How should you be caring for your home espresso machine?
Coffee oils and residue will build up on your machine's group head and porta filter. It's important to keep these parts clean so your coffee tastes yum day after day. If your parts and pieces are black in color, you're not cleaning enough. Here's our suggested cleaning frequency for a machine that makes about 1-6 coffees per day.
Back Flush: 2 times weekly (once by itself, plus one more time with the complete Group Clean)
- Time = 5 minutes
- Insert blind basket into porta filter + 1/4 tsp cleaning powder and insert into group head
- Run water through group for about 5 seconds on - then 5 seconds off
- Repeat 5 times
- Let sit for 2 minutes
- Scrub off all group head surfaces with abrasive brush or scrubby, removing all black coffee residue
- Rinse group head by inserting blind porta filter into group head, turn water on 5 seconds, dump out dirty water, insert into group head again
- Repeat 5-10 times until water runs clean and clear
- Remove blind porta filter insert, and scrub inside porta filter and its basket with green SOS pad
- Put the brewing basket and porta filter back together and insert into group head, and you're ready for your next coffee
Complete Group Clean: 1 time weekly
- Time = 30 mins
- Insert blind basket into porta filter + 1/4 tsp cleaning powder and insert into group head
- Run water through group for about 5 seconds on - then 5 seconds off
- Repeat 5 times
- Remove the porta filter, and use a flat head stubby screwdriver to remove the group screen
- Place screen, port filter, with porta basket removed, and porta basket into container filled with hot water and 1/4 tsp cleaning powder
- Let soak 20 mins or longer
- When soak is complete, easily scrub off all brown/black coffee residue until all parts are shiny and pretty
- Scrub off all group head surfaces on espresso machine group head with abrasive brush or scrubby, removing all black coffee residue
- Screw the group head screen back in place
- Rinse group head by inserting blind porta filter into group head, turn water on 5 seconds, dump out dirty water, insert into group head again
- Repeat 5-10 times until water runs clean and clear
- Put the brewing basket and porta filter back together and insert into group head, and you're ready for your next coffee
Steam Wand Purge steam, wipe clean. Unscrew steam tip, soak or scrub clean of any milk residue that may exist.
Don't forget your grinder! 2 mins. Remove coffee from hopper, lift out top grinding burr (depending on model) wipe all coffee oils from all surfaces. Hopper can be cleaned with mild soap and water. Dry and re-assemble.