New Mr. Coffee Espresso machine producing white gunk
I just got the Mr. Coffee Steam espresso machine. Running the first cycle with just water produced white flakes in the carafe. I ran it again with just water. Still a lot of particles in the carafe coming out of the machine. I have since run it about 20 more times, and it is still producing lots of white stuff. I have rinsed the resevoir repeatedly. I have used a descaling agent made for coffee makers, and nothing is helping-- every batch has some amount of flakes. What IS this? Is it fixable? Should i start over with another Mr. Coffee, or is this a common problem? I don't want white floaty bits in my coffee.
Coffee Makers & Espresso... - Mr. Coffee - ECM20 Espresso Machine
Answers & Comments
Hello aura20,
I bought one this week and had the same problem. I used vinegar and rinsed thoroughly and yet the whit flakes remained. I did some research and found that high end espresso makers often have very fine screens that catch minerals and grounds and so on. This Mister Coffee espresso maker has only a metal basket with tiny holes so it's not really filtering anything. Moreover the metal is treated aluminum, so it scales naturally. Also, if your water is hard like mine that just makes things worse. I just tore off a piece of paper towel only big enough to line the bottom of the filter basket and not come up around the edges. Then I put a drop of water on the paper towel and pressed the paper towel against the filter basket so I could see the little holes through the paper towel. Then I rinsed the machine again and the white flakes were completely gone from the water and the paper towel had collected it instead. I did the same thing with a new piece of paper towel and I added coffee, I did not add the maximum amount of coffee and I did not tamp the coffee. The product was smooth and creamy as it came out of the machine very slowly. But it tasted great and it was strong and clean. Upon removing the basket I found hard dry grounds stuck to the basket and paper towel. I had to use a spoon and running water to dig all of it out. It's not as good as professional espresso makers, but it'll do for a quick shot. I hope that helps.