Baking soda is a must-have ingredient in every kitchen. It is used for cooking, making DIY stuff, but did you know that it can be a cleanser for your coffee maker? Let’s follow our in-depth guide on how to clean a coffee maker with baking soda.
There are five steps to follow. It is not time-consuming, convenient, health-friendly, and guarantees an odorless, bacteria-free coffee maker to produce the best coffee quality. Keep following to apply to clean your own coffee maker.
Can You Clean A Coffee Maker With Baking Soda?
The short answer is Yes, baking soda is the most inexpensive deodorizer, a great stain cleaner, or a superb grease cleaner for your coffee brewer. It works well on cleaning the interior and exterior areas of the pot to make them spark again.
As you know, the accumulation of coffee grounds residue in the coffee machine causes:
- Shear bitterness in your coffee
- Clogging that will decrease your coffee machine’s execution
- Your coffee maker produces a crisp or burnt smell. Your cup of coffee is less attractive as the aroma is the most appealing factor of coffee.
If not solved, these problems can spoil your coffee and may disappoint you for a whole day. Cleaning the coffee maker with freshwater only can not entirely remove residues, bacteria, or mold and, more seriously, create an ideal environment for harmful agents to develop.
Baking soda is the easiest and cheapest way to clean up your machine. However, it is better not to descale the machine with this ingredient, especially when you have left it for a long time; it can clog the machine, which already has mineral deposits in the water lines.
Read more: How to clean a coffee maker with bleach
How To Clean A Coffee Maker With Baking Soda?
Coffee maker cleaning is easy, but improper methods can lead to unhygienic conditions and malfunctions. To clean a coffee maker with baking soda, you need to grasp the instructions thoroughly to do the cleaning right. Here are 5 steps for you to follow.
Step 1: Meticulous Preparation
Firstly, mix a mixture of baking soda and warm water in the ideal proportion, such as a 3:1 ratio for water and baking soda, or a full spoon of baking soda powder and half a liter of water. You should also take notice of your coffee machine size to quantify the proper ratio of the mixture.
We highly recommended that you should use hot water to help dissolve the powder better. If you use cold water, it can result in lumps of baking soda and decrease the cleaning effect.
Step 2: Wash
Pour the mixture into the reservoir of the coffee machine. It is just the same as preparing a cup of joe every day. Turn on the coffee maker and wait for the mixture to brew. When the brewed mixture fully dissolves and reaches the top of the coffee machine, you can stop the engine.
Step 3: Rest
After turning off the machine, don’t discharge the mixture instantly. Let it rest in the pot for about one hour. It is time for baking soda to clear out the bacteria or mold that develop after a long time of use.
After soaking time, brew the mixture again for a few minutes and then pour the mixture out.
This is the most crucial step to clean a coffee maker with baking soda, so you should apply it to the guide to clear out the bacteria or bad odor inside the coffee pot. The next process is to rinse the reservoir.
Step 4: Rinse
After the double washing process, it is time to wash the coffee brewer’s reservoir with fresh water. You can fill the tank with half of its capacity and let it brew. When the brew finishes, pour the water out and repeat that process until there are no baking soda leftovers anymore.
This process not only can remove baking soda traces but also clear out the impurities, bacteria, or mold residues. Therefore, remember to rinse meticulously after resting the mixture.
Step 5: Clean The Exterior Part
After thoroughly cleaning the interior part, you should clean the outer area for the complete perfection of the coffee maker. It is easy and not time-consuming to complete the cleaning.
There are two most common methods suggested:
- You can sprinkle the baking soda powder on the exterior part, use a nylon sponge or soft scrubber to clean. Spray fresh water on the sponge and scrub the outside gently.
- Or you can mix water and baking soda, soak the sponge, and squeeze it dry. Then, gently cleanse the outer part of your coffee machine. After that, clean again with fresh water.
Two methods are effective in helping to remove stains, dust, or odor of coffee spill after a few days. So you can apply both methods to keep your machine new and clean.
The entire process is completed. You should clean the coffee maker with baking soda regularly as its cleaning capacity is limited and may not work for stubborn stains and residues. You will need help from other methods.
Frequently Asked Questions Of How To Clean A Coffee Maker With Baking Soda
1. Can I add vinegar to the baking soda mixture to clean the coffee maker?
As mentioned above, baking soda helps to wipe out stains and bad odors. However, to disinfect the coffee maker better, you can pair a good dose of the natural cleaner with lemons and a slow pour of white or apple cider vinegar.
These ingredients are effective when blended to wipe out bacteria or germs after long use. Vinegar is also good to remove scale build-up inside the coffee reservoir. If you want to avoid scale stagnation, mixing vinegar with baking soda when cleaning will do the trick.
However, after resting the brew, you need to clean with water many times to ensure no vinegar taste remains inside the reservoir.
2. Why Should I Use Baking Soda Instead Of Vinegar To Clean Coffee Maker?
Vinegar is also a staple ingredient of your kitchen. It is cheap and super effective at clearing bacteria and scales. Many households use vinegar for cleaning coffee makers. However, there are two main reasons that you should avoid using vinegar to clean your coffee maker.
Firstly, vinegar can react more potently with the rubber part in your coffee maker. Therefore, repeatedly descaling with vinegar can result in the rubber slowly wearing away and leading to leakage.
Secondly, vinegar has a pungent and strong smell. If you don’t rinse the tank thoroughly, the vinegar smell will not go away and ruin the taste and the aroma of your coffee. Baking soda has no smell, so don’t worry when you use this powder to clean your coffee brewer.
Hence, if you clean your coffee brewer regularly, it is better to use baking soda instead of vinegar, or you can mix two ingredients with a small vinegar proportion.
Conclusion
After the detailed guide on how to clean a coffee maker with baking soda, we hope that you will know an effective, safe, and convenient method to apply in reality.
A clean and well-functioned coffee maker will make the best coffee and light your day up with inspiration. So remind yourself to clean the coffee maker regularly with baking soda to keep it new, durable, hygienic, and work to its best capacity.
Almost 20 years already spent committed to coffee and more than 3 years of experience as a barista at Starbucks. Madelyn Doyle graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutritional Science from the University of California and finished the Coffee Skills Program at the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA).