Can You Put Milk In A Keurig?
Did you buy a Keurig because you’re tired of wasting money on overpriced coffee drinks? Great!
Making your own coffee at home has never been easier. You can make delicious coffee at home using a Keurig with just a few clicks.
Now, you may be here because you thought you’d use milk instead of water to brew a latte – it seems like a bright idea, doesn’t it? If it’s possible, it will give you so much convenience for milk drinks.
But, no. You shouldn’t use milk in your Keurig.
In this article, we will discuss why.
First let’s learn how Keurig works.
How Keurig Works
First, set up your Keurig machine, fill it with K-cup pods, and add water.
Then you press a button and wait for the magic to happen.
What happens while you wait is that the Keurig machine heats up water while it’s being pumped through the machine tubes or pressurized hoses.
Once it reaches the optimal temperature and the hot water goes to the top of the brewer, where it meets the K-cup coffee pod.
Then, needles puncture the rip of your K-cup to fill it with water, then below to let the water or coffee flow into your cup.
So,
Why You Shouldn’t Put Milk In A Keurig
As explained above, the machine heats up and pumps the liquid into its tubes, or pressurized hoses, which are meant for water use only.
If you’ve ever tried to boil milk in a pan, you know that milk burns easily. The same will happen inside your Keurig machine.
What Happens If You Put Milk In A Keurig?
It doesn’t matter if you add hot milk or cold milk; there are two things that can happen when you put milk in your Keurig, burning or spoiling.
Burning
When the tubes heat up and boil the milk, it can also burn it.
Then, the burnt milk will be stuck in your tubes, possibly clogging them.
Spoiling
Even if the milk doesn’t burn entirely, it will still leave some milk residue on the tubes, which can spoil and ruin your next batches of coffee.
Can You Use Anything Other Than Water?
Keurigs are amazing machines. They don’t only brew regular coffee but also tea, hot chocolate, and other hot drinks as well. You can safely use the hot chocolate pod and any other recommended pods on your Keurig.
While Keurig coffee makers are designed to make a wide variety of drinks, they are only designed to have water run through them.
If you want to make something else besides just a plain cup of coffee or tea, you may be tempted to put other kinds of liquids into your machine. We don’t blame you; hot chocolate with milk is delicious.
However, anything other than water will likely damage your machine, especially thicker liquids like milk. Even liquids that are close to water, such as fruit juice.
For the same reason you shouldn’t add milk, you shouldn’t put any other liquid than water in your Keurig machine.
How Can You Clean Your Keurig?
Regular
You should clean your Keurig once in a while or at least once a week to ensure the safety and quality of the coffee taste.
Steps:
1. Empty the reservoir or the water tank.
2. Disassemble any removable pieces.
3. Wash the removable pieces either by hand or, if the manufacturer recommends, then through the dishwasher. Use mild soap.
Don’t forget the reusable K-cup filter. Coffee grounds may get stuck in the mesh. It’s best to wash the removable filter cartridges by hand with a brush.
4. Clean the exterior of the machine and any part you can reach with a brush and some water and vinegar solution.
Give more attention to the base where the reservoir is and the built-in K-cup holder or the area where you put the coffee pod.
5. Reassemble the clean pieces and run a water and vinegar mixture through the system by initiating the brewing process without any K-cups.
6. Clean and rinse the reservoir again and fill it with water.
7. Run the water several times to rinse the vinegar out of the system.
If Added Milk or Descaling
Suppose you’re reading this article after you’ve added the milk, don’t worry. Your machine will be fine as long as you clean it properly (and don’t add milk again).
Cleaning your Keurig after putting in milk is just slightly different from the regular cleaning process.
This process is what you should also do to descale your machine. It is recommended to descale your Keurig every three months.
Steps:
The first few steps are the same.
1. Empty the reservoir or the water tank.
2. Disassemble any removable pieces.
3. Wash the removable pieces either by hand or, if the manufacturer recommends, then through the dishwasher. Use mild soap.
Don’t forget the reusable filters. Coffee grounds may get stuck in the mesh. It’s best to wash them by hand with a brush.
4. Clean the exterior of the machine and any part you can reach with a brush and some water and vinegar solution.
Give more attention to the base where the reservoir is and the area where you put the K-cups.
5. Reassemble the clean pieces.
Here is where it becomes a little different.
You will use white vinegar or Keurig descaling solution to clean the inside of your machine of any scaling or milk crust. You can also use a milk frother cleaner for this.
If using Keurig descaling solution: use a whole bottle of the descaler solution, then fill the rest of the reservoir with water.
If using white vinegar: fill half of the reservoir with white vinegar and fill the rest with water.
Set the coffee machine to brew to the largest setting your cup can handle.
The larger the cup, the faster the process.
6. Repeatedly cycle the cleaning solution until the water reservoir is empty.
7. Let your machine rest for about 30 minutes.
By this point, it has run multiple cleaning cycle continuously, so let it rest for a while, so it doesn’t overheat. This also lets the cleaning solution soak in the system.
8. Clean and rinse the reservoir again and fill it with water.
9. Run the water up to 12 times to rinse the cleaning products out of the system, especially if you used the Keurig descaling solution.
Conclusion
In conclusion, putting milk in a Keurig is not recommended – it’s a terrible idea.
This could lead to a messy milk buildup and even damage the machine.
So, unfortunately, we can’t brew milk based drinks in our Keurig.
So, if you want to enjoy your morning cup of joe without having to worry about cleaning up afterward, or having a spoiled milk flavor in your favorite coffee, just stick to using plain water in your Keurig coffee maker.
If you really want a splash of milk in your cup of coffee, it’s best to get a separate milk brewer or stand-alone milk frother.
