How To Clean Braun Coffee Maker The Right Way

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Using your Braun coffee maker is probably an important part of your morning ritual. Make sure you never have to go a morning without a cup of coffee by regularly cleaning your Braun coffee machine to keep it operating at its best. Basic cleaning is needed on a regular basis, while deeper cleaning, known as descaling, is needed less frequently. Keep reading to learn all you need to know about how to clean a Braun coffee maker.

Basic Cleaning And Maintenance For A Braun Coffee Maker

Turn the coffee maker off and unplug it from the wall outlet before cleaning. To clean the base, simply wipe it with a clean, damp cloth and then dry it. Wipe down the the coffee maker housing to remove any fingerprints. You can use a cloth with warm soapy water or a gentle cleaning solution to do this.

Wash the glass Braun carafe and lid are every use. Wash by hand with a sponge and mild soap. You can also clean them in the top rack of the dishwasher, but be sure to separate the carafe lid from the carafe.

For Braun coffee makers with a stainless steel thermal carafe, you need to use a bit more caution while cleaning. Never use an abrasive sponge or other tool to clean the carafe since they will scratch the steel. Use a gentle sponge and mild soap to clean by hand after every use. The thermal carafe and lid are NOT dishwasher safe.

If your Braun coffee maker has a gold tone permanent filter you should clean that daily. Discard the ground coffee from the filter. Take both the filter basket and the gold tone filter and wash them with warm soapy water. You may also put them in the top rack of the dishwasher.

Descaling A Braun Coffee Maker

The water used to brew coffee causes mineral limescale buildup inside your Braun coffee maker. While not toxic, this can impact the machine’s water flow, temperature and performance. It can even affect the taste of your coffee. Descaling is the name of the deep cleaning process that removes these minerals to extend the life of your machine. You need to do this deep clean in addition to the basic cleaning described above.

How Often To Delime A Braun Coffee Maker?

A good rule of thumb is that a you should descale Braun coffee makers after 3 months. This is true if you are using filtered water, bottled water or tap water with a low to normal mineral count. Regular descaling will extend the life of your coffee machine.

You should descale your machine more often if your tap has “hard water,” meaning it contains higher level of minerals. This will cause the limescale to buildup inside your machine even faster. If you are not sure about the level of minerals in your water, you can always get a low-cost water testing kit.

Many Braun coffee maker models will have an LED clean light that will turn a steady green when the machine senses it is time to descale. However, this alert is informed by the water settings you entered in your machine. If you never changed the default settings, this alert may not be accurate. Once you have a reading from yourwater testing kit, press the CLEAN button for 3 seconds. Press the SET button to scroll through the options: H1 (soft), H2 (normal), H3 (hard). Then press CLEAN again to save.

Can You Descale A Braun Coffee Maker With Vinegar?

Like many coffee machine manufacturers, Braun recommends using a commercial descaling agent instead of vinegar. White vinegar contains 5-8% acetic acid and apple cider vinegar has 5-6%. This type of acid can wear down metal and cause leaks. Vinegar is also less effective than other cleaners at removing oils left by coffee grounds. Plus, it may leave a taste or odor which may make your drink unpleasant.

Instead of vinegar, I think the best way to clean your Braun is with one of the below cleaners. They have safe and effective types of acids. They are odorless too and won’t impact the taste of your coffee.

Braun Coffee Maker Descaling Solutions

Braun Descaler

The Braun descaler is the official descaling made by Braun. It is the one they recommend you use to deep clean your unit. It contains lactic acid which is safe to use on aluminum. Each bottle has enough solution for two doses.

Impresa Descaler

The Impresa descaler is a top selling cleaner. It has citric and sulfamic acids. Both of these are gentle on metal. Each pack contains two bottles. Each bottle can be used twice.

Essential Values Descaler & Cleaner

The Essential Values cleaning solution has a citric acid that is both odorless and powerful. Each bottle is good for two uses. A two pack will provide four doses. That’s a year supply if you clean your machine every three months. 

How To Descale Braun Coffee Makers

Once you have your solution, follow these simple steps on how to descale a Braun coffee maker. It takes 45 minutes to complete and cannot be interrupted.

1. Remove the charcoal water filter, the water filter holder and the gold tone permanent filter if your model has one.
2. Follow the instructions on the descaler packaging to prepare the diluted solution. Then add it to the water tank.
3. Place the empty carafe on the warming plate.
4. Press the CLEAN button. The green LED light above the button will start flashing.
5. Press the BREW button. This will start the descaling process. The green LED will turn off when the descale cycle is complete.
6. Discard the solution from the carafe. Rinse thoroughly with clean water.
7. Now you need to rinse the machine of any descaler residue. Fill the water reservoir with a full carafe (12 cups) of fresh clean water. Run the coffee maker through a complete brew cycle.
8. Repeat step 7 a second time.

If you have been using your machine for longer than 3 months and never descaled, you may need to repeat the entire cycle once or twice more. It is recommended that you run a second or third cycle if it is taking your Braun longer than normal to brew a cup.