Tips for Cleaning Your Automatic Drip Coffee Maker

Of all your kitchen appliances, which ones do you clean the most? Many people wipe out their microwaves once in a while when it becomes visibly dirty. The coffee maker, however, is most often forgotten. To take care of your machine and ensure the consistent, rich coffee flavor that you love, try these cleaning tips:

Don't Use Harsh Soap
While you lather up your regular dishes and silverware with scented soap, this practice isn't encouraged for your coffee carafe because the soapy taste may linger and distract you from the richness and delicious taste of a fresh brew. Instead, purchase a coffee maker cleaning solution, mild non-scented soap or use white vinegar. Like an oven has an automatic clean setting, coffee makers should run a similar process.

Add several cups of white vinegar to the water reservoir in your Mr. Coffee® Simple Brew 5-Cup Programmable Coffee Maker and run it like you would for a normal pot of coffee. Then, once the brew process is complete, let the cleaner or vinegar sit in the carafe where it will continue cleaning. After a half an hour, run a full pot of water through the machine to rinse out the system. Repeat this process once more to ensure the cleaner is fully flushed out and your next cup will taste delicious.

Those daily cups of coffee can take a toll on your coffee maker so be sure to clean it monthly.

Clean Your Coffee Maker Every 90 Cycles
If you're a true coffee lover, you likely enjoy a pot every day. To make sure your coffee maker is in top condition, clean after every 90 brews. This will ensure you're getting that flavor you love every time. If you live in a home that has hard water, you may notice calcium deposits in the form of rings around your carafe. This may be a sign to bump up your cleaning schedule to twice a month, or to use filtered water for your coffee. Many Mr. Coffee coffee makers feature water filtration to eliminate chlorine in the water and overall improve the taste of the brew, so keep that in mind the next time you are in the market!

Don't Let Coffee Sit Forever
We've all been busy with conference calls and other tasks and forgotten about the coffee maker. In the past this may have meant the addition of a new ring around the carafe. The Mr. Coffee® Thermal Carafe can keep your brew hot for hours, so it's understandable that you might forget it once in a while! Just empty the pot and give it a rinse to prevent buildup. Grab a scrubby with a handle to wipe down the inside every night before readying the machine for your next day's brewing.

Always read the manufacturers instructions before cleaning your coffee maker or carafe. There may even be a simple clean button that lights up to indicate the need to run an automatic cleaning function. This makes keeping your coffee tasting rich and consistent even easier than ever.