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How To Clean Coffee Maker

Its a good idea to clean your drip coffee maker about once a month or more, especially if you use varying types of coffee. If you enjoy flavored coffee, you should ALWAYS clean it after brewing unless you want the next pot of coffee to have a hint of flavor from the previous one.
Brewing coffee leaves behind sediments and oils which build up in your maker after each brew. If left uncleaned, your coffee may start to have unpleasant tastes and odors. (Be sure you are always brewing your coffee with filtered water to avoid calcium and hard water buildup in your machine.)

Most coffee makers come with instructions on how to clean it. If you no longer have those instructions, don't worry! Here is a step-by-step on how to clean a coffee maker.

Fill your water reservoir with a mixture of vinegar and water (1 part vinegar to 2 parts water).
Place a clean, empty filter in the filter basket as you would when brewing coffee, only this time, don't add any coffee.
Start your machine and allow the vinegar mixture to brew through the filter. This will clean out the reservoir, machine, and carafe.
When it is finished brewing, allow 10 minutes or so for the water to cool.
Empty the carafe and rise it out with cold water.
Fill the reservoir again with plain cold water. (be sure it's filtered!)
Start the brewing process over. This will rinse out the vinegar from the previous cleaning.
When this process is finished, again allow for the water to cool slightly. Empty the carafe. If the carafe and reservoir do not smell of vinegar, you are done. If you still smell traces of vinegar, repeat steps 6-8.

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