For many of us, the Dedica is the first and best entry-level espresso machine. But when your espresso suddenly tastes like a shoe sole instead of perfectly extracted espresso, it's high time to think about a thorough cleaning.
Often enough, it's simply the machine that's to blame – or more precisely: its cleanliness. The DeLonghi Dedica is certainly a great machine for simple espresso, but it still needs regular maintenance. Here we show you how to easily clean your Dedica – from quick daily "in-between" cleaning to more thorough care.
Looking for how to descale your Dedica? You can find the article on that here.
The daily routine – quick and painless
There's a simple rule: the cleaner your machine, the better your espresso. So you should clean the machine daily or after each use.
- Clean the portafilter: Remove the portafilter after each use, tap out the coffee grounds residue, wipe out the basket, and run hot water through it to remove any remaining coffee and oils. You can rinse it directly with the espresso machine. That way you don't have to carry a dripping portafilter through the kitchen or living room.
- Wipe the shower: Quickly go over the shower (the spot where water hits the ground coffee) with a clean, damp cloth. This prevents nasty deposits from forming.
Weekly cleaning – digging a bit deeper
Once a week, your Dedica needs a bit more attention. Don't worry, that's no black magic either:
1. Thoroughly clean the basket
- Remove the basket from the portafilter with a small tool or a simple spoon. If it seems a bit tricky – don't worry, that's normal. Even if you feel like you're opening a hidden treasure chest. Unfortunately, the treasure chest is often a hidden dirt collector. Especially if you're using the original Dedica portafilter, this cleaning is really important. With a metal portafilter, much less dirt sticks.
- Clean the basket thoroughly with hot water and a bit of dish soap to completely remove coffee fats and residue. This way your espresso won't taste rancid, but fresh.
2. Clean the brew head and seal
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Gently go into the bayonet lock (the spot where the portafilter clicks in) with a damp cloth and clean especially the brew head seal. Coffee grounds like to collect there, and otherwise cause unpleasant flavor notes.
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Warning: Make sure to turn off the machine first and ideally unplug it so you don't accidentally scald your hands!
3. Superficially clean the shower
- Run some hot water and wipe the shower with a damp cloth. That's usually enough to remove the biggest dirt.
The intensive shower – warning, sensitive!
Every now and then – we're talking about every two to three months – you can unscrew the shower to really clean it thoroughly. But be careful, the thread on the Dedica is very sensitive.
- Carefully unscrew the Phillips head screw of the shower. Attention: The thread is made of plastic! Don't overdo it here, otherwise a service visit is on the horizon.
- Clean the shower and the surrounding area thoroughly with warm water and a bit of dish soap. If you haven't cleaned in a really long time, you could do some real coffee archaeology there – interesting, but not particularly tasty.
- The seals are now much more accessible. So repeat what you do during weekly cleaning. Just wipe the bayonet lock and seals once more.
- Carefully screw the shower back in afterward, not too tight, otherwise the thread is in danger of being damaged.
Descaling – important, but a chapter of its own
Very important and yet only briefly mentioned: Don't forget regular descaling! The machine will signal to you itself with an orange light when it's time. Why and exactly how you descale is explained in detail in our article "DeLonghi Dedica Descaling". Limescale remains the biggest enemy of your machine and your good coffee. By the way, limescale and hard water are responsible for more than 80% of all espresso machine defects. It's really worth descaling your Dedica every two to three months, even if the orange warning light isn't on.
There's a principle with the Dedica and all espresso machines with thermoblocks: as long as water still flows, descaling can still be done. If no more flows, then the descaler can't reach the limescale buildup either. So don't miss this window. Then you'll get much more life out of your machine!
Conclusion – Small steps, great enjoyment
If you do these cleaning steps regularly, your Dedica will reward you with really good espresso. A little attention here and there ensures that your coffee tastes exactly how you dream it – and not like stale dishwater. Give it a try, your taste buds will thank you!
And if you want to dive even deeper into the secrets of the Dedica, we've prepared a whole e-learning module for you. We'll be releasing it in a few weeks. If you want to be informed about it, then sign up here for our KM-Dedica newsletter.
Stay clean, Your Ben Kaffeemacher
