How To Use A Coffee Percolator

Percolators can be a wise choice for anyone looking to make coffee when they are outdoor for activities such as camping and cannot find access to a fancy coffee machine, yet looking for an easy way to get coffee. Percolators can also be used in homes for those looking for a low-cost way to make coffee every day. Though we agree it is not the finest way to brew coffee as the water it uses is heated to boil and that makes it too hot for a simple process of coffee making. The percolating process can leave a bitter taste of the coffee grounds in the coffee and it is something that not everyone will enjoy, but mostly those who like strong coffee.

Percolators are not the fanciest coffee making technologies, but it is cost effective, simple to assemble and easy to use. Percolator was invented about 200 years ago by an American physicist called Benjamin Thompson. The idea was to provide the military men with hot beverage during wartime.

While some electric percolators are powered by electricity, most coffee percolators usually use some heat source such as fire or stove to brew coffee. As mentioned above, this makes percolators a good choice for regular coffee drinkers who like to make their own coffee. The process of percolation continuously use boiling water over the coffee grounds until the coffee has reached its required strength. This process uses gravity to continuously cycle the brew the coffee, without the use of electricity, making them ideal for carrying with you when traveling. The fact that they are easy to use also makes them a household favourite.

The overheating of water at a high temperature make the coffee grounds prone to over-extraction. However, a lot of coffee drinkers swear by it and enjoy the coffee made in a percolator even today as the flavour of the coffee comes out rich, especially for those who love strong coffee flavours.

Here’s the process of brewing coffee in a percolator:

Before we come to the steps of making coffee in a percolator it is important that you clean all the parts of the percolator and use freshly grounded coffee.

Step 1: Adding Water To The Tank

The first step should be to know how much coffee ground would you need for brewing. Thereafter, add the required amount of water to it in the reservoir of the percolator. Now depending on how you assemble the parts of the percolator, open the lid of the reservoir and add water to it. Add the coffee grounds to the basket before brewing and put the filter basket back in place and fit the basket lid in place inside the percolator.

Here’s to note that a standard percolator can at one time prepare between 4 to 8 cups depending on the size of the cup.

Step 2: Assemble The Tube And Chamber In Place

The coffee grounds should be placed above water inside the basket. The basket will have small holes in them and there will be a narrow tube that will extend from the basket to the water below. Once the water heats up, it will slowly move up the tube and inside the coffee grounds. As the grounds are soaked up with the water, the flavour, taste and smell of the coffee grounds will be mixed with the water below and this cycle will be repeated for some time.

Please note that for one cup of coffee, 1 tablespoon of coffee grounds should suffice which is almost 15 ml, depending on how strong you want your coffee.

Step 3: Put The Percolator Over A Heat Source

In the next step, warm up the water at the bottom of the percolator machine. In some time the water will boil up and the flavour of the coffee grounds will get mixed with the water as the water boils up more and more. The more the water boils, the stronger will be the flavour of the coffee. When you will notice the steam coming out, reduce the heat to medium level or else your percolator will become too hot.

Please note that you heat the percolator at medium heat for most of the time and do not wait for too long after you see the steam coming out or else you could damage the machine.

Step 4: Watch The Pot Carefully And Keep An Eye At The Progress

A standard percolator consists of a see-through glass that helps you to keep a check at the progress of the coffee brewing. Once the water will begin to flow, you will notice bubbles inside the pot. The faster the bubbles will come, the darker the coffee and water mix will become. When the coffee brewing reaches medium heat, keep checking on the bubbles every few seconds.

Make sure that the percolator you use is not made of plastic or else they brew could taste foul if the temperature increases beyond a certain level.

Step 5: Percolate The Coffee For About 10 Minutes

Your brewing time in a percolator will depend on how strong you want the flavour of the coffee to be and how you are heating the water. If you percolate the coffee for about 10 minutes at medium heat, you will be able to make fairly strong coffee as compared to coffee made in a drip coffee. If you do not want the coffee to taste that strong, the brewing time also has to be lessened.

You could use a kitchen timer to keep track of the progress of the coffee.

Step 6: Take The Percolator Off The Heat Source

Once you know that the percolating process has finished, remove the percolator from the heat source. Very carefully, open the lid of the percolator and remove the filter basket from the percolator that contains the soaked coffee grounds inside it. Don’t keep the basket with the coffee grounds in it inside the percolator for too long, or else you could bitter the taste of the coffee considerably.

After you remove the basket, your strong coffee will be ready to be served!

What Does A Coffee Percolator Consists Of?

Coffee percolator consists of five essential parts. The first and most important is the coffee pot where you put the coffee. Below it will be a metal tube that will connect the basket to the bottom of the pot which will hold the water. The third essential part to a percolator is the filter basket which will hold the coffee grounds. The basket will come with a cover which is a perforated lid above the basket that will ensure that the water soaks the coffee grounds carefully. Last is the coffee pot lid which will consist of a glass bubble within it.

If you wish to make good coffee in a percolator it is important to know how to use it well, whether at home or outdoor. You need to keep a check at the temperature at which you percolate and how much coffee grounds you use in the process of brewing. In any way, percolators brew strong coffee so you have to ensure that the coffee grounds are not over extracted. If you have any queries in this topic, drop in your thoughts in the comment section below.