Coffee makers over the years

[polkanut]

This is our daily driver.  It is a Norelco Dial-A-Brew model HB 5150.  It is the best drip coffee maker we've had in daily use for a long time.  We have two more stored away for the day when this one finally gives out.  We've been using this particular machine daily for about the last 4-5 years.  We found it at a church rummage sale for $4.00.

 

[rp2813]

Tim, you'll be surprised at how long you can keep a Norelco running.  My sister has a Chemex Automated which is based on the Norelco design and she has been using it every day for well over 30 years.  I've fixed failed connections and re-clamped tubing on her machine a few times and it just keeps brewing along.

 

[frigilux]

I grew up with two GE percolators shown in top two photos. Didn't drink coffee 'til I was in my 40's, and my first machine was a Delonghi espresso maker. The I switched to the Technivorm Moccamaster---haven had a finer cup of coffee---and finally, I succumbed to the convenience of a Keurig K575. While the flavor of the Technivorm can't be beaten, I've adjusted to the average-by-comparison of the Keurig. Can brew coffee, iced coffee, iced or regular tea, and now soups. Can also make a travel mug sized cup or a carafe.

 

[xraytech]

Growing up at home we had a mid 80s Mr. Coffee, then an early 90s Regal drip, the 2 Mr. Coffee Accels, thence a Proctor Silex

My paternal grandmother had a programmable GE CoffeeMatic II, then a mid 90s Mr. Coffee thermal, then a 4 cup Black&Decker. She also had her Cory Crown Jewel and Corning stovetop percolators.

My maternal grandmother had a Norelco Dial-a-Brew, then probably 4 of the Black&Decker CoffeeMatic drips, then a few Proctor Silex drips. Also had a Cirning stovetop percolator for when their drip machine would die( on hard well water they didn't last terribly long)

I own a Cory Crown Jewel, GE Peek-a-Brew, and Corning Electromatic percolators
My daily driver is a GE CoffeeMatic II which was is same as the Black&Deckers grandma had

 

[lordkenmore]

>Tim, you'll be surprised at how long you can keep a Norelco running. My sister has a Chemex Automated which is based on the Norelco design and she has been using it every day for well over 30 years.

Not sure how long a Norelco can be kept going. But I can say the ones that my family had did not give impressively long service. If my recollections are right, we got about 4, 5 years of use out of 2 Norelcos. One was new. The second was from my father's workplace. IIRC it had stopped working there, it was replaced, and someone tinkered to get it working again. During at least part of the time, my mother brewed manually by pouring hot water into the filter assembly (which sat on top of the carafe). I'm pretty sure my father attempted to fix the first Norelco--I remember it sitting, opened up, in a shoe box for years. IIRC, both had the same failure problem: would only heat enough to "keep warm", but would not brew coffee.

Meanwhile, my grandmother used Norelco for years, and I know of her having had at least 2. I think the last one did fail.

I won't say that every Norelco would be problematic. I am guessing the ones I had experience with were later than what Tim has pictured. It seems entirely possible that at some point something was cheapened inside. So one could have a Norelco that lasts years and years...and then a later one that lasts maybe 2 years if you are lucky.

 

[lordkenmore]

Another thought that has hit me...

I have wondered if leaving coffee makers turned on to keep coffee warm might not shorten the life of some designs.

Another thing that might be problematic is turning a coffee maker off, and then an hour or so later, turning it back on just to heat the coffee. (One might do this if one is leaving to run a few errands, or something.) My mother's Melitta manual apparently made a point of saying "for longest appliance life, don't turn this coffee maker on unless you are actually brewing from scratch"

Both of these points might explain why our Norelco experience was so bad. I know for certain my parents would tend to keep coffee makers on to keep coffee warm. This only ended in the very late 1980s or so, when my mother started using a Thermos more heavily. Perhaps coincidentally, the Braun in service at that time lasted the longest of any drip maker.

I can't remember if my mother would turn on a coffee maker only to heat/reheat existing coffee--but I wouldn't be totally surprised if she didn't do it at least sometimes before the Melitta arrived.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Well, after years after using a Mr. Coffee maker like the myriad coffee makers pictured here, I turned to the old-fashioned stove-top percolator pictured here:

 

 

-- Dave

 

[rp2813]

Heating with an automatic drip

Our '80s Braun Aromaster failed as a result of using it to re-heat.  Back then, replacing the element was cheaper than buying a new Braun, so we had it fixed.  We got many years of service from it after we learned our lesson and turned to the microwave for re-heating.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I like the look of the Black and Decker Coffeematic, very retro looking. I have seen a couple in thrift stores. I believe my aunt had an older Spacemaker from the 80s I thought they were cool also. The brown/white analog clock Mr. Coffee looks a lot like the one my mother had years ago. I also like the newer stainless Mr. Coffee, my neighbor had one and I thought the green digital "analog" clock looked really cool.

Too bad I don't care for coffee, there are so many interesting machines around for next to nothing at estate sales and thrift stores. They are easier to find than a lot of vintage appliances it seems!

 

[kd12]

I've used Mr Coffee with the stainless carafe for several years. My first one died after 7 years, and i'm on #2 now. Better than Cuisinart's. And I think Cuisinart had some fire safety issues in recent years. But I found the best tasting coffee of all is made with my GE peculator pot (only about 15 years old). Just not convenient to use every day.

 

[rp2813]

BonaVita, Anyone?

No sense in dueling coffeemaker threads, so I'm posting here.

 

I've been researching automatic drip machines over the past few days, as the brew produced by my  DCC-1100 hasn't been tasting right lately.  It's not because I don't maintain the machine or use filtered water (double filtered, actually),  and  I've been brewing the same blend from the same roaster for three decades and grind my own beans each morning. 

 

I've seen two Technivorm MoccaMasters in the same thrift store over the past few months, but after examining them, I decided they were too clunky and I didn't want to deal with their system.  New ones cost about $300, but they are consistently top rated for their precise brewing process and the excellent cup of coffee they render. 

 

Enter the BonaVita 1800, which appears poised to knock the TVMM out of the top spot, and sells for around half the price.  The coffee snob sites give it high praise, and some are already recommending it over the TVMM.  The newest BV model, the 1900, has a few improvements, but only a highly sophisticated palate can detect any difference in the brew, and I prefer a glass carafe and only the 1800 offers that option.  In fact, you can use a Chemex carafe with a true "cone" filter instead if desired.

 

Yes, the BV is mass produced in China, as opposed to TVMM being hand made in the Netherlands, and the heating coil in the BV isn't copper, but the BV is German engineered to the same high brewing standards as the TVMM, and the copper is more about conductivity than taste.

 

Does anyone here own a BonaVita, and if so, could you provide your impressions?  I'm seriously considering one, and believe it or not, the best price is on the Sears website.

 

 

[philr]

When I was a kid, my mother had a Westinghouse Stainless Steel immersible percolator from the 1970s and my grandparents had a Philips 12, the Norelco 12 equivalent for the Canadian market. I use mostly the Philips 12 with the non-Dial-a-Brew filter basket but I also have various versions of the Dial-a-Brew. I prefer the early ones to the later ones.

There were various changes during the production of these coffee makers, if I'm not mistaken, the early ones had a plastic cover underneath, then they switched to a metal cover (some of these had the early style carafe and "Dial-a-Brew" attachment which was all dark, then those that said "Dial-a-Brew" on the fronts and the shorter carafe and larger "Dial-a-Brew" attachment with an orange cover. These later ones also had a simplified temperature switching device which seemed less reliable. I recently got one of those later ones that would cycle on and off while there was still cold water in the container. It did take forever to make coffee as it switched to the warming mode (with the Amber "ready" light turned on and off repeatedly and there was no adjustment screw to set the temperature to a different point).

 

[mieleforever]

My first coffee machine was a kenwood(percolater), then a more advanced kenwood with settings too vary the strenght of the coffee and it had a built in timer which was nice.

After that there was the NESPRESSO LE CUBE, the coffee was wonderfull but the price of the pods not so good, and Nestle is rather proprietary with regards to getting the pods in shops and you have to work through their agents which made it cumbersome and very expensive to obtain, there are some shop nock offs but it is just not the same.

So I bought myself the Breville Barista Express, this weekend. Thus far very impressed although it is still early days.

http://www.brevilleusa.com/media/ca...78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/e/beswide.jpg

 

[chachp]

BONA Vita

 

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier; color: #800080;">I have also considered buying one of these to use with a Chemex pot.  It's getting a lot of positive press with the coffee snobs.  I may pick one up if I see one for a good price.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier; color: #800080;">My daily driver is a Technivorm but I do like to switch from time to time.  I think Chemex makes a really fine cup of coffee but who has time for all that pouring?  I have an older version Chemex auto maker that works well but I'm afraid to move that into daily work for fear it will poop out on me.  I'm not about to spend $350 for the new Chemex machine especially because the reviews haven't been all that great.</span>

 

[rp2813]

Ralph, my sister has been using her Chemex Automated on a daily basis since it was new -- that's well over 30 years.  Within the past few years it has had a couple of corroded connectors fail, which I replaced, and I replaced a clamp on the tubing.  The guts are very easy to access by removing just a few screws.

 

I think your Chemex Automated will be fine if you bring it into the rotation.  If you're only using it for relatively short periods before changing it out for one of your other machines, it will probably outlast you!

 

The best price I've found on the BonaVita 1800 with glass carafe is $128 on the Sears web site, and shipping is free.  I'm very tempted, but I won't be finding replacement parts for it  -- like carafes -- in thrift stores like I can for my Cuisinart.

 

The latest BonaVita, model 1900, offers a semi-automatic bloom/pause option as found on the Chemex Automated system.  It would be a good alternative to the overpriced but beautifully designed Chemex Otto, but it only comes with a thermal carafe so there would be no hot plate to keep contents of a glass Chemex carafe at drinking temperature.  That leaves the model 1800 with glass carafe as the only viable option for use with a Chemex carafe. 

 

[chachp]

Older Chemex maker

 

<span style="font-family: courier new,courier; color: #800080;">Ralph, I should probably open it up and see what it looks like on the inside.  I've always been afraid to and thought "if it ain't broke don't fix it."</span>

 

<span style="font-family: courier new,courier; color: #800080;">For me the lack of hot plate on the Bona Vita is not an issue.  As soon as I make a pot of coffee (regardless of which method I used that day) I always move it to a preheated thermal carafe so it stays hot for hours without cooking anymore.  Even though the design of the Chemex lid is concave, and was designed to collect the liquid that evaporates and returns it to the coffee, I still think it tastes cooked to me when it sits on a burner.  My carafe keeps the coffee steaming hot for a few hours so I've gotten in the habit of storing it that way.  I am one of those people who likes to make smaller pots multiple times per day vs. one large pot that I will nurse all day.  Usually by the time the coffee temp starts to drop considerably I'm ready for a fresh pot.  I'll let you know if I buy one and how I like it.  The YouTube videos sure paint a rosy picture of this machine!!</span>

 

<span style="font-family: courier new,courier; color: #800080;">P.S.  It seems so odd to me to address any communication to anyone named Ralph because I am so seldom in the company of another Ralph.</span>

 

[rp2813]

Ditto on the Ralph thing.

 

I would perhaps go for a thermal carafe if I came across one that dispensed the brew like a glass carafe.  There are complaints on Amazon about the BonaVita thermal carafe design, and I really disliked the thermal carafe when I tried out a Cuisinart that had one.  I've also heard that BonaVita has switched from a glass-lined thermos to stainless steel.  That's kind of a deal-breaker for me.

 

I agree that the brew deteriorates if it sits on a hot plate too long.  I usually consume my couple of mugs full in the morning within 30 to 45 minutes and then shut things down, so the length of time it sits on the warmer isn't too terribly long.  Also, if I've brewed up a batch for more than just myself, it's nice to be able to see how much is left when you're topping off with the last of it.

 

In the end, it's kind of a trade-off.

 

If your Chemex is working OK, there's no need to open it up, but if you only want to give it a visual check, you're not likely to create any problems by just looking.  As I recall, there are a couple of screws inside the top of the reservoir, and a couple on the bottom of the machine.  The bottom and rear cover will pull away as a single unit.

 

 

 

[chachp]

Coffeemaker Thermal Carafes

 

[COLOR=#800080; font-family: courier new,courier]I don't know that I've seen one that didn't have issues.  They seem to either drip all over the place, or are hard to clean or worse yet you can't get all the coffee out.  The one I particularly dislike is one made by BUNN.  It's wide mouth makes it easy to clean but drips and if you want to get all the coffee out you practically have to turn it upside down and you still have a mess.[/COLOR]

 

[COLOR=#800080; font-family: courier new,courier]The one I have is glass lined and is not a coffeemaker model.  It's just a thermal carafe for hot or cold.  It's very easy to clean, is glass lined and has a great spout that almost eliminates drips.  I agree though that sometimes it can be hard to judge how much coffee is left.  You have to flip the top all the way back to see what's in there and each time you do that you reduce how long the coffee stays hot.[/COLOR]

 

[turquoisedude]

Great thread!  I'm a big coffee maker collector, so I'm enjoying this one a lot.

 

My folks were 'new off the boat' arrivals to Canada in the 50s so coffee was not a part of their ingrained daily habits.  My mother was a Brit and my father lived in the UK from 1947 until 1954 when they emigrated so tea was their beverage of choice.  However, thanks to the miracle of trading stamps, my folks acquired a West Bend 9-cup aluminum automatic perk which got used when we had company.  However, I developed a taste for coffee at a young age and I used it whenever they went out for more than a few hours... LOL   That perk got retired in about 1976, when I bought the oddest-looking drip coffeemaker I've ever seen.  It was a Moulinex with a plastic tower for a water reservoir, a swinging spout that directed heated water over a filter and carafe assembly on a heated plate.  It was kinda ugly, but I now regret getting rid of it when I put in a GE Spacemaker undercounter coffeemaker in 1984.   I moved out of the family home in 1986, but the GE remained until the house was sold in 2003.  I went back and retrieved and I actually still have it!

 

When out on my own, my first coffeemaker was a simple Braun drip model.  But in 1989, when I bought my first house, I decided to 'go vintage' in the kitchen and bought myself a Sunbeam AP8 automatic perk.  This led to more purchases and the development of my 'musical appliances' habit...  I swap vintage coffee makers in and out of service so often it's hard to keep track... LOL 

 

At the moment, the daily driver in St-Lib is an oval GE perk (1960-ish) and in Ogden a '56 Universal CoffeeMatic.  Next week?  Who knows... LOL