If you are a coffee drinker, you know how important it is always to have a working coffee pot. With how much use single serve coffee pots get inside most homes, clogs are bound to happen. To keep your favorite kitchen appliance up and running, you need to learn how to descale a Keurig coffee pot.
How often you need to use a descaling solution depends on how often you use your coffee machine. The more use it gets, the more often you want to clean it. You should generally descale a coffee maker about a minimum of every six months.
Before providing you with our tips for descaling a Keurig coffee pot, we want to mention Keurig only recommends using the Keurig descaling solution. Their descaling solution is approved for use in all Keurig coffee makers and is guaranteed to keep your machines clog-free. Although Keurig only endorses their descaling product, we have found several homemade solutions that are just as effective.
Tips and Recipes for Descaling a Keurig Coffee Pot
There is no one best way to clean a coffee pot. Much depends on how dirty the coffee maker is and what type you have. Having the ingredients already on hand is also helpful and makes the process even easier. Check out our recommendations to see which methods will be most effective for you.
Descale a Keurig Coffee Pot with Vinegar
Before you begin descaling your coffee pot, unplug it and disassemble everything. Once you have everything removed, wash the removable parts in hot, soapy water or dishwasher. Rinse and dry each component with a lint-free cloth.
Wipe the machine’s exterior with a dry cloth. For harder to clean areas, such as the K-cup holder where coffee grounds tend to pile up, use a damp cloth. Once clean and dry, put the machine back together and plug it back in.
To descale a Keurig coffee machine, use distilled white vinegar and a ceramic mug. To begin, fill the water reservoir halfway with vinegar and then fill it to the fill line with hot water.
Without inserting a K-cup, start a brew cycle after putting your mug in place to catch the water. Continue brewing until the reservoir is empty of all water and the “add water” message displays. Leave the coffee maker on and allow the solution to sit inside for 30 minutes.
Fill the reservoir with fresh water and run several brew cycles to rinse the internal parts of the machine. Rinsing with clean water removes any vinegar residue, so your next cup of coffee will not have a vinegar taste.
Coffee Pot Descaling Solution with Citric Acid
Perhaps our favorite homemade coffee pot descaling solution is one using citric acid rather than vinegar. Some prefer using citric acid in place of vinegar to remove calcium deposits and limescale buildup as it doesn’t leave behind the smell or taste of vinegar.
To clean a Keurig coffee pot, use soap and water on each internal and external component. Dry each piece. For descaling purposes, combine the water and citric acid pellets in a bowl. Once the granules dissolve completely, use the solution in the same manner as you would any other descaling solution.
Pour the citric solution into the water reservoir and run through several brew cycles. To make the solution stronger, reduce the amount of water by half. Rinse the machine by brewing a cycle or two with clean water.
Descale Your Keurig Machine with Baking Soda
One of the great things about using baking soda as one of the ways to descale a coffee machine is you can use it to clean both the interior and exterior. Baking soda is an effective cleaner for your filter, pod holder, reservoir, drip tray, and all other parts of the machine. It’s a cheap but effective remedy for a dirty coffee maker.
This homemade descaling solution works in a single-serve machine, as well as a carafe style machine. If you have a carafe, begin by mixing hard water and baking soda in the carafe and swirl around to dissolve the baking soda.
To clean a coffee pot without vinegar, pour the cleaning solution of baking soda and water into the coffee maker itself or the reservoir and proceed with making a regular pot of coffee. Run through a full cycle and discard dirty water. Rinse with clean water by brewing another cup or two.
Lemon Juice as a Coffee Pot Descaler
Lemon juice is not just used for cooking; is an acidic cleaner that more people are starting to take advantage of, partly due to its pleasant scent. When cleaning your machine, use fresh squeezed or bottled lemon juice as part of your homemade descaling solution for your Keurig.
For the optimal scenario to clean Bunn coffee pots, mix lemon juice and water in equal amounts. Pour the solution directly into the reservoir or water tank and run several cleansing brews through the machine. Rinse with fresh water several times to get rid of the debris before brewing your next cup.
More Tips About Descaling
If your machine is having difficulty brewing coffee, your entry and exit needle require cleaning. Clogged needles are common as the entry and exit needle punctures the K-cups to allow water to flow through each side.
The needle comes into contact with the grounds, so sometimes the coffee grounds become lodged inside the needle. To clear most entry and exit needles, use a paper clip to carefully dislodge any coffee grounds.
After clearing away the grounds, run a few brew cycles to rinse out the needles. If you own a Keurig 2.0, do not use a paper clip to clear the needles; instead, use the Keurig Needle Cleaning Tool Kit designed to clear clogged needles. If your Keurig coffee machine has a water filter, replace the filter cartridge about every two months.
When replacing the filter cartridge, soak the new one in water for five minutes and then rinse it for one minute under cold running water. While soaking the filter cartridge, wash the mesh section of the lower filter holder and then put the new cartridge in place.
If you followed the step-by-step instructions for descaling your machine and are still having trouble, there is one more place to clean. Remove the water reservoir and locate the hole where plain water enters the machine to begin its brewing cycle.
Using an old electric or manual toothbrush, insert it into the hole and scrub the area clean. Replace the water reservoir and run several brewing cycles to flush the machine.
Thank you for taking the time to read our descaling solution recipes and tips. If you found our tips for descaling a Keurig coffee pot useful, please share on Facebook and Pinterest for others to learn how to descale a Keurig coffee pot, too.