How to use and maintain your filter coffee machine

by Robert CooperAug 30, 20170 comments

Although filter coffee brewers are relatively straight forward to use, we thought it would be worth providing a step by step guide so you know how to get the best from your filter coffee machine.

1) Always use a clean jug of fresh water per brew.

2) Remove the filter pan (a plastic or steel basket with handle located at the front near the top of the machine). Place one filter paper into the filter pan, making sure the sides of the filter paper fit snug to the sides of the filter pan. If you leave any of the sides of the filter paper folded away from the filter pan, then when the coffee is brewed the water will fold the filter paper into the centre and you will end up with coffee grounds in your filter coffee.

3) Open one fresh filter coffee sachet, and empty the whole contents into the filter pan. Make sure the grounds are evenly distributed over the base of the filter paper so the machine will brew the coffee evenly.

4) Depending on the type of machine you are using, either make sure you have an empty jug on the hot plate under the filter pan, or an empty vacuum flask if you have the thermoserve type of machine. (IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT IF YOU ARE USING A THERMOS FLASK YOU BREW ONE FLASK OF HOT WATER INTO IT FIRST SO IT IS AT THE CORRECT TEMPERATURE - BREWING COFFEE INTO A COLD FLASK WILL SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE IT'S TEMPERATURE)

5) Pour one jug of fresh clean water into the back of your filter machine as directed by the manufacturer, if you only have one jug available make sure the machine is switched off before you pour the water in, otherwise the coffee will start to come out before you can put the jug back on the hot plate.

6) It will take 5 minutes to brew one three pint (1.8litre) jug of fresh filter coffee. If you are using a jug on a hotplate, this coffee will be best consumed within 1 hour of brewing, after this time the coffee will become stewed and bitter. Thermos flasks will store the coffee for a long period of time without stewing, and only loose a few degrees temperature per hour.

7) Remove the filter pan and dispose of the filter paper and used grounds (never try to re-use grounds). Rinse the filter pan and place back in the machine.

8) At the end of every service make sure you wipe the machine clean with a soapy non abrasive cloth, especially the hot plates if you have them.

We strongly reccomend you clean your filter coffee machines filter basket and jugs regularly, at least once a week or more often if you brew many jugs per day. For the easiest and best cleaning, use Puly Caff Brew Tabs which are a cleaning tablet you pop into the filter basket of your filter coffee machine and brew a jug of hot water - the tablet dissolves cleaning the filter basket and also the filter coffee jug. If you have two jugs with your machine after the solution has sat in the first jug for a few minutes pour the solution into your other jug to clean it and rinse the first jug thoroughly. Never you abrasives to clean the outside of the jugs, this will scratch them which causes even greater staining to the jugs.

For all your filter coffee needs, we supply the following products:-

Descaling your filter coffee brewer

After extended use your filter coffee brewer will build up limescale in the boiler and brew spray head. Limescale will extend the brew time of your machine, reduce the quality of the brew, and can lead to it overheating and shutting down completely. To make sure your machine runs at its optimum, you should descale it frequently using a suitable descale agent such as Renegite we supply.

1) Always descale the machine when it is completely cold. Mix 1 full 50g sachet of Renegite with cold water in a 3 pint coffee jug. Pour the solution into the machine as if brewing coffee.

2) Make sure there is no coffee or filter paper in the filter pan. Place an empty jug on the hot plate under the filter pan. Turn the machine on and wait for the jug to fill half way. Turn the machine off. Leave for 10 minutes so the descaling solution can work in all the parts of the machine.

3) Empty the half jug and then return to the hot plate. Turn the machine back on and wait for the other half jug to brew through. Empty the jug when the brew is complete and rinse well, also rinse the filter pan and wipe with a damp cloth the shower screen on the machine above where the filter pan is positioned.

4) Run at lease four jugs of fresh clean water through the machine to rinse out any remaining descale solution. If you are unsure, test some of the brewed water with fresh milk - if the milk curdles descale solution is still present and you should rinse some more.

5) Sometimes the descale process can cause the filter machine boiler to overheat, causing the thermal trip to cut power to the boiler. If this happens then you will not be able to get any water to brew through the machine. The thermal trip is a small red button attached to a round black unit with two wires attached located on top of the boiler inside the machine. Press it down to re-set it. This process should only be attempted by an engineer or someone competent with electricity, and should only be attempted when the machine is unplugged and cold. If you are unsure ask us for details of a local engineer, or we can get it carrier uplifted for service at our premises.

Useful links for you filter coffee machine:-

Filter coffee machine accessories

Tags: filter coffee, filter coffee machine, filter coffee machine guide

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