Need coffee maker suggestions

Check the google archives as you are not the 1st to ask this question. IIRC, the Zojirushi was one of the machines that has less plastic than most, but I dont' think there's an electric machine that is truly plastic free at all points. Your best best is a Chemex or a porcelain Melitta cone. Personally I find electric autodrips to be of really limited value - I put them in the same category as electric can openers where a good quality manual device is just as easy to use as the electric appliance. You should also note that the plastics used in coffee makers are quite safe so that you are on a fool's errand in seeking a plastic free machine. Even if you found one, your water has come to you in a plastic jug or been thru plastic pipes at some point.

Thanks Jack. We used to think plastics were ok, until a friend told us to try brewing a pot of coffee without coffee or a filter.

Yuck. That's when we realized we were essentially drinking plastic every morning.

As for your other point, we use water bottled in glass. Again for the same reason -- water bottled in plastic tastes like plastic.

I agree with most of your feelings on plastic, two suggestions:

here is the best item for making coffee I have found, it makes way better coffee than a drip coffee maker, and your coffee never touches anything but stainless!

or another good one is:

PS - there is one type of plastic than you can't taste in bottled water - the "clear plastic" type where the bottle is crystal clear

We grind our own beans and can never manage to get the right size for a French press. Invariably we wind up with either too coarse or too fine a grind.

If we're going to use something manual it'll be a simple steel or ceramic funnel not a French press.

Why not haunt eBay looking for a Nicro stainless steel vac-pot? They're forgiving in terms of grind size, they take almost unlimited banging around, they make coffee almost as good as a glass vac (I am at odds here with Mr. Denver, I know), and plastic never touches the water. If you find one that doesn't have the filter, you can subsititute a Cory filter rod and it will do a decent job. They also can be found in varying sizes; I found one at a thrift store that makes almost two quarts and I found one on eBay that makes two mugs' worth. The only thing you're missing is the thermal carafe, and you can get one of those cheaply just about anywhere.

You are? I really like my Nicro and use it more than the Cory that I'm always fearful of breaking. I don't really detect any difference in taste, but I do miss being able to see the show.

My problem with the Nicro is that my coffee has a more pronounced "cooked" flavor. I can't seem to hit the sweet-spot combination of flame height and length of brew that will provide full flavor without overextraction and/or cooked flavor. My glass Silex is a lot more forgiving.

I assumed this was true until I started using a Braun KF187 shortly after moving. Most of my things were 1000 miles away, and this machine was available, the price was right ...

Coincidentally, I just ordered a replacement carafe even though my Bodum and Chemex are close at hand. I like them for different reasons. The machine's strength is consistency. When testing other differences (e.g. grinder setting), it's important to control water temperature and pouring technique, the latter being especially important when freshly roasted beans are used.

The Braun squirts hot water through a single hole onto the grounds. Some people believe this is an inferior design, but I'm not convinced. The flow is comparable to what you might achieve when pouring water into a Chemex filter, and replacing this intermittent stream with several smaller ones could lead to more heat loss. I suspect that you'd get better results by covering the grounds with a perforated plate like the one that braces the screen of a Bodum. The plate might also help control blooming. I've been meaning to try this for a while, and will definitely do so tomorrow. (My Chemex fits the Braun perfectly :-)

I should mention that this model is no longer produced, and that mine was free. I don't think I'd pay US$50 for it.

Felix

HI, Felix, You can still get that consistent performance of the discontinued Braun KF-187 coffeemaker in the machine which preceeded it and was still in the current lineup as of three months ago, the KF-180. The main difference between the two is that the KF-180 does not have the carbon granule cartridge type water filter, nor the recessed area where it would go, and it may also lack the KF-187's adjustable 1-to-4-hour adjustment for when the warmer plate shuts off after brewing. Other than those two features, it is the same basic machine.

The last samples of the KF-187 were made in Mexico. A little over a year ago, I found a KF-187 in a Goodwill Thrift store for $6. It was old enough that the claimed source of that sample was, "Made in Germany". Other than being incredibly dusty, the unit was in fine condition, and had all its parts, including a water filter cartridge, the unbroken carafe, the filter basket, and the Braun Gold-tone metal filter. After a thorough cleaning inside and out with vinegar and water, and a good wiping down of the case and other parts with vinegar-dampened cloth, the macine performed exactly as I would expect a KF-187 to perform.

That series of Braun automatic drip coffeemakers, the KF-147, KF-152, KF-157, KF-180, KF-185, and KF-187, and KF-190 is still my favorite line of drip coffeemakers for several reasons, not the least of which is their sample-to-sample quality consistency over something like 15 years of production, whether made in Germany or in Mexico.

Experience so far tells me that I can't say the same thing about some more recent models, such as the Kitchen Aid machines, or even models like the Presto, and the Melitta/Salton Clarity, to name just a few.

Brent Reynolds, Atlanta, GA USA Email: snipped-for-privacy@bellsouth.net Phone: 1-404-814-0768

Amazon charges the same $50 that I wasn't willing to pay for the discontinued model.

That's what mine says. $6 is a great price; a replacement carafe costs twice that and I read that the original ones are sturdier. On the other hand, I dislike the filter holder for several reasons. Overall, as Jack said, the machine isn't especially convenient to use.

It's strange seeing you here after buying that Ditting from you last year. I've been neglecting it, but now that my other one's on its way out the door, I might find time to remove the burrs and send them to Albert, hopefully before it's too late.

Felix

On 2005-07-04 snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com said: Newsgroups: rec.food.drink.coffee,alt.coffee Brent Reynolds ( snipped-for-privacy@bellsouth.net) writes: > You can still get that consistent performance of the discontinued > Braun KF-187 coffeemaker in the machine which preceeded it and >was still in the current lineup as of three months ago, the KF-180. Amazon charges the same $50 that I wasn't willing to pay for the discontinued model. > The last samples of the KF-187 were made in Mexico. A little > over a year ago, I found a KF-187 in a Goodwill Thrift store for > $6. It was old enough that the claimed source of that sample was, > "Made in Germany". That's what mine says. $6 is a great price; a replacement carafe costs twice that and I read that the original ones are sturdier.

I don't think the original carafe was actually any sturdier than the newer ones. The newer one has a thinner lid and the glas tapers all the way to the top giving more of a waist to the front profile of the machine, mirroring the downward tapering of the filter basket. The original carafe had was they called something like an aroma shield of something like that. There was a plastic collar around the top part of the glass carafe and a hingued flap covered the pouring spout. On the newer carafe, the pouring spout was shaped better so that you could easily pour the coffee into even a small cup without it dribbling beyond the channel in the spout the way the older design does. I've never broken either carafe design. Braun and Krups have always seemed to have the sturdiest glass in their carafes.

On the other hand, I dislike the filter holder for several reasons. Overall, as Jack said, the machine isn't especially convenient to use.

While the drip stop design in the filter basket looks unnecessarily complicated, it is the best design I've seen for actually doing what its name implies, stopping the drip, when you remove the carafe before brewing stops to pour off some coffee, or when you swing the basket out from under the cover to give the brew a little stir to help mix the coffee and the water.

NOw, your next bit here somewhat baffles me. Maybe you're cornfoosing me with somebody else:

It's strange seeing you here after buying that Ditting from you last year. I've been neglecting it, but now that my other one's on its way out the door, I might find time to remove the burrs and send them to Albert, hopefully before it's too late.

I've never owned a Ditting product, grinder or otherwise, so I could not have been the one who sold one to you. The closest thing I have to a Ditting grinder might be the GrindMaster model 875B I bought used a couple years ago. I'd probably actually be game to sell that beast.

Brent Reynolds, Atlanta, GA USA Email: snipped-for-privacy@bellsouth.net Phone: 1-404-814-0768

I dislike the protrusion that diverts water outside the filter. The valve that controls this stream works well enough, but the protrusion obstructs the perforated disc I'm using for bloom control, and I think this feature is pointless. I also suspect that most of the coffee exits the filter holder via the side holes instead of the bottom. This aspect of the design makes it difficult to thoroughly clean the filter holder without disassembling it.

Obviously; I must be getting old.

Felix

On 2005-07-06 snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com said: Newsgroups: rec.food.drink.coffee,alt.coffee Brent ( snipped-for-privacy@bellsouth.net) writes: > While the drip stop design in the filter basket looks >unnecessarily complicated, it is the best design I've seen for >actually doing what its name implies, stopping the drip, when you [...] I dislike the protrusion that diverts water outside the filter. The valve that controls this stream works well enough, but the protrusion obstructs the perforated disc I'm using for bloom control, and I think this feature is pointless.

I agree with you, I think it's pointless, but even in this group, where was a small debate about whether you preserved some subtle aspect of flavor if you diverted water outside the coffee filter as opposed to just varying the amount of coffee or the amount of water to get variations in "brew strength". In the filter basket of my KF-157, I solved that problem through surgery. Take any small knife, or other similar cutting device with a small, thin, slightly flexible, very sharp blade, and you can cut out that little protrusion, opening up that portion of the filter basket for something like, a larger-diameter no. 4 permanent filter. Then, you can use the "FlavorSelect" brew-strength control valve to have one or two drip holes to saturate the coffee.

I also suspect that most of the coffee exits the filter holder via the side holes instead of the bottom. This aspect of the design makes it difficult to thoroughly clean the filter holder without disassembling it.

LIke I say often, no design is perfect. That's one thing I also don't like about the design, but you can get around that for the most part by adjusting the fineness of your coffee grind. I guess it might also be possible to actually plug those little slits, but I have not made any attempt to do that, and probably won't.

Hang around this group even a little while and you'll find people willing to make all sorts of modifications, even to expensive machines, to get even very small increments of improvements, whether they are actually real or just perceived, or even just hoped for, in the quality of the resulting grind, or brew.

Brent Reynolds, Atlanta, GA USA Email: snipped-for-privacy@bellsouth.net Phone: 1-404-814-0768

All enclosed water containers used for brewing will develop a smell regardless of material. Are you sure you do not like Turkish coffee or moka? The containers are open - but watch for the stainless moka brewers that have crannies where you cannot wipe dry the water.

All enclosed containers used for water brewing will develop a smell regardless of material. Are you sure you do not like Turkish coffee or moka? The containers are open - but watch for the stainless moka brewers that have crannies which you cannot wipe dry.