There are so many kinds of coffee makers out there and each performs such a valuable service for its owner. You need to pay it back for all the caffeine with regular cleanings. If you so happen to have a Cuisinart coffee machine, here’s how you do it.
Start by descaling the Cuisinart coffee maker
How often you descale your machine (or remove buildup from hard water and minerals) depends on how often you use it. If you're brewing coffee every day, do this once a month. Less than that? You can wait three to six months. Luckily, the machine itself will tell you when you need to descale it, as long as it has a “Clean” button. If it does, that will start flashing when descaling is necessary.
First, remove the water filter and any remaining water from the reservoir, then fill it with a mixture of one part distilled white vinegar and two parts water. (You can get 128 ounces of white distilled vinegar for $3.99 at Target, so you won’t run out.) Replace it, then press and hold that Clean button, which will start flashing. The machine will clean itself, then beep five times when it’s done and power off. Empty the pot, fill the reservoir with water again, and run a regular cycle, as if you were making coffee. Make sure to place the pot or another kind of receptacle under it to catch all the water. After the rinse, replace the water filter and you’re good.
If you don’t have a Clean button, just run the vinegar-and-water solution through a manual brew cycle. If you want to maximize the descaling, turn the machine off midway through and let the solution sit in there for an hour, turn it back on, and let the cycle finish up. Follow up with a plain water rinse.
Cleaning the Cuisinart machine
Every time you use the machine, you should remove the old coffee grounds and throw them away, then wash the pot in warm, soapy water. Once a month, get more intense with the efforts, but make sure you unplug it first. The filter basket can be washed in warm, soapy water as well, or placed in the top rack of your dishwasher. While it’s being washed, use a damp cloth to wipe the area underneath where it typically sits, grabbing up coffee grounds and other dirt. Wipe around the body of the machine, taking care not to splash any water onto the grinder motors or other electrical parts. Don’t immerse any part of the machine in water, either. Just stick with a cloth, like this Scotch-Brite one from Target ($3.99).
Once the carafe and filter are washed and dried and the machine is no longer wet, reassemble it all and carry on with your coffee.