Stove top perculators

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Date: 25 Jun 2007 20:39:49
From: Robert Singers
Subject: Stove top perculators

So I bought myself a stove top perculator as a travelling life safer and
to fill in while my machine is in the shop.

I've googled this group a bit for previous advice but I still have a
couple of questions.

How big should the grind be?

Should you be tamping the ground beans dow, or smoothing them out so the
mass expands evenly?

--
rob singers
pull finger to reply
Foemina Erit Ruina Tua

Date: 25 Jun 2007 17:02:54
From: *alan*
Subject: Re: Stove top perculators

"Robert Singers" <rsingers@finger.hotmail.com > wrote in message
news:Xns995AD233B7DF9rsingers@IP-Hidden...
> So I bought myself a stove top perculator as a travelling life safer and
> to fill in while my machine is in the shop.
>
> I've googled this group a bit for previous advice but I still have a
> couple of questions.
>
> How big should the grind be?
>
> Should you be tamping the ground beans dow, or smoothing them out so the
> mass expands evenly?

Doesn't really matter if you use coarse or fine; also doesn't matter if you
tamp, or "smooth".

If you're going to use a "perculator", you're going to end up with some
pretty awful coffee anyway.

--
Alan

Date: 25 Jun 2007 10:35:02
From: Danny
Subject: Re: Stove top perculators

Robert Singers wrote:
> So I bought myself a stove top perculator as a travelling life safer and
> to fill in while my machine is in the shop.
>
> I've googled this group a bit for previous advice but I still have a
> couple of questions.
>
> How big should the grind be?
>
> Should you be tamping the ground beans dow, or smoothing them out so the
> mass expands evenly?
>

Grind is slightly coarser than espresso. The vacuum bricks of Lavazza
etc found in supermarkets would be the correct grind, for comparison.

Do not tamp. I use a slight levelling tamp, but tamping with a moka
pot is a no-no :)

--
Regards, Danny

http://www.gaggia-espresso.com (a purely hobby site)
(apparently bad grammar but I like it that way...)

Date: 26 Jun 2007 03:59:38
From: Danny
Subject: Re: Stove top perculators

Danny wrote:
> Robert Singers wrote:
>
>> So I bought myself a stove top perculator as a travelling life safer and
>> to fill in while my machine is in the shop.
>> I've googled this group a bit for previous advice but I still have a
>> couple of questions.
>> How big should the grind be?
>>
>> Should you be tamping the ground beans dow, or smoothing them out so the
>> mass expands evenly?
>
>
> Grind is slightly coarser than espresso. The vacuum bricks of Lavazza
> etc found in supermarkets would be the correct grind, for comparison.
>
> Do not tamp. I use a slight levelling tamp, but tamping with a moka pot
> is a no-no :)
>

Sorry, misread Moka pot for percolator :(

--
Regards, Danny

http://www.gaggia-espresso.com (a purely hobby site)
(apparently bad grammar but I like it that way...)

Date: 26 Jun 2007 05:15:16
From: Rob Singers
Subject: Re: Stove top perculators

Between saving the world and having a spot of tea Danny said

> Sorry, misread Moka pot for percolator :(

Actually reading http://www.thecoffeefaq.com/ seems it is a Moka pot not a
perculator.

The trick would seem to be keep the heat down. :-)

--
rob singers
pull finger to reply
Foemina Erit Ruina Tua

Date: 29 Jun 2007 20:43:16
From: Johnny
Subject: Re: Stove top perculators

"Rob Singers" <rsingers@finger.hotmail.com > wrote in message
news:Xns995B9B23BE643rsingers@IP-Hidden...
> Between saving the world and having a spot of tea Danny said
>
> > Sorry, misread Moka pot for percolator :(
>
> Actually reading http://www.thecoffeefaq.com/ seems it is a Moka pot not a
> perculator.
>
> The trick would seem to be keep the heat down. :-)

yeah but....the added trick is to start with the water already hot so that
the water that first hits the puck is reasonably hot, else keeping the heat
down can mean water at not too much over 105 F will seep slowly into the
grounds.http://tinyurl.com/3agymk
How to do that depends on the moka pot, with an atomic you can leave the
filler cap off until the temp gets up some as I've seen many people do.

Date: 01 Jul 2007 15:12:49
From: Robert Singers
Subject: Re: Stove top perculators

Between saving the world and having a spot of tea Johnny said

> yeah but....the added trick is to start with the water already hot so
> that the water that first hits the puck is reasonably hot, else
> keeping the heat down can mean water at not too much over 105 F will
> seep slowly into the grounds.

I've been starting with water around ~55C from the tap. Any hotter and I
can't screw the top on properly.

--
rob singers
pull finger to reply
Foemina Erit Ruina Tua

Date: 01 Jul 2007 00:00:48
From: Johnny
Subject: Re: Stove top perculators

"Robert Singers" <rsingers@finger.hotmail.com > wrote in message
news:Xns99609ABF8C721rsingers@IP-Hidden...
> Between saving the world and having a spot of tea Johnny said
>
> > yeah but....the added trick is to start with the water already hot so
> > that the water that first hits the puck is reasonably hot, else
> > keeping the heat down can mean water at not too much over 105 F will
> > seep slowly into the grounds.
>
> I've been starting with water around ~55C from the tap. Any hotter and I
> can't screw the top on properly.
>

Not easy to do with some designs.. that's what I meant by "How to do that
depends on the moka pot"
Oh well.

Date: 26 Jun 2007 23:12:17
From: *alan*
Subject: Re: Stove top perculators

Date: 27 Jun 2007 10:34:52
From: Danny
Subject: Re: Stove top perculators

*alan* wrote:

> Danny is psychic . . .

I just read stovetop as being a moka, don't think many people still
use old stove top percs (I have a collection of them though, and I
used to like using them for Irish coffee base)....

--
Regards, Danny

http://www.gaggia-espresso.com (a purely hobby site)
(apparently bad grammar but I like it that way...)