Technivorm Moccamaster 79112 KBT Coffee Brewer@Amazon 54% off.

[tired]

Anyone have experiences to share in regards to descaling your Moccamaster? The recommended descaling of the unit after 100 cycles got away from me. I had more like 200 cycles with mine (6 months) and noticed a definite decline in the flavor of the coffee. The unit still brewed a pot quickly, but the water must have not been reaching the appropriate extraction temperature. I'm new to the fancy coffee thing, so please forgive my ignorance. I bought a bottle of liquid descaler from Urnex and ran a cycle with it. It brought her right back to life! I don't recall any other brewer I've owned being effected so quickly.

I have a Bonavita, and I de-scale with vinegar once a year or so I'd guess. It will start to sputter a bit when brewing, and that's how I know it's time. It works pretty well.

I feel like a simpleton with my $25 Black & Decker coffee maker I bought at Walmart.

What am I missing by not having this?

@bdc101 nailed it:

Cheap coffee makers don't get the water hot enough and don't maintain the same temperature throughout the brew. It makes a difference in the flavor. I have a Bonavita which I used for a few years and it was a big improvement over a cheap coffee maker.

I also find that it sprays the water out in a more widespread pattern than cheap ones that just have a single hole it drains hot water into the grounds. I've used cheap ones in Airbnb's that didn't even get all of the grounds wet! I found dry grounds all the way around in a circle around the outer rim of the grounds. WIth the higher temp, you get better extraction of the coffee, and all of the grounds are fully wet.

Getting one of these machines and a good coffee grinder are the two best things you can do for your coffee.

 

[JTK]

I feel like a simpleton with my $25 Black & Decker coffee maker I bought at Walmart.

What am I missing by not having this?

All I can suggest is to try one of these brewers if you enjoy a strong cup of coffee.

I'm still kind of shocked at how soon I had to descale mine, but they do have kind of a specialized copper heating element in them. The strength and flavor dropped off drastically and now is back after the descaling.

 

[tired]

All I can suggest is to try one of these brewers if you enjoy a strong cup of coffee.

I would say that even if you enjoy lighter roasts, the higher temps with this coffee maker and better water spraying will give you much better extraction of the lighter notes.

 

[spackard]

I always use demineralized water in my coffee machines.
Urnex makes good cleaning chemicals.

 

[GSCJR]

@JTK, distilled water can help with scale buildup. Owners of expensive espresso machines, swear by it. For over 25 years of owning reasonably priced units, I've never lost a machine component to scale using tap water.

 

[tired]

distilled water can help with scale buildup. Owners of expensive espresso machines, swear by it.

Distilled water will significantly impact the taste. I would strongly recommend against that. It will not taste as good. You need some mineral content. The quality of the water is one of the main factors in the taste of the coffee.

This will make me sound extremely nerdy, but for espresso, I make my own water. I make a gallon of concentrate with epsom salt and baking soda. Then I pour a bit of that into my reservoir, and I dilute it out with the right amount of distilled water, and it was one of the most significant advances in my espresso making I've ever had.

 

[4wd]

Distilled water will significantly impact the taste. I would strongly recommend against that. It will not taste as good. You need some mineral content. The quality of the water is one of the main factors in the taste of the coffee.

This will make me sounds extremely nerdy, but for espresso, I make my own water. I make a gallon of concentrate with epsom salt and baking soda. Then I pour a bit of that into my reservoir, and I dilute it out with the right amount of distilled water, and it was one of the most significant advances in my espresso making I've ever had.

Yep,
I just use the DG Alkaline water - cheap and has minerals

 

[GSCJR]

Distilled water will significantly impact the taste. I would strongly recommend against that. It will not taste as good. You need some mineral content. The quality of the water is one of the main factors in the taste of the coffee.

This will make me sound extremely nerdy, but for espresso, I make my own water. I make a gallon of concentrate with epsom salt and baking soda. Then I pour a bit of that into my reservoir, and I dilute it out with the right amount of distilled water, and it was one of the most significant advances in my espresso making I've ever had.

You're absolutely right! There's no doubt, that it will affect the taste of the coffee. I'm just not sure, if some will have the palate to actually taste the difference.

As I stated before, I use tap water in all my machines, including the humble Moka.

 

[Nessism1]

I've got a bag of citric acid powder for descaling. Cheap off Amazon, or similar. A lifetime supply.

 

[tired]

I'm just not sure, if some will have the palate to actually taste the difference.

Well quick story on that. I moved to a new city and found my coffee tasting awful. I thought it was my grinder. Spent a lot of money to upgrade that, no change. Alas, it turned out to be my water. The city water where I was living was awful. I started filtering it for coffee and made my own water for espresso. Absolutely night and day. Anyone would taste the difference. This wasn't about trying to extract some extra floral notes from a nice Burundi. It was a gamechanger. So much that I recommend investigating it early. Even if you don't want to make your own, just buying some spring water in bulk could make a huge difference if you have bad city water.

 

[D1dad]

I’ve got well water, which is nice because it’s free. But, it’s downright brutal on all appliances, even with a water softener. I recently bought a grinder and it changed how the coffee in my Bunn tastes. I usually let the basket fill up then open the lid to stop the water flow, then give the coffee a little stir. Being in Hampton inns for 150 nights a year makes my home coffee seem like a real luxury. I’d love one of these, but don’t think it would be a smart investment.

 

[mshu7]

We're on a well, so I just buy gallons of spring water and it's great for coffee.

 

[Brybo86]

Anyone have experiences to share in regards to descaling your Moccamaster? The recommended descaling of the unit after 100 cycles got away from me. I had more like 200 cycles with mine (6 months) and noticed a definite decline in the flavor of the coffee. The unit still brewed a pot quickly, but the water must have not been reaching the appropriate extraction temperature. I'm new to the fancy coffee thing, so please forgive my ignorance. I bought a bottle of liquid descaler from Urnex and ran a cycle with it. It brought her right back to life! I don't recall any other brewer I've owned being effected so quickly.

You noticed a difference in taste or speed?

 

[JTK]

You noticed a difference in taste or speed?

Taste.

 

[tired]

I’ve got well water, which is nice because it’s free. But, it’s downright brutal on all appliances, even with a water softener. I recently bought a grinder and it changed how the coffee in my Bunn tastes. I usually let the basket fill up then open the lid to stop the water flow, then give the coffee a little stir. Being in Hampton inns for 150 nights a year makes my home coffee seem like a real luxury. I’d love one of these, but don’t think it would be a smart investment.

I had well water growing up as a kid, and it was still the best tasting water I've ever had in my life. We eventually were hooked up to city water, and that was a sad day.

 

[D1dad]

I had well water growing up as a kid, and it was still the best tasting water I've ever had in my life. We eventually were hooked up to city water, and that was a sad day.

My wife grew up a country girl, I was a city boy. If it moved they ate it, if it came from a can, they chucked it. Her water came out of the ground, mine from a treatment plant. . She’s had 1 cavity her entire life.

 

[D1dad]

We're on a well, so I just buy gallons of spring water and it's great for coffee.

I use the water for coffee. We just don’t drink it straight cause it’ll give you the squirts. Very high alkaline content.

 

[tired]

Her water came out of the ground, mine from a treatment plant. . She’s had 1 cavity her entire life.

Not uncommon to hear this! Well water frequently has high levels of naturally occurring fluoride, so it protects against cavities. I’ve also only had one tiny cavity that was so small I didn’t have be numbed up for it.

 

[JonnyAbs]

I've had mine for about a decade and it's never had a problem. I run a cascade pod through it every 6 months or so along with a lot of water following it to wash it out. There are cleaning and descaler packs you can buy but nothing really got my carafe clean except dishwasher cleaner.

 

[tired]

run a cascade pod through it every 6 months or so along with a lot of water following it to wash it out.

You run one of these guys through it?? I had never thought of that. How much water do you have to run afterwards to get it cleaned out?