Need help with coffee

[Eric Jones]

Joe Pots

Old Navy hands know that you can make a joe pot as simple or as complicated as you want, but in no case will the pot or the recipe be identical from the bridge to radio shack to galley to snipe spaces. All have their secrets, but most include adding a pinch of salt and a couple of pieces of eggshell to clarify the brew. See the link below for background and recipes for up to 50 gallons at a time. http://www.seabeecook.com/cookery/cooking/good_coffee.htm

 

[Tom Spohn]

Best coffee

Any system which boils and recirculates the coffee will give you a bitter brew, since the overheated (boiling) water extracts more bitter oil. This eliminates the percolator and (IMO) the stove top bialetti type espresso makers. If you like the taste of Cuban coffee made from burnt coffee and sugar then go to it. If you like the taste of coffee then look to other means. Non recirculating systems include the Melitta and French Press (No I was never mad at the French), and pump type espresso makers. The clean up on the Melitta is easier but you have to remember filters and the carafe is usually not insulated. Our stainless French Press is insulated and is the brewer of choice on our boat. I have not found a pump-type maker that I thought was small enough for the boat, but I have not stopped looking. My wife is addicted to her morning latte so we also have a small Capresso espresso maker which runs off the inverter. The coffee is more bitter than what we make at home, but it does a great job on steaming the milk. I think it is a bit of a compromise, but the Admiral likes it. We have many small suppliers of great beans in the Seattle area, and Starbucks is available anywhere and is pretty good. We use Torrefaccione Napoli in the Capresso.Water should be heated in a stainless steel tea kettle. Aluminum should not be used for cooking unless it is hard-anodized, with no scratches in the anodized surface. At one time virtually all mountaineering cooking gear was aluminum due to its light weight. Someone checked and found that the most common alloys of aluminum contained copper which tended to leach out when heated in contact with food and is a problem for humans. Now all mountaineering gear is stainless or titanium. We got a great cheap stainless kettle from Ikea.The word is "espresso" not "expresso" as anyone from Napoli will tell you. Look it up in an Italian dictionary.

 

[Bob Todd]

Gee, I wonder why my perked coffee...

...doesn't come out bitter? I must be doing something wrong.

 

[Ross]

Bob, You just need to turn the fire up

obviously you need more heat. It is not enough to just boil the water you must use a high fire to boil it hotter. Edited to add:The old men at Wawa that tend the coffee makers in the morning tell me that company policy says that coffee has about a twenty minute pot life. After that it gets dumped.

 

[Dan]

Polycarbonate French Press

Our boat coffee is second to none. Kettle heat water to 180 F. + on stovetop.Boiling at 212 is too hot and will make acidic coffee. This was told to me a Dunkin Donuts university grad. Bring it to boil and then let cool for a few min. Then pour the water into a polycarbonate french press. Get the french press from a camping store for half the price of a marine store. Use bottled water, since the hold tank water has too much chlorine

 

[Dave C20469]

Not fancy, but familiar

Gotta remember that anything 12v has already been invented for campers. Granted, it's not going to be the quality of a French Press, but it's pretty easy. (Okay, besides the fact that it draws about 20 amps for a pot of coffee... still, it'd be worth it some mornings. )Dave Crowleys/v Wind Dreamer