Cory vs Sunbeam electric anybody ever use both

[jetcone]

of the electric versions? I once had the Cory but it was awful BUT mine was beat up and so the mechanism or gasket may not have been the best to brew coffee. Love the coffee out of my Sunbeams but I see there are Cory officiandos. Anyone want to compare the two brews??

 

j

 

 

[tomturbomatic]

I have both and made coffee for my parents in both of them. They said the Coffeemaster coffee was better. That was the first electric Cory but I don't think the thermostatic mechanism changed much because when I found the lower bowl in a big older hardware store with a forgotten housewares department in 1965, I wrote to Cory for information about it and about buying an upper bowl. They sent me an envelope filled with information (imagine that now) and the instructions for adjusting the thermostat in mine were basically the same except that on mine, the whole cover of the base of the brewer had to be removed to access the thermostat screw and the newer models had a plastic base with an access button you could remove to adjust the thermostat. I wound up buying the stainless steel upper bowl and the lock on lid from Cory.

Because the Cory does not send all of the water up to the top bowl, and because it does not have a hole in the stem, the water rises as it heats and the brewing when the water bubbles in the top bowl is usually for a shorter period because within seconds of the heat switching from high to keep warm, the coffee starts going back down unlike with the Sunbeam where it burps and gurgles and takes a while to return to the lower bowl. I think that makes for a fuller bodied brew, but the way the water rises slowly in the Cory also could give the grounds time for the flavor to bloom. Consumer Reports did not like any of the Cory brewers much at all and said they produced a brew with a lot of sediment. One hint they gave in the late 40s report was to substitute the Sunbeam cloth filter for the filter rod. Something interesting in the late 40s report was CU's amazement that the Coffeemaster they bought to test before WWII was still working well. They did not expect an electrical appliance to last that long, but there are all of those that are still working today so the quality was there from the beginning and only died at the end.

The Cory thermostat was very unreliable because it did not have the positive high temperature point when the bowl boiled dry like the Sunbeam and if it was set to give a certain amount of brew time with the water up top at 4 cups, it would shut down the high heat before all of the water had risen if you tried to make a full pot. I eventually turned it up so that the thing stayed on high heat and just timed it for a minute once all of the water was up. The Sunbeam C30B worked perfectly from the day it was given to me. I think the stove top Corys make better coffee than the electric models.

 

[whirlcool]

I had a Sunbeam Coffeemaster for about a year before the seal died and needed to be replaced. See the seal thread for info on that.

I then bought a Cory Electric vac pot. It was like new. But you had to be very careful with how you ground the beans. Too fine and it would clog and the freshly brewed coffee wouldn't descend back into the bottom bowl. It would just sit there.

Finally, I bought a Cory all glass unit. What a difference. There are procedures you have to use with it in order to get the coffee to be just as good as with a Coffeemaster.

1. Use somewhat of a high heat. This gets the water up into the upper chamber in a
hurry with not too much of a wait.

2. The glass pot is not too picky about your grind. Medium to course grind will
work.

3. When the water goes into the upper chamber wait for the first bubble of a boil.
Then let it bubble for one minute afterwards then turn the heat off. If you let
it go much longer your coffee will be too strong. Using a spoon stir the coffee
three times in a circular fashion. This blend the grounds with the water better.

4. Clean up is very easy, everything goes into the dishwasher.

And that's all there is to it!

 

[jetcone]

Tom thank you

that is exactly what I remember about my Cory, it burbled up warm and soaked the grind before the right temp was reached for extraction and there was definitely water in the bottom bowl the whole time. I like my Sunbeams always a round cup-automatically!

 

WC- I like the dishwasher convenience but couldn't deal with the non automaticness of the glass units unless there was a power outage and had to cook over a fire.

 

j

 

 

[whirlcool]

It's easy for me. I start the pot up and then I feed the dogs and let them outside.Then I go get the newspaper and when I am done with this the water is bubbling.

For me the dishwasher convenience is everything!