Online Barista Training: Espresso Machine Maintenance Tips
The secret of being an effective barista lies in being always diligent and neat regarding your workstation and yourself. We provide a lot of online barista training tips for everyone who wants to become a great barista.
What concerns your appearance, you should always trim your nails and hair, look tidy and clean. This is valid when you get ready for a barista job interview and when you get a barista job.
A clean and well-maintained espresso machine is critical for perfect performance and great service. It is essential to keep your espresso machine and other coffee equipment clean to brew delicious coffee and make your customers come back to your coffee shop. Dirt in the espresso machine group head and steam wand negatively affects the taste of the coffee.
It’s a great idea to do a full backflush of your espresso machine twice a day. Do a backflush once in the middle of the day and then at night after you finish your shift. It’s important to continuously rinse the espresso machine with clear water throughout the day.
Cleaning tools for your espresso machine
Your main cleaning tools for backflushing are:
- blind portafilter and basket,
- group brush,
- espresso machine detergent,
- plastic bucket and pitcher
- multitasking tool with a screwdriver,
- a damp clean towel,
- scouring pad,
- surface cleaner.
Cleaning espresso machine portafilters
Take out a portafilter and pop out the screen with a screwdriver tool. You can use your towel to wipe a basket and a portafilter from the excess coffee oil.
Drop them in a plastic bucket and add a tiny amount of detergent.
Fill it up with hot water to the bottom of a portafilter handle and leave soaking till you finish your full backflush.
Cleaning espresso machine group heads
After removing baskets from the portafilters, you want to flush hot water through a group head and lightly remove some particles on the screen with a brush. Also, use your brush to clean around the group head gasket.
Then remove the screen with a screwdriver and leave it to soak with the portafilter. Add a scoop of detergent and some water into a blind portafilter and insert it into a group head. Turn the group heads on for 10 seconds and then turn them off for 10 seconds. Run this routine at least 5 times. Then run the same number of cycles without detergent.
If you still see that some coffee particles in the water or the water are yellow, run as many cycles as it needs to clean your group head fully.
After this, you want to remove the drip tray for cleaning. Rinse it in the sink and dry thoroughly.
Online barista training: cleaning the steam wand
Don’t forget to clean the steam wand. It's critical to remove all the milk from within the steam wand to prevent any foodborne diseases. Use milk detergent to remove the milk built up during the day. Add a little detergent to the pitcher, submerge your steam wand into it and turn on the steam wand for a few seconds. Please turn it off and leave it soaking.
As the steam wand cools down, it sucks up the water with the detergent. After several minutes, cover the steam wand with a towel and turn it on, letting all the water out.
Clean the top of your espresso machine and the counter with a surface cleaner. As a good barista, you want to come and see a clean workstation the next morning or help your co-workers who will start an early morning shift the next day.
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