The range of possibilities on offer when it comes to choosing the coffeemaker to use at home for making espresso continues to grow, but some of us have remained loyal to our beloved old coffeemaker, the product of Italian ingenuity. But over time, you might find that the coffee doesn’t come out so easily and that it tastes bad, as if it were burnt: it’s time to find out how to descale your moka pot using natural methods to eliminate those residues of limescale left by the water because, if left unattended, the only grinding your dear old coffee-maker will be doing is grinding to a halt.
Descaling your coffeemaker
It’s advisable to descale your coffeemaker at least once a month, although how often you need to clean it is related to how often you use it. Let’s see what you need, and the procedure to follow.
What you need
- Water
- White wine vinegar
- Table salt
Procedure
- Pour equal parts of water and white wine vinegar into the bottom part of the moka pot until it’s completely full.
- Add some table salt and close the coffeemaker, then put it on the hob exactly as you would if making a coffee with the moka pot
- When the blend of water and vinegar comes out into the top part, it also removes any limescale.
- The moka pot is now perfectly clean. To remove all traces of the vinegar, we recommend that you make a student’s coffee.
- Make a coffee in the usual way, using any ground coffee blend.
- When it comes out, use that coffee to make another one: pour it into the boiler in place of the water and leave the grounds in the filter (since the coffee will be thrown away and not consumed).
- Place the coffeemaker on the hob and throw away the liquid that comes out.
Your moka pot is now free from limescale and ready to be used as normal. But if you have particular requirements and need to clean the pot more thoroughly, follow our advice on how to clean the moka pot: we want you to be able to continue enjoying to the full the inimitable taste of the real Italian espresso by Caffè Aiello