# Cleaning the Anova **URL:** \ **Category:** Anova Support\ **Created:** [January 4, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105 "2018-01-04T03:37:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kathykall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b487fb/32.png) [@kathykall](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/kathykall)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/1 "2018-01-04T03:37:22Z")
Simple basic question. How do you clean the Anova? Generally, not a problem (I’ve only used it twice) but this last time I was concerned that some of the meat juices were outside the seal area of my bag after sealing. I am using Food Saver vacuum seal bags. ---
**Author:** ![AlyssaWOAH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/alyssawoah/32/2946_2.png) [@AlyssaWOAH](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/AlyssaWOAH)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 3:53am UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/2 "2018-01-04T03:53:01Z")
Vinegar and water does the trick. 1. Simply dilute equal parts water and white vinegar into a small pot. 2. Put your Anova Precision Cooker in the water-vinegar combo. 3. Set the temperature to 140 °F / 60 °C, and allow the device to heat the liquid. When the device has reached that temperature, the cleaning is complete. 4. This method is best if you have build up on your device. Build up is normal and is due to mineral deposits mostly from tap water. Build up can be brown, black or even green depending on your water pipes and water source (if you drill your own well or use a water utility). More info on how to clean [here](https://support.anovaculinary.com/hc/en-us/articles/204567914-How-do-I-clean-my-Precision-Cooker-). ---
**Author:** ![fischersd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/fischersd/32/5594_2.png) [@fischersd](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/fischersd)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/3 "2018-01-04T14:43:03Z")
The brushes that come with many juicers are good for doing a gentle cleaning on the probes, heating coil and impeller shaft inside the skirt. If you don’t have one, they’re quite cheap: [http://www.omegajuicers.com/cleaning-brush-masticating-juicers.html](http://www.omegajuicers.com/cleaning-brush-masticating-juicers.html) If you leave it too long (and have really hard water) then vinegar may not be strong enough. You may have to get something like CLR to remove the hard water scale. (best to clean it regularly to avoid any buildup). Be especially careful with the impeller shaft as it’s quite thin…easy to bend it or get it out of alignment. ---
**Author:** ![MaxLaChat](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/maxlachat/32/1055_2.png) [@MaxLaChat](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/MaxLaChat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/4 "2018-01-04T19:31:01Z")
As a home brewer, alkali cleaners such as Powdered Brewery Wash, also called “PBW”, will remove most organic deposits that might occur from failed bags or other food leaks. Follow the same steps as removing mineral deposits with about a teaspoon or less of PBW in a stock pot and heat. ---
**Author:** ![Mirozen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/mirozen/32/2786_2.png) [@Mirozen](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/Mirozen)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 3:26am UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/5 "2018-01-05T03:26:16Z")
This discussion really makes me appreciate the extremely soft water we have where I live. 🙂 Just one less thing to worry about! ---
**Author:** ![kathykall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b487fb/32.png) [@kathykall](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/kathykall)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 4:50am UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/6 "2018-01-05T04:50:53Z")
Actually, I have soft water also, so my cleaning issues are minimal. My initial question involved the fact that the Anova came with no instructions regarding cleaning or other issues which I had to figure out with a lot of reading on this website. A simple “how to” in the in box brochure would have been helpful. For instance, having no experience with a sous vide appliance, I had no idea of whether or not I had to bring the water temperature up to the desired temperature first or not before submerging the food bags. ---
**Author:** ![mejakm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/mejakm/32/6761_2.png) [@mejakm](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/mejakm)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 11:59am UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/7 "2018-01-05T11:59:31Z")
I’m so angry at me I didn’t ask you guys or google for it… because I totally scrubbed my metal part and it’s not shinny anymore… now I have a “Matej limited edition Anova” with a mate" finish :’( The only thing I found at home this morning was cream of tartar and lemon so I added both in the water and set my Anova on 61C and it will be running until I come home this afternoon… Hope it will clean it totally… @AlyssaWOAH is it possible to buy only the metal part with the plastic cap? Coz I can’t even unscrew the plastic cap I think it’s stucked or something… :’( ---
**Author:** ![fischersd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/fischersd/32/5594_2.png) [@fischersd](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/fischersd)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 12:43pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/8 "2018-01-05T12:43:53Z")
You scratched up the stainless steel??? ☹ Wow! Did you use steel wool? First person I’ve heard of doing that. For the plastic end cap, so you can see which way to turn it, look down the open end of the skirt with the end uncovered, you should be able to see the tabs in their current position and see which way to turn it to loosen it. As with the skirt, it seems the first time you remove it is the toughest. ---
**Author:** ![mejakm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/mejakm/32/6761_2.png) [@mejakm](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/mejakm)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 12:58pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/9 "2018-01-05T12:58:08Z")
> [@fischersd](#): > > You scratched up the stainless steel??? ☹ Wow! Did you use steel wool? First person I’ve heard of doing that. First idiot person yea… No I used the normal cleaning sponge, just that I tried to clean it with the more grave side (the gray one on the yellow sponges) 😭 as for the plastic cap… I can see in which way it should go to get unscrewed… it’s just that it doesn’t move at all… like it was glued… ---
**Author:** ![fischersd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/fischersd/32/5594_2.png) [@fischersd](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/fischersd)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 2:45pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/10 "2018-01-05T14:45:31Z")
Heh, well, it isn’t glued…just really, really stiff. 🙂 Hopefully Anova’s able to help you acquire a replacement skirt and the end cap on it isn’t as tight. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AlyssaWOAH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/alyssawoah/32/2946_2.png) [@AlyssaWOAH](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/AlyssaWOAH)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/11 "2018-01-05T15:20:33Z")
Ahhh we don’t sell parts. But it may be worth checking in with customer support. @mejakm ---
**Author:** ![mejakm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/mejakm/32/6761_2.png) [@mejakm](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/mejakm)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 10:33am UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/12 "2018-01-06T10:33:32Z")
haha you have a “heavy customer” in here 😂 but thanks! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Keltusar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47c2d/32.png) [@Keltusar](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/Keltusar)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 11:57am UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/13 "2018-07-23T11:57:17Z")
What’s the maximum acid? I used 24,9% vinegar acid and mixed it with water so it has about 10% ---
**Author:** ![AlyssaWOAH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/alyssawoah/32/2946_2.png) [@AlyssaWOAH](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/AlyssaWOAH)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/14 "2018-07-24T15:48:57Z")
@Keltusar Double checked with my team about this - we recommend 5% acidity. ---
**Author:** ![mejakm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/mejakm/32/6761_2.png) [@mejakm](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/mejakm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 12:34pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/15 "2018-08-08T12:34:24Z")
i didn’t even know there’s a maxximum acidity to be cautious about … Every time I was cleaning it I poured vinegar just by feeling. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![babajani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dbc845/32.png) [@babajani](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/babajani)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/cleaning-the-anova/12105/16 "2022-12-29T20:15:20Z")
f you are using a sous vide machine at home, then you know the importance of keeping it clean. Not only will proper cleaning help to extend the life of your machine, but it will also ensure that your food is cooked evenly and safely