Cleaning coffee jugs

[pcolbeck]

We have a double walled stainless steel thermal type coffee jug for our filter machine. It gradually gets very dark brown inside with coffee stains and residue. The neck is too narrow to get your hand in and I have tried bottle brushes etc with unsatisfactory results. Yesterday I saw a tip on the Internet and last night I gave it a go.

Drop a dishwasher tablet in the pot then fill the jug to the top with boiling water. Leave for 30 minutes then swish the water round and pour it out. That's it.

I was somewhat sceptical but blimey it worked. The inside of the coffee jug is now as shiny as new with zero effort !

[spesh]

I found Steradent tablets (which I've used for cleaning Camelbak bladders) work quite well at getting rid of the coffee stains in vacuum flasks.

[hellymedic]

Dishwasher tablets are VERY strongly alkaline and corrosive!

Avoid skin contact if possible and rinse well, followed by some emollient if this occurs.

KEEP AWAY FROM THE EYES!
KEEP AWAY FROM THE EYES!
KEEP AWAY FROM THE EYES!

Wear goggles.

Alkaline eye injury is seriously nasty! Irrigate with GALLONS and seek medical advice ASAP if there's any contact.

[delthebike]

I use orange squash, 1/3 to 2/3 water, or a "fair bit" of lemon juice with water to clean tea stained mugs. Just leave to soak for an hour.

[hellymedic]

Beverage staining is a combination of limescale and Stuffs from the beverages.

I think pcolbeck's water is soft so limescale is a smaller part of the issue for him.

Limescale will go with almost any acid applied for long enough; the trick is to use nothing that may taint the flavour of future drinks.

Other stuffs may be fat soluble and will respond well to alkalis and pigments will lighten with bleaches like Milton/Domestos/Sodium hypochlorite.

Whatever you use (and it might make sense to use several agents) rinse well, rinse again and use the machine with water you then discard, before preparing drinks.

[ian]

Surely the coating adds to the flavour.

Admittedly as no fan of subtlety, I just go to the coffee shop and demand the most dangerously dark brew they have. I don't drink anything that doesn't have enough caffeine to re-animate a corpse. Which is pretty much me most mornings,

[rafletcher]

"Kilrock" would probably work if acids do the job. It's 54% Formic acid, and goodness it smells like it!

[hellymedic]

I think 'Ataka' descaler is also formic acid.

Descaling the electric kettle is FUN but I've not had tuits recently.

[Basil]

+1 for the sterident tabs.  We also use them to clean tea stained mugs overnight,

[pcolbeck]

I think pcolbeck's water is soft so limescale is a smaller part of the issue for him.

Soft ! Only if you consider steel bars soft. The water here is incredibly hard. We are constantly fighting a loosing battle with limescale on the end of taps, in the shower etc. The only good thing is that should you have a small leak in your plumbing anywhere the limescale soon seals it. I use Melitta descaling tablets when the coffee machine turns its scale warning on.

[T42]

There's stuff called Puly Caff that'll shift the gunk. Got something like sodium peroxide in it along with standard detergent.

[ian]

I think most commercial degunkers are citric acid-based, it's a relatively mild acid, but will dissolve limescale etc. quite effectively, human bodies (alive or dead) less so.

Dishwasher detergent is an alkali to break down fats. Acids will do this too, but you need strong acids.

I presume coffee staining on the inside of a pot is mostly accreted organic material and particulates (unlike tea which is exclusively staining from polyphenolics like tannins) so any cleanser should get rid of them. My coffee pot/thermos goes in the dishwasher and doesn't seem stained (I just peaked inside to confirm) despite my love for the darkest coffee roasts that the gents in the Algerian Coffee Shop can supply me with.

[ElyDave]

My only question would be - Why?

if it's inside the pots nobody will see it and the hot coffee should kill any germs

[sg37409]

I use orange squash, 1/3 to 2/3 water, or a "fair bit" of lemon juice with water to clean tea stained mugs. Just leave to soak for an hour.

+1 to this.

[T42]

My only question would be - Why?

if it's inside the pots nobody will see it and the hot coffee should kill any germs

Taste.

[ian]

If it dissolved that easily, it wouldn't be there in the first place. But anyway, a dishwasher deals with it. I do, ironically, find that the taste of dishwasher detergent does linger in coffee though, so you have to rinse.

[ElyDave]

My only question would be - Why?

if it's inside the pots nobody will see it and the hot coffee should kill any germs

Taste.

My thermos mug gets just a quick swill with hot water as the kettle boils

[hillbilly]

There's stuff called Puly Caff that'll shift the gunk. Got something like sodium peroxide in it along with standard detergent.

This is what I use.  It works a dream (and  you need so little it lasts a long time).  Also used to backflush the espresso machine, to cut through the oil and gunk that ground coffee seems to create over the course of a month. 

[T42]

Yup. The crud in the spittoon drip tray of my espresso machine won't yield to anything else.