Just my TWO CENTS:
Expensive to use? Bitter taste after usage? Not Recommended by OEM's? Use lemon juice? Maybe it's just me, but I really don't get it!
Unless you're using your machine commercially to make hundreds of shots per week, you're wasting your money, not to mention killing your machine by decalcifying constantly. I have nearly 6,000 shots (!) on my one year-old Saeco Incanto Sirius machine and I just finished my FIRST 3-package Cleancaf box. In all this time, the machine has only prompted me to decalcify ONCE. It bases this on a water pH test you perform at the time of new machine commissioning and the coresponding water hardness setting of the machine resulting from the set-up test. I ignore the prompt and just decalc every THREE months or so (i.e, like the package instructions recommend, LOL!) I've never noticed a decrease in water flow (during coffee or steam/hot water wand usage), nor has there been any decrease in coffee temperature. FWIW, I fill the machine reservoir (I have spare reservoir that I use for decalcifying only) all the way up with warm water and one packet of Cleancaf...it has a two-litre capacity. Then I rinse with TWO reservoirs full of clean warm water. It DOES take a while....the machine is next to the sink, so I aim the wand at the drain, let the thing go and walk away to do other things. I NEVER have an issue with taste after cleaning and I am anal about coffee taste, freshness and machine cleanliness. FWIW, the machine uses the Aqua Prima in-reservoir micropore and charcoal filter, and I use supermarket-brand spring water (loaded with mineral and micro-organisms, LOL) in the one-gallon jug (lots of them, with the amt. of espresso I brew, LOL!).
For those of you thinking of using a non-authorized acidic solution (lemon juice, vinegar, etc.) for decalcifying, think again. SAECO USA as well as Whole Latte Love (authorized SAECO sales/service) will tell you to use SAECO Dezcal (it's also made by Urnex)or Urnex Cleancaf ONLY for decalcification. They're non-toxic, bio-degradeable, chelation-process cleaners (Dezcal is weak sulfonic acid, Cleancaf is classified "non-hazardous" per their respective MSDS hazardoussheets). If you use lemon juice or white vinegar you will very likely cause water circuit damage and VOID your warrantee. Don't believe me, call the manufacturer and ask yourself...it's in the owner's manual as well. BTW, most Starbucks Barrista espresso machines are OEM'ed by SAECO in Bologna, Italia.
My machine has been in to the local factory authorized repair center (broken grinder...fixed FOC under the OEM warrantee), and they remarked on how spotless the machine was, inside, outside, in the brew circuit and in the hot water circuit...especially considering the amount of shots I make!
SAECO, WLL and the local warrantee station (The Repair Shack) also recommend Urnex Cafiza (I use the Tablets, you can also buy it in powder form) to keep the COFFEE circuit as spotless as the HOT WATER circuit. You can see it work as it "peels" the layers of stuck-on coffee residue that even constant rinsing on my part (remember, I am anal, LOL!) does not remove and flushes it out. That, my friends, DEFINITELY results in me being able to fully appreciate my Lavazza Super Crema-based espresso, caffe lungo (caffe crema) and capuccino with NO bitterness caused by a dirty machine! If you're going to spend the money on an expensive machine, and use expensive coffee, you might as well get great tasting caffe, right?
My vote: HIGHLY Recommended. Just use it sparingly and enjoy your coffee!
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Urnex Cleancaf Coffee Machine Cleaner and Descaler - 14-CL12-3-13Product Description: Great tasting coffee at home again!When brewing takes forever and coffee tastes bitter, Cleancaf can help.Non-toxic, biodegradable and odorless Clean Caf is a quick and easy way to keep coffeemakers and espresso makers clean, fresh and odor free.Cleanca
Buy cheap Urnex Cleancaf Coffee Machine Cleaner and Descaler - 14-CL12-3-13 now
I bought a De Longhi Magnifica Super Automatic espresso machine from Starbucks about 2 years ago. I use it almost everyday and since buying it, I have descaled it usually once a month, even though the automatic descaler indicator did not warn me to do so. I was using the descaler that was sold at Starbucks not knowing that the powder was actually not good for the internal components of the machine. Eventually, the steam wand would not work and I would constantly get a message that the beans were too fine and to adjust the grinder. When I called CS, they told me to use the Durgol. Thank goodness they did! After 1 cycle of descaling and dark, dirty deposits, the steam wand was back to normal. Yeah!!!
