Date:         Sat, 16 Sep 2006 22:03:29 -0500
Reply-To:     Jim Felder <felder@KNOLOGY.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jim Felder <felder@KNOLOGY.NET>
Subject:      Re: [NVC] Coffee brewing and cleanup
Comments: To: Rob <becida@comcast.net>
In-Reply-To:  <7.0.1.0.0.20060916191241.03466938@comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed

In the army they made coffee in a 25 gallon pot by boiling the coffee
dumped directly in. They added egg whites and shell to make the
grounds sink to the bottom. Back then, it tasted OK to me. I wouldn't
try it at home, though. I guess that's cowboy coffee. The previously-
mentioned recipe works well for a percolator though.

But here's another theory:

Put in water just shy of touching the basket. Then put the basket in
and fill to the top of the little ferrule that sticks up in the
center and fits around the standing pipe.

That also works well, faster if you're in a hurry than measuring
spoons. But it assumes that all percolator manufactures abide by the
same design rules.

I've owned about 10 percolators in my life, and have used both
methods with all of them, and I'd say each way works equally well.

The variable is the time you perk with a percolator. With all other
methods, excepting a possible few, the variable is the amount you brew.

Makes me wish I had my old pyrex all-glass percolator from the
seventies back. That kind died a hard death when Mr. Coffee came in,
but I don't think that Mr. Coffee necessarily made better coffee.

Jim


On Sep 16, 2006, at 9:26 PM, Rob wrote:

> At  9/13/2006 09:01 PM, Jim Felder wrote:
>
>> Remember the percolator recipe (the one my mom taught me, anyway):
>> one teaspoon per cup, then one for the pot. Judge the readiness by
>> the brown color of the perk in the clear top piece. Three-quarters of
>> a minute usually does it for me, a full minute or more on hangover
>> mornings.
>>
>>
>> Jim
>
> That would have been good to know last month when I broke out the
> new percolator I put in my bus. I guess I perked it a bit too long
> but it was coffee. The next day I didn't have a lot left so I made
> 'cowboy' coffee, tossed the remaining grounds into the boiling
> water, let it boil a bit then took it off the heat and added half a
> cup of cold water to settle the grounds. It worked!
> My single serving coffee bags were in the backpack I didn't bring.
>
> Over the years, from time to time having a coffee pot and a stove
> in the bus has been real good luck. It was one of the first things
> I put under the seat when I got this VW. It's the same stove I kept
> in my '59 back in the early 70's.
>
> Perked coffee does taste good when I'm camping!
>
>
>
> Rob
> becida@comcast.net
>
> With a '91 Subaru 2.2 in an '87 Vanagon in western Washington.
>