The Precision Brewer from Breville maybe your favorite coffee machine. Nevertheless, hard water accumulation over time can affect brewing temperature, brewing flow, coffee flavor, and machine power. To get the best coffee each time, you’ll need to know how to descale a Breville precision brewer.
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How to Descale a Breville Precision Brewer
The Precision Brewer by Breville is a great machine for making coffee, yet it can be prone to scale buildup. “Scale” is simply mineral deposits from your water supply. While it’s not something you can taste or see, it’s there! Fortunately, there are easy ways to fix this problem.
Step 1: Remove the Water Reservoir
The first step is ensuring your Brewer is turned off and unplugged. Remove the water reservoir lid from the back of your brewer by lifting its handle and pulling it straight out. Then open up the water reservoir, remove any remaining water and rinse out.
Step 2: Prepare Descaler Solution
You’ll need a descaler solution to remove all mineral buildups inside your brewer. Take one packet of liquid descaler solution with your machine and pour it carefully into the water tank, allowing it to dissolve. You can also purchase this solution from Amazon or any local home improvement store such as Lowe’s or Home Depot.
Start by adding water to your descaling solution as you stir with a spoon to ensure the mixture dissolves properly.
Step 3: Run a Complete Cycle
The Breville Brewer has a descaling feature that’s easy to use. To do this, you have to put the machine into descaling mode.
- Press “Power” and select Start to begin the brew cycle.
- When you see “Auto Cleaning” appear on the screen, press OK to continue brewing.
- Once brewing has been completed, you’ll see “Auto Cleaning Complete” appear on the screen.
If the used descaling liquid comes out with a deep blue or purple hue, there are additional limestone or mineral deposits. You may want to consider running an additional dose of the descaling solution. On the other hand, if it comes out slightly tinged or milky, you are good to go to the next and final step.
Step 4: Run a Fresh Water Cycle Through It
Run a cleaning cycle on your brewer (that’s the button with two arrows pointing in opposite directions) using an entire pot of fresh water. You’ll want to run this until your water reservoir is empty and no more drops are coming out of your drip tray.
How to Know When to Descale My Breville Precision Brewer?
The Precision Brewer from Breville is a great coffee machine for folks who love spending money on fancy kitchen items. It comes with an auto-brew timer and a digital display that shows you the time and temperature at which your coffee will be ready to drink.
While it works like any other appliance, you must descale it so that it lasts as long as possible. If you’re not sure if it’s time to descale your brewer, here are some potential signs:
Reduced Brewing Temperature
With time, mineral deposits will form inside the machine and reduce its ability to heat water quickly enough for brewing coffee. This will result in a longer brew time and less consistent extraction of flavors from the coffee grounds.
If you notice it takes longer than usual for the water to reach the desired temperature after a few uses, it might be time to descale!
Excessive Noise From the Pump
If you hear a lot of noise from your brewer, it could be that the water is not being pushed through the machine properly due to calcium deposits on the heating element and brew basket.
Coffee Tastes Acidic or Sour
This is a common issue for users who don’t descale their brewer. Minerals like calcium and magnesium react with the aluminum in your brew chamber, creating a chemical reaction that can leave an unpleasant, acidic taste in your cup.
Is Vinegar a Good Descaling Option for the Breville Precision Brewer?
Vinegar and descaling solutions are two common home remedies that can help clear your coffee maker of mineral buildup. While both methods have proven effective for cleaning coffee makers, vinegar does have some drawbacks that make it less desirable for most people. So, should you descale with vinegar?
It’s Tedious
The main advantage of using a descaling solution over vinegar is that it’s more convenient and doesn’t require much effort. This is because the descaling solution has a higher pH, which helps dissolve minerals more readily. Vinegar’s low pH means that removing stubborn deposits such as scale and lime deposits (calcium carbonate) can be a problem.
More Abrasive
Descaling solution has been proven to be less abrasive on your machine, so if you want to help prevent damage to your device, then use a descaling solution instead of vinegar when you are cleaning it out.
Not as Effective
Vinegar, unlike descaling solutions that dissolve the existing scale in your machine and prevent new scale from forming in the future, doesn’t leave any residue to protect your coffee maker from future build-up.
How often you descale your brewer depends on:
- How frequently do you brew coffee?
- How hard is your water?
- How often do you clean your brewer?
Related Questions
What Is the Procedure for Descale Mode on a Breville Precision Brewer?
The procedure for entering descale mode on the Precision Brewer by Breville is to hold down the power button simultaneously with the 2 cups and enter “descale mode.” Upon pressing the button, the heat begins to build up in the machine. Afterward, the lights come on and stay on for a short period.
What Does “Descale” Mean on a Breville Precision Maker?
The Descale feature on the Control Precision Maker by Breville allows you to clean your brewer quickly and easily. Hot water is forced through the entire brewing system, which includes the filter basket and showerhead. The hot water then goes through a process known as reverse osmosis and back into the reservoir.
What Descaler Does Breville Recommend for the Breville Precision Maker?
Breville recommends descaling their coffee brewer with descaler solutions listed on their website or machine-specific user manual. Breville provides descalers in powder, capsule, and liquid forms.
Conclusion
If your precision control coffee maker by Breville is not at its peak performance level, it may need descaling. Watch out for acid-tasting coffee, excessive pump noise, and reduced machine power to know when it’s time. Follow the instructions from Breville on how to descale the precision brewer.
