Descaling & Cleaning Your Keurig K-Duo, Duo Plus, Special Edition or K-Duo Essentials Brewer
Scale and other gunk, such as deposits of hard minerals like calcium can build up inside your Keurig coffee brewer over time, particularly if you have high mineral content or unfiltered water. To preserve the functionality and taste of your coffee beverages and brewer, I recommend descaling every 2-3 months.
In order to descale your Keurig K-Duo (5100), K-Duo Essentials (5000), Duo Special Edition (5300), or K-Duo Plus (5200) brewer, you will need a big ceramic coffee mug (definitely not a paper cup), fresh water access, and a sink.
1. Prepare Your K-Duo Coffee Machine for Descaling
First, to prepare your K-Duo for the descaling and cleaning procedure, you should ensure that your machine’s water reservoir tank is empty. Remove the charcoal water filter cartridge in the reservoir (if you have one). Check to make sure there isn’t a K-Cup pod in the pod holder. You will want to ensure the brewer basket is empty. Next, turn off your brewer using the power button.
2. Descale the K-Cup Pod Components
Next, go ahead and pour an entire bottle of descaling solution into your empty water reservoir. Fill up the now-empty descaling solution bottle with water and pour this into the water tank as well.
Place a large, preferably ceramic mug onto your brewer’s drip tray. Turn on your Duo coffee maker by pressing the power button.
Next, you will press the “POD” button on the machine, and then click the 12 button to brew the largest possible brew size. Select the BREW button. Thee descaling solution contents will begin brewing through the machine and into your mug. Empty the mug into the sink when finished brewing.
NOTE: If you have the Keurig Duo ESSENTIALS model, you will press the CUPS button instead of PODS or CARAFE. You will also skip the steps below pertaining to the CARAFE.
3. Descale the Carafe Components
Now put your carafe on the drip tray. Press the CARAFE button, then select the 12 ounce brew size button. Press BREW. Once the K-Duo is finished brewing into the carafe, go ahead and discard the contents of the k-carafe in your sink.
4. Allow Brewer to Rest for a Deep Clean
Now for the easy part. Let the brewer sit for 30 minutes. During this time the descaling solution will saturate the internal components of your K-Duo brewer to perform a deep clean.
Once its been 30 minutes, empty out whatever liquid is remaining in your water tank into the sink. Clean the water reservoir thoroughly using soap and water to remove any remaining residue from the descaling solution.
5. Rinse the Carafe Parts with Fresh Water
Fill up your clean water tank reservoir using fresh water, but no more than up to the MAX fill line indicator. Place your carafe back onto the drip tray. Next, press the power button (if not already on). Select CARAFE, then the 12 button, and then BREW. Pour the hot liquid into sink.
Fill up your water tank to the MAX line once again and repeat the above step 3 more times in order to ensure your brewer is rinsed out thoroughly.
5. Rinse the K-Cup Pod Parts with Fresh Water
Now repeat the step above, but this time you will select the POD button rather than CARAFE. Put a large mug on drip tray and brew 12 ounces of the water into your mug, emptying the hot liquid into the sink when finished. Repeat this step three more times as well.
That’s it! Congratulations, you succesfully descaled and cleaner your K-Duo brewer and helped to remove any gunk and scale that builds up inside your machine. I recommend descaling every 2 months, but you can get away with descaling every 3 months if you’d like. If you can think of any questions I didn’t address in this article, you can leave a comment below and I’ll try my best to get back to you!
-John
