Equipment maintenance

Why maintenance matters so much

Coffee is an organic product that leaves oil residue on everything it touches. Those oils oxidize over time and become rancid — and that rancid flavor contaminates every shot you make afterward. A barista who doesn’t clean their equipment is serving coffee with stale oil taste without knowing it.

Also, water deposits minerals (scale/lime) inside boilers and pipes, reducing thermal efficiency and eventually blocking flow. Scale is the number one cause of mechanical failures in espresso machines.

Good news: keeping your equipment in optimal condition requires very little time if you do it consistently.

Daily routine (5 minutes)

These are things you should do every day you use your machine:

Purge before extracting

Before your first shot of the day, activate the pump without the portafilter for 3-5 seconds. This does two things: eliminates stale water in the group (which has absorbed flavors from the gasket and shower) and stabilizes the group temperature.

Clean the portafilter between shots

After each extraction, remove the puck, rinse the portafilter with hot water, and dry with a clean cloth. Coffee oils stick to the metal — if you don’t clean, the next extraction absorbs those stale oils.

Clean the shower screen

With a damp cloth, clean the mesh of the group shower after each session. Oils and fine coffee particles accumulate there. Briefly activate the pump to rinse residues inside.

Clean the steam wand

Immediately after steaming milk, clean the wand with a damp cloth and purge steam for 2 seconds. Milk burns on the wand in seconds — if it dries, it becomes a crust that’s hard to remove and contaminates the next milk you steam.

Never leave milk dry on the wand. It’s the most basic rule and the most broken one.

Rinse the baskets

At the end of the day, remove the basket from the portafilter and rinse with hot water. Check the holes — if they’re blocked, use a pin or needle to clear them. Blocked baskets cause uneven extraction.

Weekly routine: Backflush (15 minutes)

Backflush is the most important cleaning process for machines with a solenoid valve (most semi-automatics). If your machine has a three-way solenoid valve — which allows pressure to release when you stop extraction — you can and should backflush.

If your machine does NOT have a solenoid (some entry machines like Flair or pure lever machines), skip this step.

How to backflush

1. Insert a blank basket (backflush disc) in the portafilter. It’s a basket without holes that blocks the outlet.
2. Backflush with water only (first): Activate the pump for 10 seconds, turn off for 10 seconds. Repeat 5 times. This pushes water up through the group and solenoid, dragging out residue.
3. Backflush with detergent: Put half a teaspoon of espresso-specific detergent (Cafiza, Puly Caff, JoeGlo) in the blank disc. Activate/deactivate the pump as before, 5 cycles. The detergent dissolves accumulated oils.
4. Final rinse: Remove the blank disc, rinse the portafilter, and do 3-4 more water-only cycles to eliminate all detergent residue.
5. Activate the pump without the portafilter to rinse the group.

After backflush, your first shot might taste slightly like detergent if you didn’t rinse enough. Make a “throwaway” shot before serving.

Use the right detergents

Never use kitchen soap, vinegar, or homemade products. Espresso detergents are specifically formulated to dissolve coffee oils without damaging the machine’s gaskets, seals, and metals. They’re cheap — a jar of Cafiza lasts months.

Monthly routine: Deep cleaning (30 minutes)

Soak portafilter and baskets

Fill a container with hot water and a tablespoon of Cafiza. Submerge the baskets, portafilter (without the wooden or plastic handle if it detaches), and shower screen. Soak 20-30 minutes. Accumulated oils dissolve and you can see the water turn dark and murky.

Then rinse everything with clean water and dry.

Clean the shower screen

If you can remove the shower (most come out with a screw), do so once a month. Soak it in the Cafiza solution. Also clean the area behind the shower — dark plaque from oxidized oils accumulates there that you don’t normally see.

Clean the grinder

Grinders accumulate oils and fines (small particles) between the burrs. This affects consistency and flavor.

Option 1: Cleaning tablets (Grindz or similar). Run a handful of tablets through the grinder like they’re coffee beans. They absorb oils and drag out fines. Then run 20-30g of throwaway coffee to clean out tablet residue.

Option 2: Manual burr cleaning. Remove the burrs (consult your grinder manual), brush them with a dry brush, and clean the grind chamber with a dry cloth. Don’t use water on the burrs — they can rust.

For home use, once a month is enough. In a café, weekly.

Descaling (every 2-3 months)

Scale (calcium and magnesium deposits) accumulates inside the boiler, pipes, and heating elements. The harder your water, the faster it forms.

Signs you need to descale

• The machine takes longer to heat
• Pump pressure has decreased
• Water flow is slower than normal
• You see white deposits on the steam wand or group

How to descale

Important: Read your machine manual first. Some machines (especially dual boilers) have specific procedures. Others (like some La Marzocco) shouldn’t be descaled with acid because they have components that get damaged.

General procedure:

1. Dissolve espresso-specific descaler (not vinegar — it’s too aggressive for certain metals) in water according to product proportions.
2. Fill the tank with the solution.
3. Turn on the machine and let it circulate through the system following your machine’s procedure.
4. Empty and rinse the tank.
5. Fill with clean water and do at least 2-3 complete flush cycles.

Best descaling is prevention

If you use water below 80 ppm hardness (or water from a recipe like Third Wave Water), scale forms drastically less. Check lesson 1.4 on water — optimizing your water is the best way to protect your equipment.

Annual preventive maintenance

Once a year (or every 6 months if you use the machine heavily):

• Change group gasket: The silicone gasket on the portafilter hardens and loses seal over time. Costs $5-10 USD and takes 5 minutes to change.
• Check the pump: If you notice pressure dropping or the pump sounds different, it may need service.
• Check the solenoid: If water doesn’t stop dripping after you stop extraction, the solenoid may need cleaning or replacement.

For prosumer and commercial machines, annual professional service is a good investment.

Quick reference table

What you need for this lesson

• Espresso detergent (Cafiza is the standard, costs ~$10-15 USD)
• A blank basket / backflush disc
• Grinder cleaning tablets (Grindz or similar)
• Descaler (not vinegar)
• A small stiff-bristled brush

Practical exercise

1. Do a detergent backflush right now. Watch the water color that comes out — if it’s dark, you had accumulated oils affecting your flavor.
2. Prepare a shot before and after backflush. Do you notice a taste difference? If your machine was dirty, the post-cleaning shot should be cleaner and brighter.
3. Check your grinder: remove the hopper and look at the burrs. Is there accumulated oil? Are fines stuck? Clean it.
4. Measure your water TDS and calculate when you’ll need to descale.

Key concepts from this lesson

• Coffee oils oxidize and contaminate every shot if you don’t clean
• Purge and clean portafilter: after each use. Steam wand: immediately after.
• Weekly detergent backflush for espresso-specific detergent (Cafiza) — only if your machine has a solenoid
• Monthly soak of baskets, portafilter, and shower screen in Cafiza solution
• Scale is cause #1 of mechanical failures — prevent with good water better than descaling
• A dirty grinder produces rancid flavor — clean it monthly
• Never use vinegar or kitchen soap on espresso equipment