Yahoo Lifestyle How to Clean Your Keurig for a Top-Notch Performance
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PSA for coffee lovers, clean and descale your Keurig coffee maker for a top-notch performance. At House Beautiful, we decided to interview Lindsay Fermano, Senior Director of Marketing, and get an inside scoop on how to clean and descale your Keurig brewer. “Like any kitchen appliance, Keurig brewers need some basic maintenance to stay clean and continue operating at their best,” shared Fermano with our team. "By performing these steps regularly, you can not only help extend the life of your brewer, but you’ll also continue to get a great-tasting cup of coffee with each brew.”
Remember, clean your Keurig brewer once a week. And descale, which means a deep cleaning of your coffee maker every three to six months. If you don’t, your coffee might taste a little bit off due to built-up and grime at your next midday crash. Whether you just found this out or need a refresher, we’ve laid out everything you need to know about keeping your Keurig in stellar condition.
Supplies:
Keurig 3-month maintenance kit (includes descaling solution, rinse pods, cleaning tablets, and filters)
Large ceramic mug
Water
Regular Cleaning:
Clean the outside of your brewer by gently wiping it down using a damp, soapy cloth.
Slide out the drip tray to remove it, being careful not to spill any excess liquid that may be inside. Then, clean the drip tray and plate with a cloth.
Remove the water reservoir and lid, clean both by hand, and rinse. Make sure you remove the water filter first, and don’t dry the inside of the reservoir with a cloth—this will prevent any lint from getting stuck inside. You’ll want to do this once a week.
Now that you’ve cleaned the exterior and the reservoir, it’s a good idea to run a cleansing brew. To do this, refill your now-clean reservoir and put a large mug on the drip tray. Run a brew of just water—no K-Cups!—on the largest size setting. Note: You can also do this by using one of Keurig’s Rinse Pods in place of a K-Cup.
Replacing The Water Filter:
If your water reservoir has a filter installed, you should replace the filter cartridge to keep your water tasting pure. Water filters help remove chlorine from your water and should be changed about every two months.
Start by soaking your new Keurig filter in fresh water for five minutes. Then once complete, rinse the cartridge under running water for 60 seconds.
On the bottom of the water filter handle, press the tabs on both sides of the base at the same time and pull down to separate. Insert the new filter cartridge.
Reattach the bottom of the water filter handle.
Insert the handle into your empty, removable Water Reservoir. Be sure to push down firmly all the way down to correctly attach the Water Filter to the inside of your removable Water Reservoir. Refill your reservoir with water and you are ready to brew again.
Descaling:
For a deeper clean, you should descale your Keurig brewer every three to six months, depending on how often you use it. This process removes any calcium deposits inside of your machine to keep it in tip-top shape.
To start the descaling process, empty your brewer’s water reservoir. Then, pour a full bottle of Keurig’s Descaling Solution into the reservoir. Fill the now-empty bottle with water, and pour that in too. Make sure the brewer doesn’t have a leftover K-Cup pod inside, place a large mug on the drip tray, and activate Descale mode.
How you activate Descale mode will differ depending on your model, but for the K- Supreme model seen here, you do this by powering off the brewer and holding down the 8oz and 12oz buttons together for three seconds. Once the light starts flashing, press the brew button to start descaling. Continue to press the brew button and repeat the descaling process until the “add water” indicator lights up.
Rinse the reservoir thoroughly, fill it with fresh water, and run a cleansing brew. Repeat until the Descale notification turns off.
Once the Descale notification turns off, your brewer is ready for use again.
Fermano also advised, “Head over to this page on Keurig.com for descale instructions specific to your Keurig brewer model.” Each model may have unique instructions for how to properly descale it.
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