Many people love the Keurig for its ease of use. Hot drinks can be made with ease at the touch of a button! However a lot of people are wondering whether it’s possible to use milk in their Keurig unit. After all, lots of people love to make hot milky drinks!
Unfortunately, you shouldn’t put milk in a Keurig. Its tank is only meant to hold water, and milk could clog it and cause malfunctioning in the machine. Bacteria could also grow in the tank, and create an unpleasant favor to your final drink.
We’ll have a look at whether you can safely use milk inside your Keurig’s water tank, so keep reading to get all the details!
Why You Shouldn’t Put Milk In A Keurig?
Although you might be tempted to add milk to your Keurig when you make a drink, it’s actually a really bad idea!
There are actually a few reasons why you shouldn’t add milk to your Keurig unit.
The main reason is simply that your Keurig’s water tank is meant to hold water, and nothing else.
If all you put in there is water, then you’re using the machine as intended, and shouldn’t experience problems.
Milk, on the other hand, is a far different substance, and can cause a lot of problems to your machine if you fill the water tank with it.
Milk can essentially clog up the whole water flow system on your Keurig, which can lead to the unit malfunctioning.
You can also get some really nasty things growing inside your Keurig! We’ll take a look at some of the problems you might experience with your Keurig if you put milk inside it.
Bacteria Growth
One of the most important reasons why you should never put anything but water into the water tank of your Keurig is the possibility of bacteria growth.
Even if all you ever run through your Keurig is water as intended, you still need to clean it regularly in order to stop bacteria from growing inside.
Well, if you’re putting milk into your Keurig, you’re making that bacteria growth happen a lot quicker!
Milk promotes bacteria growth extremely quickly, and so you’ll have a problem on your hands much sooner than you realize.
Bacteria means mold growth, which can potentially infect every part of your Keurig.
Milk leaves nasty deposits which really promote this bacteria growth.
And, the worst part of it is that it won’t just be in the water tank, but in every part of the Keurig unit that would normally have water passing through it.
This bacteria isn’t just disgusting, it’s also downright dangerous!
Burnt Flavor
Aside from the bacteria growth in your Keurig unit which you absolutely do not want, there are also other problems that running milk through your Keurig can create.
One of them is a really noticeable nasty extra flavor to everything that you drink.
One of the reasons for this flavor is because these previously mentioned deposits from old milk will eventually burn when heated, causing a really awful taste to present itself in your brew.
And, of course, that’s added to the already mentioned disgusting bacteria that grows in your Keurig!
The smell from this burning doesn’t just make it into your drink, in fact.
You can often smell it as soon as the Keurig starts heating up!
The smell can be so potent that it fills the room, and you’ll quickly regret even thinking about making a drink with your Keurig!
Damaged Unit
If the fact that you’ll have foul and dangerous bacteria spreading through your Keurig isn’t enough, and the obnoxious burnt smell and flavor that you get from the unit hasn’t changed your mind, how about the fact that you can severely damage your Keurig unit by running milk through it?
For a start, there’s a possibility that you won’t even be able to get the water tank fully cleaned afterwards, meaning that you’ll never get that foul musk out of it.
In fact, the smell and taste might permeate the entire unit, meaning that even a deep clean won’t fix it.
You’ll also run the risk of damaging the heating element of the Keurig unit!
The horrible deposits that milk leaves will stick to the heating element of your Keurig, which is why you’ll get that horrible smell and flavor when the Keurig is heating up.
These deposits can be extremely difficult to remove, to say the least!
Not only is it hard to get inside the machine to clean them, but also once they’re baked on you’ll probably end up damaging the unit trying to clean them off.
Cleaning Milk From A Keurig?
If your Keurig is already at the stage where it has dried, burnt-on milk curd and a foul smell and taste, then there’s a likelihood that your unit is toast.
Keurigs can be cleaned, but there’s a limit!
However, if you act quickly before things get too bad, then it’s possible you might be able to clean your Keurig out.
This has to be done soon after the mistake has been made, as milk will spoil and let bacteria grow extremely quickly at room temperature.
Start cleaning within minutes, not hours!
You’ll have to dismantle the unit entirely to clean it, which might well be too daunting a task.
Check the user manual for details on how to clean the heating element. Boiling water and vinegar can help.
However, if your unit is too far gone, then it might well be the end for it.
Milk can utterly ruin your Keurig machine, which is precisely why you shouldn’t ever use it in your Keurig’s water tank!
How To Use Milk?
If you want to use milk with your Keurig, don’t simply fill the water tank with milk!
As previously discussed, this is a terrible idea for the health of your machine. Instead, you can use milk pods, which are compatible with your Keurig machine.
These will let you use milk in your Keurig without damaging it.
Some other machines actually offer features like a milk tank, but unfortunately the Keurig doesn’t.
However, you can get separate units which will help you use milk, such as a Keurig Standalone Frother.
Conclusion
Absolutely never put milk into your Keurig’s water tank! It’ll only spell bad news for your Keurig unit. Hopefully this guide has helped you!