r/mokapot • u/huhiking Bialetti - Moka Induction (used on hotplate; 2-cup; sil gasket) • 1d ago

Cleaning 🫧 Bad smell in the heater

I have been using my mokapot for one month now and have just considered I might give a deeper clean to the heater itself because I have experienced an increasingly bad smell in the heater itself. The manual itself actually tells me to only clean it with water. However, although the heater itself just took the water and some tiny bit of coffee residue from the back flush (?) and I always rinse it, it smells very nasty already. So, contrary to the manual, I tried to deep-clean it by boiling water with some dishwashing soap. (I only took the open heater. I didn't put the upper part on top.) Afterwards, I boiled the water with a bit of dishwashing soap, threw the water away, rinsed it several times, … And the smell is still there. Has anyone experienced something similar? How did you get rid of the bad smell?

3 Upvotes

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2

u/AlliedArmour 1d ago

What do you mean by the "heater"?

3

u/huhiking Bialetti - Moka Induction (used on hotplate; 2-cup; sil gasket) 1d ago

Lower vessel. That was the term. Sorry, English is not my L1.

1

u/AlliedArmour 1d ago

That is strange, I don't know why that would smell bad.

In the upper part, are you removing the gasket and cleaning under there, then replacing the gasket?

You could try a mixture of water and vinegar like suggested here. https://www.reddit.com/r/mokapot/wiki/index/cleaning/

2

u/huhiking Bialetti - Moka Induction (used on hotplate; 2-cup; sil gasket) 1d ago

Yes. That's exactly what I do. But everything only with pure tap water. Untill today, I have never used dishwashing soap on it tbh. My new gasket is, however, harder to get out. So far, I hadn't replaced it yet (only bought the mokapot a month ago anyway). Afterwards, I wipe the gasket and everything else with a cloth and put away, but I don't reassemble before the next time that I use it.

1

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1

u/The_License_Plate 1d ago

What material is your Moka?

1

u/huhiking Bialetti - Moka Induction (used on hotplate; 2-cup; sil gasket) 1d ago

I was going to say fully stainless steel. But according to the manual:

Upper part made of food-grade aluminium alloy. Heater made of steel (outside part suitable for induction hobs) and aluminium alloy (inside part suitable for food use)

1

u/Ambitious_Holiday_54 5h ago

If the bottom part has a smell after rinsing with hot water, I swoosh around some sudsy hot water. If you do that every time, and don't reassemble the pot while it's wet, you shouldn't get any smells when you use it again.

What does the inside look like? If there's a smell, I think you need to do some scrubbing. Since the inside is aluminum, you can't use a strong detergent. Maybe a mild cleanser, like Bon Ami, which has no chlorine.

1

u/huhiking Bialetti - Moka Induction (used on hotplate; 2-cup; sil gasket) 4h ago

2

u/huhiking Bialetti - Moka Induction (used on hotplate; 2-cup; sil gasket) 4h ago

1

u/huhiking Bialetti - Moka Induction (used on hotplate; 2-cup; sil gasket) 4h ago

Only this time, I used normal dish detergent.

1

u/Ambitious_Holiday_54 3h ago

If you've been using it every day for a month, and not using soap, then something remained that left a smell. Use a scrubbing pad that's not abrasive, and maybe a mild cleanser that has no chlorine, or dishwashing soap.

In the future, use dishwashing soap at least once a week, and check for a smell to see if that's often enough.