Proper Care Of Your Coffee Maker

It is very important that you wash your coffee maker pot and filter container thoroughly at least once a week. Bitter oils stick to the glass container and plastic filter holder.

I used to wash the plastic filter container and rinse the glass pot. Coffee started to taste bad. When I was told to wash both thoroughly with plenty of soap the flavor improved instantly. Note: To the naked eye rinsed and soap washed pots look the same (clean that is).

Another trick is every time you use your coffeepot, unless you are making another pot right away, put a couple of drops of liquid dishwashing detergent in the pot and run hot water into the pot. Let this sit on the counter till you need it again, rinse and you are ready to go. This does not replace the weekly or twice-weekly washing but helps keep it cleaner between washings.

Some drip coffee makers require periodic cleansing with a solution of water and vinegar.

If you have a coffee/teapot, the inside of which is stained with oily brown residues - also plastic/metal coffee filters, tea strainers, and stainless steel sinks in caffeine-o-phile houses - they can be restored to a shining, brand-spanking-new state by washing in hot washing powder (detergent).

Get a large plastic jug, add 2 or 3 heaped tablespoons of Daz Automatic or Bold or whatever, and about a pint of hot water - just off the boil is the best.

Swill the jug around until the detergent is dissolved, and then pour into tea/coffeepot, and let it stand for 5 minutes, swilling the pot around occasionally, just to keep the detergent moving. Put the lid on and shake it a few times (care: slippery + hot)

Repeat as necessary. Keep it hot with a little boiling water if needed. If you have a cafetiere, disassemble it, and soak the parts in the mixture for a few minutes, agitating occasionally.

In both cases, the residue just falls off with almost no scrubbing. It does great things with overused filter machine filters, too.

Important: Rinse off all detergent afterwards, use lots of fresh water!