To keep the performance of the coffee maker as new, you need to descale it from time to time. Even the best coffee makers need maintenance to continue to brew great coffee. Descaling is the process of removing limescale and mineral buildup from the coffee maker.
Descaling increase the coffee maker’s performance and life. If you have a Breville coffee maker and want to know how to descale Breville coffee maker, here is the step-by-step process.
Water is constantly used in the coffee maker so the coffee maker is prone to limescale buildup. When buildup forms inside the coffee maker it adversely affects the taste of the coffee. But descaling a Breville coffee maker is not as difficult as you think. Let’s see what descaling products you need and which steps you need to follow.
What is limescale?
Limescale is a buildup of minerals, mostly calcium and magnesium. It forms inside the coffee maker due to the use of water. We use water to brew coffee but minerals in the water create buildup on the parts of the coffee maker.
Buildup doesn’t form overnight. This process takes time. Over time, it starts affecting the taste of the coffee. Clean water and limescale water won’t give the same taste as coffee.
Why Do You Need To Descale a Breville Coffee Maker?
As mentioned before many of the minerals in the water are calcium and magnesium-based. When these buildups forms inside the Breville coffee machine, they affect its performance.
The high amount of buildup is not good for the coffee maker. It will clog the coffee maker and affect the consistency of the water flow. It will make coffee either under-extracted or over-extracted. It will make coffee taste poor and coffee won’t smell good.
Buildups also may make your coffee machine work stop. The clogs the machine from the inside so its parts won’t move freely and in the end, the machine will stop working.
Due to buildup, water in the Breville coffee maker won’t heat up to the correct temperature which affects the coffee taste. Clogs parts also may stop the water flow.
You will change the Breville coffee maker setting but you won’t get a tasty coffee. It is recommended by Breville to descale your coffee maker every 2-3 months to keep its performing better.
How To Descale a Breville Coffee Maker?
The good thing is descaling is not only easy but can also increase the life of the Breville coffee maker. If your Breville coffee maker has a built-in descaling feature, you can use it. Check the steps to know the descaling process in the detail.
When it comes to how to descale a Breville coffee maker, you will need the following items
- Cleaning brush
- Cleaning solution
- Freshwater
- A measuring cup
- A cloth or sponge
Step 1 – Clean the Outside of the Coffee Maker
Before starting the Breville coffee maker from the inside, you need to clean it from the outside. Take a damp cloth and clean the outside surface. Make sure you clean every dirt, limescale, and other impurities from outside the coffee maker. If any impurity won’t be removed from the cloth, use the cleaning brush.
Step 2 – Remove The Water Tank and Clean It
Now after cleaning the outside, it’s time to clean the water tank of the Breville coffee maker. Remove the water tank and clean it using the cleaning solution.
Vinegar is a good cleaning solution. It won’t affect your health and clean buildups easily. You can keep the water tank in the vinegar for an hour to remove buildup. You may use a brush to clean stubborn buildup. Before placing the water tank back in its position, make sure it is completely clean.
Step 3 – Clean The Filter
A filter is an important part of the Breville coffee maker. It filters out any impurities from the water and gives clean water to brew the coffee.
When the filter is clogged due to limescale buildups. It won’t be able to clean impurities from the water which affects the taste of the coffee.
Clean the filter with the vinegar. Remove the filter and soak it in vinegar. You need to remove its clog so it can filter out water. Make sure after cleaning there are no traces of impurities left. If you see any damage in the filter, you should replace it.
Step 4 – Fill The Water Tank With The Fresh Water
Now you have cleaned the filter and water tank, it’s time to clean other inside parts of the Breville coffee maker. For this fill the water tank with fresh water.
Step 5 – Descale Breville Coffee Maker From Inside
Once you have filled the Breville coffee maker tank with fresh water, take the cleaning solution and mix it with the water.
For this, you should use vinegar. Because vinegar has an acidic property which will descale the coffee maker.
Turn on the Breville coffee maker. It will let the vinegar flow through all the inside parts of the coffee machine. Keep running this process for 10-15 minutes. It will descale all the buildup from inside the coffee maker.
After it, make the water tank empty. Check whether the buildup is removed from inside the coffee machine or not. If you see any remaining buildup, repeat this step till you don’t see clean parts from the inside.
Step 6 – Rinse The Breville Coffee Maker
The last thing you should do is rinse the inside parts of the coffee maker after descaling it. If you don’t rinse it properly, you will get a vinegar taste in the coffee.
Fill fresh water into the water tank and turn on the coffee machine, run it for 2-3 minutes and empty the water tank. Repeat this process 2-3 times so no cleaning solution will be left inside the coffee maker.
The descaling of the Breville coffee maker is completed. Now you can brew tasty coffee in the Breville coffee maker.
How Do I Turn Breville Into Descale Mode?
If your Breville coffee maker has a descaling mode, you can simply turn it on. It is easy and takes a few seconds to start the descaling of the Breville coffee maker.
- For this, you need to turn off the Breville coffee machine.
- Press the 1 cup button and the power button at the same time for 3 seconds.
- You will see some options on the LCD screen.
- Goes down to the dESC mode to turn on the descaling mode.
- Add vinegar and water into the water and press descale button.
- It will remove all buildup from the coffee machine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will My Breville Tell Me When To Descale?
Not all Breville coffee machine has a descaling option. If your Breville coffee maker model has a descaling option, it will prompt you on the LCD screen about descaling. When descaling prompts, you should immediately start descaling.
What Happens If You Don’t Descale?
Descaling a coffee maker is important. If you don’t descale buildups from it, the coffee maker won’t perform with its full efficiency. At the starting of the buildup, you won’t see any issue but over time, buildup will start affecting the performance of the machine and at the end, the machine will be clogged with buildup and it will damage its internal parts.
Which Is Better Vinegar or Cleaning solution?
Vinegar is definitely better than a cleaning solution because it doesn’t have any bad effects on the machine and your body. Vinegar is easily available in your kitchen. So, you can descale a coffee machine any time without going out to buy the cleaning solution.
How Many Times Rinse After Descaling The Breville Coffee Maker?
There is not any certain number of rinsing the machine after descaling it. But you should rinse it 2-3 times or more. It depends on how much quantity of vinegar or any other cleaning solution you are using. After rinsing the machine just brew normal water and taste it. If it tastes normal then no more rinsing is needed, otherwise do more rinsing until the water taste won’t become normal.
Conclusion
Coffee makers are a good investment to get a perfect cup of coffee in the morning. But you need to care for it properly in order to keep its life long. Descale your Breville coffee maker every 2-3 months. So, it will make tasty coffee for you. And also extends the life of the machine.