Read This Before Cleaning Your Braun Coffee Maker

How can you tell if your Braun coffee maker needs cleaning? 

Does the coffee you’ve brewed lately taste weird? Is it making louder noises when brewing? These are signs that your Braun coffee maker needs a good cleanup. Let’s go over a bunch of tips and tricks on how to be clean your Braun coffee maker and maintain it in excellent condition. 

Key takeaways:

• How to clean your Braun brewer
• Common signs that tell your Braun needs cleaning
• Easy-to-find ingredients you can use to make your brewer like new

How to clean a Braun coffee brewer: the right way

The reality is that every coffee maker needs cleaning every now and again.

And Braun coffee brewers are no exception; the coffee residue built up inside the machine, stopping it from brewing coffee efficiently. Plus, water minerals also block and cause some damage to your brewer over time, especially if you use tap water for brewing and the water in your area is very rich in hard minerals and chlorine. 

How to tell if your water is rich in minerals:

• One way to tell is if your glasses usually have distinct spots even after washing them.

• A second way is: if you noticed that the water pressure has decreased over time (minerals build up inside the pipes and reduce the water pressure).

Getting on with the cleaning regularly is going to prolong the life of your Braun brewing and you won’t need to fork out cash on a new machine any time soon. 

Here are some of the most common signs that your brewer needs cleaning:

• It takes a bit longer to brew coffee
• The coffee has a weird taste 
• There are more coffee grinds in your cup 
• The machine is making louder noises when brewing (as if it’s struggling to function)
• There are distinct coffee grind marks in the carafe

Now that you can identify that your brewer needs let’s talk about cleaning your brewer.

Here’s a Braun coffee maker customer review:

Easy to clean, descale and replace the water filter. I appreciate the filtered water and the hot water option is so convenient. The timer option is pretty fantastic when you want to come downstairs in the morning to already brewed coffee, and i tried the cold brew option once and it worked perfectly. Despite the clock issue I’m hoping to maintain and use this machine for years to come.

– Kelly

Items you’ll need for cleaning your Braun coffee machine

Here’s a list of items you can use to descale your Braun brewer:

• Braun descaling product 
• Any other descaling product brand

The price for a Braun descaling product (Braun BRSC013 Descaling Solution, 200 ML)

is $16.95. It comes in liquid form and you can even use it to descale your kettle. 

Let’s go through 3 alternatives to the Braun descaling product: 

1. Durgol Swiss Coffee Machine Descaling Solution: it is a great descaling product in liquid form and it works great for any machine including Braun coffee makers. Although it’s a bit pricy ($21.95) it’s worth it as it can remove residue and water minerals from the most complex parts of your machine.  
2. Descaler (2 Pack, 2 Uses Per Bottle): it’s an easy-to-use solution in liquid form and it can be used for different coffee makers including Braun brewers. You’ll tell the difference once you use it. It’s more expensive than the Braun descaling product ($25.99) but you get 2 bottles and since you only need half a bottle for each cleaning, you have liquid for 4 cleanings.
3. Full Circle Powder by Urnex: This is another great alternative to the Braun descaling product although it’s a bit more expensive ($27.65). It comes in powder form which means you need to mix it with water and pour the mix into the machine. Each pack has two bags; you need just one bag per cleaning. The manufacturer recommends not using it in aluminium.

Any other effective products you can use without spending much?

You can use any of the below: 

How to go about cleaning your brewer? 

Here are the steps of describing your coffee maker:

• If you’ve gone for a descaling product I suggest you read the instructions
• Remove the charcoal and permanent filter
• Pour in the dose recommended on the pack
• Turn the “Cleaning” option on and let it run for the time recommended in the instructions
• It will take about a minute to descale your brewer (the green light of cleaning will turn on)
• Run the machine with water 3-4 times to make sure the liquid has gone out of your machine. 
• Brew one espresso shot and throw it away (the first brew after descaling may taste a bit of the liquid, depending on the product you use)

How often should you clean your Braun brewer?

It depends on a number of factors.

Do you use filtered or bottled water? If so (it’s recommended for better brewing), it’s wise to change the water filter every 3 months. But in case you use tap water, it’s a good idea to change it every 1.5, especially if the water in your area is rich in minerals. 

How often do you brew coffee? If you make around 2-3 carafes a day, it’s good to descale your brewer every month to keep it in great condition. But if you brew less than 2-3 carafes a day, I’d clean it every other month. 

Do you clean your coffee maker after each brewing?  It’s also vital to give your brewer a quick clean right after you’re done with the brewing. For example, just getting rid of the spent grounds after brewing the next cup that you brew isn’t going to be bitter.

Can you use vinegar to clean your Braun brewer? 

You can and it’s a pretty effective yet cheap way to descale your brewer. 

Ideally, you need to use white vinegar and mix it with water (30oz of vinegar and 30oz of water). Run it with the mix first and then run it with just water a couple of times to get rid of the vinegar taste.

What’s the lifespan of a Braun coffee maker? 

It typically lasts between 5 and 7 years, but it heavily depends on what sort of condition you keep it in. It goes without saying that the more you clean it and keep it in good condition the longer it’s going to last.

How to change the Braun brewer charcoal water filter? 

Start by soaking the new filter in water for about 20 minutes to make it ready for use and then open the machine and remove the old one. Give a good wash of the area around the filter and where the filter sits, place the new filter and you’re good to go.

Can you use washing-up liquid to clean your Braun coffee maker? 

It kind of makes sense to use it since it does a pretty good job with your glasses and dishes.

But it’s NOT  recommended to use it to clean your brewer. First off, it will take you many runs to completely get rid of it completely from your brewer and odds are your coffee will taste like it.

Secondly, because it’s a strong chemical, it may destroy plastic parts of your machine, causing leaking. 

Who wants to spend money on coffee maker parts? 

It’s wise to skip this option and opt for one discussed above.

How do you clear the clean light on a Braun coffee maker?

One of the best ways to clear the light on is to run a cleaning cycle with just water, so when the cycle is completed the clean light is going to turn off

To run a cycle just add water and vinegar (or even just water will do). Turn the brewer on and let it brew. Once it stops dripping water in the carafe just empty it and you’re done.

Let’s wrap it up 

I know it’s a daunting task to clean your coffee maker (I’d prefer to watch paint dry), but it’s a necessary evil to keep your brewer going, prolong its lifespan and enjoy great cups of joe every day. Did you know you can clean your portafilter with the quinn spin cleaner?