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- How to clean your sous-vide cooker
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How to clean your sous-vide cooker
It is essential to maintain and take care of any machine to ensure that it has a long service life and to achieve the best possible results throughout that life. Failure to clean the machine properly can cause it to break down and/or lead to poorer results. After the tips for cleaning an industrial potato peeler and an industrial dishwasher, in this post we explain how to clean a sous-vide thermocirculator.
To correctly maintain a sous-vide immersion circulator, we recommend that you perform both daily and weekly maintenance, as well as a six-monthly revision and the cleaning of the needle probe connectors.
Daily maintenance - cleaning the machine
For the daily cleaning of the sous-vide cooker, the machine must be switched off and disconnected.
1. Clean the immersed parts of the machine with a damp cloth or sponge using warm soapy water. (To prevent water from entering the machine, do not clean the machine under running water or immerse it in water).
2. Dry with a soft cloth.
3. Use your hand to check that the float moves, without forcing it.
4. Use a dry cloth to clean the parts that are not immersed.
5. Clean the protective grating with soap. The grating can be cleaned in a dishwasher.
WARNING: Do not use abrasive cleaners such as ammonia or bleach, solvents, gritty detergents or metal scouring pads.
Weekly maintenance - removing limescale
1. Fill the water tank to the maximum water level.
2. Switch on the machine and adjust the water temperature to 65°C (149°F).
3. Add 18 ml of white vinegar, with a minimum of 6% acid content, to the tank per litre of water.
4. Leave the machine in operation for at least 60 min.
5. Turn off and unplug the machine.
6. Perform all the steps for daily maintenance.
7. Clean the tank with food grade soap and rinse well before reuse.
Six-monthly maintenance – Visual inspection of the power cable
It is advisable every six months to visually check that the power cable is not damaged. Remember that if the power supply cable is damaged and a new one is required, it must only be installed by an authorised service technician.
Clean the needle probe connectors
In addition, if you are working with the needle probe, remember that you need to clean the probe connections before each use to avoid the risk of measurement errors due to the build-up of dirt on the connectors. For that:
1. Clean the Jack connector for the probe with a swab in the probe hole and a cloth for the male connector, both first dampened in isopropyl alcohol.
2. Dry the two connectors with a clean swab and cloth.
3. Cover the connectors with their corresponding covers.
