Hi,
Was just wondering if any coffee connoisseurs know whether it matters what descaler tablets you use for a machine?
I have a Breville Barista Express and it seems like these are no longer made https://www.amazon.com.au/Breville-Espresso-Cleaning-Tablets…
Breville makes these and I'm assuming they're now their flagship descalers? https://www.harveynorman.com.au/breville-eco-8-pack-coffee-r…
Or can i just get anything? / any recommendations for good quality ones?
Thanks
Alsooooo keep in mind….. depends on where you live and the type of water in your area, descaling can be a waste of time.
Do you have quite 'hard water'? If so descale regularly. If not, its usually a waste of time to descale frequently. Google your local water supplier and they usually tell you how hard the water is. E.G. Melbourne water is soft e.g. 12 – 45 mg/L of CaCO3 (Calcium Carbonate).
interesting, I'll check it out. I mean, I'm a big supporter of tap water in our country, we're very lucky. Didn't know there was such a thing as hard/ soft water! But I figure there's a leftover residue that triggers the descaler light, or why after a long while there's black residue in a kettle.
I have a Breville Barista Express and it seems like these are no longer made
those are not descaling tables.. those are cleaning tables which are used during a clean/backflush cycle to clean the group head and assosciated lines of coffee oils etc
thanks! I now realise there's descaling for my water tank, and cleaning tablets. Thought it was all the same. my bad.
Use a 50/50 mix of water to white vinegar
I think you are looking for something like this: https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/breville-e…
You can buy an 8 pack for around 20, but this is a 40 pack for $30.
thats a cleaner, not a descaler
but a much more economical way to buy it than in tablet form
I use this for my Breville Dual Boiler
Cleaner, used whenever I can be bothered..maybe every month or 2 or whenever the machine prompts me
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-CAFETTO-ESPRESSO-CLEAN-500g-…
Decaler, maybe yearly or if the machine prompts
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-5-Pack-Restore-Decalcifier-D…
There are no descaler tablets, the links he provided above were for the cleaner tablets, so I assumed he was getting confused.
thanks!
yep that's what I was looking at.
Do you need to descale? Australia has some pretty nice water to the rest of the world.
You can do a 'descale' with just water to keep the machine happy, or do the 50/50 vinegar mix instead of descale.
how many flushes does it require to get rid of the vinegar (if there is any after taste)
The descale solution has a 'taste' as well, just like vinger, so all the descale cycles do a 'clean' and then you rise/fill the water container up again, and it runs all that water through the machine, to flush out any descale/vinger taste.
I also waste the first couple of shots to ensure its all out, and the same for steam wand. I steam some 'water' a few times to ensure its all gone.
I do this for vinger or the descale solution.
So to answer your question, no taste if you descale correctly and if worried, do a couple of shots and you'll be fine.
Legend, thanks for the helpful info.
vinegar, the solution to so many questions! I'm a little scarred from the taste of white vinegar, but if it does the job, it might be the answer for the long run
Supermarket citric acid, mix per Googlé instructions.