Vinegar is a natural acid that’s great for getting rid of hard water calcium deposits (limescale) that slowly build up inside the components of a Keurig brewer.
However, you also need to get rid of the tart-like taste and smell of vinegar from the brewer after descaling, or your coffee won’t taste the same.
Does vinegar ruin Keurig?
Vinegar doesn’t exactly ruin Keurig brewers, but it can affect the taste of your brewed drinks. Whenever you use a vinegar solution to descale your Keurig coffee machine and fail to properly rinse the parts, there may be residual vinegar that causes your coffee to have an unpleasant, vinegar-like taste to it.
Ways of getting rid of the taste (Vinegar) in my new Keurig?
To get rid of the vinegar taste in your Keurig, run at least two cleansing cycles to rinse off any residual vinegar after using it to descale the machine. Follow the steps below:
- Once the vinegar has soaked inside the machine for about an hour or so, run a few brew cycles until it’s time to refill the tank. Now, remove and empty the water reservoir inside the sink to get rid of the residual vinegar. Then, rinse out the water tank.
- Next, add fresh water to the water reservoir and replace the reservoir in its position. You’ll be using the fresh water to flush leftover vinegar out of the Keurig brewer’s heating element area.
- Run the first flushing/rinsing cycle by pressing on the large cup and brew buttons. Repeat this process for about two tanks worth of water to completely get rid of residual vinegar inside the Keurig coffee maker.
- Since you’d removed the water filter during the descaling process, replace it back inside the water reservoir once you’re done flushing residual vinegar out of the machine. Then, fill the water tank with clean, fresh water and place it back in position.
How many cycles does it take to remove vinegar from a Keurig?
To completely get rid of the taste and smell of vinegar from your Keurig machine, run at least two cycles (two tanks worth of water) through the machine. This will ensure that all the leftover vinegar is washed off of the brewer’s internal heating elements.
How long do you leave vinegar in a Keurig to descale?
After adding vinegar to the water reservoir and turning your Keurig machine on, the brewer automatically starts the heating process. At this point, you should let the vinegar solution sit for 30-60 minutes to work the limescale out of the heating elements of the machine. After the waiting time elapses, you can now run a few brew cycles until the brewer indicates that you should refill the water reservoir.
If the ‘auto off’ feature is still on while you’re waiting for the vinegar solution to dissolve limescale inside your Keurig, your machine will turn itself off. To prevent this from happening, ensure you turn off the ‘auto off’ function as you wait.
To turn off the ‘auto off’ feature on your Keurig coffee maker, press the menu button and navigate to the auto-off function. Then, press on the timer until it reads ‘off’.
References
- Stroud District Council: How to Descale your Shower Head
- Clemson Cooperative Extension: Bicarbonates and Limescale
