View Full Version : Kicking it old school--coffeewise
Just purchased a stovetop percolator and made my first pot this morning.
Had heard that if you put a filter in, it keeps some of the grit out. I did but there was still grit--I'm guessing less than normally would be there? I'm still using my drip coarseness grind coffee. Know I'm supposed to grind the coffee coarser for percolating so maybe that's the problem?
Coffee tasted a little weird, but I'll get used to it. Right?
Coffee was so hot it curdled my soy creamer!
After it finished percolating, turned the gas flame down to low on the smallest burner on my stove and it still continued to perk. Is there a way I can keep it warm w/o continuing to cook it?
Anyone out there use one of these coffeemakers and can give this novice some pointers?
Thanks.
Miss Cellane
8-26-12, 12:25pm
Coffeemakers, like a Mr. Coffee, don't heat the water very hot. That's a complaint a lot of my coffee fiend friends have.
Do use a coarser grind, but you might have to accept the fact that a few bits of the grounds will seep through. I've never tried it with a filter though. I'm wondering if the filter is the cause of the weird taste--I don't know what heating one to boiling would do to the coffee.
I usually use a french press to make coffee. Once I've poured the first cup, I pour the rest into a thermal pitcher, which keeps it warm for hours. Or you could microwave it to heat it up, if you have a microwave. I use something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Thermos-Brushed-Stainless-Carafe-oz/dp/B000FOTZGQ/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1345994508&sr=8-11&keywords=thermal+carafe
I don't know what type of percolator you have, but you could also try removing the part that holds the grounds, but be careful, because it will be hot. Then you could let the percolator sit on the stove. But if it's there for a while, the water will evaporate and the coffee will get stronger. Leave it too long, and it will boil dry.
awakenedsoul
8-26-12, 3:28pm
I have a silver plated electric percolator from the 1930's that I bought secondhand. I grind the beans for 10 seconds. When I did it longer, I had the same problem you did. Once it has finished percolating, (it takes 11 mins.) I unplug the coffeemaker. I pour the rest of the coffee into a thermos. This keeps it nice and hot. (I don't use a filter.)
I've never had a problem with my cream curdling. I use raw milk and cream. Lately I've been using my espresso maker on my gas stovetop. I love cafe au lait, too!
I"m just curious. Why are you going back to a stove top percolator? I think drip coffee makers make excellent coffee, and we can just plug it in and go shower or whatever.
We mostly just use a French press here. Boil the water up in the tea kettle, which lives on the stovetop or atop the woodstove, and you are in business.
ApatheticNoMore
8-26-12, 4:43pm
I think this is another reason I go with black tea over coffee. Boil water in tea kettle (or in a pot even) add to cup wtih tea bag, your done. No need for any fancy appliances, for filters, or even cleaning anything beyond my cup! I've used tea balls and stuff as well but tea bags are somewhat easier. Tea is also a less jittery crazed stimulation (L-theanine - *love* it), possibly healthier but that's debatable. I like it with some kind of milk or cream - to heck with the Americans, I'm with the Brits :)
I"m just curious. Why are you going back to a stove top percolator? I think drip coffee makers make excellent coffee, and we can just plug it in and go shower or whatever.
Part of the reason is that I only have a 5 cup drip coffeemaker at home and at school and I don't want to make coffee 2x bc it's a hassle. I can't even make the coffee @ school until my first break from the kids 1.5 hours after I get to school. That was killing me. So I thought I'd just get a bigger pot and take what I need to school in a Thermos.
Also, it's just old fashioned and I wanted to do something different. When the electricity goes out (which it frequently does with derechos and ice storms and low hanging old oak branches and NO subterranean electric lines) I wanted to still be able to make coffee w/o fashioning something awkward.
I am hopeful that I can work out the kinks with this percolator so that it makes really good coffee and doesn't curdle my soy creamer bc it's so hot. I'm going to give it a couple weeks and see how it goes. If it's a complete disaster, well I have percolator available for the next derecho and I can get a new, bigger coffee maker for like 15 bucks at Target. So far, I confess, the drip coffee maker makes better coffee, easier. But I've only made one pot...
Miss Cellane: Do I have to use more coffee per cup if I grind it coarser?
rosarugosa
8-26-12, 7:23pm
Hey bunnys: Here's a link to a thread I had started a while ago on the Frugality Forum on this topic.
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/showthread.php?3585-Does-anyone-use-a-stovetop-percolator&highlight=stovetop+percolator
I'll admit that I'm still doing electric perc, but when this percolator dies (immediately after the warranty expires is the usual schedule), I will be much more motivated to perfect the stovepot method. The reason I became interested is because I feel like a sucker when I keep buying the same crappy appliance that is clearly designed to have a very short useful life.
Good point Rosa. I broke the lid of the drip coffeemaker I've got now taking it out of its original package!
Thanks for the link.
I like the thermos idea. I use a drip coffee maker but always with an insulated carafe - I think the taste goes off quickly when it continues to be heated in the glass carafes, or on the stove.
Coffeemakers, like a Mr. Coffee, don't heat the water very hot. That's a complaint a lot of my coffee fiend friends have.
We boil water in the tea kettle on the stove then dump that into the Mr. Coffee. Works great, tastes even better. The results of a French press only simpler if you want to brew a whole pot. We also have the model with an insulated caraffe, coffee does not get better the longer you cook it.
Ok all you percolator coffee drinking types. Have you noticed that the coffee has a particularly unusual taste to it when made in the percolator as opposed to the drip coffeemaker.
Made my 2nd pot today and I noticed this yesterday and today. The coffee just has an unusual taste to it that it didn't have on Saturday (and every other day I've made coffee before getting my percolator.)
Have figured out that if I add an ice cube to the coffee cup before pouring the coffee in the soy creamer doesn't curdle. Also put one in my thermos today. So that's one issue fixed.
I will analyze the taste tomorrow and try to explain it for those of you who think I'm imagining this.
Ok all you percolator coffee drinking types. Have you noticed that the coffee has a particularly unusual taste to it when made in the percolator as opposed to the drip coffeemaker.
You're not imagining things. There is a difference and it's because of how percolators work. As the water in the percolator heats, it eventually is forced through the stem to shower over the basket. Coffee-infused water drips down into the water in the bottom of the percolator until, by the end of the cycle, the liquid being forced up the stem is ... coffee, which then showers over the grounds, etc., etc. While there is some balance (grounds give up the most flavor at the beginning of the cycle; less so later), you typically end up with stronger coffee than many drip machines can muster, partially because of the number of drip cycles in a percolator and partially because there are only three or four drip machines out there that get water near as hot as a percolator can.
It's good stuff if you like it. But there's a reason coffeehouses don't perk their coffee.
Steve: Should I get a milder roast next time? I really don't like this different flavor but I guess I could get used to it. But it's my coffee! I don't want to endure it. I want to enjoy it.
Also, I'm currently using the drip grind that I had from my old coffeemaker. If I switch to the percolator grind will that taste be eliminated/reduced?
Thanks.
Steve: Should I get a milder roast next time? I really don't like this different flavor but I guess I could get used to it. But it's my coffee! I don't want to endure it. I want to enjoy it.
Also, I'm currently using the drip grind that I had from my old coffeemaker. If I switch to the percolator grind will that taste be eliminated/reduced?
I definitely would get coffee ground for percolators -- it's not ground as fine as drip coffee, so it would be more suitable for going through the grounds multiple times. In the meantime, if you want to/have to use up the drip grind, I would try using a little less per basket.
As for milder roasts, that's all subjective. I don't care for really dark roasts myself, but some coffee varieties can handle a darker roast without tasting burnt to me. I'd start with a percolator grind and then see if you want to adjust the variety of coffee you use.
We went back to a stove-top perculator about 2 years ago; its so much better than drip coffee or french press, which we used for about 2 years. I grind my own beans, not too fine. I use a paper filter and boil for 11 minites. After I turn the stove off, I wait about 5 minutes until everthing drips from the grinds; then remove basket from pot. Perfect cup of coffee! (If the coffee cools too much and I want another cup, I simply nuke for 30 seconds.)
Tussiemussies
8-30-12, 2:08pm
As soon as my coffe is made, I put it in a thermos type carafe. If you let it perk more or for drip coffe, let it sit on the hot plate, it just becomes bitter...:)
crunchycon
8-30-12, 2:42pm
+1 to Tussiemussies. If you have a really decent thermos (we got an old one at Goodwill, so look for old Thermos or Aladdin), it'll taste almost as good in the afternoon as it did in the morning.
Growing up, my parents always made coffee in a percolator on top of the stove. They liked to make it the Swedish way by putting egg shells in with the grounds. I don't know what that did for the coffee, but they loved it.
Growing up, my parents always made coffee in a percolator on top of the stove. They liked to make it the Swedish way by putting egg shells in with the grounds. I don't know what that did for the coffee, but they loved it.
The egg shells are a low-pH base substance which is supposed to counteract the acidity of the coffee. I've had Swedish Egg Coffee and agree it does help tame it a bit.
I drink exactly one mug of coffee a day. A two cup french press works dandy for me.
OK, I'm an old-school percolator practitioner, Bunnys.
Percolated coffee has a natural and robust taste, rich in flavour and aroma. What I do is, I let the pot percolate, then turn down the element to allow the pot to simmer. I also like to let the pot sit for 5 minutes (or so) before pouring, and when pouring, pour slowly (less grounds).
Grounds, are all in the percolator process, but the reward of tasty coffee wins over. P.S. Loose the filter. :)
Bump.
How is the world of percolated coffee treating you, Bunnys? Update when you can. :)
The egg shells are a low-pH base substance which is supposed to counteract the acidity of the coffee. I've had Swedish Egg Coffee and agree it does help tame it a bit.
Steve is spot on. Even so, its better to keep the acid out of the coffee in the first place rather than try to balance it out. The reason your percolated coffee tastes different than drip is exactly a result of cycling the hot liquid through the grounds over and over as opposed to once with a drip machine. What happens is that you extract more of the acid from the beans. There is only so much flavor in a coffee bean and once you get that out there is only acid left. A little is fine, a lot isn't because that's what makes "strong" coffee taste bitter. We were once told by a coffe vendor that there are some 800 flavor compounds in coffee and almost all of them are destroyed when the acidity goes up. Not sure if that's totally accurate, but we decided to not risk it.
If you sneak a cup out of the percolator before its done and then a second cup after you pull it off the heat you will probably taste a pretty significant difference. To my taste a boiling pot is great when you're camping, but at home I'd rather have better coffee. If you have a French press try adding a little more coffee to it than you think you need if you like robust coffee (obviously a darker roast will give you more of that from the start). The idea is very hot water, you want 190* to 205*, mixing with your grounds one time only to extract all the flavor you can then be done with it. That's why we started pouring boiling water into our Mr. Coffee. A very mild roast in a percolator is still going to extract all the acid and so will still be bitter. Some people like that and if you're one, then great. If not at least try adding more grounds to your percolator and boil it for quite a bit less time.
People, listen to Gregg! Do not boil the expensive, wonderful flavors out of your expensive beans.
It's going well--but I'm not perfect bc it takes soooo long in the morning. I just need to get used to the time requirement. I am like a zombie in the morning.
Hmmm... Gregg. I have to wonder if you were exposed to percolated coffee prepared wrong, in your younger years. When I percolate coffee, I only allow the water to bubble (up against glass dome) for a couple short minutes (if that), then I reduce the heat down to simmer. Shortening-up the percolation time IMO, would be failing to get the most out of whatever coffee one deposits into the basket.
I can definitely see the correlation between long percolation times and bitter tasting coffee, but percolation times (under two minutes) being detrimental to great tasting coffee?
Re: French Presses, sounds to me like one could extract a pot of wonderful flavour (twice over), due to the wastefulness of all the flavour left behind after the initial first round of pressing.
Re: French Presses, sounds to me like one could extract a pot of wonderful flavour (twice over), due to the wastefulness of all the flavour left behind after the initial first round of pressing.
This experiment proves the truth of what Gregg says. The second press is much more bitter, and all of the flower/fruit overtones are missing.
Hmmm... Gregg. I have to wonder if you were exposed to percolated coffee prepared wrong
I'm no fan of perked coffee myself, but I'm thinking that may be because the coffee being perked was mass-market not-very-good. I've never had high-quality coffee, perked. But I don't think I know anyone who owns a percolator anymore.... Hmm.
Originally posted by Bae.
This experiment proves the truth of what Gregg says. The second press is much more bitter, and all of the flower/fruit overtones are missing.Can't wait to get me a French Press.
Originally posted by SteveinMN.
I don't think I know anyone who owns a percolator anymoreSigh... it's definitely not as popular (today) as it used to be.
No reason to toss the percolator, just use it to make hot water for tea instead of coffee.
I've been using my battered old camping percolator for several years when I broke the French Press one that my dad gave me. I see no reason to change, though some days it is better-tasting than others, and yes, I do get occasional grounds. I guess I am not terribly fussy.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.