CLEAN YOUR MACHINE!
The Importance of Cleaning your Coffee Machine Daily
Think of it like your car, it needs oil to run properly and efficiently, your coffee machine works no differently with the cleaner. Now you put in Oil in your car to keep in running don’t you, so why aren’t you also running cleaner through your coffee machine to keep that running?
Facts
- 60% of Coffee Machine faults are caused by cleaning errors/through people not cleaning their machines regularly machine.
- It takes on average 3 minutes to clean an average 2-group coffee machine.
- Your customers are drinking dirty water and coffee residue within each of their drinks if you haven’t cleaned your machine this morning.
- 80% of service/repair bills can be reduced by using the cleaner daily and keeping on top of your machines condition.
Don’t ruin the taste of your coffee!
Build up of Coffee residue from not cleaning your machine over a period of time contributes to the terrible taste in your coffee. Bacteria and mould thrive in damp, dark areas including your piping system (which you cannot see) so they often get overlooked, and all of this contamination will be pumped out into your drinks.
Why its importance to only use genuine cleaner?
Its highly recommended to only use genuine and certified coffee cleaners. It can be tempting to use a cheaper brand/alternative but these seem have a high chance of blocking up your group heads which will mean you’re unable to serve coffee from your machine at all, so stick to recognised leading brands.
Would you drink from this Machine?
Look at this photo of a group diffuser (which sits behind the shower sieve) taken during a cleaning service on a customer’s espresso machine. You can clearly see the old, sour, stale, burnt-on coffee that will have caused so much bitterness in every cup of coffee that passed over it that the taste of the drink could be completely ruined.
So Always Remember
It is VITAL that your machine is thoroughly cleaned every night, last thing before you close. Even if your favourite regular comes in for one last coffee five minutes before closing, you will need to repeat the full cleaning process after making their drink. One extraction left uncleaned overnight is enough to ruin every cup of coffee the following day. This can’t be emphasised enough. At least 90% of the times our engineers are called to attend to a machine that “isn’t working right”, the problem comes down to a machine that hasn’t been cleaned properly or at all. We see this problem in places with highly skilled baristas, where the coffee is taken seriously and everything else is done right except for cleaning the machine, which ruins the drinks as well as the machine itself. So clean your machine regularly with professional cleaning solution!
Errors made when cleaning steam arms
A standard part of keeping your machine clean and in good condition is maintaining the cleanliness of your steam arms, after use in whatever you may be using them for, such as in milk. This is usually done by wiping the arm with a dry cloth after usage to remove any left over liquid traces on the arm.
Whilst this keeps it clean on a day to day basis, as use goes on the arm will get more stained with use, and some people leave the arm still attached to the machine hanging down into a glass of water to soak it in hopes of removing any remaining waste.
Correct Way to Clean
Other than proper day to day cleaning maintenance of your steam arms, such as wiping down the steam arm with a cloth once you have steamed some milk to keep it clean and prevent the milk from drying up on the arm. Use of professional brand cleaning solution is always the best method of cleaning any part of your machine, and the steam arm is no different. Filling a frothing jug with a solution of boiling water and cleaning liquid, and using your steam arm on this mixture like you would with milk is a good way to work the cleaning solution through your steam arm giving it a chance to remove any stains or traces of waste, without having the same problem with leaving it in standing water but this time sending cleaning solution up into your pipes and boiler and contaminating them with chemicals. Always rinse steam arms that have been clean this way thoroughly after cleaning to remove any traces of the cleaning solution.
