OUiDEAUX Junior Member Joined: 21 Feb 2013 Posts: 5 Location: Haarlem, Netherlands Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Feb 21, 2013, 4:16am Subject: Cleaning the portafilter - my first attempt
Hey guys! New to the forums, so here's a little intro about how I ended up here. I've loved coffee for many years, but I never had the equipment for making the perfect espresso at home. I've had the cups/pads machines, but I never liked the coffee from those things. Last year a friend of mine came up with a Moka Express and I really liked it, simple device which makes great coffee. But you have to cool it down for 15 minutes before you can make a new espresso - not a good idea if your friends come over and they all want coffee.
So after reading a lot on the internet, I bought a used Gaggia Classic last weekend. The guy who sold it to me explained a lot about backflushing, desclaing, doing regular maintenance, good for a beginner.
But here's my question. When I remove the basket from the portafilter, there's some kind of brown residue which smells awful. I tried to clean it with hot water and a brush but that didn't work. I bought Cafiza at the local barista shop (trying not to talk about a coffee shop - that's something else around here) and I tried to remove the brown residue. Poured about 200ml/8oz of hot water with half a tablespoon of Cafiza in a glass jar and I let the portafilter soak in there for about 15 minutes. The water was brownish afterwards, it definitely removed some of the brown residue. But there was still a lot of brown residue left in the PF. However, the espresso's were much better already!
I don't exactly know what Cafiza is and I don't want to mess up my portafilter by soaking it in Cafiza for too long. How long can I soak the PF in cafiza, and what mixture would you recommend? Thanks for the replies!
calblacksmith Moderator Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 5,671 Location: Riverside, Ca, U.S.A. Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: ECM Veneziano A1 Grinder: Many different commercial Vac Pot: 40s era Silex Drip: Milita, Bunn&Curtis... Roaster: Cast iron pan, gas burner
Posted Thu Feb 21, 2013, 4:40am Subject: Re: Cleaning the portafilter - my first attempt
Hi, welcome to the board.
You will not hurt anything by doing what you are doing. What you have is just a soap that works well on coffee oils, which is what you are cleaning.
Congratulations on stepping up your gear. Remember, the most important part of your setup is the grinder. If you think there was an improvement with washing your PF, a good grinder will be 50 times the improvement that you have seen with a clean PF.
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
SStones Senior Member Joined: 24 Nov 2012 Posts: 208 Location: Canada Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Giga 5, ECM Giotto, Rocket... Grinder: Anfim Milano-Best Vac Pot: No :( Drip: Some $30 thing from Walmart Roaster: I buy pre-roasted.
Posted Thu Feb 21, 2013, 6:01am Subject: Re: Cleaning the portafilter - my first attempt
Cafiza has TriSodium Phosphate, quite a lot of it. That's what makes it so effective at removing the organic tars left by brewing espresso. It works best with very hot water. Get your dish-brush and portafilter well soaked in the hot Cafiza and scrub away. You should have no trouble getting it back to shiny.
Note to others reading this thread. If your portafilter is plated aluminum, don't soak it in Cafiza and don't diswasher it, the TSP will un-plate your aluminum and leafe it a nasty, powdery grey.
OUiDEAUX Junior Member Joined: 21 Feb 2013 Posts: 5 Location: Haarlem, Netherlands Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Fri Feb 22, 2013, 6:51am Subject: Re: Cleaning the portafilter - my first attempt
Well after letting the PF and the basket soak in the Cafiza for a couple of hours, it still wasn't clean enough. I could still smell the leftovers from the coffee, so I ended up polishing the PF with scothbrite. After a hour or so, the PF was completely odorless and looks like this.
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