Avid coffee drinkers might already be familiar with a wide variety of coffee makers. Before, drip machines were among the most commonly used and were also relatively easy to clean as well. All you ever need to do to clean drip machines is simply put some vinegar into the reservoir, brew, and then follow through with a few pots of water.
However, today’s latest single-serve coffee machines tend to be more complicated than usual. Still, by following the right process and steps, you’ll gradually find them convenient to clean. Moreover, even though coffee machines today are a tad different than the formers, these coffee machines need to be descaled so that it guarantees a consistent and high-quality performance for whenever you use it.
A prime example of a coffee machine that’s especially patronized by coffee enthusiasts today is the iCoffee machine. However, before we get to know how to clean icoffee machine, let’s first try to understand what it is, how to use it and how it works.
The iCoffee Machine
iCoffee machine is often compared to Keurig brewers due to their similarity in function. Both machines are K-cup brewers, however, the iCoffee machine vastly differs in terms of how it works.
How does iCoffee work?
iCoffee is different from usual coffee makers. Unlike others, it brews your coffee using steam in such a way that it pulls out only the desirable flavors that can be extracted from the coffee grounds.. Because of this, the flavor of your coffee becomes even more enhanced, despite the brand you’re using. Compared to Keurig, iCoffee produces a distinct difference when it comes to taste.
Specifically, iCoffee is a single-serve brewer that incorporates SpinBrew technology. This works in such a way that instead of pumping water through the cup, the needle spurts water instead, and then proceeds to steam and stir it within the K-cup. SpinBrew tech allows your coffee evenly fully saturated with water, which explains why it produces coffee with smooth and flavorful tastes. It’s also great for accommodating larger mugs due to its removable drip tray and is compatible with every kind of K-cup.
How much coffee do you need to put in?
In terms of knowing how much coffee to put, it all boils down to personal preference alongside a couple of trial and error here and there. For your first pot, you can opt to use the suggested amount of either coarse or medium coffee ground per K-cup. You can easily find this guide since it’s stated in the wrapping of the coffee you want to use. It’s also best if you go for approximately one filter size scoop for every cup of coffee.
After which, you can brew your favorite coffee for as much as you like. You can also try to experiment on quantity depending on how you brew your coffee or how you want it to taste.
Cleaning your iCoffee Machine
Of course, if you want to keep consuming flavorful coffee, it’s a must that you know how to clean icoffee machine on a regular basis. Without proper maintenance, your coffee brewer will only go so far.
As time passes, coffee oils tend to accumulate within your machine, eventually forming a rancid residue. Even if you use the most advanced machine or the best quality of coffee beans, it’s impossible to brew a great-tasting coffee with an unsanitary machine. Through cleaning, you’re able to make sure that your coffee will always taste as fresh as possible. When your coffee maker has gone for long periods without proper cleaning, the tendency is for your coffee to taste more bitter, and both your coffee and brewer will exude a typically acrid smell.
You will know that your icoffee machine is set up for a good cleaning once you notice its brewing time has increased exponentially. This is usually caused by lime accumulation or mineral deposits within the heater from using hard tap water. Because of this, it’s more recommended that you use purified water since it helps prevent unnecessary mineral-build up and slows it down as well.
One important thing you should also know about how to clean icoffee machine is that the frequency of cleaning largely depends on the hardness of the tap water that you’re using. With hard water, you would need to clean for about every 40 brew cycles while soft water use requires a cleaning frequency of every 80 cycles. Additionally, purified water needs cleaning at merely every 100 cycles.
Descaling Procedure for iCoffee
Contrary to what most coffee drinkers might think, cleaning and descaling your coffee machines are different from each other. Most times, cleaning your iCoffee brewer alone can prove to be insufficient, especially without proper descaling.
Descaling is necessary because it’s the process that helps remove all the mineral build-up within the machine. When left unattended, this will only cause further damage to coffee machines, especially to your machine’s boiler. Cleaning without descaling also makes it impossible to extract the full flavor from your coffee, and may even cause your icoffee machine to stop working due to clogged water flow.
With these, here are the necessary procedures you should follow to descale your icoffee machine.
- Fill your iCoffee brewer water container with white vinegar up to the 4-cup level marking.
- Afterward, switch the brewer on in order to heat and circulate the vinegar within the machine’s system.
- Keep track of the vinegar level in the reservoir until it disappears. Once this happens, immediately turn the brewer off.
- After you have done this, let the vinegar remain in the brewer heater for at least half an hour so that the internal mineral scale can be dissolved thoroughly.
- When 30 minutes have passed, empty the brewer’s carafe. Then, use plain water to fill the reservoir up to the 12-cup mark. Turn the brewer on again.
- As soon as the reservoir’s water level empties, turn the brewer off immediately.
- Discard the used vinegar into the glass carafe.
After following all these steps, your icoffee machine is now descaled, thoroughly sanitized, and ready to take on multiple rounds of coffee brewing again.
Cleaning Carafe
For cleaning your carafe, all you need to do is to fill it with a solution of tap water and white household vinegar – both in equal parts. Let it sit for an hour. Afterwards, discard the used solution, then wash and rinse your carafe. During this process, it’s necessary not to use rough abrasives that may damage or break the carafe.
Cleaning the Brew Basket
Remove the brew basket and the drip basket altogether. Once you do, rinse the drip basket with enough water. Throw away the used coffee grounds, and then rinse the brew basket afterwards as well. Once finished, place the baskets in your dishwasher’s top rack to dry.
