Why We Ditched Our Keurig
We recently ditched our Keurig; a decision that if you had told me a year ago I would have made I would not have believed you. Ironically back in 2011 I have a blog post here where I was talking about the fact that we didn’t have a Keurig and I didn’t think Keurig’s were very frugal at all.
Not too long after that blog post my In Law’s got us one and I fell in love with our Keurig for lots of reasons but mostly because the Keurig coffee maker is so convenient and quick for a couple on the fly all the time like us it was perfect!
Sounds like the perfect”Coffee Love Story” doesn’t it?
Well almost……but then a strange thing happened our Keurig broke out of nowhere. It just started leaking on our counter I don’t know how it started but it slowly got worse and worse each day. So I finally picked up my phone which I have on me all the time and cleared a few moments to call Keurig and after holding for about 10 minutes or so I got someone on the line and found out that my Keurig was not covered under warranty but that Keurig would be happy to give me special pricing and that it would not expire and to my surprise the price was even higher the local warehouse holiday special for a Keurig that included a case of Keurig coffee cups and yes I was frustrated. I also had not fallen out of love with my Keurig yet but I was slowly becoming disillusioned. That stage in the relationship when you realize things are kind of falling apart…but still have note embraced it yet.
So when I was on the phone with Keurig I asked them if their was a part I could order to fix what was wrong as you know the Viking and I love to fix stuff and do our DIY posts and they told me their was not a part available so being the Dynamic DIY Duo we opened up our Keurig and to what did our wondering eyes did appear….MOLD that’s right all in the tubing inside our Keurig. I had seen the posts on the internet and thought they were exaggerating but truly they were not you could not miss this mold. Even worse we were maintaining our keurig and running white vinegar through it (although The Viking has shared it will clean out a coffee maker but it won’t destroy mold). from time time and it didn’t help one bit.
Then I started seeing the posts on the internet about the Keurig cups how unsustainable they were and that’s when I didn’t feel too bad about that because we mostly reused the reusable Keurig cups. So once I spotted this mold I realized I didn’t want to go back to Keurig I realized we were going to have to permanently break up and I researched another coffee pot model that I ended up loving and we ordered it and it was so much cheaper and I can use real coffee again that I can see and place in the cup. The hardest part for me was getting used to how much longer it took to get a cup of coffee but in the end for better health and knowing what’s in my coffee is so much better!
Here is the coffee maker we finally ended up getting and we love! Click here!
(*this is an affiliate link however this is just one I chose and it works great for us but pick any coffee maker that won’t get moldy that would be ideal)
Everyone has to do what they think best but mostly I am thankful to Keurig because if they had sent me a new coffee maker I never would have known about the mold and bacteria that was hanging out in the tubing inside our Keurig coffee maker! If they had stood behind their warranty and their product I never would have known!
Goodbye old friend…..glad you’re gone!
My SIL has one of those and loves it. It’s just the two of them now and she loves it for the same reasons as you did.the speed and convenience. I’m not that big a fan that I would spend the money for it. I drink tea rather than coffee and just find it doesn’t taste as good in that as the water doesn’t hit the boiling point. I’ll keep my old kettle on the gas stove and use boiling water to make my tea thanks…. The only one here that drinks coffee is my older boy and we have a plain old B&D coffee maker for him. Works fine and cheaper to replace when it craps out. We just watch and pick up a back up unit on sale once the current one gets to about a year. I keep the pot from it as they are so expensive to replace, the rest goes to the e-waste depot for disposal.
Mind you my younger boy wouldn’t mind getting a number of the used coffee containers from the beastie….he read online somewhere about using those to start seeds….just punch a bigger hole in the top and drop in the seed in the coffee grounds!!!! Might be worth asking my SIL for a few of her used cups to try it!!
Christine I did love it however I had to say goodbye just could not stomach the thought of that mold ugh…..that being said it is also a pain to get the coffee out of the keurig cups too so we are able to put the coffee now right into the coffee compost bin……so nice I see and smell my coffee again each morning…oh how I missed that! Thanks for your comment I would love to hear more about the seed starting for sure!
Is there a way to check the tubing for mold without ruining the Keurig machine? This has me concerned. I love having that fresh hot cup of coffee throughout the day with out brewing a new pot of coffee. But I would be like you . If it was harboring mold, no thank you, out it would go.
Janet we had to dismantle our keurig unfortunately. Ours was about 3 years old so I don’t know how long the mold was in there…I do know newer models may have corrected the problem possibly I don’t know…wish I knew more just sharing our experience.
Thanks for a great post – I had no idea that this was a risk with a Keurig. I’m more fond of traditional coffee, anyway, since I like to have more than one cup at a time. I sure don’t want to have to pay for several k-cups a day when I can buy a whole pot of traditional coffee cheaper than I k-cup. And, I know you can fill-your-own, but I also don’t want to be constantly cleaning out & filling tiny filters. But I do drink K-cups at a friend’s house, and it’s good to be aware of this risk.
Anna thanks for commenting! I thought long and hard before I shared this post and I thought the least we can do for everyone is share our experience. I’m not dissing on Keurig I loved their product that’s why I share it was a love affair gone bad but I just put my coffee in my coffee maker tonight for in the morning it’s a little slower so I run out in the morning and put my travel cup under it and then I go brush my teeth and put my make up on……but I love the taste of coffee again. I think I was letting my coffee taste get dumbed down just a little. I also mix coffees…the other day I mixed Community Coffee and Seattles best and it was amazing! We buy them in bags so atleast it’s more sustainable then the keurig containers and the canister type containers. I am glad you are appreciative of this post…..I truly hope everyone’s tubing in their keurig isn’t moldy but want to make people aware of the risk……thanks for stopping in!
I’ve never liked drinks made with Keurig-type coffee makers. When I would house sit I would use the homeowner’s machines. I bought several different brands of coffee and other drinks. They just didn’t taste right. I also quickly realized how expensive each drink was. I’m going to look at the office’s machine on Monday and see if it can be dismantled to look for mold! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Katherine…I agree the coffee was never my absolute fave my issue was it was so convenient that I didn’t want to give it up. The newer machines may be able to be dismantled but ours was not we had to take it apart. And you are right the Keurig cups are so expensive and if not you are drinking generic coffee….I really do enjoy my cup of coffee every morning.
We only rarely use the cups anymore. When I do want coffee we use the reusable cups. Most of the time I use ours to brew hot water for my tea bag.
Jon that is a great idea! We used the reusable cups sometimes too……and if you like the Keurig stick with it….I am only sharing my experience the sad part is I couldn’t taste the mold…would it have killed me probably not….however I suffer from auto immune disorder and I am already exposed to students and teachers all day probably don’t need any extra germs or bacteria coming my way 🙂 Thanks for stopping in and leaving a comment!
I’m so clueless I had to read the post to find out what a Keurig was……
LOL Katherine love this response…..I wish I didn’t know either 😉
The mold is likely due to hard water running through the system. If you’re filling the Keurg with tap water, make sure the water is not going through your water heater ( a.k.a. use cold tap water). I have seen this in other conventional water heating units that use a tank. I personally don’t think that buying a different model will prevent the issue from occurring.
Jeff my new model (not a Keurig) I can clean the water area with a clean toothbrush and it works great…but I think you bring up a great point. We did always use cold tap water though however your point might help someone else who has tried everything but doesn’t want to give up their Keurig. Thanks for stopping in 🙂