Cleaning Portafilter – Coffee Cherish

Portafilter baskets tend to get pretty filthy and clogged with coffee oil residue especially when you leave them as it is for longer period without proper cleaning. These portafilter baskets need to be cleaned and descaled on a regular basis so that they remain dirt free, bacteria free and oil free in order to maintain the cleanliness of your coffee. And if you don’t clean your portafilters on a regular basis then there is a high chance of clogging their holes after a while. So, I guess you definitely don’t want these portafilters to become dirty, slimy and clogged which would make it hard to filter and drink your coffee later on. Therefore, today I am providing few extremely effective cleaning techniques to descale and clean your portafilter including white vinegar, Cafiza and other methods. Keep reading till the end to know all the useful methods. 5 Easy Methods to Clean Portafilter with its Basket Method 1: Use Mixture of White Vinegar and Baking Soda This is the very first method that you should try to clean the dirty and clogged portafilters from your espresso machines. White vinegar is a very efficient cleaning and descaling agent. If you combine it with baking soda, it really helps in complete cleanup of stubborn and hard to remove coffee oil residue as well as a calcium buildup from the portafilter. The cleaning process is really simple and straightforward. Things You will Need: 1. Heinz Natural Multi-Purpose Cleaning Vinegar 2. Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda 3. Abrasive Scrubbing Pad 4. Old Toothbrush 5. Portafilter Cleaning Brush 6. Warm or Hot Water Actual Cleaning Procedure: 1. Take a bowl of warm or hot water. 2. Get a natural white vinegar such as Heinz Natural Multi-Purpose Cleaning Vinegar. 3. Also get a good quality and natural baking soda like Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda. 4. First take a bowl and add some hot water in it. 5. Now add ¼ cup of white vinegar solution in this hot water which will make it diluted. 6. Then mix 2 tablespoons of pure baking soda in the bowl and mix both the ingredients properly. 7. Once this mixture is ready, take out your portafilter. 8. Remove the basket from the portafilter and then place that portafilter in the bowl with vinegar and baking soda solution. 9. After an hour or so, take the portafilter out of the solution and start scrubbing it with a reliable scrubbing pad. 10. Focus on clearing all the coffee oil reside marks and deep stains from the portafilter. 11. You can even use your old toothbrush to clean out the stubborn coffee stains and residue located on the inside and outside of the portafilter. 12. In some cases, it is very hard to clean the backside of the portafilter along with its center hole. In order to clean these hard to reach areas, you can make use of extra long portafilter cleaning brush. This brush is really helpful in cleaning the internal parts of the portafilter. 13. Once you are done cleaning all the internal and external areas of the portafilter, you can also clean its basket in the similar fashion. Just soak the basket in the mixture of baking soda and white vinegar and then simply clean it with a toothbrush or a cleaning brush. That’s it and you are done cleaning the portafilter. I recommend you to perform this cleaning process at least every alternate day or for every 2-3 days at minimum. This will keep your portafilter clean, dirt free, coffee oil residue free and you can drink clean and safe coffee without any worries. Recommended Articles for You: 5 Quick Methods to Remove Stuck Portafilter Basket 7 Easy Steps to Clean Espresso Machine Cleaner with Cafiza 11 Cafiza Alternative Cleaners to Use for Espresso Machine Cleaning Method 2: Using Cafiza Cleaner Cafiza is an excellent espresso machine cleaner and a descaling solution. By using Cafiza cleaner, you can almost remove all types of coffee oil residue and other types of dirt from your portafilter. The cleaning process is actually very simple and it is mentioned as follows. Things You will Need: 1. 1 Teaspoon of Cafiza Cleaner Solution 2. Espresso Machine Cleaning Brush Set 3. 32 oz of Hot Water Cleaning Procedure: 1. The first thing you will need is a glass bowl in which you will add 30 to 32 oz of hot water. 2. Then take a bottle of Cafiza cleaner solution and add 1 teaspoon of this solution in the bowl. 3. Mix this solution properly and allow it to soak for at least 30 minutes. 4. In the meantime, take out the portafilter from your expresso machine and take out its basket too. 5. Now place the portafilter in the bowl which now contains well soaked cafiza solution. 6. Let it soak in the solution for at least an hour or so. 7. After that, take it out and start scrubbing all the inside and outside areas of the portafilter with the help of espresso machine cleaning brush. Scrub all the areas properly especially the backside and center hole of the portafilter. 8. Once you clean all the areas properly, you can also clean its basket with this Cafiza solution. To understand this whole cleaning process with Cafiza cleaner, you will need to watch the following video carefully. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C6rd6dEH6g Method 3: Using Puly Caff Plus Espresso Machine Cleaner Puly Caff Plus is another really efficient coffee machine cleaner product which can also be used to clean portafilters with their baskets. This product is manufactured using eco-friendly and bi-degradable ingredients and therefore it is safe to use for your portafilters. If you want to remove old hard water and coffee oil stains from your portafilter, then you can definitely use Puly Caff Plus cleaner. The cleaning process is much similar to that of Cafiza solution as explained above. Just get an espresso machine cleaner brush set to clean your portafilter properly after it is well soaked in the liquid solution made from Puly Caff Plus cleaner. You can use your old toothbrush too for proper internal and external parts cleaning along with its basket. Method 4: Using CleanHike Espresso Machine Cleaning Tablets Use of safe and non-toxic cleaning tablets such as CleanHike Espresso Machine Cleaning Tablets is highly recommended for cleaning portafilter and its basket quickly. The good thing about these types of cleaning tablets is they don’t leave any after cleaning residue and they are chlorine free. This also means they do not cause any weird after clean smell for your portafilter and its basket. You can use these tablets to eliminate hard to remove coffee grease and oil residue which resides on the internal chromium plated brass part of the portafilter. If you want to backflush your espresso machine and portafilter then also these tablets are the best option to use. The cleaning process is pretty straightforward with these tablets. Add 1 CleanHike tablet in the bowl of hot water, wait for few minutes to properly mix the tablet in the water. Then put the portafilter inside this solution for an hour or so. After that clean the portafilter with a soapy water, toothbrush or a scrubbing pad. Method 5: Cleaning with Joe Glo Espresso Machine Cleaner Joe Glo Espresso Machine Cleaner is equally popular and widely used cleaning product for espresso machines. But you can use it to clean your portafilters and their baskets too. With this detergent cleaner you can easily backflush your machine and the portafilter at the same time. The cleaning process is very much similar to the above cleaning tablets. Just take some hot water in the bowl, add half teaspoon of Joe Glo cleaner in it and allow some time to mix the solution properly. Now put the portafilter in the solution, allow at least one hour to properly soak it. After an hour or so, take the portafilter out and again clean or scrub it with an old toothbrush and a scrubbing pad to get the best results. Final Thoughts Keeping your portafilter and the basket clean, dirt free and coffee oil residue free is of paramount importance. If you want to continue drinking clean and bacteria free coffee then it is highly recommended that you clean the portafilter at least every 2-3 days. I have already explained my 5 best methods to clean the portafilter and its basket at home. The best method is obviously to use a mixture of vinegar and baking soda. But the quickest and the most popular method is to use Cafiza cleaner which I also strongly recommend to try on your own to see the results for yourself. Good luck. References: https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/19wsml/basket_cleaning/ https://www.home-barista.com/tips/cleaning-inside-of-portafilter-t41534.html