Cleaning a stainless steel carafe

Hello,

I have a Technivorm Moccamaster KBT-741 and cannot get the stale coffee smell out of the carafe. I can get it so it looks quite clean on the inside but there is always the slight smell of stale coffee. Any hints on how to get this really clean?

I have tried soaking it in water with the following additives:

• Baking soda
• Dishwasher soap: liquid, powdered and pods
• False teeth cleaner

Need some help here!

Had a similar experience with a camping percolator that was put away for a few years without having been properly washed out beforehand.

A hot soak with Oxiclean laundry powder worked the best. Don't know if it is a recommended usage or not, but we've used it on numerous stainless and aluminum pots with seemingly no ill effects.

Chlorine bleach . . .. It melts off the problem and rinses off quickly. Maybe an oz and fill with water and leave for an hour. . . .

I have used a mixture of white vinegar and water (half and half) to clean my brewer, followed by a few brews of plain water to flush out any vinegar residue left behind.

I have also used a commercial product called BrewRite, which comes as a powder to dissolve in water. They may have updated the jar, but mine looks like this:


Both methods remove the coffee stains and odors.

+1 to Oxiclean. Great stuff for cleaning around the house and kitchen. Great on metals and glass.

Small note- don't use on non-stick pans like Teflon or Caphalon. Ask me how I know. :|

Oxiclean should work or Cafiza.

You shouldn't use bleach on stainless. It will eventually pit it. I use unscented oxiclean on my homebrewing/beer equipment. There is a product called PBW for professional breweries to clean their stainless equipment. Its main ingredient is sodium percarbonate. Thats also the main ingredient of oxiclean.

I Googled bleach vs. stainless steel and sure enough there are lots of warnings about that!

About OxiClean ... are we talking the laundry or the dishwashing product? Detergents or stain removers? Lots of OxiClean products! Perhaps they all have the same active ingredient.

I mean the original multipurpose Oxiclean product. Sodium percarbonate, I think it is.

Use a mixture of baking soda and vinegar, 1 part baking soda to 3 parts vinegar. Bleach and stainless do not mix it pits the stainless very badly.

A friend of mine that has always carried a thermos swears by Dip-it.

jazzguy said:

Oxiclean should work or Cafiza.

Click to expand...

Or Puro Caff, Joe Glo, etc.

Puro Caff is what I use to backflush and clean my espresso machine parts.

As often is the case on B&B I've learned something. OK no bleach for my stainless steel from here on.

This is not meant as the last word on the subject, as I have forgotten more Chemistry than I remember. But to try to give a partial summary:

Vinegar contains acetic acid which is a weak acid and has often been used as a cleaner. Melissa Maker is an entertaining lady who can be found over at her website CleanMySpace.com. She has posted this video about different uses for vinegar:

The Brew Rite commercial coffee cleaning product lists Sodium carbonate as the active ingredient.


Oxiclean is the commercial name for Sodium percarbonate, which is a combination of previously mentioned sodium carbonate (Brew Rite) and hydrogen peroxide. It is more generically known as Oxygen Bleach. If you have a Dollar Tree store nearby you can purchase a 16 oz jar of LA's Totally Awesome Oxygen, which is the same thing for $1.

Yes, any unscented "oxygen" or clorine bleach free cleaner will work. Sodium Percarbonate will be the main ingredient. If you are looking specifically for Oxyclean, it will be the powdered version in the laundry aisle. They make an unscented version. Don't get any of the gels, soaps or pens made by Oxyclean.

Its also good for cleaning any stainless item in the kitchen. Especially pots and pans that get gunk burned to the bottom.

They key is to use HOT water and let it soak. The hottest you can get from the tap is fine.

I use Cafiza for my cleaning purposes. If you buy the jar instead of the tablets, it's darn cheap stuff from Amazon - $11 and free shipping if you're a Prime member

Put crushed ice in it followed by about 1/2 cup of salt. Swirl around in circle....I learned to clean Bunn coffee maker pots that way 30 years ago.

Alacrity59 said:

Chlorine bleach . . .. It melts off the problem and rinses off quickly. Maybe an oz and fill with water and leave for an hour. . . .

Click to expand...

+1. Inexpensive and effective. Agree ... it melts the stain away before your eyes. Just rinse well. Maybe air out overnightg

Last time I did a run of Brew Rite though the Moccamaster it did a good job of releasing the buildup inside the carafe too.