Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Cabin Cooking: Percolator to Dripolator

Do you use a percolator? Do you have trouble with coffee grounds getting through? Do you make coffee that sometimes tastes bitter? Well, my answers were yes to all three questions.

Trim a coffee filter to fit the percolator basket.
My coffee making skills using a stovetop percolator have been very inconsistent. However, when I'm in town and use a Mr. Coffee, I don't have those troubles.

My first thought was to look for a manual drip coffee maker, but the ones I found were glass.

Press the filter over the stem and into the basket.
Glass wouldn't work well on my woodstove. I found some old style metal dripolators online, but being a bit frugal I decided to do some experimenting first.

I trimmed a coffee filter so that it would fit inside the basket of my percolator.

The coffee goes inside the filter.
Press the center of the filter down over the stem and make it fit inside the basket. I found it's important to make sure the edge of the filter is below the rim of the basket.

Measure your coffee and put it into the filter lined basket.

Fit the basket lid firmly in place.
Place the lid on top and heat. I perk mine for twelve minutes after the first spurt of water comes up through the stem.

Using this method I no longer have to use a strainer to keep those pesky grounds from getting into our cups. It has also helped to remove the bitter taste.

Saving coffee grounds for the garden.
After we have finished our coffee, it's easy to remove the grounds from the basket. I save mine to use in the garden and compost pile.

Do you use a stovetop percolator? What do you do to get a consistent good cup of coffee? -- Margy

8 comments:

  1. So interesting about the percolator, Margy. Reminds me of my younger years. Now my husband has a Keurig, which only makes one cup of coffee at a time. He tries to buy environmentally-friendly pods for it, but sometimes he can't, and we have to use plastic ones. Fortunately, he removes the coffee grounds from the little plastic container which he then rinses and saves for recycling. Thanks for the percolator tips, though, especially the perk-for-12-minutes.

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    1. Wayne isn't a big coffee drinker, but I love a cup or two with cream in the morning. The automatic coffee makers are nice for town for sure. Even my old Mr. Coffee machines. We divide our trash into recyclables and garbage. The veggie and garden scraps go up the hill to the compost pile. On the way through town we stop at the recycle depot and make a deposit. It sure has reduced our garbage to throw out. - Margy

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  2. I used to visit an old Norwegian who made coffee in a percolater. Once it was "done", he would move it to the back of the stove and leave it all day. When I arrived in late afternoon, that coffee would stand on its own. I drank it, anyhow, but somehow, I lost my taste for perked coffee.

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  3. When I did use a percolater, earlier, I would perk it for 8 minutes. Possibly, I like my coffee milder than you do.

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    1. The older I get the stronger I like it. - Margy

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  4. What a resourceful person you are!

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    1. I have more fun experimenting. - Margy

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  5. Love the idea of using a filter with the percolator. my parents made coffee with a percolator as they were off grid. I have a coffee machine with a reusable filter and I also save the grounds for the garden.

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We welcome your comments and questions. - Wayne and Margy