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Built in coffee machine maintenance

5 years ago

One of the big draws to buying an expensive built in coffee machine is fast and easy access to coffee. Like a Keurig on steroids. But after getting mine installed and reading the instructions I was shocked to see that there is A TON of maintenance.

Mine is a Miele but I assume it is similar for all brands. There are some pretty significant jobs that the manual recommends doing weekly (like cleaning the dispenser and brew unit which both require disassembly) and monthly (such as lubricating). This is in addition to descaling and de-greasing which require Miele consumables. I love my machine but I didn't realize it would be so much work.

Anyway, I'm wondering how close you guys keep to this schedule and how much coffee you make? I make 3-4 cups a day. Do you think I need to keep to such a strict schedule? If I do, I might be doing more cleaning than brewing.

I asked the showroom where I bought my appliances how often they clean theirs but it sounds like they don't really do any maintenance other than de-greasing and descaling. But they've also required service calls.

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Comments (4)

opaone
5 years ago
Personally I think the best maintenance for these is removal and replace with a Nespresso (or Aeropress or Chemex). They are expensive, have known poor reliability that requires expensive service calls to fix and don't make very good drinks.
delray33483
5 years ago
built in coffee machines (or really anything with a grinder) requires a reasonable amount of maintenance. Ground coffee is oily and powdery - it gets everywhere and sticks.

I have a built in - i would recommend doing the suggested procedures, as it is the easiest way to keep it running. It can't be more than 30 minutes a week

there is a reason why copiers breakdown in offices so often - it is the toner getting on all the mechanics
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Bitter is usually too long of extraction so try reducing your extraction time. Can you adjust the grind & tamp pressure? Generally you want a grind+tamp that results in about 9-12 seconds from initial pressure to espresso first coming out and then 20-25 seconds of pour for a total extraction time of 30-35 seconds. These all vary by bean, roast and batch so if you cannot adjust them then finding a bean & roast that most often results in these might be your only option. Keep in mind that these Miele machines do not maintain the pressures and temperatures of regular espresso machines nor do they use a proper tamped puck so it's difficult/impossible to get a good shot from them. For a semi-automatic a Breville Oracle (regular or touch) is a better option.
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Thanks homepro - I'll give them a shot. The prices seem reasonable. I like the Waialua coffee grown here on Oahu, just don't buy much Kona these days as all the stores (including Walmart) are overrun with tiny 6 to 8 oz. bags of 100% Kona, or a million flavored Kona blends, for the tourists. There are a couple of blends labeled as made for well known local restaurants which are OK - but they are 10% Kona only. Most the blends are only 10%. I want to use real beans and get real flavor! Sharon - just what I need, another gadget! LOL! Maybe I'll try when I'm retired. Too busy to start another hobby right now! Terri, this one could be promising. It could probably arrive from WA within a couple of days. Maybe the pachamama mentioned by arbenson too. I want to try a few over a period of a couple of months to try some new roasts. Then I can set up a standing order with the ones we like best.
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carladr
5 years ago
I have a Wolf built in. It's not plumbed so maybe that makes a difference but I don't find the maintenance onerous. We've had it for 5 month and I have de-scaled it twice, according to the messages on the unit. Other than that, the units requests that the milk frother go through a cleaning cycle (5-10 seconds) after every use but I do it about every other time.
DrB477
5 years ago
I just do what the prompts tell me. Maybe i should have read the manual... However nearly 2 years now still works fine.

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