Cleaning: Maintain your coffee machine and grinder

CLEANING YOUR COFFEE MACHINE - THE BE-ALL AND END-ALL FOR GOOD COFFEE

To ensure that your favourite coffee tastes the way it should, you should clean your coffee machine and grinder regularly. Paying attention to the little things in your daily coffee preparation can help keep your machine in good condition for longer.

Here we give you some tips for caring for your coffee machine.

TIPS FOR THE DAILY PREPARATION OF COFFEE WITH YOUR PORTAFILTER MACHINE

Soft water

A water hardness of around 8 dH (German degrees of hardness) is recommended for preparing a tasty coffee. This not only ensures a good result in the cup, but also reduces the maintenance effort of your machine, as less limescale can build up in your coffee machine.

The following water filters may be suitable for this

• Brita water filter with Maxtra cartridge: The conventional Brita water filter purifies your water in a separate water container.
• Brita Acqua Gusto: For a further reduction of the limescale content in water that already has a low limescale content. Easy to use directly in the water tank of the coffee machine.
• Water filter for ECM machines: Connection of a filter directly in the water tank of the ECM coffee machine. Please note: Only suitable for ECM machines with vibration pump
• Brita Purty: Water filter for machines with a fixed water connection

But the best alternative is to buy ready-made water for coffee preparation:

For example, Volvic, a natural mineral water, particularly soft, with a low mineral content, which comes from the Auvergne region in France, is perfect for making coffee. It brings out the subtle flavours of your coffee and ensures an incomparable taste.

CARE TIPS FOR COFFEE PREPARATION AND MILK FOAMING

"Fluffing": Before each new espresso, you should briefly "fluff" for a few seconds. To do this, remove the portafilter from the brew group and run water through the brew group in an empty cycle. This allows old coffee grounds that have collected on the shower strainer in the brewing head to be removed and prevents unwanted flavours from being absorbed into your coffee.

Strainer: After several espressos, coffee oils and other residues settle on the underside of the strainer of a portafilter. Therefore, take the sieve out of the portafilter from time to time, rinse it with water and clean it with a clean cloth.

Cleaning the steam lance: Wipe the steam lance thoroughly with a damp cleaning cloth after each use and let steam hiss through the steam lance once before and after frothing milk. This prevents blockages caused by dry milk and the build-up of bacteria.

WEEKLY CLEANING (OR DAILY CLEANING IN CATERING ESTABLISHMENTS)

1. Cleaning the brew group of your coffee machine

Cleaning brush: Use a group brush to remove coffee residues that have accumulated on the sieve of the brewing group.

"Backflush": Insert the blind filter into the filter holder. Pour a degreasing tablet or degreasing powder into the dummy filter, clamp the filter holder into the brew group and allow water to run for 10 seconds at a time and then stop again. Repeat this process until clear water runs through the brew group again. The best way to do this is to watch the video below. Please note: the blind filter is a filter without holes and is normally supplied with a portafilter machine or can also be purchased separately under spare parts.

Shower strainer: In addition to backflushing, it is advisable to remove the shower strainer from time to time and clean it separately. The shower filter, which is screwed or attached to the brew group, can be unscrewed with a screwdriver or levered down with the screwdriver or a similar object with the seal.

2. Cleaning the steam lance of your coffee machine

When frothing milk, milk fat often builds up on the steam lance as well as on the inside. There are various products for cleaning, each of which should be mixed with water. For thorough cleaning, the tip of the steam wand can also be removed and soaked in the solution for approx. 10-20 minutes.

3. Cleaning the grinder

Over time, coffee oils accumulate in the housing of the coffee grinder and on the grinding discs, which can give the coffee a rancid aftertaste. To remove coffee oils from the grinder, we recommend using the following cleaning products. Urnex Grindz, Puly Grind Cristally

4. Cleaning the surfaces of the coffee machine and grinder

Coffee residues and coffee oils also accumulate in the bean container of the grinder or on the surfaces of the coffee machine. Like all oils, coffee oils are not water-soluble and are therefore difficult to remove from surfaces. You can find these products in our shop to remove these oils from surfaces and interiors: Sprayz or Wipz.