Your kitchen may not be complete without a decent coffee machine – whether your drink of choice is a latte, espresso or even if you favour hot chocolate, there’s no shortage of sleek and stylish coffee maker options for your kitchen.
But if you do splash out on a coffee machine, that also means you’ll have to undertake the boring but necessary chore of descaling it.
There are all manner of options available to keep your machine free of limescale, and delivering high quality drinks.
But whether you have a Dolce Gusto, a Nespresso or something else entirely, just how do you descale your coffee machine?
Why do you need to descale your coffee machine?
You should descale your coffee machine on a regular basis to prevent the build-up of limescale inside the machine itself.
This can affect the taste of your coffee – and if left unchecked, could also potentially lead to blockages and leaks in the machine.
How often should you descale your coffee machine?
That largely depends on whether you live in a hard water area – as limescale can form more easily in hard water areas, where the minerals in the water can group together and solidify.
Many coffee machines will give you an indication of when it’s time to descale the device – for example lights on Nespresso and Dolce Gusto machines will turn orange if the machine needs descaling.
However you should also look out for other signs that the machine may need a clean, such as leaking or dripping water, reduced water flow or water stopping entirely, the water not heating up properly, or strange noises coming from your coffee maker.
If you experience any of those, it could be time to get the descaling kit out.
How do you descale a coffee machine?
If you have a machine which uses coffee pods – such as a Nespresso, Tassimo or Dolce Gusto – the process for descaling it is pretty much the same.
For Dolce Gusto and Nespresso machines, you should fill the tank with water, adding descaling solution into the tank. Then place a large glass or container under the coffee outlet.
Here’s what you do next:
Dolce Gusto
For Dolce Gusto machines, press the on/off button for around five seconds until it flashes green and orange, to show that it is in descaling mode.
You should then run half of the water and descaling solution through the coffee machine into the container, pressing the hot button on your machine. Wait two minutes and then repeat the process until the tank is empty.
Discard the water, clean the tank, refill it with fresh water and rinse the machine. Once again, you should place an empty container underneath the coffee outlet, and set the machine to hot, running through the water until the tank is half empty. Then switch to the cold setting for the remaining water.
Nespresso
As with Dolce Gusto, for Nespresso you should fill the tank with water and descaling solution place a container under the coffee outlet.
You then should set it to descaling mode, which varies according to the type of machine you have – you can check here how to set your machine.
The procedure is then similar – run the water and descaling solution through the machine into the container, before cleaning the tank, filling with water and rinsing the machine through once again.
Tassimo
Although the process is similar for Tassimo coffee machines, it varies slightly from the others.
Tassimo recommends that you fill the water tank and add two descaling tablets. Then take the Service T Disc (yellow disc) from the machine and place it with the barcode face down in the brew head (where you would normally place your coffee pod).
Then push and hold the button for about five seconds to start the descaling programme, run the water through the machine and rinse as before.
Can you use lemon juice or vinegar to descale your coffee machine?
If you don’t have any descaling solution to hand or you would prefer a more natural solution, you can also make a solution using lemon juice or citric acid, or white vinegar simply add to the water tank and rinse through in the same way as you would with descaling solution.
If you’re using citric acid you should add about one part to 20 parts water, with a more even 50/50 split if using lemon juice or vinegar – and run the solution through the coffee machine in the same way.
However a note of caution: some advise against using vinegar as the strong flavour can affect the taste of your coffee, once it’s been inside your machine.
Some manufacturers, such as Nespresso, also specifically advise on their website against using vinegar, as it can cause damage to the machine.
So yes, home made solutions can work, but if in doubt, you should always stick to an actual descaling solution.
MORE : Clever hacks reveal how to clean your entire bathroom using white vinegar
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source https://metro.co.uk/2021/03/12/how-to-descale-your-nespresso-tassimo-or-dolce-gusto-coffee-machine-14218489/
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