The small cafe I’m at doesn’t have a dishwasher or many specialised cleaning products (pretty much just dish soap) but these are so gross I’m at my limit 😭 boss won’t buy any chemicals so I’ll go get them myself, i just need need to know what to get and how to use them (in AUS if that changes anything)
by Nach0s4Life
33 Comments
A soak in Cafiza should help to get the crustiness off, also if you can’t find that, a soak in some hot soapy water could help to get them to a point where a scrub could help to wash ’em better.
Cafiza! It’s generally used to clean/backflush espresso machines, but it’s also good to use when cleaning pitchers and foggy glasses.
I’d soak them with 1/2 tsp of cafiza and hot water for about 5-10 minutes, give em a good scrub and they should be clean!
dawn powerwash! rinse really really well
Steel wool! We scrub and clean ours once a week
You should be using something like Urnex Rinza to clean your steaming pitchers, steam wands, any milk carafes you might have for customer use – basically anything that comes into contact with dairy often.
rinza for sure
barkeepers friend and a scotchbrite pad
I wouldn’t touch a steamed latte out of a machine that hasn’t been properly cleaned recently or ever?
Even if you’re a small cafe, I cannot recommend investing in Rinza or Cafiza enough
Cafiza and/or sos pad
Cafiza and ELBOW GREASE
A lot of people think that the chemicals alone will do all the work, but I have always maintained to my coworkers that if my jugs start to get crusty, I’ll only bring my milk pitchers on the shifts I work so I can ensure they’re being well taken care of. This level of milk crust happens when
– jugs aren’t being consistently rinsed out in a timely manner after pouring
– jugs aren’t soaked (I like to soak the steam wand at the same time) every day at EOD
– jugs aren’t scrubbed properly with lots of soap and hot water before sanitizing
I’ve never used rinza, but it’s made for breaking down milk proteins. You may need this based on the level of build up 😬
As for the coffee stain? Cafiza.
Rinza. And if you don’t have that, let them soak in hot soapy water and scrub with none abrasive, like a towel or micro fiber. Scouring pad will scratch the metal and make the next time worse. And then clean them after every shift. Those aren’t stains, it’s a build up of milk proteins on the inside of the pitcher. Very few things stain stainless steel.
Urnex urn/brewer cleaner is my #1 for almost any difficult buildup. Hot water + packet, soak, drain, then light scrub should do the trick. Talk your boss into buying it, these pitchers are gross, but you should also be periodically cleaning your coffee pots with it!
As others said, rinza is also good, I just find brewer cleaner to be a better universal option
Any descaling powder you have will do. Steel wool or some new green pads and elbow grease. If you cant get all of it out soak again, it’ll get there!
soak with water and cafeza
Just to add to what everyone else has said
– Steel wool, scotch brite, metal scrubby pad, etc.
– small wire brush. About tooth brush sized, this is helpful with small jugs especially because i Can’t fit my hand in to scrub.
Rinse after every use and scrub every day.
Steam rinza with water and let it sit in theee for 20 minutes。 Scrub with Brillo pad should come right out
When I was at STBX I used the cleaning pellets we used for the espresso machine. Fill the sink with hot water (as hot as you can handle), throw two pellets in and let them soak for like 30m. Took it off like magic (I for the life of me can’t remember what the pellets are called)
I use a magic eraser. Works on sinks too
At one of my old shops we would sometimes try the descaler that’s used for the machine. I hated them getting like this. Just put a spoon fool of the powder in the jug, fill it with water from the machine and leave it sit while you go and do other things
A soak with baking soda or vinegar usually works. Though honestly, a new pitcher isn’t too pricey and the newer spouts are so much nicer for pouring.
If you haven’t got access to Rinza or barkeeper’s friend, dish detergent, some water, any acid (white vinegar is my preference) and a lil work with a scouring pad should clean em up nicely. From what I can tell, the acids help break down the crusties. Also makes your equipment shine.
A similar mixture can be used to clean steam wands.
Cafiza for sure. Also rinsing after every use ? I’ve work at my local cafe (no dishwasher ) and never seen the milk pitchers stained
Caffiza 🙏
Denture cleaning tablets also work if you don’t have Rinza. Just let it soak for a little while and then scrub with steel wool.
PBW, same stuff they use in breweries, way cheaper than the coffee branded stuff.
… Your boss NEEDS to be buying milk and espresso puro wtf??
That’s not your job. Does dish soap and steel wool get it out?
Just soak in warm water and citric acid (baking section at supermarket). It’ll wipe straight out. No scrubbing. Way cheaper than rinza too.
Soak your steam wands over night with your pitchers filled with hot water and whatever cleaning chemical you use to clean the machine at the end of the night.
Then in the morning scrub the pitchers with a green scrubbing pad. Comes off easy.
Joe glo.
Leave it over night
If its milk stains that Im seeing I usually just poor a little dish soap in the jug, fill it with boiling water to the top from the espresso machine, let it sit for a while and then poor it out and scrub it with a sponge. In my case it looks brand new afterwards and its worth giving a try if you dont have any cleaning products
Cafiza!!!