How To Clean An Espresso Machine? - Practical Tips

The espresso machine is a common piece of equipment at offices in Germany. Many companies, whether a large corporation one or a start-up ensures caught up with a trend of making their offices more pleasant places to work. And they sure do take pride in their professional espresso machines. Just take a look at any job board in Germany, and count how many times you saw an espresso machine mentioned as an employee benefit. Not surprised? Then you probably have one at your office too. So if you do, you should know coffee machines are like puppies. Everybody loves them, but you need to take good care of them.

When you have an espresso machine, cleaning it also becomes vital. An unclean machine can be a topic of discussion amongst the employees. It will not only reduce work productivity of the staffs but an unclean espresso machine can also make your staffs ill. The profit-generating companies can hire professionals for cleaning the machine but the start-ups can save by cleaning it by themselves. Do you know how to clean an espresso machine? In this article, we bring you some of the steps to clean an espresso machine to avoid a big expense in the future.

Portafilter of an espresso machine filled with freshly ground coffee.

How to Clean an Espresso MachineBasket and the Portafilter

The espresso machine accumulates debris, milk proteins, oils, and mineral deposit, every time you make an espresso shot. Such a mess makes it necessary to clean it on a regular basis. For cleaning regularly, firstly you must remove the movable filter that is attached to the gasket releasing hot water. It is called the portafilter. Then, remove the metal screen filter placed inside the portafilter which, is called the portafilter basket. Now, use a scrub pad or a nylon brush to extricate the accrued debris. Use warm water to rinse the portafilter and the basket and dry it with a towel.

How to Clean an Espresso MachineGasket

For cleaning the gasket or the rubber O ring grooves, use a nylon brush to clean inside the gasket. You must clean the edges of the gasket thoroughly to remove the hidden debris from the group. Run it through the water to rinse it completely.

How to Clean an Espresso MachineScreen and Underside or Bottom of the Gasket

Check the bottom of the gasket to find a screw, loosen it with a screwdriver to remove the screen. Take a nylon brush to remove the rubbles from the screen. As this screen shields the filter chamber and averts the oils and debris to block the head, it easily becomes a grimed. So, cleaning the screen from both sides and then, cleaning the area behind the gasket and the interior of the gasket with a scrub pad is highly essential. Finally, place the screen in its location and screw it back.

Backwash Cleaning

For backwash cleaning, you must insert a stick and the basket without any outlets in the portafilter. Lock it in the gasket and run it for not less than 12 seconds and then unlock the portafilter to let the water drain. Repeat it as per requirement.

Sanitizing Steam Arm

The taste of your drink may be affected if you do not clean the steam arm. To prevent it, the spout of the steam wand must be covered with a damp and clean rag. Switch it on for a second or two to let the remnants of milk protein flush out. Wipe the steam arm with the damp rag and finally, turn the wand on for 2 seconds after covering the nozzle with the rag.

Wipe the Machine Completely

As the espresso making is a messy process, once your espresso is ready, wipe the entire machine with a damp and clean rag. Cleaner must be checked before use if it is fit to be used in the machine.

How to clean an espresso machine on a weekly basis?

For a weekly deep-cleaning of the espresso machine:

• Make a chemically formulated solution combined with clean water in a container
• Next, disassemble the espresso machine for cleaning by removing the portafilter, screen, gasket, steam wand, etc.
• Soak all the parts of the espresso machine into the chemically formulated cleaning solution for maybe a complete night.
• Next morning, take out the part of the machine from the solution, scrub if necessary and then rinse all with clean water.

Conclusion

Whenever you think of how to clean an espresso machine, you may get some ideas from this article. Let your coffee taste heavenly always when brewed in a clean espresso machine. When you keep your coffee espresso machine clean, you also help in increasing its longevity.