Cleaning Your Automatic Coffee Machine
A good automatic coffee machine, that has been well looked after, will give you years of delicious coffee. But what do you need to do in order to ensure that it gives you great tasting coffee? We at Segafredo Zanetti want you to enjoy your coffee at all times so we have prepared a guide to help you get the best out of your machine.
This is the first of three posts on the topic. In this post we will go over the day to day cleaning requirements. The next post will cover pilling and descaling your machine and the final post will cover the settings of your automatic machine.
Milk Frother/Steam Wand
The most common issue we come across when visiting our office customers on service callouts is to do with the cleanliness of the milk frother. If you are using an automatic milk frother, it needs to be cleaned every day with Milk Line Cleaning Solution.
It is as easy as this:
1. Pour roughly 20mls of Milk Line Cleaning solution into a jug of about 500mls of cold water
2. Press either the milk frothing or cleaning cycle buttons.
3. Repeat this process without the Milk Line Cleaning solution.
This will clean out any old milk that has built up in the milk line or inside the frothing unit itself. The milk frothing unit can usually be removed from the coffee machine as well.
You should also take the milk frother off the machine once a week, take it apart and scrub out any excess milk scale.
Looking after a steam wand is pretty straight forward. All you need to do is wipe it down with a cloth and letting off a little extra steam (or hot water) after use.
The Bean Hopper
Coffee beans omit an oily residue once they have been exposed to oxygen. This oily residue can build up in the bean hopper and will eventually go rancid. To stop this from happening you can clean out the bean hopper with a dry cloth (a paper towel will do the trick) every time you go to fill it up with coffee beans. Always use a dry cloth to clean the bean hopper of your coffee machine! Even the smallest drop of water in the bean hopper can ruin the grinder. Frequently wiping out the bean hopper will eliminate the build up of coffee oil and ensure that the coffee making process gets off to the best start.
The Brew Unit
Some automatic coffee machines (like those in our Saeco and Gaggia range) allow you to access the brew unit via a door, which is usually located on the right hand side of the machine. This is where your coffees are made. It is a good idea to rinse the brew unit once a week (just with water – no detergent). This will get rid of any old coffee that is has built up in the brew unit. You can also wipe out any coffee that has collected in the tray below the brew unit at the same time.
Keeping the milk frother, bean hopper and brew unit clean are the first steps in making sure your automatic coffee machine is pouring the best possible coffee. Check out our posts on pilling and descaling your machine and getting your machines settings right for more handy tips.
Do you have a question about cleaning your automatic coffee machine? Ask us in the comments section below. We are here to help you enjoy great coffee.
