Coffee percolator questions

[Rwoodreno]

I agree with the earlier sentiments that this all comes down to tastes. Use what you like.


There are a lot of opinions out there and I encourage you to read up on them. Many posit that the percolator makes the perfect cup because percolation happens at the precise temperature that coffee is exquisitely extracted at. With a stove top it's an attended perk so one has to be vigilante but once that percolation starts and you dial the heat to maintain it then you make a magnificent coffee.

I put back on the burner at reduced heat to keep hot. Works like a charm.
Chris

Not necessarily true. Brewing temperature varies with altitude as boiling temperature of water does too. I live in Reno at a altitude where the boiling temperature of water is about 202F rather than the 212F or 100C found at sea level. This can affect results. I was reading of a coffee shop at a ski resort at about 9000+ feet altitude that has to use special techniques to brew acceptable coffee. Their water boiling temperature is only about 194F. Very little info seems to exist about high altitude coffee and tea brewing.

You must like burnt coffee too as leaving on a burner or hot plate is one way to ruin coffee per the books on coffee making. I store it in a Thermos type coffee server after making.

 

[Mick]

I have a high altitude home Bunn that has the water temp set lower. I use it at our cabin up in the great white North which is around 1500 feet

I can't remember what the exact temp the brewer is set to.

 

[ironfist]

This thread has made me want one haha!

 

[Old-Fashioned Coughy Pot]

I LOVE my percolated coffee! I have it every day

 

[Graybeard57]

For me, perc coffee just doesn't taste as good as drip. French press coffee is excellent, but cleaning is a pain. So, I guess I agree with the pecking order as noted above by @Doppelgaenger. My motto is, to each their own.

 

[EL Alamein]

Shoron, my only advice is to start with a fully automatic electric percolator. If you can get your hands on one of the old vintage Farberware percolators made in New York that's a great start.

They can be had on ebay, look for one that looks clean and well maintained or new.

I have reverted to this for my everyday coffee as I hate the office coffee service in most clients I service. I brew it at home and take it with me in a thermos. More convenient in the morning when rushing off to the office.

To boot, they last forever. If it breaks it's almost 99% of the time because of the thermostat. Easily and cheaply replaced and it goes on for a few more decades.

Chris

 

[FarmerTan]

This thread has made me want one haha!

Me too!

 

[Chef Glenn]

I agree, Farberware Super Fast, auto electric with a paper disc filter makes a good cuppa joe. I snubbed percs for years until I broke out the Farberware that my folks used well into their 80's. Great for camping or at home during a nostalgia craving moment.
Fr. press, P.I.A. to clean, (but so are my beloved Cona, Cory Silex vac pots), auto drip makers can vary immensely,
spray head may not whet all the grounds, if design offers a lift up cover to expose grounds while brewing, stirring coffee slurry can help. The heating plate is not good, unless entire pot is served within a few minutes.
A feature I find particularly loathsome is the ubiquitous "pause & serve" spring loaded switch that allows thoughtless,
inconsiderate, or just plain unfortunate, un-knowing (trying to be nice here guys) souls to interrupt the brew cycle and remove coffee before brew cycle is complete, thereby throwing off the entire pots intended strength, taste etc.
This feature was probably thought to prevent those "challenged" impatient coffee drinkers from dripping coffee all over the machine, counter etc, making a huge mess for someone else to deal with.
I use a couple of old Chemex pots from time to time, finding it necessary to use more coffee grounds since the proprietary Chemex paper filters so thick and a triple layer on half the folded filter results in a brew that is almost TOO "clean". (I LIKE coffee oils to be visible on surface of my brew).

I guess one could use the analogy of different soaps, brushes, razors, blades, A/S's etc akin to varying coffee makers one enjoys using. Oh, forgot to mention, a decent BURR grinder is an absolute necessity, particularly when one uses various brew methods, enabling one to adjust grind as well as achieving uniform grind no matter which brew method used.

Not trying to hijack thread at all, just when one coffee geek gets going.....
Oh, btw favorite vessel is vintage "diner" thick porcelain ivory color "man handle" mug, (pre-heated of course).

Chef Glenn
Palomar Roaster

 

[MntnMan62]

I remember my mom using a large percolator when she had people over for her dinner parties. And one day I realized that we actually have one too. I'm guessing it's the same one my mom used and she gave it us and I never paid any attention. We have used it when we have had a large number of guests. I still haven't figured it out though. I need to take he time to get to know it. The thing can make gallons of coffee at a time. It's huge.

But for every day I use a french press. I've got that process down. And I don't have much issue with clean up as others seem to. I simply remove the plunger, dump the grounds into the garbage and then wash it out with a sponge and Dawn and voila. Clean. But, here's something that will blow you french press users minds. Don't press the plunger once your brew is done brewing.

 

[KW Driver]

I hated the 40 cup "Silver Bullets" in the Army, but we drank it. I've done a perc, and don't like the burned taste.

for years it was a French press. they were a pain to clean in the field and we had to worry about breaking them. and they used a lot of water when you carried your water. I still have one for company. I still have a double walled lexan travel press with a truly leak proof lid.

once I found an Aeropress I never looked back. it and a Hario Skerton fit in a 1gal ziplock and go on all trips. clean up is a breeze, and it's a completely self-contained system with a steel mesh filter. when I car camp I take along a small meat thermometer, but by now I know what the water temps look like. anywhere in the world, I can have the same cup as at the house, in a tiny, light, easy to pack package.

 

[Chef Glenn]

ya know, I just remembered where my Aeropress, I think I'll break it out tommorrow and try it, been along time...

I hated the 40 cup "Silver Bullets" in the Army, but we drank it. I've done a perc, and don't like the burned taste.

for years it was a French press. they were a pain to clean in the field and we had to worry about breaking them. and they used a lot of water when you carried your water. I still have one for company. I still have a double walled lexan travel press with a truly leak proof lid.

once I found an Aeropress I never looked back. it and a Hario Skerton fit in a 1gal ziplock and go on all trips. clean up is a breeze, and it's a completely self-contained system with a steel mesh filter. when I car camp I take along a small meat thermometer, but by now I know what the water temps look like. anywhere in the world, I can have the same cup as at the house, in a tiny, light, easy to pack package.

I hated the 40 cup "Silver Bullets" in the Army, but we drank it. I've done a perc, and don't like the burned taste.

for years it was a French press. they were a pain to clean in the field and we had to worry about breaking them. and they used a lot of water when you carried your water. I still have one for company. I still have a double walled lexan travel press with a truly leak proof lid.

once I found an Aeropress I never looked back. it and a Hario Skerton fit in a 1gal ziplock and go on all trips. clean up is a breeze, and it's a completely self-contained system with a steel mesh filter. when I car camp I take along a small meat thermometer, but by now I know what the water temps look like. anywhere in the world, I can have the same cup as at the house, in a tiny, light, easy to pack package.

 

[EL Alamein]

how to recognise long-lasting percolator ?

If electric, built in America in the late 1960's and early 1970's. They are very simple mechanisms no matter who made them and by now any that have stood the test of time aren't defective and will probably go long after we're lowered in the ground.

Stove tops are nice as well, and well, they will last even longer. For such I recommend a Revere Ware from the 1960's or so. They never die. Just learn how to use them and you will always have a perfect cup. These are ubiquitous on ebay.

Chris

 

[FarmerTan]

If electric, built in America in the late 1960's and early 1970's. They are very simple mechanisms no matter who made them and by now any that have stood the test of time aren't defective and will probably go long after we're lowered in the ground.

Stove tops are nice as well, and well, they will last even longer. For such I recommend a Revere Ware from the 1960's or so. They never die. Just learn how to use them and you will always have a perfect cup. These are ubiquitous on ebay.

Chris

^this, exactly.

 

[njpaddy]

Back in the late 70s/early 80s, I would use a stovetop on weekends and any nights when I made bacon & eggs for the kids. Besides stovetop coffee being HOT and tasting great, it made our whole apartment upstairs and down smell of coffee. My wife loved the smell and taste but wouldn't use it. She hated having to wait for it to perk, then time it and pull out the hot grounds. Eventually I started working two jobs and didn't have the time or energy. Over the years we've used Mr Coffee (ugh), electric Farberwares that sat on a baseplate to heat and for the past dozen years various Cuisinart drips. Somewhere along the line we must have used Presto electrics, because we still have two in the basement. No idea when we got them or if they even work.

 

[kelbro]

I love to use the stovetop percolator in the RV when we're camping. Fills the whole camper with that great smell. High gets it perking and then low for 5 mins. Oh heck, let it go for 6 mins. We have a busy day ahead of us. I love camping coffee.

Vintage Farberware Superfast the rest of the time.

 

[EL Alamein]

Caution: don't buy a "new" percolator with the plastic bulb they get universally panned as they break very easily. The tried and true glass tops are far sturdier.

Chris

 

[FarmerTan]

Caution: don't buy a "new" percolator with the plastic bulb they get universally panned as they break very easily. The tried and true glass tops are far sturdier.

Chris

Yeah, I'm looking at some OLD ones on that auction site.
Also at Goodwill. Found several there, cheap, but not quite good enough to buy. I figure I'll get lucky there someday.