How to Maintain an Espresso Machine

The key to maintaining an Espresso machine is cleaning it in the best and most thorough way possible. Coffee and espresso beans contain oils that can build up in your machine and cause a rancid, "off" flavor to your espresso drinks. To thoroughly and properly clean and maintain your machine, there are certain cleaning tasks you must perform on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. Even on an hourly basis, you should do a quick rinse and scrub, as well as wipe after every use.

How To Clean and Maintain an Espresso Machine

• 1

  Wipe down steam nozzle, coffee carafe, filter holder, grid and drip tray with a damp cloth after every use.

• 2

  Perform a "wiggle rinse" to rinse away espresso grinds and then a backflush (if you have a machine with w three-way valve) if you're using your machine on a continuous basis after every hour. Scrub the inside of the filter, filter screen and and basket with a scouring pad.

• 3

  Run clean water through your machine each time before or after you use it.

• 4
  Steam nozzles can often get blocked with milk residue. coffee froth image by Vanessa Pike-Russell from Fotolia.com

  Purge the steam nozzle after every use. Soak nozzle in hot water and dish soap at the end of each day for at least 15 to 20 minutes. Wipe with a rag and purge after soaking. Make sure there is no sticky or hard residue in the steam tip holes by poking around in it with the end of a paperclip.

• 5

  Decalcify your machine on a weekly basis with a decalcifying powder or backflushing, depending on the type of machine you have.

• 6

  Soak portafilters and baskets on a weekly basis for 30 minutes, in hot water and dish soap or detergent. Scrub afterward with a scouring pad.

• 7

  Unscrew the screen and brass dispersion plate from the grouphead. Soak for 30 minutes and scrub with a scouring pad afterward on a weekly basis.

• 8

  Check the cartridges, if you're using an inline water filtration system, on a monthly basis to see if they're still operational. Non-functioning cartridges can actually add undesirable chemical elements to your water and calcium deposits to the machine.

• 9

  Descale the machine once every year. Calcium can still build up, even if you have a thorough water filtration system, and ultimately cause damage.