Jarlaxle wrote: I use an old stovetop percolator...takes about three minutes to brew, makes about a pint of coffee. IMPORTANT! Make sure it is stainless steel! If the percolator is aluminum (as some are), the coffee will taste funny!
I used to do this, but as I mentioned previously now use a French Press.
The problem with the percolator is that you judge the darkness of the brew, and whether or not it's done, by the color of the brew in the clear sight glass/handle on the lid.
Works great in daylight hours, or when we're just camping somewhere like the beach. However, when in the field with our astronomy club we, as they say in the Navy, "rig for night", and use only red LED's for lighting (half the lights in our RV are red LED's) it doesn't work for us. Under red light, the sight glass on the percolator always looks clear and I would, invariably, cook the coffee too long. I don't have that problem with the French Press.
BTW, we carry 270W of solar on our rig (actually scalable from 135W to up to 390W). During the day, I can (and could if I wanted to) use the inverter to power an electric coffee maker. I could also do this at night, but we have somewhat limited battery capacity (due to space constraints) and I choose to save the power for other uses.
The sight glass isn't clear anymore on mine & hasn't been in years. I just go by brew time.
John and Elizabeth (Liz), with 3 nutty cats
My beloved St. Bernard, Marm, lost him 1/2/12
Current rig:
1992 International Genesis school bus conversion
The sight glass isn't clear anymore on mine & hasn't been in years. I just go by brew time.
...and when do you start timing?
2005 31' Coachmen Freelander 3150SS, Stargazer II - Mobile Astronomy Unit Do you remember when the sky was dark, and the stars were bright? The International Dark-Sky Association American by birth...Scottish by the Grace Of God.
We use filters specifically designed for percolators. The cleanup is MUCH easier. If you know how to use a percolator correctly, it makes a great cup. Don't let it boil ... Turn the burner way down once it starts to perc... and put it in a thermos right away. We love perc coffee once I figured out how to make it... Try the filters too. They make a huge difference.
My much better half
DS-14,DD-12,DS-11,DS-11
Our Fuzzbutt Golden Retriever, Brandy - After 16 years, Brandy Red Sunshine now at the bridge
The greatest thing you ever can do now,
Is trade a smile with someone who's blue now,
It's very easy just...
I didn't read every post in this thread so maybe this has already been mentioned but - I use and Aeropress (Click here) This device works great, is well made and the coffee tastes great. Much easier to clean than a French press and all you need is hot water to make it work. For me that's about 2 minutes with a pan on the stove burner. My old drip maker took longer than that!
Edit - this only makes one cup at a time but DW doesn't do coffee and I only do a cup or two in the morning - but it's a damn fine cup of coffee!
When we were doing festivals we also did some mountain man rendezvous's. Those require anything on site to be Pre-1840. So cooking, dress and camping is what was used in the 1840's and before. No gens, no propane, only wood fires. Loved cooking the coffee over the fire.
The only time we use a french press is when we are at our oldest's house. His wife gets nasious smelling coffee and there is almost no smell cooking the coffee with a french press.
Most of the time at the S&B it is a drip maker.
In order of what we like is - 1. The old mountain man way, 2. The drip maker, 3. The french press
I hate the french press, the only thing worse than the french press is those high priced things that coffee places think is coffee. Most gas stations have better coffee than either starbucks or mcdonalds. But then that is my opinion and since I am in America I still have some freedoms to have an opinion.
I like Boy Scout coffee. Similar to cowboy coffee but you boil water over an open fire add coffee grounds then stir with a hickory, oak, apple wood etc. stick that has been in the fire and slightly char-coaled. I gives it a nice flavor. I pour it through a tea strainer before drinking. No electricity or propane required.
Offline
