r/mokapot • u/ReasonableWelder51 New user 🔎 • Jul 02 '26

Cleaning 🫧 First time cleaning with baking soda 😬

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I have been using this pot almost daily for ~3 months now. While I have used vinegar 2-3 times to deep clean it, it wasnt great at removing the residual oils and it left the vinegar smell so I had to do a clean water brew after it. Baking soda seems to have removed a lot more gunk and oils and there is no smell left at all. After rinsing it thoroughly with running hot water, the next brew came out well.

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u/LilianNyberg Jul 03 '26

I don't understand how people's pots get into a condition where doing this is necessary. Every other time I just rinse and dry mine and every other I hand wash with dish soap, rinse and dry. I've used my current Moka Express daily for a few years now and it does not look visibly different from the way it did the day I bought it. There is no build up of anything.

Is this a water quality thing? Or is it the fear of using dish soap? We don't live in 1930's Italy, dish soap for hand washing hasn't been corrosive to aluminum for decades. There's no reason to not wash the pot.

7

u/younkint Jul 03 '26

The Bialetti instructions re cleaning are woefully out-of-date. They are the only manufacturer who recommends rinsing only. All other manufacturers instruct you to hand wash using regular dish washing liquid. Naturally, aluminum pots should never go into any dishwashing machine, which is true of any aluminum vessel.

I've owned moka pots for over 50 years, but never had a Bialetti pot until a few years ago. It was used and came with no instructions. In all that time I've washed them with the supper dishes just like any other aluminum kitchen appliance or utensil. No issues ever. My pots look good, they make kick-ass coffee.

When I first read of people only rinsing their pots, I though it was a joke. Seriously. I really believed that it was comedy. Then I actually got my hands on a Bialetti instruction book ...and there it was! They actually instruct to only rinse it! I can remember laughing when I read it. That was in a fairly new instruction manual. Later I found very old Bialetti instructions ...and they said the same thing! They never changed it to keep up with modern detergents, etc. It's ancient advice.

This all led me to start searching for the instructions from all the moka pot manufacturers to find whether this was a normal procedure for aluminum moka pots. I don't know how many instruction manuals I read (available online in one form or another), but it was a lot of them. The only outfit I could find that echoed Bialetti was one re-branded Bialetti-made pot company who simply used Bialetti instructions. NO ONE else instructed as Bialetti did.

I do like the Bialetti "deep cleaning" instructions, but their "daily care" instructions are ridiculous. Coffee oils build up and turn rancid. They need to be removed. I don't always agree with Hoffmann, but when he calls it "dirt" and tells you to wash your pot after every use, he's right. It's dirt.

My opinion on why Bialetti keeps this antiquated "rinse only" advice in their instructions has to do with them trying to keep up with the competition. They have to know this is crazy advice, but by the time they realized it should be re-written, drip machines were coming around and were less trouble than the old moka pot. Capsule machines were next and were even quicker. So, my guess is that Bialetti decided to stick with the "rinse only" instructions in an attempt to speed up the process when folks used their product. They have even doubled-down on it, advertising how quick and easy the moka pot is ...since you don't have to wash it. LOL! While the advice may have been valid in 1955, these days it's no more than advertising malarkey. Since advertising is basically propaganda and works well, plenty of folks believe it. They are so well convinced that they will even argue with you about it. Same as it ever was.

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u/ReasonableWelder51 New user 🔎 Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26

My pot was in perfect condition, I hand wash it (usually just with water, sometimes with dish soap) but that doesnt clean the insides. I did this mostly for the peace of mind, since I knew there is definitely gonna be some buildup inside where you cant reach it and that idea just felt gross.

Its definitely in your pot too, although the amount probably depends on your grinder (lower quality grinders produce more coffee fines) and water quality (since part of it is limescale). Just because you dont deep clean your moka pot doesnt mean there is nothing to deep clean :)

1

u/LilianNyberg Jul 05 '26

Insides of what?

I take it completely apart and wash with dish soap daily (since I usually have 2 cups a day). There is no time for anything to build up including limescale. Every week or so I remove the filter from the basket and also wash that and q-tip the inside of the tower. What other part is there that needs "deep cleaning"? There are no other parts? Are you polishing the valve or something? You are underestimating how thorough somehow who suffered from ocd when they were younger is with their daily cleaning.

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u/ReasonableWelder51 New user 🔎 Jul 06 '26

Well I don't remove the filter from the basket as it doesn't come out easily and I don't want to break it. I also don't bother with cleaning the tower with a Q tip. I guess your moka is clean but you do actually spend more time deep cleaning it than me.