Need a new way of making coffee... percolator, maybe?

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #41

Bear in mind that the size of a standard cup of coffee is six ounces. Yes, six. This often bears no relation to the markings on your carafe. For example, I once had a coffee-maker that claimed to make 12 cups per pot, but a pot held 60 ounces of coffee, so in effect I was making 10 6-oz. cups. And so forth and so on.

So if your mug holds 8, 10, 12, or 15 ounces, you need to adjust your brewing amount according to the amount of brewed coffee you want to end up with. If you use one of those coffee scoops to measure the grounds, the proportion to start with is one level scoop for every six ounces of water, and adjust from there.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #42

Measure everything in grams and you won’t go wrong.

(Brian) #43

Dummy me, I figured a cup was a cup was a cup. Nope. Oh, well… I know now.

I did do some measuring. The amount of water that went into the Mr. Coffee, that read 9 cups on the carafe, turned out to be 5 3/4 real cups of water. And I know how much ground coffee I normally put in for that amount of water. So I have that as a place to start. I was just surprised it was that drastically different.

(Cheryl) #44

I perk coffee everyday. I have both stovetop and electric. I like the latter because it doesn’t boil over if I forget. Try Walmart. In Canada it was about $50. Works great!

#45

Love perked coffee. But I bought a new percolator at walmart a couple years ago and was sorely disappointed. Worst coffee ever. I have been thru several vintage percolators over the years-Sears, GE, etc. currently using and old corningware plug in percolator bought at a yard sale never used. Its the best. I had a corning ware stove top but it only made 4 cups. Take 10 minutes to perc if cold. I look on ebay and at yard sales for vintage ones because they make the best coffee even if you are taking a risk with the old electronics. But its always attended anyhow.

(Brian) #46

Ended up with one of these… in case anyone cares. :wink:

So far, we like it pretty well. I think my wife likes the flavors better than I do but hey, I’m OK with it. I’m still playing with how long to brew it and how much grounds per cup of water. It’ll work itself out over time. What I made this morning was about 1.5 tbsp of grounds per 2 actual cups of water and perked for 14 minutes. I know that’s kinda long but it seems like when I cut the time down, it’s weaker than either of us likes. I do use a paper filter, not sure if that may make a difference in the timing.

:slight_smile:

(Kirk Wolak) #47

Did you do a Percolator Grind or a normal grind for your coffee…

Because Percolators PUSH coffee back up, onto the grounds, the grounds do NOT need to be so finely ground up…

I find percolator coffee to be smoother and lighter… I love it.

I drink instant because I have instant on hot water, and I drink 1 cup of coffee a day!

(Brian) #48

Hi Kirk,

I just got a new coffee grinder a week or so ago. And it seems to leave the grounds a bit more coarse. Maybe that’s a good thing. (?)

We’ve cut down the percolating time a bit, we’re now at about 8 minutes. Seems to be a bit more flavorful than a longer perc. The pot size is about a cup less than 2 actual quarts and I’m using about 4.5 to 5 TBSP of whole beans, fresh ground.

Honestly, I’m fine with it and the wife loves it. I think I got more flavor out of the $20 Mr. Coffee, but hey, when mamma’s happy, everybody’s happy! LOL!!

When I make it for the two of us, there is about 1.5 TBSP of butter and maybe 1/3 cup of HWC, immersion blended nicely. She drinks it just that way. I add a bit more HWC or half n half plus a little flavored (chocolate and vanilla) liquid stevia, just cause that’s how I like it. Guess we’re all different… but that’s OK. :wink: