I told him at least it's not another dishwasher!!!

[chachp]

 

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Well I did it!!  I bought the Kitchen Aid Siphon Pot.  Williams-Sonoma had them on sale.  I had a money off coupon and because they had sold all they had in stock I got a 20% discount to buy the floor model.  Heck, I'm not too proud I'll take it.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">My first impression is that it makes a really, really good cup of coffee.  In this first pot I used the cloth filter because I really don't like all the sludge that's behind in most vacuum pots.  I'm glad I used it.  I used filtered water as suggested, I used whole bean Dunkin' Donuts original flavor ground to a medium grind.  As suggested I used 1191 grams of water and 73.9 grams of ground coffee.  The coffee purists will get it, others will say "you've lost your damn mind to go through all that" but it's OK.  I can take it.  I've learned over the years that hubby pressing the start button on the Keurig is not a knife in my back.  We're all just different.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Anyway, I digress!  I shot a short video from the point where the coffee just started to rise to keep down the length of the video.  What I really like about this pot is the fact that the coffee doesn't sit with the grounds for more than a couple of minutes which is preferred in this method at least by me.  I always loved using my Sunbeam vacuum pots but always hated how long the water kept in contact with the coffee.  Seemed like it was upwards of 5 minutes which for my taste is way too long.  I even tried unplugging it to stop the process early but still seemed to take too long.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">When I use the Yama pot on the stove I time 1 minute from the time the water is all at the top and that rolling bubble starts.  Then I take it off the heat.  The timing on this pot is very close to what is suggested for the Yama pot.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">A few misses in my opinion:</span>

<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">There is no heating element to keep the coffee hot.  For me it's not a concern because I have always moved my coffee to a thermos pot regardless the brewing method.  I never liked it cooking on the element.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">It would be nice if you could set the amount of time the element stays on which would in turn define how long the coffee stays in contact with the beans.  For my taste this is perfect but others might like a different timing.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">I wish the pot was more easily washed.  You have to be careful not to immerse it in water.  Again, for me not a big deal.  The Technivorm pot and pieces are all hand wash so I'm used to it.  Some might be bothered because clean up is a little more work but it doesn't bother me.  It's all part of the process.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">All in all, I'm really happy with it.  Will I prefer this over the Technivorm?  I think each method produces a different kind of coffee both of which I like.  It will just depend on my mood that day.  I was asked will I put the TV away for now and I fibbed a little when I said I'd put it up.  I can see using them both throughout the week depending how I feel that day.   </span>

 

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">As I am typing this I am enjoying a really good cup of coffee.  When hubby gets up we'll see if I can talk him into trying it.  Here are some pics of the pot and the video.  Again it starts after the water was heated to shorten the video.  It is a little like watching paint try but towards the end it is a little more fun to watch.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"></span>

 

[tomturbomatic]

Thank you & Congratulations

I noticed that the water seems to rise slowly into the upper bowl so I have a question about the tube on the upper bowl. Does it have the breather hole near the top of the tube like a Sunbeam Coffeemaster? With the Coffeemaster the hole keeps the water from rising until it is almost boiling. The KA might be allowing the close to the same amount of contact time with the slow rise of the water into the grounds, allowing the grounds to "bloom" and develop flavor; it's just that the contact time begins before the bubbling whereas the Sunbeam's contact time continues after the bubbling.

One other question, if I might: does the KA boil the lower pot dry to give the positive timing like the Sunbeam or does it use some other method of terminating the high heat portion of the brewing cycle.

I hope you have years of happiness with your new coffee maker. It's funny that no matter how many times vacuum brewing seems to be down for the count it reappears in some other incarnation.

 

[foraloysius]

Thank you for sharing that video and those pictures. That seems like a well made coffee maker. Siphon/vacuum coffee makers are rare here. I believe only Bodum sold them here. I have two of those, a bigger and a smaller model.

Your KitchenAid seems to take a bit more time for the brewing process. It bubbles more too than my Bodum machines. I always have to stir the coffee during the process, otherwise not all the coffee will be wet. It looks like the KitchenAid is a far better machine.

Did your hubby taste the coffee?

 

[chachp]

Did he like it?

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Well what I got was that it still tastes a little bitter to him (NOT) and once he added his flavored creamer and sweetener he seemed to enjoy it.  Among just us gurls, he liked it but will never admit it because he made such a fuss about the Keurig and the reusable K-Cup thingie so he could have the coffee he likes.  It's really OK with me.  He's a really good guy even though I think he has poor taste in coffee he has great taste in men .  What can I say about a man who will go outside in this 100 degree weather and get on a ladder to trim the trees that are causing the Dish signal to flicker.  It's playing havoc on my HGTV viewing.  He can drink all the Keurig coffee he wants.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">I added a couple of pics of the filter holder that goes in the top.  It doesn't have any kind of hole on top.  My only recent frame of reference for how long the water takes to rise is the Yama pot I use on the stove.  The water in the KA seems to rise at about the same rate.  The pot does not boil dry.  There is a small amount of water in the bottom just as is in the Yama.  I don't know about the Sunbeam because you can't remove the upper bubble or obviously it breaks the vacuum.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Funny though, just yesterday I scored a beautiful, like new,  Vintage Cory glass stovetop vacuum maker in like new condition at an Estate Sale.  I gave it to a friend who wanted one because I knew I had the KA in the trunk.  Later today she is coming over and I am going to teach her how to use it.  I'll be interested to see how this one does and how fast the water rises.  I suspect this one will leave a little water in the bottom.  I am curious about this one because these don't really have a filter as such, they have that glass cylinder type thing that I guess is supposed to filter out the grinds.  I guess we'll see how that goes.  I'll take some pics if I can.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">I had a Bodum pot in the late 90s.  I don't know what ever happened to it.  What I liked about it was the timer so that if you really wanted coffee made when you got up you could set this thing to start on its own.  I don't remember how the coffee was.  I likely sold it on eBay.  That was the period of time where I had a small kitchen in my townhouse in Chicago so things didn't stay around long if I didn't use them often.</span>

 

 

 

[tomturbomatic]

The Sunbeam was designed to send all but a tablespoon of water up to the top bowl. That remaining tablespoon of water boiled away to agitate the coffee and the rising temperature of the lower bowl is what tripped the thermostat to cut off the high heat. It was a very accurate way of timing the brewing. The water dribbling in from the top bowl onto the super hot base of the lower bowl is what made for all of the bubbling and the long time in the upper bowl. The glass brewers had to keep water in the lower bowl to avoid breakage.

The reason for the gradual rise of the water in brewers without the hole in the stem is because the water and any air above it are expanding as the pot is heated when it is assembled before the water boils. With a brewer with an expansion vent in the stem, the water does not rise until the pressure from the boiling water overcomes what the little vent hole can vent and the water rises quickly.

 

[mattl]

I use my coffeemaster every day and enjoy it.  Had an Issue the other day.  I bought a couple of bags of 8 O'clock ground coffee since I really enjoy the Keurig version and was tired of the Maxwell house stuff I  had been using.  I had been using the mesh filter that came with the pot, sometimes I'd cut up a paper filter and place it under it but as of late had just been using it without.  I made a pot and found the water would not return to the lower bowl, bah.  I had to stir it and got a terrible result.  I switched to one of the other rod assemblies I have for my other coffeemasters, the one with the second filter cap over the screen and have had decent results.  I guess the grind was too fine and clogged up the filter.

 

I would love to try one of the KA pots but I saw the price and I'm not ready to invest that much into a new pot.  I have recalibrated all my Coffeemasters to the timing the repair manual states and generally get very good results.  I would like to try a cloth filter but none of my pots came with one.

 

[foraloysius]

Matt

The mesh filter, is that a gold filter?

 

[mattl]

Ah, no it's stainless.

 

[foraloysius]

Thanx! I didn't know they came with the Moccamaster.

 

[launderess]

Bitter Coffee From Automatic Vac Pots

Sometimes it can be rather hit or miss when using electric automatic vacuum pots.

Got a NIB Sunbeam C50 a while back to replace one that died and rarely use it. Yes, it does automate the process which can be a blessing first thing in the AM or when doing coffee for a crowd, but this comes at the cost of removing some of the control.

In the case of Sunbeam automatic vac pots they tend to leave water/coffee brew in the upper globe longer than one likes. All that heavy metal/copper takes a while to cool down enough to cause a vacuum and in the meanwhile your brew is sat sitting still extracting due to contact with grounds. Range top glass or metal are easier to control IMHO. Take them off the heat and usually within seconds the vacuum process begins.

Will say one thing about the Sunbeam C50, when it does finally extract all you hear is "whoosh" and that is that; coffee is down the lower globe in an instant.