How often do you clean your machine?

Brett_H

Ryadan wrote:

Heh, I thought you guys would be more anal than me. I back flush after EVERY coffee. I mean, I season the basket first so I don't backflush after that (that would defeat the purpose). Chemical backflush prob 1 a week. And soak the PF and screens overnight everynight and then chem soak 1 a week. When I had my cafes I couldn't possibly backflush after each coffee, but if someone ordered a black coffee I'd do it then. I just hated having any old coffee grains stuck up there. Chemical would happen at least 2-3 a week but that was just due to volume. The way I see it, If you've smelled how bad rancid coffee can get. Is it really something you want getting into your coffee? Coffee just gets everywhere and if you don't keep it extremely clean, you end up tainting your flavours. At the very least, backflush one or two times quickly after you have finished your session before you turn the machine off.

Good advice mate! I have noticed a big difference since ramping up my cleaning regime.

Seeya_Latte

My routine Plain water back flush at end of the day or session In between shots rinse-brush-rinse. Chemical back flush once a fortnight. Lately however, after catching up with a mate who has a Rocket Evo, I have gotten in the habit of quickly getting the blind filter out and doing a quick back flush between shots. While good in theory if you're only doing one coffee, I can see myself tiring of this - too much farting around especially if you have a few coffees to pump out Soak portafilters in chemical once a month making sure the handles don't contact the chemical solution. Once very 3 months or so I get the shower screen off for a check / clean Clean the drip tray in chemical once a week too

Ryadan

Seeya Latte wrote:

My routine Plain water back flush at end of the day or session In between shots rinse-brush-rinse. Chemical back flush once a fortnight. Lately however, after catching up with a mate who has a Rocket Evo, I have gotten in the habit of quickly getting the blind filter out and doing a quick back flush between shots. While good in theory if you're only doing one coffee, I can see myself tiring of this - too much farting around especially if you have a few coffees to pump out Soak portafilters in chemical once a month making sure the handles don't contact the chemical solution. Once very 3 months or so I get the shower screen off for a check / clean Clean the drip tray in chemical once a week too

Yep it is painful to do it every shot. I think at the end of a session is fine to backflush. I would also recommend soaking the shower screens and the shower screen holder (if you have one) in the chemical too. This just gets rid of any nasty oils left behind.

cosmic_couple22

My routine is same as Seeya Latte + Dump a heap of steam at the end of the day (boy do I mean a heap Slayers are steam monsters) Run the group heads and hot water after back flush and scrub until the auto fill cycles some nice fresh water into the system, shut down. Windex to wipe the baby down nice and shinny. Everything gets a soak once a month

galumay

One of the joys of owning a big commercial lever! None of that back flushing and chemical cleaning required! Every few months I clean the shower screen. Once a week a bit of a wipe down. THats about it.

Seeya_Latte

@G Rub it in why don't you! :stir

galumay

Sorry. :coffee2:

Koffee_Kosmo

galumay wrote:

One of the joys of owning a big commercial lever! None of that back flushing and chemical cleaning required! Every few months I clean the shower screen. Once a week a bit of a wipe down. THats about it.

I said almost the same on my reply earlier in the thread Lever machines don't need back flushing so that leaves me more time to polish the exterior to a mirror finish :angel: KK

Ryadan

galumay wrote:

One of the joys of owning a big commercial lever! None of that back flushing and chemical cleaning required! Every few months I clean the shower screen. Once a week a bit of a wipe down. THats about it.

A Slayer 2 group?!! Holy moly, I'd love one of those. When I get a spare $20k I'll pick one up. 😉 Actually I'd prob spend the money on the Spirit by Kees Van Der Westen http://keesvanderwesten.com/spirit-pictures.html yum yum I'm assuming the Duetto is at home and the Slayer is in a cafe somewhere? a 2 group fro home is a bit of overkill (say he with a 2 group...😉) Anyway, I would absolutely be polishing my machine down each time after use if it was a slayer! Well done sire!

borat123

And don't forget to polish the boiler too.. 😉

admin

ha, ha absolutely! 8)

MikalHoward

I back flush my Silvia after every coffee I make before putting her to bed. That's usually once a day weekdays and can be several times on a weekend depending on the volume of coffees made. I do a quick scrub with the hot water and brush every other day and i'll strip down and scrub and soak all parts in cleaning solution every 250grams of beans used. It's a must given I have different beans from different regions all the time. I like to change it up often. In the nearly five years I have had her, I can still count on one hand how many times I have missed doing a full clean after 250g. Given the above comments, i'm thinking I am a bit anal. My wife says it all the time but not just about my coffee making either. Maybe it's true........ 🙂

Brett_H

Mate, that's completely anal and unnecessary... You fit in here just fine 😉

cosmic_couple22

Every 250 grams, wow OCD can be a curse 😉 22 grams in the basket 5 gram purge if a few minutes pass between shots, that means every 8 to 9 shots I would have to clean the Slayer 2 shots to season and neutralise any residual chem that puts me back to 6 coffees. I do 500 grams when the family comes for coffee on the weekend let alone if a few friends drop over. (self inflicted curse having built the ultimate coffee cave bloody people dropping in and drinking my coffee) As BrettH says, you will fit in Chester

MikalHoward

Maybe it is unnecessary but the shower screen is suitably dirty each time so I feel it is justified. Nothing worse than tasting rancid coffee so if I have to clean it often, so be it. It's really routine now. I don't even think about it. Thank you for making me feel welcome at ACLA...... *Anal Coffee Lovers Anonymous*

Lacehim

MikalHoward wrote:

Maybe it is unnecessary but the shower screen is suitably dirty each time so I feel it is justified. Nothing worse than tasting rancid coffee so if I have to clean it often, so be it. It's really routine now. I don't even think about it. Thank you for making me feel welcome at ACLA...... *Anal Coffee Lovers Anonymous*

Ummm. I don't do my shower screen once a month, but your right it does get dirty. I do flush after I've dumped the puck though so that might help.

cosmic_couple22

Purge and brush the shower screens every session, rinse portafilter via brew head every shot keeps everything very clean. Chester

Dry_bean

I back flush the Bezzera with water after every session, that's twice a day. Remove shower screen and seal weekly, clean, replace them and chemical back flush. Descale the boiler every 3 or 4 months. The process seems to work, have not had a problem in 5 years of ownership.

Moon

Dry bean. wrote:

The process seems to work, have not had a problem in 5 years of ownership.

Love your work Db .. and it's nice having a spotless coffee machine .. however, let's get down to tin tacks here How is the coffee in the cup going? Any good?

Dry_bean

Moon wrote:

Love your work Db .. and it's nice having a spotless coffee machine .. however, let's get down to tin tacks here How is the coffee in the cup going? Any good?

G'Day Moon, Not trying to big note myself, however since buying the Bezzera 5 years ago I could count the number of dud shots I've pulled on the fingers of one hand. The Domus Galatea really is an easy machine to use. I'm pretty regimented in my preparation technique, Weigh each and every shot, 18 grams, grind and dose into a Precision 18 gram basket. The shots tend to flow a whisker faster as the roast ages, so, during the 10 days it takes me to consume 750 grams of beans I generally adjust the grind a little finer. About the only variable is the particular roast I'm using, obviously some beans suit your palate more than others, my current roast is Yirgacheffe (one of my favorites) with about 12 % robusta, only roasted yesterday so still far from its best.

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