The ‘patina’ is coffee lipids that will turn rancid eventually, so always clean it until like new. After every use (or if you’re like me every week) remove the rubber from the top compartment and clean the filter and top, if necessary with cafiza. The removal of old coffee residu is especially necessary when using light roast specialty coffee, as otherwise you might taste some bitter flavours.

After cleaning, do not screw all parts together let it air dry.

Treat it like a good knife. No dishwasher, clean it with mild detergent, wipe with a towel and let it dry. No need to use detergent if it isn't dirty or grimy, but anyone telling you to never use it is either parroting popular belief or actually enjoying oxidized, rancid coffee oil notes.

For the last part I recommend watching the James Hoffman video about his moka pot technique. I've had great results using a simplified version of his method and experimenting with coffee/water ratios. Also, while italians use the moka pot the most, that doesn't mean they know everything, take their advice as one of many options and look for what works for you.

Paraphrasing here but James Hoffmann said something like if you're properly washing your Moka Pot after every use, you're leaving it basically with residual coffee dirt, which is going to do nothing good for the taste of your coffee. Hand washing an aluminium Moka Pot with dish soap is 100% fine.

Never put it in the dishwasher. Sone say no soap, I think thkse people are insane. Just ronse it properly and then air dry. I usually leave mine out over night.

Dissassemble and rinse with water immediately after each use. You absolutely need to rinse out that crap that builds up around the gaskets and filter.

Cannot comment on scrubbing, I've never gone that far.

I just rinse mine with water daily and have had no issues with buildup

Don't put the aluminium one in the dishwasher.

I swish my finger around inside each time then wipe out with a paper towel. I also make sure the gasket and threads are completely clear of grounds. Run water through everything separately.

I don’t pull my gasket every time. I do not believe that is necessary at all. Pulling it out and reinstalling will likely wear it much, much faster, and I know there are no grounds in there. I’m sure many will disagree...

Give it a thorough rinse after EVERY use.

Do not leave any gunk inside and let it dry properly.

If you use it everyday I think it's definitely worth giving a quick scrub with soapy water once a week or so. Once again just make sure to properly rinse it and let dry.

The "don't use soap" thing is a misunderstanding. Putting an aluminum Moka pot in the dishwasher will strip the anodizing from it, because dishwasher soap is super alkaline. It makes the aluminum feel gritty and weird, but that feeling goes away fairly quickly and it won't hurt you. Hand dishwashing soap is fine, and if yours is stainless steel just do whatever.

I clean by hand after every use and air dry. Run the gasket through the dishwasher every so often.

I just rinse/rub a bit with my fingers. Change the gasket when it starts to get crusty. I do disassemble and air dry it all each time.

I just clean with soap and water after every usage. I'm pretty sure the buildup of coffee is a myth because that just sounds like keeping expired coffee buildup overtime, which would contribute to stale or rancid flavors rather than a stronger coffee flavor.

rinse it out with water every time, use soap when it gets a bit dirty.

use vinager when you have water scale

Every time I use my moka I rinse out the top, disassemble it, rinse all the parts, and air dry it.

It just makes coffee, and it's not going to get particularly dirty, so you don't need to do a lot to keep it clean.

I wouldn’t do anything about. Don’t think I ever descaled my aluminium moka pot.

If you really want to get rid of it, I suggest using a mild vinegar solution. Aluminium is quite reactive, so stronger acids and abrasive cleaning might damage it.

Looks like a bit of limescale just boil a 50:50 vinegar water solution

You could also buy denture tablets, put one inside with some water. Let it sit during the night. Those tablets are anti-bacterial, it would help get a thorough cleaning of your moka pot’s water container.

I know this will get downvoted but honestly buy a stainless steel one. Is never a good thing to cook or brew with aluminum. It's easier to clean and you can also use stronger chemicals if you want

I'd use neat lemon juice. Leave it in there for a few hours. The small seems to go far quicker than using vinegar in my experience too.

Definitely not soap. Maybe run descaler through it (followed by rinsing with clean water) and then use a brush or something to get some of the oils off.

run it with no coffee, but use water with white vinegar in it, roughly 1 part vinegar, 3 parts water

I scrub mine hard with a brush and it gets a lot of the stain off. Good old fashion elbow grease.

baking soda and scrub

I just use water and my fingers right after I brew wtih it. It looks pretty clean.

Whatever you do, DO NOT use the dishwasher. It will permanently oxidize and ruin the finish of the entire pot. Search this group for many, many examples.

Using normal dish soap is completely fine. Just don't put it in the dishwasher. I think that's just normal discoloration, though.

You should take it in the shower with you.

Dawn dish soap and water.

Looks pretty clean to me

they come clean, it just take some elbow grease and patience

For the gasket find a container that can fit the bottom of the collector (the top half) and have it soaking in boiling water, it should soften enough to get it off in pieces, anything stuck to the aluminum you can scrape it off using wood (metal will scrape the aluminum) the back of a chopstick (the square back, if not make it square) is hard enough to clean the gasket remains easily and fast and right in the corner too, if it wasnt clear you push the rubber off using the corner edges of the square end, If one run in boiling water isnt softening all of it then take off what you can then repeat the boiling water and so on

for the inside of the collector its baking soda and water paste and get scrubbing

for inside the boiler you have to take off all that deposit, it needs to be scrubbed away and for something like that you can be aggressive even with a brillo. Pay attention to push it right into the corners

some here have used a nylon brush attachment for a drill, and it worked well for them, if you want you can do that but do not use a steel brush because at the speed of a drill will just cover the whole boiler with black marks. You can use a steel brush only by hand

Doesn't baking soda and vinegar just neutralize itself? Idk mate, maybe try just boiling water soak, clean with soapy water

Buy a new one. Aluminum should be recycled, by the way.

Maybe others disagree, but I'd get a new one, looking at those photos.

Vinegar is a soak--add it and let it soak, 24 hours will work wonders. Wiping it a few times after 6 hours of vinegar will thin the black gunk. Brillo or scotch 3m will work wonders. this isn't a big job.

After all that cleaning, put vinegar in bottom low heat, let that make a pot of vinegar water that comes out through the top---cleans your innards, run that through a few times.

Scraping the gasket off isn't hard--gentle work with an old screw driver tip, you can boil the top unit to soften everything, lift with pot holder, push old gasket off.

Not to belittle it, but I used moka pot for about 1 year before getting fed up of how unforgiving, rigid and inconsistent it was.... switched to a french press and it was the best decision I made ...... just my experience tho

I use one quite often and only ever rinse it with water, it is an aluminium one.

I’ve been using one for a while, planning on getting an espresso machine in a bit when the budget isn’t as tight, but so far it was night and day compared to drip, Keurig, French press etc.

flavor wise, i haven’t noticed as much sweetness as compared to a good shot of espresso, but I chocked that up to my crappy hand grinder.

Mouthfeel is definitely much thicker than a normal cuppa joe, but less so than a shot. It’s a pretty good go between from espresso and coffee, in almost every aspect as far as I can tell. Flavor, mouthfeel, intensity.

Cleaning is sorta easy and sorta annoying. Like I don’t take the o ring out and clean it out super well after every use, but I do that every so often. I try to use super hot water to help get some of the oiliness out. I personally use soap, and havent noticed any real negative flavors or anything from that. I know a lot of people only use water though. It’s pretty good about keeping the “puck” in a puck. No tamping obvi, but it usually just takes a tap or two to get the grounds out of the vessel. Every once in a while I’ll just straight up boil everything and run a few load of just water through it and that gets it nice and clean.

Watch this video, great tips (James Hoffman) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpyBYuu-wJI

Just give it a normal wash.

Probably don't expect the full sweetness of normal espresso - IMO Moka tends to come bundled with a more-bitter general profile compared to espresso. It's kinda close, but very definitely different.

Be aware that if you have the aluminum kind, dishwashing it will ruin the finish and make it look kinda scary and dusty-grey. If that happens, it's not damaged, it's still safe to use, it's just less pretty than it started.

ok so, and this might take a while of work to make it clean again, try scrubbing with dry baking soda. And definitely use a brush. heck you might even want to be explosive with it and pour boiling water into the pot after scrubbing the baking soda powder with the powder still inside to blast away the deposits.

I did this with my pot to remove years of build up, it works, but i am hesitant to recommend the boiling water and baking soda method to anyone else bc they might do it wrong. If you're unsure, just dry scrubbing is fine.

Easily cleanable. Liquid dish soap, hot water and a soft sponge will take it right off.

Scrub away!

And don't store the pot wet! That's what has caused this.