Free shipping on orders over $99.
Flat rate shipping of $9.95 on all other orders.
Free shipping on orders over $99.
Flat rate shipping of $9.95 on all other orders.
The best tasting coffee is made with clean equipment. The taste of the coffer your espresso machine produces and the overall life and functionality of your machine depends on regular cleaning and maintenance.
A properly cleaned espresso machine ensure that coffee tastes best and is free from the bitter and nasty taste of stale coffee oil.
Coffee is by nature a very oily substance. Over time, coffee oils accumulate inside of your machine to form a rancid residue. This residue is responsible for the acrid smell you may recognize coming from a poorly maintained machine.
Unfortunately, this residue causes more than just bad odour. If allowed to develop, residue inside of your machine will eventually clog its filters and tubes and cause it to malfunction. Well before your machine clogs or you even notice the signs of neglect, the stale residue lining the inside of your machine will begin to affect the taste of the fresh coffee you prepare
Unless your espresso machine is regularly cleaned, rancid coffee oils build up which can pose health concerns.
Regular cleaning and descaling will help your fully automatic espresso maker brew more consistently and extend its lifespan.
Three things that can cause havoc to your espresso machine are:
All of these can be kept at bay with regular maintenance. The three elements which require regular attention are:
The convenience of a superautomatic machine is the simplicity of use. You press a button and the machine does everything for you. Fully automatic or superautomatics as they are known are espresso machines that grind, brew, tamp and dispose of coffee bean grinds all internally.
The no mess, no fuss is probably what sold you in the first place. However, this regular circulation of coffee beans leaves behind coffee bean oils and small debris which can quickly collect and cause blockages.
In addition to the espresso portion of the machine, you love the fact that you can steam milk to make your milk based drinks like cappuccino and latte. Your machine may have a manual steamer, automatic milk foamer, milk carafe or latte go container. Cleaning the milk components is incredibly important. If left uncleaned, the milk residue will clog the wand or hoses and more importantly it can cause harmful bacteria to grow.
Finally, the main ingredient used in your machine is water. When water is heated, limescale is deposited. Pipes narrowed by limescale not only slow down the heating process, requiring more energy but may even cause the machine to break down. Limescale also has a negative effect on the the taste of coffee itself.
Here are the maintenance tasks required. Some tasks can be completed as needed, some are weekly, others monthly and beyond.
The drip tray and the dreg drawer are two components that need to be cleaned as needed. How often you clean these really depends on how many coffees you make each day and when these components are full.
The drip tray, this is the tray your espresso cup sits on top of, collects excess espresso or water from the rinse cycle. This is also where excess water from the brew cycle falls into.
Depending on how many coffees you are brewing each day, you may need to empty this drip tray each day or at least every couple of days.
Another part of the more frequent maintenance tasks your machine needs is the emptying out of the dreg drawer. The dreg drawer is the drawer where the spent coffee is dumped when a coffee is made. These usually look like coffee pucks.
Leaving old espresso grounds in the dreg drawer for multiple days on end can lead to mold growth. Wait, don't throw away the spent coffee pucks in the garbage, you can add them to your garden or houseplants. These make excellent fertilizer.
Let's move on to the steam wand. It is important to keep the steam wand on your machine in pristine condition. Milk is a dairy product which, if left unattended on your steam wand will produce foul odour and encrusted milk can clog the steam tip. This is even more crucial for autofoamers and carafes.
If your machine has a pannarello, you can pull off the pannarello and wash it after each use. Machines with a traditional metal steam wand, on the other hand, can be cleaned with a clean, wet dish cloth to wipe it down.
Machines with an autofoamer, will require the autofoamer to be removed from the machine, dismantled into its various components to be cleaned thoroughly. But if you are really good about having clean water flow through your autofoamer immediately after making a milk based drink, you won't need to take it apart. The more thorough cleaning can be done on a weekly basis (depending on usage).
Like an autofoamer, a milk carafe also needs to be cleaned well. Since a milk carafe can be put in the fridge with any milk that has not been used, you may not need to clean it right away. But be sure to rinse it well with hot water when it is empty. Again depending on usage, you may need a more through cleaning using a dairy milk cleaner.
Pro tip: Use Cafiza Espresso Machine Cleaning Powderto clean milk carafes, lattégo cups and pannarello by dissolving one teaspoon in warm water and use the solution to wash components.
Milk system cleaners are food safe degreasers especially made to clean espresso machine components that come into contact with milk. It is difficult to say exactly how often you should use them because it really depends how often you have milk based espresso drinks and how good you are about cleaning the components right after you make a drink.
When cleaning any type of appliance make sure to consult your user manual. This should also be your first step when attempting to clean your new appliance on a deeper and more thorough level.
After a week of usage, it is crucial that you dive a bit deeper into your machine and clean the brew group.
Think of the brew group as the head quarters (HQ) of your espresso machine. It's a big deal. This is the component that produces your coffee.
Super automatic espresso machines typically come with two different types of brew groups
Your espresso machine manual should indicate which one your machine uses and provide specific details relevant to your make and model. Here are some general procedures for machines with removable brew units.
1. Remove brew unit from the machine.
2. Rinse under warm water. Do not use any type of soap or solvent.
3. Allow brew unit to air dry before reinserting it into the machine.
4. Be sure to wipe excess grinds from the area below brew unit.
In the course of cleaning your brew unit, it may become misaligned. Here is how to reset it so it can be reinserted into your machine effortlessly.
Pro tip: For a deeper clean of the brew unit, you can use tablets to clean the brew unit monthly. Use Cafiza tablets in the bypass doser and follow machine instruction.
During the process of cleaning the brew unit, it may become misaligned. Here is a video to show how to reset the brew unit.
What's descaling and do you need to do it with a super automatic espresso machine?
All machines will require descaling at some point. Usually super automatic espresso machines require descaling every, one to three months, depending on usage and more specifically water hardness.
Descaling is the process of running a descaling solution through the internal boiler, pump and various valves of the espresso machine. To descale a super automatic machine, use a descaling solution specifically made to clean an espresso machine. A great advantage of superautomatic espresso machines is that most of them are programmed to give you prompts and guide you through the descaling process.
There are three types of descalers on the market: powder, liquid and tablets. All are equally effective. If you are using the powder, be sure to dissolve the packet of powder fully in a 32 oz. bottle of warm water. Once dissolved, you can pour the solution into your water tank.
If you use a liquid descaler, you can pour the amount as directed into 32 oz of warm water and pour directly into the water tank. For example, Dezcal liquid requires you use 3 oz of product to 32 oz. of water.
Once the solution is in the machine, activate the descaling prompt on your model. Put a container under the steam wand and in some units, put a container also under the coffee spouts to catch the solution.
Reviewing your user manual is recommended to ensure proper procedure is followed.
At the end of the descaling process, be sure to rinse your water tank and allow your machine to dispense one to two tanks of fresh water to ensure all traces of the descaler have been removed. It is also advisable to make a couple of coffee and throw then out.
JURA brand uses tablets to descale the machine. These are placed in the water tank and each machine will guide through the process.
One way to reduce the frequency of descaling is to use water filters in your machine.
These filters, directly positioned in the water tank are excellent at absorbing harmful substances while retaining important fluorides, which impact the flavor of coffee. Filters remove the calcium, minerals, chlorine and traces of lead, copper or aluminum that can be in water. Regular use of filters will significantly reduce the need to descale. Machines that use the Saeco Aquaclean system for example, will not require descaling for 5000 cups when the filter is regularly used.
Removable brew units not only need to be rinsed weekly but it requires a deeper cleaning and lubrication based on the number of coffees you make.
Check out this video demonstration to get a better idea.
1. Begin with rinsing the brew unit under running warm water.
2. Find a tub large enough to hold the brew unit. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of Puro Powder then add enough warm water so that the brew unit can be soaked.
3. Allow the brew unit to soak for 1 to 2 hours.
4. Remove brew unit from tub and rinse under warm water and brush off any residual lubricant and coffee grinds.
5. Allow brew unit to dry.
6. Apply a thin layer of food safe lubricant such as, Lubri-film to brew unit. You can apply Lubri-film using a brush, cotton swab, or applicator such as a curved utility syringe. The attached pictures illustrate in yellow highlights, the areas of the brew unit requiring lubrication. Watch this video to learn how to apply the lubricant.
7. Every 1 to 2 years, or as necessary, replace the large orange brew unit O- Ring by simply pulling off the old one and adding a new one by stretching it into place.
We will start off by saying that cleaning and maintaining a superautomatic is fairly straightforward, easy to complete, and requires minimal effort…but the term self-cleaning can be taken very literally.
There is absolutely no espresso machine that requires zero maintenance. This is true of any type of espresso machine – be it manual, prosumer, commercial or even stovetop. When used in the context of a superautomatic, the term self- cleaning simply refers to the rinse cycle that activates when the machine is turned on and turned off.
This rinse cycle serves to flush the brew unit and the dispensing head. Rinsing is important because it purges any residual coffee and ensures the machine is ready to deliver the next coffee. The rinse cycle that activates when the machine is turned on serves to pre-heat the brew unit, and the dispensing head to maximize temperature of the first espresso.
Every year or two your machine can use a tune-up. Just like cars benefit from regular tune ups and multi-point inspections, and software updates, so does your espresso machine.
Especially software updates. Just like our phones or computers, the software in espresso machines needs updating too. This is where you may need to access a trained professional. Here are things to consider when looking for qualified repair technicians:
1. The service centre is an authorized service centre meaning the manufacturer works with this establishment and knows they are working on their machines, These service centres will also have the proprietary programmers needed to update software in the machine.
2. Technicians are factory trained. These guys will know the ins and outs of your machine.
3. The service centre uses original parts. Like o-rings etc.
4. They tell you in advance exactly what they will be doing to your machine and provide an estimate of any costs.
Keep these points in mind and you will can rest assured your machine is in good hands
It is always best to do preventative maintenance rather than waiting until your machine completely bites the dust. Can you really afford not to have your morning coffee?
Here you have it the maintenance tasks required to keep your espresso machine running smoothly and performing at its best. Follow this maintenance schedule and you will enjoy your espresso machines for years to come.
Has this article helped you to understand how to maintain your machine? Have questions, feel free to contact us.
Hi Ihab,
We don’t offer barista courses but we do offer direct support for use and maintenance of machines we sell. If you are local, we can provide this in person.
Hi Mauro
Yes the bean hopper can be cleaned if i is oily and sticky from excessive oils from coffee beans.
You would need to do the following:
Unplug the machine, vacuum all beans out, remove three T10 screws, soak the bean hopper in 1 tablespoon of Cafiza powder and hot water from tap, allow the bean hopper to soak for a few hours, rinse, allow the bean hopper to fully dry, re-install with 3 screws.
We have jars of Cafiza on our site www.espressocanada.com. Hope this helps. If you have specific questions about your model feel free to contact us and we’ll help you out.
Hi there, do you have barista courses in Montreal, if so I need more information
Thanks,
Good moring. Awesome blog post on the cleaning of superautomatic. I didn’t know you could put powder down the bypass doser, I’m curious as it wasn’t mentioned in the post though, is there a good way to clean the bean hopper
Comments will be approved before showing up.
27 December, 2021
EspressoWorks
Thanks for sharing this useful information with us. You presented correctly the cleaning steps. also, we need to flow the protection rules too while cleaning our espresso machine.