How to Clean The Ninja Coffee Bar

Keeping your Ninja Coffee Bar in mint condition means keeping it clear of calcium.

If you live in an area with particularly hard water and you use it with your Ninja coffee maker, calcium will build up in the machine. These calcium deposits will affect the functioning of your coffee maker. If you have owned your machine for a while and have never performed a clean cycle, then it’s probably caked up with calcium.

I. Descaler

For descaling your coffee maker, you may use either a descaling solution or vinegar. Descaler is specifically made for cleaning coffee makers and kettles. But, it is possible to make your own descaling solution using ingredients such as baking soda, lemon juice, or citric acid. All work effectively, but we used white vinegar as it’s cheap and is most likely already in your store cupboard.

You may not be aware, but the descaling process you use will depend on which Ninja Coffee Bar model you have as well as the date code. You can find it on the plug at the end of the cord.

If your Classic Ninja has the date codes 0016-2516, 0016-3216, or ends in 15, this is the cleaning process.

1. First, empty the coffee maker of any water or coffee granules from the basket. Next, but the empty jug or carafe under the wire mesh brew basket.
2. Pour in a mixture of descaler and warm water up to the maximum fill line.
3. Next, press the ‘clean’ button. This will start the clean cycle and distribute the descaler throughout the machine. This is about an 8-minute cycle.
4. When the cycle is up, empty the jug and water reservoir. Then refill with fresh, pure water to rinse the machine of any descaler as you don’t want it to contaminate your coffee.
5. Press the ‘CLEAN’ button again and wait another 8 minutes for the cycle to finish.
6. Repeat this process once more to fully ensure that you’ve completely rinsed the machine of all descaler.
7. After the clean cycles are complete, thoroughly wash the reservoir, jug and wire mesh basket with detergent, hot soapy water, and a toothbrush before rinsing thoroughly with clear water.
8. Finally, wipe the machine with a clean damp cloth, dry the parts with a tea-towel and reassemble the machine.

If you have the Classic Ninja Coffee Bar date code 2616-5216 or 3316-5216, follow this process to clean.

1. Prepare your machine for the cycle by emptying the reservoir of water and remove any coffee granules from the wire mesh basket.
2. Next, you’re ready to pour your descaling solution and warm water mixture into the reservoir.
3. Then, press the ‘CLEAN’ button and leave it for an hour. It’s important that you avoid pressing any buttons or remove the jug from underneath the basket.
4. When the clean cycle ends, it will make a beep sound, and the word ‘flush’ will flash up on the screen.
5. Empty the carafe, basket, and reservoir and rinse thoroughly under clean running water.
6. Next, dry the carafe, basket, and reservoir and reassemble before refilling the reservoir with more clean water to the maximum fill line.
7. Again, press the ‘CLEAN’ button to complete the next step of the cycle. It’s essential that you start the first rinse within 15 minutes of hearing the beep. This rinse cycle will last around 8 minutes.
8. When it’s complete, wash all the parts with hot soapy water, rinse under clear running water and then dry. Wipe the machine over with a cloth, then reassemble the machine. You’re then ready to brew your coffee.
9. If your Ninja coffee maker has a date code that ends in 17, this is the process you should follow. It will take around 1 hour and 15 minutes.
10. Empty the water from the reservoir, any coffee from the jug, or any coffee grains from the wire mesh basket. Set the carafe size setting to full and place the empty carafe under the wire mesh coffee basket.
11. Pour your descaler and warm water mixture into the reservoir to the maximum line.
12. Press the ‘CLEAN’ button and let it go through the clean cycle. This will take 1 hour. Don’t be tempted to press any buttons. It will start and stop a few times. You don’t need to worry. This is a normal part of the cleaning process.
13. When the cycle is complete, you’ll hear a beep, and the ‘CLEAN’ light will go off.
14. Remove and empty the water reservoir, cafe, and basket and thoroughly rinse under fresh running water.
15. Next, to do a rinse cycle, fill the reservoir with fresh water, and replace the carafe beneath the coffee basket. Set the machine to full carafe and select the CLASSIC BREW cycle. This will start a rinse cycle.
16. Once the first rinse cycle is complete, repeat a second time to ensure any of your descaler solution doesn’t contaminate your coffee.
17. Finally, wash all of the parts in hot soapy water, rinse well and dry thoroughly before reassembling.

II. If Your ‘CLEAN’ light Stays On

If you perform the clean and the light still comes on, don’t worry. There’s nothing wrong with your coffee bar; it just means that you need to do a deeper clean than the quick-clean cycle.

Here’s the process for a longer and deeper clean.

1. Fully clean the water reservoir and thoroughly scrub the mesh wire basket. Next, pour in a mixture of filtered water and white vinegar into the reservoir. You can also use purified or distilled water; the main thing is you don’t use hard water. You’ll want to use around 200ml vinegar in your mixture.
2. Fill it up to the maximum level and turn the dial on the coffee maker to ‘full carafe’ and place the carafe under the wire mesh basket.
3. Then press the ‘clean’ button. Make sure you don’t exceed the maximum line.
4. Rather than let the cycle run for the whole cycle, press the ‘CLEAN’ button again after one minute. When you pause the cycle, it allows the vinegar to sit inside the machine; this will allow it to eat away at any limescale inside the machine. Leave the vinegar to sit for 30 minutes to an hour.
5. Whilst the unit is cleaning, don’t press any other buttons on the machine.
6. Once the time has elapsed, press the ‘CLEAN’ button again to un-pause it. It’ll then start to push the vinegar water through the machine, which will take about 8 minutes.
7. You’ll know when the cycle is complete as the light will come on, and the word ‘Flush’ will show up.
8. When the cycle is complete, pour out the hot water-vinegar mixture and thoroughly wash the coffee jug, the wire mesh basket, and the reservoir.
9. Next, rinse the machine again by filling the reservoir to the top with the purified water of your choice.
10. Press the ‘CLEAN’ button again. This time let the cycle complete without pausing it.
11. When it’s complete, empty the reservoir, clean the wire basket again, and the jug. So you’re putting the machine through three cycles, once with vinegar, twice with water to eliminate any residue of vinegar.

You should find now that the ‘CLEAN’ light stays off on your Ninja coffee maker. If it doesn’t, you may want to try the process again a few times. You may also want to try a descaling product if it still doesn’t work.

III. Maintenance Routine

If you’re a heavy coffee drinker, It’s probably a good idea to develop a weekly cleaning routine to keep your coffee maker working in optimum condition.

Every week, take all of the removable parts and thoroughly wash in hot soapy water or use a dishwashing machine. This will help to remove any residual calcium that has built up over the week.

If you follow this maintenance routine, the ‘CLEAN’ light will not come on as often and your coffee maker will continue to make great-tasting coffee.

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