Recommendations for coffee percolator
 

DH and I are getting ready to purchase a coffee percolator to have around for when the power might go out. We've never used one before. I've looked online and see that there are several types available...stainless steel, glass, aluminum. If you really like your coffee percolator, can you tell me what kind you have and why you like it so much? Thank you!

I bought mine from Lehman's catalog. It's heavy stainless steel, and I love it. Very pricy but it will last forever.

My great aunt, who lived all her life without electricity, had a HUGE enameled coffee pot. My mother always said the coffee was excellent. (I was too young for coffee at the time)

Me..I use a french press to make coffee. Boil water on the woodstove and pour into the pot, then press the grounds down. I do have an enameled pot and an aluminum that I bought at Goodwill. The aluminum is NOT something I'd recommend to a coffee lover. The enameled one tho...very nice. Perks fast (has a wide base so you get a lot of heat) and the enamel cleans easily.

i have a 9 cup corrning ware percolater it is made of a ceramic material , works very well

so of course they don't make them anymore but you can find them used for under 20 buck , some people keep them as colectors items i guess and that drive up the price on some

I use an Enameled camping Percolator. I use it when camping, so I have it around ready to go when needed.

I vote for a solid stainless 12-cup like the one from Coleman. Make sure the basket is stainless. Enamels are good but if they chip, doesn't take long for rust to start. Stainless cleans so much better and can be bleached if necessary. Mainly, it ain't gonna make coffee better if the coffee isn't good to start with. Enjoy!!! :coffee::coffee::coffee:

I haven't found a percolator that I like, but we also enjoy espresso & lattes and love our Bialetti Mukka express, we use it nearly every day at home and take it with us camping, along with a cheap percolator (which we do not like but use). Needles to say we love our Coffee!

http://www.amazon.com/Bialetti-Expre.../dp/B000A8C0XW

I have a stainless camp style percolator that i seldom use, a corning percolator that I don't like, a drip coffee pot that is ok but not my favorite, a french press that I use very seldom and an enamel percolator that I am ashamed to say is by Paula Deen which means it is made in china but it is the one I use daily. I also have a Mr.Coffee that I use only when some of my family visits because that is what they like.

Thank you for all the replies. At this point, I believe that we're going to be looking for a 12-cup stainless steel percolator. Where we purchase from I'm not quite sure yet, but at least now I have an idea what to search for. Thank you!

There are many ways to make coffee. The best is to drip not a percolator. The percolator cooks the coffee after it is brewed. To drip is best when you heat the water and pour it over the coffee and let it drip through. It doesn't cook it after it is brewed. You can use a french press in the same way. If you buy a percolator do not heat it much after you brew the coffee or it will become bitter. The Military is the largest coffee drinkers in the world and they use a drip to get the coffee just right. You can see percolators around but if you brew more than you can use right away the last cup is bitter.

I am very picky about my coffee. We have been using a French press for years, but it makes more than we can drink before it gets cold. So, I finally let DH get a very nice stainless perc pot from Cabela's. We brew our coffee and shut it off as soon as it is done. It stays hot longer and warms up very quickly if we let it cool too long. Oh in case you are wondering why we don't just microwave it to warm up, we are in the process of moving off grid and the microwave is the first thing we got rid of.

We only use a percolator when we're camping. We used to use a drip coffee maker until we found that most of these don't get the water hot enough and make bitter coffee. We now use a french press and love it . . . simple and good!

Aluminum lasts just as long as stainless, and while not as fancy, it works well on an open fire.

We get a bit fussy about coffee and tea around here since it is something that is grown in the backyard and generally hand processed which is just too dang much work to waste by improper preparation. For the better coffees, I'd always recommend a French press or some other drip coffee maker. For the regular coffee, a percolator will do but it is possible to over perk it.

Most if not almost all of the coffee around here is made with a stainless steel French Press that is about twenty some odd years old. Still works great. There is also a smaller glass French Press for when I only want half the amount of coffee, but it doesn't stay as hot as in the insulated stainless steel one. I use the larger glass French press to make tea when I'm using loose tea leaves.

We do have an enameled coffee percolator as well as a stainless steel percolator but they hardly ever get used. We do heat the water up for the coffee on the stove, but that's in a stainless steel whistling tea kettle.

After the percolator, the drip and the toddy (cold water process) about a year ago I took up the french press.

I like my current setup because it uses less energy and it doesn't boil coffee down to a nasty paste. Or, even worse, melt the kettle (I've had it happen more than once - so I've developed a bit of a phobia about the house burning down via melted kettle).

And I had some concerns about hot water and plastics/aluminum.

So I bought this electric kettle

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...xL._AA280_.jpg

It has been an amazingly excellent experience.

It heats water faster than on the stove or in the microwave. And I carefully measured and it uses 33% less power for the same amount of water.

It is glass - so no worries about plastics or odd metals leaching creepy stuff into the water. Also, if anything gets gross inside, you can see it right away. The large opening at the top is great for cleaning. And, the best feature: once the water is boiling, it turns itself off.

And then I use a glass + stainless french press.

We inherited my folks' Reverware pot (stainless steel with copper bottom) that came with a set of pots & pans they bought in the 1950's. That thing has brewed about 6.458,789.4 gallons of coffee & is still going strong. I see ones just like it for sale in second hand stores all the time.

When we were first started off-grid we used a Coleman Drip coffemaker that was just like a regular automatic drip coffee maker but it sits on the stove burner rather than operating by electricity. It made a pretty decent cup of coffee...better than the percolater it replaced.

I have looked REAL close at 'em, but couldn't bite, cause my propane freezes up at 40 below. Have to use the woodstove top.

Not sure what the difference might be but I used mine mostly on camp fires wouldn't think it would not be able to be used on wood heater too??

I was talking about using a drip pot from Coleman, think they need a stove burner.

Uhmmmmm, that's a good reason to use the l lb propane bottles with a Coleman stove. Kept inside (yes, I know that isn't recommended), to keep them warm enough to use. Or, use an adapter and a 20 lb cylinder.

Use common sense when dealing with these and they will work just fine.

When all else fails, make cowboy coffee in a tin can over a fire. (unlined can, BTW). Just put coffee and water in the can. Bring to a boil. Remove from the fire and let it cool a bit so the grounds will settle. Don't need egg shells or any other of the often made suggestions for cowboy coffee. Just fire, water, tin can, and some coffee.

Lee

Me too. I have been using mine for over ten years. I use it on a grate over or a camp fire, on the coleman propane stove and on the EDGE of the top of wood stove. No problems., still looks good. Wal-Mart does sell the grannyware speckled blue with a glass percolator bubble. I plan to buy one from Lehman's that is a stovetop (woodstove) 2 part drip coffee maker. I think it is around $120.

I got the Farberware Classic Yosemite Stainless Steel percolator from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Farberware-Cla...6258256&sr=8-1

Having read the many reviews, I alos ordered the glass perc top to replace the plastic that it comes with. it is a very nice heavy percolator, and I really like the look with the glass top.

I also got a portable butane stove and canisters that can be used indoors with no problem. Super easy! I keep it in a kitchen cabinet, next to the percolator. If the power is out, I can still have fresh hot coffee in about 18 minutes - starting with cold water and allowing about 10 minutes gentle perc time. :baby04:

http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Bar-B-Q-900...6258580&sr=1-1

I got the 12 pack of butane canisters online. Even with S&H they came out to a per-unit cost comparable to running out to buy them at a camping store. One canister should give me 2.5 to 3 hours cooking time.

Can always pour it through an unwashed sock for that real authentic flavor without the grit.

MMMMM-MMMMM Good.

I've used this one during power outages, while camping and in a lot of duck blinds and really like it: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...box.jsp.form23 I even have the nifty little carrying bag I take it with me so much: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...box.jsp.form23

I made my morning coffee today in my french press. Used my electric hot pot for the water but the french press says to not use boiling water. I let it get just below boiling and poured it in, stirred it, put in the press and let it sit for the 5 minutes it said to and while it tasted good it was not warm enough. I put it in the microwave to heat it some. I am trying to get away from the microwave so much so that does not work for me.

This is exactly the reasons we switched to the stainless perc pot from Cabela's!

ETA The pot we have is not the same as Stephen's. We got a seamless model. It isn't for use over a camp fire though.

I have read a lot about how bad perked coffee is supposed to be but I find I like the flavor better than any other kind. I also hate having a big automatic drip pot taking up space on my counter when I can have a percolator on the stove and it taste better to boot.

Pour in boiling water, we do it every morning and have been doing it for over twenty years. It works fine.

Use your dip coffee maker filter and cup over a quart jar or your pot. Just pour boiling water in the top and the best coffee you have ever had comes out the bottom.

Perked has its own cooked coffee flavor. Cheaper quality coffee might actually taste better perked. Its a waste to perk high quality coffee as you still get the same cooked coffee taste.

Dont forget the old dripolator, the non-automatic drip pot. They came in aluminum and stainless. Pretty much have to find one on ebay anymore. There is some small capacity very pricey Italian import, but just depends what you want.

Seriously the best way to make coffee doest involve hot water. You put your coffee grounds in a jar with cold water. Stick it in refrigerator overnight. In morning all the sediment has settled. Pour you a cup adjusting strenth to your liking. Then nuke your cup of coffee if you want it hot.

If you prefer to hot brew your coffee:

Put grounds and water in stainless sauce pan. Use a candy thermometer to accurately maintain temp for correct amount time. Then stick coffee filter in a funnel, pour and voila.....

By way above quote from: http://www.coffeeresearch.org/coffee/brewing.htm

This is for back-up use, so there's no sense in spending a bunch of money.

A simple enameled pot will do just fine, your choice of percolater or drip (me, I prefer drip).

French press- stainless steel and insulated

We just use a drip coffee maker. Boil water pour into the thingie that holds the filter and coffe rip thru take it off put the lid on. Works like a charm

How long does the insulation work?? I ask as I am the only coffee drinker in the house and I like about 2 cups a day. I currently use instant (yes, it's not as good...but I'm too frugal to toss out the majority of a pot a day and since I have drank more cups of instant in my life then "regular" I don't mind it). I see they make smaller presses and I have been thinking I should try switching....it would make a nice Mother's Day gift. I'm ok with microwaving it to heat it, but would rather not.

My husband is a coffee addict. The non-electric options we have are: 1) French Press-which is my favorite ($20), 2) Stove-top Espresso Pot--his favorite($10), and 3) Pour-Over Filter--in his office ( $3 its just a mini filter basket that you pour the hot water through into your cup.

I have an insulated stainless steel French press and it will keep the coffee hot for about forty five minutes and warm for an hour and a half or so. When I use the glass French press, I fold a small kitchen towel so it will fit under the handle and wrap it around the French press and pin it in place to keep the coffee warm.

My french press broke, so I went to my backup system. Something by granddad did. A cold water process. Soak a pound of water in two quarts of cold water for eight hours. Then strain. You now have "coffee extract" that you can add to hot water.

Much faster in the morning and the coffee is much sweeter. (or, maybe I should say, "less bitter"?)