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Catering equipment information and guides, all the latest offers, industry news and announcements from BuyCatering.com.
Keeping Your Espresso Machine Clean
One tip that is given by almost every coffee guru you will ever ask, is “keep your machine clean”. The oils in coffee beans tend to cling to everything, while the water leaves residues resulting in build-ups of lime and mineral deposits. These will not only taint the coffee flavor, but will also clog the machine and might eventually destroy it. Depending on the frequency of use, caterers need to schedule cleaning and maintenance of their espresso machines to ensure that their coffee always tastes best, and the machine stays in great condition.
A general rule is to remove the filter basket and knock out all the muck every time you use it. The basket should be rinsed with water and wiped using a damp cloth. Once that is done, the empty filter basket can be replaced on the group head. To clear away any remaining coffee in the spouts, run water through it.
An important part of the daily cleaning routine should be backflushing the group head. If there is a pressure-release valve in your machine, it needs to be backflushed regularly as it tends to suck some of the coffee back every time you divert the steam pressure.
There are a number of cleaning solutions available for commercial espresso machines. These can be great as they are formulated to be powerful without being toxic. To use this, insert a bind filter into the handle and put some cleaning powder into the blind. Backflush three to four times with a gap of about 30 seconds between flushes so that cleaning powder has enough time to dissolve. Remove the filter and rinse thoroughly until all traces of the cleaning solution are removed. Place the blind filter back and backflush using plain water. Use the cleaning solution and a nylon brush to scrub the filter handle and basket and rinse. To clean the steam wand, use a pipe brush.
Posted on October 01st 2011 at 12:34pm
