Can you put milk in a keurig? We understand how great the idea of adding milk to a Keurig to make a heavenly hot latte or chocolate is to you. It may sound like a good idea, but doing so can damage your Keurig machine. You will also get burnt-smelling milk that sticks to the inner tank and water hoses, leaving you with extra work to clean it.
What exactly happens when you pour milk into a Keurig water tank, and how should you clean it? What should you do if you need to make hot milk right from the coffee maker? Check out our advice below.
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How Do You Use Keurig to Make Coffee?
Keurig has released several models with varying specifications and features. However, they have the same parts: a machine with a water tank and a coffee pod explicitly designed for a single serving of coffee.
Can you put milk in a keurig? Before everything else, you need to know how your Keurig works. Using a Keurig to brew a cup of coffee is as simple as filling the water tank with distilled water and placing the K-Cup coffee pod into the holder. A sharp needle punctures the coffee pod when you close the cup holder. After that, you will see (on most models) a “Ready to Brew” message.
The machine will begin heating water and pumping it through the coffee pods by pressing the appropriate button. In just a minute, you’ll watch the lovely sight of freshly brewed coffee dripping down into your cup.
Why Does Nobody Suggest Putting Milk in the Keurig?
The Keurig is the most hassle-free and convenient coffee maker available today. Now that Keurig provides hot chocolate pods, it’s an easy decision to add milk instead of water to the machine’s reservoir. Yes, you are not alone in thinking about this. Many have experimented with this idea, which ends up having sad rather than satisfying results.
Can you use milk in a Keurig? As you can probably guess from the previous paragraph, putting milk in a Keurig is a mistake. The reason is that they equipped the Keurig machine with a water tank, not a milk tank. There’s no confusion that water is the only acceptable liquid to fill it. Milk will only cause blockages in the engine and piping systems, preventing them from functioning correctly.
Remember that they designed Keurig machines to heat one cup of water in seconds for fast brewing. Adding milk to it will damage your milk and your Keurig machine. Some people have even considered trashing their Keurigs due to this milk mistake.
What Happens if You Put Milk in a Keurig?
If you were wondering, “Can you run milk through a Keurig?” Well, you may instead face one of these three problems:
Burning
Keurig’s heating coil rapidly heats water to a boil for instant brews. Thus, your beverage will be either bitter or sour. The smell of burned milk can also spread throughout the entire kitchen or even the entire house.
Spoiling
You may leave water in the reservoir of your Keurig coffee maker for a particular time to make coffee at any time. Still, you should empty the tank in no more than four to five hours. Do not use water that has been in it for at least 12 hours since bacteria is probably contaminating it.
However, the same rules do not apply to milk. At room temperature alone, milk can spoil quickly. If you leave milk in a warm Keurig water tank, the milk will spoil and curdle more easily. Eventually, the spoiled milk will harden into lumps and produce a terrible smell, which is almost impossible to clean.
Scorched Metal
Burnt or spoilt milk can curdle, and the resulting curd can scorch the metal of your Keurig’s heating element. It leads to a malfunctioning heating element. Plus, you’ll be annoyed by the milky crust that is super hard to remove, mainly because cleaning the machine’s inside is a difficult task. You could use something like a spoon or scraper, but that will only create a new problem and is a very complicated and time-consuming task.
Can I Put Milk in My Keurig and Simply Clean It?
You are likely well aware of the negative response to the first question. Don’t go trashing your precious Keurig just because you tried out the “brilliant” idea of putting milk in its water tank. The following steps will help you clean your Keurig, though they will need a bit more work:
- Make sure you turn off the power as soon as possible because you don’t want any unwanted surprises while cleaning your Keurig.
- Use the manual with your Keurig coffee maker and a screwdriver to dismantle the machine.
- Get rid of the crusty residue at the bottom by scrubbing it with a sponge. However, be careful not to damage any of the components.
- Boil the water and add the vinegar (about half a cup). Adding a small amount of baking soda to the solution can improve how well it cleans.
- Fill the Keurig water tank with the solution. Don’t rush it; it’ll only take a few minutes. The vinegar will help loosen any excess milky crust in your Keurig reservoir. Use the scrubber to scrub it away gently.
- Though the Keurig machine does not feature a drain plug, you can take apart an internal hose. Once all the residue buildup is gone, assemble your Keurig machine and run cleaning cycles.
- Fill the water container with the vinegar and baking powder solution again and run the cleaning cycle without inserting the K-cup pod. Begin this process repeatedly until the water is clean and the smell has vanished from the internal system. To get rid of the vinegar thoroughly, run the machine through multiple cleaning cycles using just filtered water.
If you follow these steps, your Keurig should function like the day you bought it. If the machine is still malfunctioning, see the Keurig website or take it to a Keurig store for repair.
Final Words
If you prefer to brew single-serve coffees with minimal waiting, your Keurig coffee maker is a lifesaver. Unfortunately, “Can you put milk in a Keurig?” is always a big no! You should not put milk into its water reservoir. It can spoil your milk, leaving it undrinkable, and it may be goodbye to your Keurig.
