Have you ever thought of adding milk to your coffee-making machine? It sometimes feels like a good idea, especially when you want to brew coffee quickly.
Brewing coffee with milk together seems easier than preparing them separately, as recommended in coffee recipes.
This is why many coffee drinkers who enjoy lattes and other milky beverages ask whether it’s okay to put milk in a Keurig.
What is a Keurig?
A Keurig is a one-button drip coffee machine that can brew coffee in minutes. All you have to do when brewing coffee in a Keurig is pop a pod into it, choose the brewing setting you prefer, and you’ll have a cup of hot coffee in minutes.
Unfortunately, while it seems like a good idea sometimes to put milk in a Keurig, it’s not recommended. The water reservoir in this machine is not made of milk.
These machines are only made to heat water during coffee brewing to preserve the internal system that routes water from the reservoir to the pod.
A Keurig can also not heat milk enough to brew a great-tasting cup of coffee. The milk curdles, encouraging the growth of bacteria. It also creates a sticky coating that is very difficult to clean.
Therefore, any coffee you brew in a Keurig using milk can potentially cause food poisoning. It is also likely to have a funny smell due to the remnants of milk residue in it.
You may think you will clean milk from a Keurig after using it in the machine, but it’s tough. Some milk is always left in the water dispensing line and needle.
Milk drops may also find their way onto the heating plates of the Keurig machine and get stuck there, releasing a burnt smell every time you brew coffee.
Considering how difficult it is to clean milk from a Keurig, you should avoid using it in the machine.
The Right Way to Brew Coffee with Milk in a Keurig
A Keurig is one of the most preferred drip coffee makers for brewing beverages such as hot chocolate and lattes.
The proper way to brew milky coffee using a Keurig is by first making black coffee separately using a K – cup and plain water. Then you can heat and froth milk on the side and add it to the brewed coffee.
If you feel this method of brewing coffee with milk using a Keurig is too cumbersome, buy Keurig milk pods.
These are milk pods specially made for some Keurig coffee machines for brewing frothy coffee beverages such as macchiatos, mochas, cappuccinos, and lattes. Some examples are the Keurig K – Latte, and Keurig K – Cafe.
There are also some Keurig coffee pods for making hot chocolate with cocoa and dry milk.
How do you keep these pods from destroying the coffee machine? Makers of the Keurig machine recommend putting it through a brewing cycle with clean water to remove any milk residue.
You’ll find that this is easy to do because the milk in these coffee pods is made to clean off easily when used in a Keurig.
How Do You Clean Milk Residue off Your Keurig Maker?
Now you know that you should avoid using milk in a Keurig coffee maker to keep your coffee from smelling bad or contaminating it with bacteria.
But what do you do if someone in your household accidentally does it? Here are some tips on how to clean it.
The most efficient way to clean milk off a Keurig coffee maker is to use a specially formulated alkaline milk frother cleaner.
This liquid is designed to dissolve stuck milk residue from the parts of a coffee maker that froth milk.
Therefore, it is highly likely to clean off the disturbing milk residue in your coffee machine, leaving it bacteria-free and smelling fresh.
If the spread of milk residue in the Keurig is not too extensive, try a vinegar and baking soda solution.
Fill the water reservoir in your coffee machine with a cup or two of distilled white vinegar, some hot water, and 2 tablespoons of baking soda. Then run it through a few brewing cycles to release clogged milk in the water line. Let the solution sit in the reservoir for ten minutes and pour it out.
Follow this cleaning treatment with a few rinses using pure water until the smell of vinegar clears out, and your Keurig will be clean as new.
Conclusion
Now you know the answer to Can you put milk in a Keurig? These machines are only meant to brew coffee with water. If you add milk to them for coffee, they develop a foul smell and can even grow mold or bacteria.
It’s also good to note that Keurig machines are difficult to clean if milk or any other hard-to-clean substance gets stuck in them. Therefore, always choose better ways of brewing milk coffee beverages with your Keurig.
If the milk K – pods we’ve suggested are not available, you may heat the milk separately in a microwave and add it to brewed coffee from a K- pod for a great-tasting milky beverage. That way, you will use your Keurig as recommended and keep it for many years.
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