How to Clean Your Espresso Coffee Machine

Aimee is a coffee enthusiast and has worked in the coffee industry for years. She sources coffee beans from around the world and her coffee journey began in… (read more).

How to Clean your Espresso Coffee Machine

To get a consistent, delicious, high quality cup from your coffee beans, cleaning your espresso machine is vital.

If you have invested in to a fantastic coffee machine and have worked hard to find the best coffee for your customers, you can maintain this high standard by taking care of your machine.

The thought of cleaning this big machine can be daunting… all the different parts and pieces and the delicate systems that bring you your exquisite espresso can become overwhelming.

However, cleaning your machine is easy once you know how. Once you get into a routine, it will become second nature!

We’ve tried and tested various methods over the years and found what works best. We now would like to share our tips and tricks with our customers, so you can benefit from these simple yet effective steps.

  1. Take out the portafilters and brush out the group head with warm water. This is to remove any excess coffee that may have got stuck up there.
  2. Take the basket out of the portafilter. This can be quite tricky so you may need to use a tool to prize it out, but be careful not to damage the metal.
  3. Clean the portafilter and basket with your cleaning chemical under warm water. The water may run a yellow/brown colour at first, but this is just the coffee residue being removed. Rinse until the water runs clear.
  4. Insert a blind disk (a basket that doesn’t have holes) into a portafilter.
  5. Put the recommended amount of cleaning solution for your machine into the basket and lock into the group (put back into the machine).
  6. Backflush the machine 5 times.
  7. Soak your milk wands in a little cleaning solution and warm water for 2 minutes. This is to remove any milk that has hardened onto the metal.
  8. Wipe down the machine and remove the tray to clean it.
  9. You should be left with a clean, sparkling espresso machine!

Tips for Keeping Your Coffee Machine Clean Throughout the Day

At the end of a long shift as a barista, cleaning your espresso machine is probably the last thing you feel like doing.

If everything is left until the end of the day, it can cleaning difficult and time consuming.

However, if you use these tips and tricks throughout the day, it can make cleaning the machine so much quicker and easier.

  • A Hot Cloth – it is always useful to have a hot cloth on hand during a busy shift dialling in shots on the espresso machine. Little spills and splashes are bound to happen and there isn’t always time to get supplies from the kitchen to clean it up. A hot cloth will keep the area looking clean and save you time.
  • Milk Wands – make sure to wipe the milk wands after every use. When milk is hot it is very easy to clean off the wands. When it has dried to the metal it can be extremely hard to get off and needs a lot of work, which could end up damaging the wands.
  • Keep on top of it – during a busy shift, cleaning your machine is probably the last thing on your mind. If you do get a spare minute, wipe down the machine and try keeping the area clean.
  • Portafilters – dispose of the coffee waste from the portafilters after every use. Leaving it in for long periods of time will make it more difficult to clean at the end of the day.

This Post Has One Comment

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