Another casualty of 2020...

[K Frame]

My coffeemaker has apparently died, or is dying. Not 100% sure yet. Turned it on this morning and... nothing.

Turned it off, waited a few minutes, and turned it on again. This time it sort of made my coffee, but very, very slowly. And not particularly hot.

Pretty sure that the heating elements are finally crapping out. Pushing 16 years old, I think... Not bad for a cheapo Black & Decker that I picked up at Target.

So, the search begins for a basic 12-cup drip coffeemaker with glass carafe, programmable, with a 2-hour shut off.

You'd be surprised at how... rare... those seem to be.

Tons of over the top bullshit that have bluetooth, wireles apps, Alexa compatibility, etc. etc. etc. for LOTS of money, but pretty uncommon to find a basic coffeemaker.

But, there are a few...

Right now, this one is in the running...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mr-Coffee-12-Cup-Automatic-Drip-Coffee-Maker-Red/101857313?wpa_bd=&wpa_pg_seller_id=F55CDC31AB754BB68FE0B39041159D63&wpa_ref_id=wpaqs:r1W6p7r7fSvtUmaF2xJNy3h6fT2eENvlNbboHKf6wblIYPgQAsp6jmUmkwzZFwGZ9YYJoTUwhNTE3zkULQJUA-qJLrB8tOnTw0h68FtWV-sDucnr6pMCEn1IjFisoAAzn_W47DeXikdfgsgfJRz_pfyHBr-4jzMHpVipYM-qMqZeG7SRui7v2Pt4yi_llADhd7e96-6IjMTUOAEwXXBVo4bnYSW8JzU9BczAhx5nb2wu6rK0qPYcgSYRbM8Aj6BV&wpa_tag=&wpa_aux_info=&wpa_pos=3&wpa_plmt=1145x1145_T-C-IG_TI_1-6_HL-INGRID-GRID-NY&wpa_aduid=932233de-43ef-421f-b691-bb49f7b3c596&wpa_pg=search&wpa_pg_id=coffee%20maker&wpa_st=coffee%2Bmaker&wpa_tax=4044&wpa_bucket=__bkt__

If I can find something cheaper, with a simpler features set, that one will likely be the take home prize.

[dogmush]

There's a cheaper one at Wal-Mart linked on that same product page (under related items)

https://www.walmart.com/ip/BLACK-DECKER-12-Cup-Programmable-Coffeemaker-Black-Stainless-Steel-CM2030B/43380374?findingMethod=wpa

Not sure how much on that page is "features" and how much is marketing speak for basic coffee maker, but it has auto off, and is programable.

Other than that I can't help you, as I use an AeroPress or Chemex.  (both of which have less features :)  but aren't programable, or cheaper.)

[K Frame]

I'm not looking for the absolute cheapest model. I like the red one because, well, it's red. The one I have right now is white, and it shows coffee stains and drips like mad, so red or black would be better.

Odd, though, because this morning I'm looking at a new coffee maker, and:

1. I hit the Powerball for $12... (although I did swing by the store this morning and picked up a really nice chuck roast for... $12)...

2. I get into work and I have an e-mail from a survey I've been participating in with a reward for... $10.

Plus, I got a spot bonus the other week at work, so I've more than paid for the new machine, whatever I get.

I will admit, I've though about getting a thermal carafe machine in the past, and have bounced it back and forth. I have a manual Nissan press pot that's thermal, and it's really nice. I use it mainly on the weekends and with better coffee. It's a bit fiddly and time consuming to heat the water in a separate pot, etc., so that's not really conducive to my weekday morning routines.

So, I'm going to stick with simple.


And I think we have a winner.

https://www.amazon.com/BLACK-DECKER-Programmable-Coffeemaker-CM1160B/dp/B01GJOMWVA/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=Mr.+coffee&qid=1607007595&s=kitchen&sr=1-11

[K Frame]

Ordered it. Should be here on Sunday. Over 9,000 reviews, 74% of them 5 star.

Given how long the old B&D lasted, no reason not to give this one a shot.

[230RN]

~$9 for my last coffeemaker, close to 10 years ago, Walmart, Chinese of course.

Programming consists of control human stumbling out of bed and directing a slave human to fill it with water, insert filter, insert coffee, mount this assy to the cofffeemaker, and apply nominal 110V to the coffeemaker innards by pressing a rocker switch with mechanical contacts and pilot light to "ON."

It alerts the slave human of completion of the operation by gurgling.  Slave human then flips the rocker switch to off to let it cool down since the control human actually prefers cold or cool coffee.

After imbibing and waking up somewhat, control human dismisses slave human and gets on with his day.

Terry,230RN

[K Frame]

"pressing a rocker switch wth pilot light to "ON."

Goddamned luddites!

I set my coffee up the night before. Under normal times, when I'd be filling my thermos just before I walk out the door, it starts and perks while I'm in the shower.

These days, with my later schedule, I'm actually setting things up the night before then pushing the on switch when I take Seren out for her morning walk so it's ready when I walk back in the door after taking her to day care.

[Larry Ashcraft]

We've had a couple of the B&D units.  Good machines, but they do wear out.  On the current one, the clock went all wonky a few months ago, so we have to start the coffee when we wake up.  No big deal, since we're both retired.

Some friends gave us a Kuerig last Christmas.  My wife hated it and gave it to our grandson, and dug the old B&D machine back out.

I bought both of them at Lowe's.

[WLJ]

I buy what ever is the cheapest with a clock since they usually have an auto shut off. I'm bad about remembering to turn the thing off.

[K Frame]

This morning it made my coffee just fine...

Last gasp?

Or just cranky yesterday?

Who knows. But, the new one will be here in a couple of days. I'm thinking of giving the old one a viking funeral in the back yard.

[K Frame]

The one thing I forgot to mention about B&D units is that most of them seem to have closed tops. You lift the top to add the water, and then close the top.

That's a problem for one big reason... The water chamber never dries out if you leave the top down, which means that it's always warm and moist and that breeds... mold. LOTS of mold if you're not paying attention. I discovered that the hard way some years ago when I looked down into the water chamber for some reason... and was thoroughly disgusted.

I bleach cleaned it to get rid of the mold, then vinegar cleaned it to take care of any scale, and started opening the top every day after it stopped perking.

No more mold problems.

[dogmush]

Wait?

You guys are grinding your beans the night before and letting them sit out, ground, all night?

Ugh.

Philistines.

[K Frame]

"You guys are grinding your beans the night before and letting them sit out, ground, all night?"

I'm not grinding my beans at all.

I drink Maxwell house. I gave up grinding my own beans years ago.

[230RN]

Wait, wait.  You guys grind your own coffee?  Where's your quality control?  Those guys at the factory who grind it for me spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars making sure that what I get in the can is all properly sized, seived, and metered.  Why should I do all that?



Terry

Posted before I saw Irwin's remarks.  Holy cow, if we both agree on something, it must be right.  Right?

[Jim147]

More likely you are double wrong.

[230RN]

And they probably pay professional tasters and smellers big bucks to make sure the product is up to snuff and sniff and consistent with yesterday's snuff and sniff.

"Double wrong?"  Huh.  Piffle.

Say, how much do home grinders cost anyway?

I do note that the coffee aisle at King Soopers does have grinders right there for you.  Not sure why.

Oh, wait.  So  you can grind your own coffee.

Again, not sure why.  But to each his own.

[Fly320s]

Say, how much do home grinders cost anyway?


Again, not sure why.  But to each his own.

1.  As much as you want to spend if you are picky about your coffee. A good conical burr grinder is $100+.  A passable version is $40.

B.  Whole beans stay fresh longer than ground coffee.  Less surface area.

[230RN]

I was about to disengage from this one, but...

B.  Whole beans stay fresh longer than ground coffee.  Less surface area.

Yet folks grind at night and  let the high surface area grounds sit overnight outgassing until morning?

My "Flaver-Seald" or whatever they call it coffee cans are sealed except for the 30 seconds max it takes to spoon out four spoons into the filter, turn on the mechanical-contact rocker switch with the pilot light, then it gets "Flaver-Seald" again for the next 24 hours, when I make another pot.

Sorry, difference of opinion (which everybody's entitled to)  but I can't see how grinding your own coffee makes any sense.

I went through something similar with Wife1's desire to grind our own flour.  That was such a pain in the glutius that I finally put a motor on it (the grinder was adaptable for that).

Guess what?  We still couldn't make confectioner-grade(?) flour no matter how many times we cycled the stuff through the machine.  Local "experts" on these Mother Jones matters said it took a while for the grinding stones to break in.

Oh, yeah?

I finally said pisonit and put it in a corner of the garage to be fukgotten.  What transpired between my "pisonit" and my putting it in a corner of the garage is both funny and dramatic, but not suitable for family audiences.

[Larry Ashcraft]

We had a coffee grinder years ago.  Besides making a horrible noise every morning, I saw no difference in the coffee.  The quality of the water used makes a bigger difference.

But then, I don't care for Starbuck's $5 a cup coffee and I think the Loaf and Jug's .99 refill is just fine.

We use Folger's, and it makes a dandy cup in the morning.  In a $30 B&D coffee machine.

[dogmush]

I was attempting  to make a funny.  I could infer from his personality that Mike was probably a grocery store ground coffee kind of guy.

I was imitating a case of the vapors.


I take my coffee *very* seriously.  We could go on for a while about the how and why of making good coffee, but like anything else (cars, cigars, whiskey, food, etc) you can get cheap things that are possible, you can spend more and get significantly better stuff, and you can foolishly spend crazy amounts of money and effort on diminishing returns.

If you guys like your coffee,  rock on. (Which is why I tried to answer Mike's question seriously before I joked).  I like spending the time effort and money on better coffee.

The answer to Terry's question is, the roasting process creates gasses (mostly CO2). After appropriate aging of roasted beans there is a nice amount of built up gasses in the beans.  Coffee brewed with the right amount of out gassing has significantly better texture, aroma, and more complex flavors then older or "stale" coffee.  The texture especially is more pleasant.   Grinding the beans significantly increases the speed of out gassing of the roast coffee.  So after roasting you want to let the whole beans sit for a week or two, then you want to brew within a couple minutes of grinding to optimize the coffee.

Of course grind size, consistency,  water quality,  brew method and technique all play a part in the final product.

[MillCreek]

I have been roasting my own coffee at home for about 30 years now.  At any one time, I have around 100 lbs. of green coffee beans out in the garage.  I roast two pounds at a time, which lasts us for two weeks.  As soon as they are cool from the roasting, the whole beans go into airtight glass storage in the frozen dark of the garage freezer set at minus three degrees.  They do not appreciably degrade over the two week storage time.

The jar comes out of the freezer long enough to measure out the frozen beans into the Rocky grinder, and then directly into the Zojirushi drip, Chemex, or French press.   I measure and adjust the water temp to the optimum brew temp of 195-202 degrees as set by the SCAA.

It is also eggnog latte season for the wife, and I pull a double shot of espresso from the Pasquini Livia 90, steam the eggnog and serve it in a pint glass for her garnished with eggnog foam and nutmeg.  

The end result of all this is that my wife and I are generally underwhelmed by coffee in restaurants, etc.  But once you start doing it, it is hard to go back.  This was the same reason why I was a homebrewer for so many years, until very good IPAs and stouts became ubiquitous, and it was easier to buy it than make it.

[K Frame]

I ground my own beans for years.

I also roasted my own beans for a time.

I also sought out fine coffee blends and roasts from various companies around the United States.

For a time I even stored my beans in an air tight canister that I washed with nitrogen gas to prevent oxidation.

I tried a variety of brewing methods, from cold press to individual pour over to French Press...

I finally realized that yes, I was enjoying the coffee.

But I wasn't enjoying it nearly enough to justify the massive amount of extra effort I was putting into it when I had always enjoyed Maxwell House.

I gave up grinding my own beans and have been brewing Maxwell House just about every day since then.

I will occasionally splurge on a bag of Starbucks Komodo Dragon, as I like it, but I'm not going to make it into my every day drink.

[K Frame]

First cup of coffee from the new machine.

It's basically the same machine that I bought 15 or so years ago, with a few design refinements. Even the pot and filter holder from the old machine will work in the new machine.

New machine brews a lot faster, probably because the interior pathways on the old one were scaling up.

It's also hotter, which reinforces my belief that the heating elements on the old machine were crapping out.