Warning: I used to clean my espresso machine once a month...

After 6 months of that I pulled apart my group head and found a solid layer of coffee oil gunk that took a whole bottle of Cafiza to dissolve. Anyone else had to learn this one the hard way after seeing their shot times double?

2 comments

2 Comments

grayt468d ago

Hold up on that "once a week" detergent backflush thing though. It's actually best to use detergent way less often than that, like once a month or even less, because it's pretty aggressive on the internal seals and gaskets if you use it every week. The oil buildup is real like you said but plain water backflushing every day should handle most of the fresh oils, and then a detergent backflush once a month or every other month gets the rest without wearing out parts faster. Your two month teardown schedule sounds solid though, that's about what I do too and it keeps everything running smooth without going overboard on the harsh stuff.

barbararamirez9d ago

And I actually read somewhere that some people backflush just with water every day and only use detergent once a week. I tried that at first but still ended up with the same gunk situation you described. It was like finding a fossilized version of every coffee I ever made in there. A buddy of mine who used to work at a cafe told me the oils just keep building up no matter what unless you break it down completely once in a while. So now I do a full tear down every two months and it keeps the shot times where they should be.