they're pretty vile. It's essential to thoroughly flush with water after using them and then run a shot of espresso through that you throw away.

If your'e using properly filtered water with a drip maker you probably won't have much scale buildup inside. I did a white vinegar flush once every 3 - 6 months when I had a drip maker but found that it took at least 4 to 5 full pots of water flush after that to get rid of the taste residue.

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So, I haven't cleaned this thing (other than keeping it wiped down and visibly on the outside clean). So, vinegar or the citric acid? If I use vinegar, do I need to run a full pot through? Half a pot?

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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So, I haven't cleaned this thing (other than keeping it wiped down and visibly on the outside clean).  So, vinegar or the citric acid?  If I use vinegar, do I need to run a full pot through?  Half a pot?

I use a full pot of 50/50 vinegar/water mix. Let it sit 30 min, then run 8-10 pots of clean water through before turning the machine back on and using it.

Here in Hibbing, on Minnesota's Iron Range, we have really hard water. (big surprise) My Bunn will plug up solid with calcium deposits within a couple months if I don't keep it cleaned.

SB :hmmm:

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Amazingly, there is commercial for CLR (calcium lime remover?) that suggests using this foul smelling chemical to clean deposits from the drip coffemaker. Haven't tried it, and probably won't, as it is slightly oily, and would need a lot of clear water loads afterward.

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