I've been reading this page about cleaning a coffee maker:
http://www.wikihow.com/Clean-a-Coffee-Maker

In the tips/warnings section at the bottom, it says you should never use soap to clean your coffee pots as it will leave a taste behind. I'm wondering if people agree with this.

I regularly clean my glass coffee pots with soapy water, then I rinse them with running water to wash the soap away. Is there anything wrong with this approach? Should I instead be using some combination of ice, salt and lemon juice to wash them out?

I clean the funnel on my vac pot w/ soap after every use with thorough rinsing. The pot is only rinsed as the glass rod. About every 2 weeks they all go through the dishwasher. No aftertaste etc.

Marvin

beev wrote:...

In the tips/warnings section at the bottom, it says you should never use soap to clean your coffee pots as it will leave a taste behind. I'm wondering if people agree with this.

...

I hand wash all my brewing set-ups with a coconut based oil detergent that we have on this side of the pond. I rinse with very hot water, x 3.
http://www.ecos.com/Dishmate_Almond.html

I find that the coconut based soaps leave much less residuals behind. Never discerned soap since switching over.

beev wrote: In the tips/warnings section at the bottom, it says you should never use soap to clean your coffee pots as it will leave a taste behind. I'm wondering if people agree with this.

No problem at all provided you rinse them properly. In my case, Aluminium Mokas and glass syphon pots get washed by hand. (Syphon pots only because they're a bit fragile, the top globe is a funny shape to fit in the dishwasher, and the shape of the bottom globe means it doesn't get cleaned properly.)

Everything else that can be immersed in water, including filter pots, filter holders S/S moka pots etc. goes in the dishwasher.

Wouldn't normally consider wikihow a reliable guide on anything much, so I wouldn't worry

After a couple of months of daily use, washing with soap after every use, the pot on my brazen was showing some brownish residue. A quick rinse with cafiza (and in the basket as well) got it sparkly clean.

beev wrote:In the tips/warnings section at the bottom, it says you should never use soap to clean your coffee pots as it will leave a taste behind. I'm wondering if people agree with this.

How do you wash you dishes, glasses & silverware? Most of us use hot soapy water & rinse well afterwards either in a sink or dishwasher. As long as you rinse well with hot water & don't have a layer of brown coffee oils that could retain the soap you should be fine. If there is a brown coating remove it with Cafiza or a similar product & then keep it clean with regular washing.

Either a HOT water rinse, or Cafiza/other espresso machine detergent.

Generally day to day Ill do a HOT water rinse on porcelain and glass, and then maybe, tops once a week, Ill use the detergent.

Thanks for the advice. Some good tips there.

It sounds like I'm doing ok washing with soap and rinsing with hot water. I suppose the main thing is to make sure the soap is always rinsed completely away, or just miss out the soap and rinse with hot water.

I mainly use a moka pot and follow the instructions from Bialetti and never clean it with soap and just rinse with hot water. The deposit of oily residue actually does enhance the taste of the coffee and prevents the slight metallic taste we get from a new moka pot. On the very rare occasions I use my Hario Drip Decanter I use baking soda / Bicarbonate Of Soda to clean it and rinse a few times. Soap and coffee don't mix even when it's rinsed half a dozen times in my personal view.

btw first post - hello everyone