Information Please: Citric acid for descaling

[ovfitbob]

I've read that plain old citirc acid can be used for descaling my coffemaker. But i think there are a few different grades of citric acid. Which one should i use? Looks a lot cheaper buying in bulk than spending $20 for "speciality" descaler powders.

Thanks.

 

[Sourabh3108]

These comes in many different forms and grades, including Citric acid powder USP, Monohydrate Crystalline powder USP, Anhydrous Granular, Anhydrous Reagent and a few other. I've used monohydrate crystalline powder USP to clean my Dual Coffee Maker and it worked like a wonder! but you can try any of the above mentioned stuff.

 

[Musicphan]

Plain citric acid will probably not do much for you... I rebuilt an espresso machine and it took DAYS for it to eat up the scale. Urnex makes great products... check that route out.

 

[BenA]

Looks like Urnex is available in Germany as well, maybe I'll give it a try. I have Barista Express and as always, all the "officially" recommended cleaners, filters are expensive. I am using Drugol as descaler and now got some tabs from Melitta too. How would you test and compare those cleaning agents? Taste, disassembly or maybe some measuring instruments?