Daily Espresso Machine Care
Owners, managers and baristas all know that the espresso machine is the heart and soul of the cafe. With some cafes churning out nearly 70% of their drinks as espresso, keeping this equipment in top shape is extremely important.
One of the most important things any cafe can do to ensure their gear stays operational is to have a robust quarterly maintenance program. However, there are many things that should be done on a daily basis to ensure that your equipment functions properly, and that your coffee tastes its best. Performing these tasks properly can avoid costly service calls and machine down time.
Let’s go over some of the proper daily and weekly routines that can make a huge difference in your coffee program.
Daily Tasks:
Mid-shift backflush
With a busy morning out of the way, a great practice is to do a quick backflush on all of your groups. Backflushing pushes the oils and debris that have built up from your morning shift out of your brew valves. This will help to keep your coffee tasting fresh, and your water flow steady and consistent.
Place backflush disk (blind portafilter) into your portafilter handle
Tighten the portafilter into your first group
Run 10 cycles of 5 second brew, 5 second off. You should hear water spitting into your drain with each shut off
Repeat for each group
Remove the backflush disk, and put your portafilter basket back into the portafilter handle
Return to normal operaiton
End of day backflush
This is the most important daily task, and should be performed exactly as described to prevent problems.
Remove the group screw, screens, and any brew plates from each group
Place these items inside your largest steaming kettle
Add a 1/2 teaspoon of coffee cleaner (Cafiza, Puro Caff) to the kettle, and fill with warm water. Set aside.
Place backflush disk (blind portafilter) into your portafilter handle
Add about a dime size worth of coffee cleaner to the backflush disk. Wet with hot water and allow to begin to dissolve
Tighten portafilter into your first group
Run 10 cycles of 5 second brew, 5 second off. You should hear water spitting into your drain with each shut off
Remove portafilter handle, and flush the group for 5 seconds
Replace the portafilter handle with no cleaner
Run 10 cycles of 5 second brew, 5 second off.
Repeat for each group.
Rinse and wipe off the screens, screws, and brew plates from each group, and replace
Dispersion screw should be slightly more than hand-tight, but be cautious not to over-tighten.
Using a hot wet microfiber towel, remove any residue that may remain on the steam wands. These may need to be soaked if they are not cleaned properly between service.
Daily wipe down and cleaning
Use a microfiber cloth to wipe down all of the external surfaces of the machine to remove any coffee or milk spots.
Remove the drain tray, and clean in your triple sink
Use a microfiber cloth to clean the steam wands
With the drain tray removed, visually inspect the drain to ensure it is not blocked or backed up
Replace the drain tray
If you can create a system of consistent cleaning and daily maintenance, you can lower your overall long-term cost of ownership, as well as create a more consistent and delicious coffee product. Take it from us, we can tell which of our clients has a healthy cleaning regiment within the first few minutes of our visit.
