Why does coffee from my machine taste weird? (vinegar, buy, baking)

[BigDGeek]

OK, so I have a 4-cup Mr. Coffee coffee maker that I bought 7 years ago. I use it infrequently, maybe a few times a month. I clean the carafe regularly but the basket thingy had crud on it so I soaked it for a good long time and used a toothbrush, baking soda, and vinegar to try to blast the crud off. I got most but not all of it off. I also used the toothbrush to clean all the spots I could reach on the machine.

Then, I put straight vinegar through it for one cycle and let it sit there, hot, for a while. Then I ran water through it twice, poured the water out, and left the machine to air out and dry on the counter overnight.

Tonight I made a pot and it still has this odd taste to it, almost...sweet, but not sweet. It's hard to describe. I don't get that aftertaste with coffee made in other machines. The last couple of times I've made coffee in this machine, I've also felt a bit nauseated afterwards. That kind of worries me; I don't want to make myself sick because of some weird microbe growing in my coffee maker. GROSS.

So...I guess whatever's wrong with my machine is not being solved by cleaning it. Am I cleaning it wrong, or is it too crudded up to save? It cost me $15 in 2007, so buying a new one wouldn't exactly break the bank. Thoughts?

[CSD610]

Clean it again and run at least 3 or 4 cycles of clear water but do not leave it sit on warm.
The basket can soak in all hot soapy water for a while then rinsed really well and all the rest of the crud should come off.
If your water nozzle is a screw on type take it off and soak it in the hot soapy water as well then rinse throughly.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by CSD610

Clean it again and run at least 3 or 4 cycles of clear water but do not leave it sit on warm.
The basket can soak in all hot soapy water for a while then rinsed really well and all the rest of the crud should come off.
If your water nozzle is a screw on type take it off and soak it in the hot soapy water as well then rinse throughly.

See...I already tried soaking the basket in hot soapy water, and the crud won't come off. It's like concrete at this point.

I think I'm just going to buy a new one; they're still less than $20.

[boxus]

I had an issue where my coffee tasted bad, then after some reading people said the tap water when heated or something can make some bad taste in the coffee. Since switching to filtered water, I never encountered the problem.

But at 7 years old, maybe you have a different problem.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by boxus

I had an issue where my coffee tasted bad, then after some reading people said the tap water when heated or something can make some bad taste in the coffee. Since switching to filtered water, I never encountered the problem.

But at 7 years old, maybe you have a different problem.

I use filtered water in mine, so it's not that.

[WoodstockSchool1980]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

I think I'm just going to buy a new one; they're still less than $20.

[BigDGeek]

Thanks to those who responded; I don't think I'll ever really know what's wrong with the machine, I was just curious about it because I was worried that there might be something growing in there that might make me sick. But it's a moot point as I'm going to replace the coffee maker. I just wish I didn't have to trash this one; it seems like such a waste. It works perfectly fine otherwise.

[Silver_Spur]

I know it sounds odd but my small coffee maker tastes like it burns the water. Even filtered water when it comes into contact with the hot element reacts. I think.

[freepelican]

You might want to try using vinegar water, may half and half, through it once or twice. Vinegar removes smells and naturally kills bacteria and fungus. The vinegar smell DOES go away by the way

[brokencrayola]

I'm wondering if you have hard water and that it has calcified in your basket.