How to keep your automatic coffee pot in good condition

Maybe your coffee tastes a little off in the morning, and maybe it takes longer for the coffee carafe to fill.

Either way, the fix is simple, very inexpensive and well worth the small effort required.

The culprit here is lime which is found in all water supplies. Now you can go to the store and buy some expensive packaged coffee pot cleaner, and it might work, depending on the condition of your coffee maker, but there is a better way, and this better way costs just pennies!

All you need here is some household vinegar. Simply pour a few ounces of white or red vinegar into the water container of your coffee pot and turn the machine on. Let the vinegar work its way through the system and collect in the carafe. Now, strain the contents of the carafe through one of your coffee filters and put the strained vinegar back into the water container of the coffee pot. Allow this to run through the system again. After ‘brewing’ the vinegar for the second time, you are done with the vinegar, pour it down the drain. Now all you have to do is rinse the carafe by filling the water container with fresh, cold water and allow that to percolate through the system. It is a good idea to run another batch of fresh water through the system to make sure all the contaminants are flushed from the system. Now you can enjoy fresh brewed coffee again!

BONUS ADVICE: Have trouble getting one of your paper coffee filters from the stack, try turning the entire stack inside out and they will come apart easily!