Maintenance & Cleaning of Coffee Percolators

To make the most of coffee percolators to provide perfect cups of coffee every time, cleanliness is essential. There should be a cleansing routine performed once a month for light use, or after every two-dozen brewing processes for heavy use. Cleaning your coffee percolator on a regular basis is important to keep your coffee tasting great every time.

Coffee percolators work by heating cold water at the bottom of the pot and pumping it out a tube. Since the cycle is repeated frequently the percolator needs to be cleaned frequently. For proper maintenance, the percolator should be cleaned after every use.

Always keep the heating unit away from liquids. Cleaning in dishwasher is not a good idea. To remove calcium scales a solution of water and vinegar or lemon and rinsing with plain water works best. Here are maintenance tips to keep your percolator clean.

Create a solution of 2 tsp. of baking soda and eight cups of water for one complete cycle.
Clean by placing cleaning agents inside percolator and turning it on for one complete cycle. If your home is in a hard-water area, clean your percolator a second time with a mixture of water and white vinegar.
Allow percolator to dry completely. Make sure it dries thoroughly to avoid mold and mildew forming in interiors of percolator.
Remove the pump tube and basket from your coffee percolator.
Scrape out gently coffee residue trapped in the spaces between the washer and the pump-tube flange with a pointed brush. Coffee grounds do get trapped in the interiors of percolator and can prevent from operating efficiently.
Remove all debris from holes in pump-tube flanges by using a needle or a toothpick. Brush out the debris and dirt.
Unclog all the holes in your coffee percolator basket by taking a needle or toothpick and poking out the residue.