What is the Best Coffee Maker with a Thermal Carafe?

[Mikado463]

Also, you should be aware that achieving a dark roast at home will require a more potent roaster, and it will make smoke. Do you have an exhaust fan in your kitchen that works well?

I like a medium roast which takes less time and makes much less smoke. This photo shows how I exhaust most of the smoke. The stove has a built-in down-draft exhaust fan. I connected the roaster to the fan with a short length of 3" flexible dryer hose.
View attachment 36991

very nice, have you tried an aftermarket power cord to see if there is any flavor enhancement ? .....

 

[Swerd]

very nice, have you tried an aftermarket power cord to see if the is any flavor enhancement ? .....

Of course. Don't be silly. I have several different power cords, different cords for African, Central American, or Asian coffees. I also use a dedicated 20 amp power line in the kitchen, with a gold plated hospital grade wall tap.

And yes, even my wife can taste the difference .

 

[Mr._Clark]

I'm tem

Also, you should be aware that achieving a dark roast at home will require a more potent roaster, and it will make smoke. Do you have an exhaust fan in your kitchen that works well?

I like a medium roast which takes less time and makes much less smoke. This photo shows how I exhaust most of the smoke. The stove has a built-in down-draft exhaust fan. I connected the roaster to the fan with a short length of 3" flexible dryer hose.
View attachment 36991

I'm tempted to try roasting at home just for the aroma. One of the local coffee shops roasts their own on site and the smell is amazing. It makes me want to buy about 100 lbs of coffee beans and go on a serious caffeine trip.

 

[its phillip]

Here’s a video on making coffee from a friend of mine. May be of interest to some of you guys

 

[cornemuse]

I like coffee from Central America (especially Guatemala) and East Africa (Ethiopia & Kenya). This is strictly a matter of personal preference. I know what I like, and you know what you like.

I must agree! My favorite is from Guatemala, finishing off my 2nd cup as I type, , , ,

 

[Mikado463]

Seeing that I probably drink more coffee than I should I love Sumatra for it's low acidity

 

[Swerd]

I'm tempted to try roasting at home just for the aroma. One of the local coffee shops roasts their own on site and the smell is amazing.

Are you sure about that smell? Was it coffee as it was roasting, or coffee brewing? Roasting coffee makes an odd and somewhat unpleasant smell, kind of like rotting vegetables mixed with smoke. It's nothing like what I expected before I tried roasting. And it's nothing like brewing coffee. The local coffee shops that roast their own on site, do it at night when no customers are around.

That smoke and unpleasant smell is why I use the exhaust fan and dryer vent hose.

 

[Mikado463]

I thought I read once that there were health risks associated with roasting coffee ?

 

[Swerd]

I thought I read once that there were health risks associated with roasting coffee ?

I never heard of that.

 

[Mikado463]

I never heard of that.

a quick look ..........

Dangers of roasting coffee beans

The CDC spreads awareness and safety procedures about chemical fumes that may cause lung disease in workers at coffee roasting facilities.

www.post-gazette.com

 

[Mr._Clark]

Are you sure about that smell? Was it coffee as it was roasting, or coffee brewing? Roasting coffee makes an odd and somewhat unpleasant smell, kind of like rotting vegetables mixed with smoke. It's nothing like what I expected before I tried roasting. And it's nothing like brewing coffee. The local coffee shops that roast their own on site, do it at night when no customers are around.

That smoke and unpleasant smell is why I use the exhaust fan and dryer vent hose.

Interesting. No, I'm not at all sure about the smell. There is a very strong (but pleasant) coffee smell in this particular shop and I had assumed it was due to the roasting.

 

[Swerd]

a quick look ..........

Dangers of roasting coffee beans

The CDC spreads awareness and safety procedures about chemical fumes that may cause lung disease in workers at coffee roasting facilities.

www.post-gazette.com

Interesting. Thanks! Now, I'm glad I got that dryer vent hose.

The article mentioned the "coffee shop in the Strip District, roasts and grinds about 4,800 pounds of coffee beans a week." I roast about 400 grams (less than 0.9 lb) every other week. Each day I make coffee, I grind about 25-30 g. I don't think I'll have to report myself to OSHA just yet.

 

[Swerd]

Here’s a video on making coffee from a friend of mine. May be of interest to some of you guys

That's pretty much just what I do. My coffee maker is similar and my grinder is the same as his. He does make his coffee stronger than I do.

 

[MalVeauX]

I've done all the fancy stuff, the hip stuff, etc, seeking the perfect cup of Joe. Did the whole temperature perfect thing, grind specific size, pressed, filtered, all kinds of ways. What a bunch of work. Over 25 years of coffee drinking and honestly I constantly was looking for the next "best" way to get a good cup. The past few years, I found what I liked the best.

I have a very basic, but effective, espresso machine now. I drink espresso like its a cup of coffee. I have an over-sized mug (big thick white one like at a diner back in the day). I get fresh roasted beans locally from Sweetwater in Gainesville. I grind them and fill a double-shot espresso container. It produces a full cup's worth of espresso. I then make frothed half-n-half in a separate little machine, a cheap one that heats and wisks the milk/cream to make a hot foam or thicker foamy milk. I top my espresso with that. It's a cappuccino. And it murders all the methods and machines I've tried in the past. And it's cheap. No brainer. I have two of the exact same setup. One at home and one at work.

Very best,

 

[Verdinut]

I'll try to be brief, but I'm afraid talking about roasting coffee at home can quickly become lengthy.

All I've learned about DIY roasting coffee has come from this web site.

Roasting

When choosing a roaster, some criteria to consider are how much coffee you drink, your preferred roast level, and how much you want to spend.

www.sweetmarias.com

It also required a fair amount trial & error before I learned to be any good. Read those links on that web page for more information. The owner of Sweet Maria's (located in Oakland, CA) does understand what he is talking about, but he is quite verbose. He seems to drink a lot of his coffee.

The web site shows a number of roasters they sell, from very cheap ($20 for an electric popcorn popper, to $2,800 (US$) for an elaborate device called an Aillio bullet. If you are considering doing this, I suggest you limit your roasting to the amount of grams of coffee beans you use within 2 weeks. That would be an electric popcorn popper, or if you prefer a dedicated coffee roaster, the Fresh Roast SR800 or SR540.

At present, I use a Gene Cafe roaster. It cost more than I would like. At first I had trouble learning how to best use it. With time, I got better at it. I can roast 200 g of green coffee beans at a time. Typically the green beans loose about 12 to 13% of their weight during roasting.

Another option you might consider is to find a local coffee roaster where you live. Is that Quebec? You can buy smaller amounts of freshly roasted coffee that will be much better than anything sold at larger stores like Costco. Try it once or twice to see if freshness makes enough of a difference for you. It will cost more per gram.

I live in Saint-Laurent, QC which is now a borough of Montreal since the merger several years ago. There are several coffee roasters in my area. I've tried one a few years ago but I was not too impressed. I might give it a try, with another roaster or two, some even deliver which might be handy in Winter.

I picked up the Zojirushi maker today. I was really pissed off not by the coffee maker, but by a power failure while it was in its second water cleaning course before trying a coffee infusion. In Montreal today, we had winds of 80 km/hr which broke tree branches and I was out of power for about 4 hours. Today I only had a big meal and so far, this coffee maker makes a tastier coffee than the Oster/Mr. Coffee maker. The first cup was more bitter and I know that I have to slightly increase the grind size and reduce the quantity of beans as well. After 2 weeks of use, I should be able to come with more precise info.

 

[Swerd]

I live in Saint-Laurent, QC which is now a borough of Montreal since the fusion several years ago. There are several coffee roasters in my area. I've tried one a few years ago but I was not too impressed. I might give it a try, with another roaster or two, some even deliver which might be handy in Winter.

Keep trying. A small commercial roaster will have his own taste target, a style of roast level. It's not unlike a speaker designer's 'voicing' of his designs. They may also make several different blends to appeal to different customers.

I picked up the Zojirushi maker today. I was really pissed off not by the coffee maker, but by a power failure while it was in its second water cleaning course before trying a coffee infusion. In Montreal today, we had winds of 80 km/hr which broke trees and I was out of power for about 4 hours. Today I only had a big meal and so far, this coffee maker makes a tastier coffee than the Oster/Mr. Coffee maker. The first cup was more bitter and I know that I have to slightly increase the grind size and reduce the quantity of beans as well. After 2 weeks of use, I should be able to come with more precise info.

Too bad your new coffee maker caused that power failure !

That's why I still have my old manual drip coffee maker. With a hand-powered coffee grinder, a kettle, and a gas stove, I can always have coffee.

 

[Swerd]

I've done all the fancy stuff, the hip stuff, etc, seeking the perfect cup of Joe. Did the whole temperature perfect thing, grind specific size, pressed, filtered, all kinds of ways. What a bunch of work.

You hit on a good point – it is work. Depending on your point of view, its a fun hobby, or too much busy work. In the past I had been a busy lab scientist. I liked good coffee, but I wasn't too concerned about making it. About 25 years ago, I took a job where I sat at a desk, reading and writing quite a lot. I missed working with my hands, and found home roasting coffee was appealing and fun.

Even though I know nothing about espresso, I'm curious. What is your 'basic' espresso maker?

 

[MalVeauX]

You hit on a good point – it is work. Depending on your point of view, its a fun hobby, or too much busy work. In the past I had been a busy lab scientist. I liked good coffee, but I wasn't too concerned about making it. About 25 years ago, I took a job where I sat at a desk, reading and writing quite a lot. I missed working with my hands, and found home roasting coffee was appealing and fun.

Even though I know nothing about espresso, I'm curious. What is your 'basic' espresso maker?

I do agree, when I'm home, I like to make it. At work, not so much, but I still do it out of passion for it. What I do now is still way less work than what I used to do, with the presses, different filters, water boilers, pouring it "just right" in the slosh over a filter, etc. I prefer a deep rich coffee taste, so espresso really hit home when I finally tried it as a "coffee" and not just a shot in a small cup.

Espresso is just the same as coffee, obviously not a different bean, the process is just boiled water is forced under high pressure to go through the housing holding the coffee grounds and beneath it are tiny, tiny holes (much less than 1mm) so it generates a lot of pressure which increases heat of course. The infusion result is very rich, very strong, and the last bit comes out with a small head of foam typically. On its own, its wonderful, straight black rich coffee. I just like to add a little cream foam to it (cappuccino) to add a slightly sweet element to it.

There are $1k+ Espresso machines. I've used a few! But honestly, I have two beaters.... super cheap ones, one at home and at work, and they're still kicking and still producing good espresso in a few minutes with hardly no work (other than grinding and putting coffee and water in it and turning it on). The steamers on these suck, so I don't use them. That's also really work to make foam from steam (temp has to be just right, angle just right, depth into the cream just right, forget that... blah). When I make it, I do a full little pot (2 shots basically) which ends up being a "cup of coffee."

For my foam I use another inexpensive gem, a Milk Frother/Heater. I just put cream in there (or milk or half n half) to a fill line and press a button. It warms it and wisks it into a foam. Takes seconds. I put that on top of the espresso.

Seriously, the above equipment is laughably cheap. Some coffee snobs would laugh and say it's not possible and scoff at the idea of such cheap stuff. I've used far more expensive setups and far more complicated processes and frankly this cheap last ditch effort ended up being the winner.

Very best,

 

[Verdinut]

If you don't want to spend that much, the Mr Coffee BVMC-PSTX95 is the top-rated maker with a thermal carafe on Consumer reports. It's currently CDN$133 on Amazon.ca. CR may have lower standards than Swerd though. They specify a brew temperature of 195°F to 205°F.

Well, I did well to order the Zojirushi maker because the Oster one left me after less than 6 months ownership. This week, when it alerted me to clean it, I poured the vinegar and I started the cleaning process and it would never end. I unplugged it for a while and it froze on me and I couldn't even do any brewing again. It was still under warranty but I didn't want to lose my time with it. I was without a coffee maker for less than a day as I received the new Zojirushi the next day.

I have been using the new maker for only 2 days and I am getting used to it. I haven't found the perfect settings on my Breville grinder for it as yet, but my first impression is that it can provide a tastier coffee than the Oster. I will post my overall impressions in about 2 weeks.

 

[Verdinut]

After using the Zojirushi EC-YTC100 coffee maker, I can give you my opinion on it's performance.

Once you have the right grind size and the right quantity of coffee to be brewed, you can get an excellent coffee with that machine which heats the water to 200°F for a perfect brewing temperature. It has a removable water tank which is handy. The vacuum insulated stainless steel carafe keeps the coffee hot for a reasonable time period.
The manufacturer recommends using citric acid powder to clean it.

In my opinion, it makes a better and tastier coffee than the Oster/Mr. Coffee machines which I used to own. It is more expensive but it is a better quality product.