This week's tip is on keeping the ol' coffee pot running freely. The tips I post every week may be common knowledge for most - so forgive me the redundancy if you fall into this category.
We have this really cool coffee machine made by Capresso. It grinds the beans as well as brews a great cup of Joe. We normally program it at night to grind and brew the java for us in the mornings before we wake up. So, we have no idea how long it takes to actually brew a pot of coffee.
I've mentioned before that we've been in this house for nearly a year. We have found that it has REALLY hard water. Well, shortly after we moved in we had some guests over for dinner and dessert. I asked everyone if they would like some coffee with their cake. Of course. So, I get the pot going as any good hostess would do. An hour and a half later...the coffee is finally ready. How embarrassing! We didn't have this problem at the other house. That's when we received the 'hard water is screwin' up the coffee pot lines' revelation.
The fix is extremely simple. Once a week I simply run a water and vinegar solution through the machine. I usually use one part vinegar to 3 parts water. You can use more vinegar if you feel it's necessary. If you want you can also run a pot of plain water through afterwards as a rinse. I find this step really not necessary, though. We have never had a pot taste like vinegar.
This vinegar solution has completely resolved our problem and costs MUCH less than the coffee pot cleaning solutions that are sold in the supermarket. I really don't want chemicals in my machine anyhow.
Hope this has been helpful. Have a great day!