Breville coffee machines are an expensive purchase. So keeping them clean and working properly is essential. I currently use a Breville Oracle Coffee Machine and I’ve put together this guide on how to clean a Breville coffee machine. Regular cleaning will ensure your Breville espresso machine stays in top condition.
While this guide is for Breville coffee machines and uses the products that Breville supplies, obviously you can apply this to any Espresso machine. For specific instructions for your machine refer to the manual. Each model of Breville coffee machine has slightly different cleaning requirements.
Breville Cleaning Products
Breville sells a range of cleaning products that are designed to be used with their coffee machines
Breville Espresso Detox Pack
The Breville Espresso Detox Pack comes with cleaning tablets, descaler, stainless steel cleaner, milk frother cleaner and microfibre cleaning cloths. Basically it includes everything needed to clean your Breville Coffee Machine. And because the products come from Breville, you know they are safe to use on your machine and won’t damage it.
Breville Cleaning Tablets
The Breville Cleaning Tablets are used to backflush the system as part of the regular cleaning cycle. My Breville Oracle Machine will display a “Clean Me” message whenever a backflush is needed and it’s based on the number of coffees made.
I’ve found that cleaning tablets are the most used product so it’s worth buying the 40 pack.
Backflush Cleaning Disk
Your Breville Coffee Machine should have come with a Backflush disk. If you’ve lost it or it’s broken you can pick up a replacement for a few dollars. They come in a couple of sizes. My machine uses the larger size as it has a full-size portafilter. Most Breville machines will use the smaller 54mm size.
Breville Milk Frother Cleaner
The Milk Frother Cleaner is a mix of acids that will break down dried on milk residue from the milk frother. I’ve got some tips on keeping the milk frother clean below, but you will still need to give the frother a good clean using this solution to make sure it doesn’t clog.
Breville Descaler
The Breville Descaler is used to remove hard water build up from your coffee machine. Breville recommends using the descaler every 2-3 months depending on your water hardness.
Cleaning Cloths
I recommend using Microfibre Cleaning Cloths. They are perfect for wiping down the steam wand after frothing milk and for wiping down the machine surface to keep it clean and fingerprint free.
Coffee Machine Mat
If you want to prevent your Coffee Machine from staining your bench top I recommend using a Coffee Machine Mat. Unfortunately my machine stained my stone composite bench top. And while the stain should come out, it’s much easier to prevent stains from happening in the first place. A coffee mat sits under the machine and catches any drips. I’ve found that coffee residue can build up under the machine so it’s a good idea to have it on a mat.
How to Clean a Breville Coffee Machine
For specific cleaning instructions refer to the manual. There are differences between each machine type. Your machine may not have a “clean” cycle. So you may just need to run the machine as if making a coffee.
Backflushing the System
Backflushing involves inserting a cleaning disk and a cleaning tablet into the portafilter. You then run a “Clean” cycle.
The cleaning tablet gets placed into the portafilter – not the water tank. However if you are descaling as well you add the descaling solution into the water tank.
Remember to completely flush out the system after the backflush to make sure there is no cleaning residue left.
Here’s a step by step:
- Fill up the water tank. The backflush will use a reasonable amount of water.
- Make sure the drip tray is completely empty. Otherwise it might overflow.
- Insert the cleaning disk into the portafilter.
- Place a cleaning table on top of the cleaning disk and insert the group head into the machine.
- Run the clean cycle.
The cleaning disk will prevent water coming out the portafilter. Pressure gets built up in the coffee machine to clean it and water will get back flushed into the drip tray.
Cleaning the Milk Frother
The best way to keep the steam wand milk frother clean is to make sure you wipe it down with a damp cloth as soon as you remove the milk jug. This will prevent milk from building up. If you wait to clean the frother until after you’ve poured the milk, the milk will already have dried on and it’s harder to remove.
This will make a huge difference to keeping the steam wand clean.
My machine auto cleans the wand after use but you may also need to manually turn on the steam to flush out the steam wand after every use as well.
I use the Milk Frother Cleaner every time I run the backflush cycle. You should have gotten a pin like implement with your coffee machine that can be used to make sure there is no blockage in the wand.
After soaking the frother in the milk frother cleaner, make sure you purge it using steam so there is no residue left behind.
Cleaning the Portafilter
The portafilter can be cleaned using dishwashing liquid a scrubbing brush. If there is any build up, you can also soak the metal parts of the portafilter in water with an added cleaning tablet. This can remove coffee residue that can clog the holes.
Cleaning the Drip Tray
The drip will get very dirty between cleans. I’ve clean it using dishwashing liquid and warm water. This hasn’t damaged the matt black surface of my machine. I clean it every week to stop coffee residue building up. The stainless steel tray can also be washed with dishwashing liquid.
While you probably could these in the dishwasher, the drip tray may have glue which could break down in the dishwasher so I’ve only ever hand washed these.
Cleaning the Knock Box
To clean the knock box I wash it with warm soapy water (dishwashing liquid). I find this keep’s it looking nice and clean.
Cleaning the Stainless Steel Surface
You can use Breville’s Stainless Steel cleaner and a microfibre cloth to keep the stainless steel surface clean. I’ve been using a regular microfibre cloth and Koh cleaner (which is safe for stainless steel) and have found this works really well. The microfibre cloth will be doing 95% of the work and I’ve found it works much better than regular kitchen cloths.
Don’t use any abrasives on the stainless steel surface as this will create scratches.
Replacing the Water Filter
It’s easy to forget about replacing the water filter, but it’s a good idea to replace it based on Breville’s guidelines to keep your machine running smoothly. It will also impact the taste of your coffee.
