Stovetop coffee

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J.D.
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Stovetop coffee

Post by J.D. »

Anyone else into this?

I been mucking around with this for years and I reckon I'm as close now as I'll ever be to nailing it.

I remember my Dad grinding beans in the kitchen when I was a toddler. He used to hold the coffee grinder and I used to turn the crank. Maybe that's why I ended up a sailor...

Anyhow, these days I'm doing the home barista thing. I have a Bialetti Brikka, which is my usual weapon of choice but I also have a Bialetti Moka pot. Some people don't like the Brikka. It has a valve on top of the central spout, a bit like an old fashioned pressure cooker and the coffee doesn't come out until it reaches a certain pressure (see picture). Then it all comes out quite quickly. Some say that the last bit is steam and makes the coffee taste bitter. I have found that if I yank it off the stove as soon as the valve opens, I have no such trouble. It also depends on how finely you grind your coffee beans. Too fine and you get a bitter taste.

Moka pots are a bit easier to use and nowhere near as sensitive to timing. That's why their popularity remains so high.

Whatever happens, no stovetop coffee pot should ever be allowed to splutter. If that happens you might as well throw the coffee out and start again.

Use a medium to medium-fine grind. Don't use super-fine espresso grade coffee in a stovetop. It will be bitter. Don't tamp it down either or you risk blowing the safety valve. I use an old Zassenhaus grinder from the 1950s (at a guess) and it works well for me because it doesn't go fine enough to do espresso. I also have a couple of other old coffee grinders, all manual. One does espresso and the other two are being restored. They are over 100 years old.

If milk is your thing, it's possible to make everything from macchiato and flat white up to frothy capuccino and latte. I use a small frother a bit like a Bodum plunger. It has a mark on the side so I fill up to the mark with milk and nuke it for 1:30. Then I use the plunger to make a nice microfoam. This is pretty easy as long as you don't pull the plunger out of the milk. Just pump it quickly about 40-50 times. It needs to stay below the surface or it will only make big bubbles.

After making the microfoam, I just bang it on the counter a few times to burst the bigger bubbles and start pouring it in. A big lump of foam first, followed by milk and more foam as desired.

I only use raw sugar with this kind of coffee.

You can get all you need to do this for under $100. I can't remember what I paid for the plunger but it wasn't much. The grinder I got off FleaBay for about $40 and the Moka pot was about the same. The Brikka was a fair bit more than the Moka pot.

$5000 plumbed-in jobs are all very well but they don't make better coffee. What they will do it make true espresso. The "crema" which comes out of my pots is not as good as that. On the other hand, I don't miss it either.

I guess a lot of it is about the process. For some people, that means machines and doing the whole coffee-shop barista thing. For me it's a lot more grass roots than that and I love the process of doing it all myself.

The results have been excellent but it's a matter of technique, not technology.

Tip: NEVER clean your stovetop coffee pot with detergent. You want to season the pot so all you should ever do is rinse it out. After a few month use it should look nice and grungy.
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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by wabbit »

I've only known one mate that swears by this. For me it just takes too long.
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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by J.D. »

Like I said: for a lot of us it's about the process as much as anything and I get a good sense of achievement - as well as a nice cup of coffee - when I get it right.
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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by pixelboy »

I used to swear by the same process until I was given a Breville Cafe Roma..

It makes an excellent coffee with an amazing crema that pours and settles like a Guinness almost.

Damm I love coffee.. Great topic!
eek
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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by smithcorp »

I've always used Bialetti stove-top coffee makers, with Illy coffee (kept in the fridge). Got three different sizes all different ages and have recently replaced a broken handle and some seals. I used to grind my own beans but don't bother - too messy. Yep, the trick is to get it off the heat as soon as it starts blurting.

I've been intrigued by siphon coffee makers, but they look too fiddly. They are supposed to make coffee that tastes as good as it smells, which is the ultima thule of coffee.

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Stovetop coffee

Post by DexterPunk »

This all makes me sad. I love coffee and can't have it anymore. Was doing weird things to my heart :s


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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by Vilante »

I'm on a health kick so drinking black drip filtered coffee, ground by myself. I used to take it with milk and 2 sugars so it's taking some getting used to.

Couldn't do without my coffee though I don't think!
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Re: Stovetop coffee

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This topic couldn't have come at a better time, as we just received a stove top as a present. Now I have to work out how to use it. Subscribed!
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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by ysu »

I've always used stove-top coffee makers. But it's a no-name local thingo. My choice of coffee is either Piazza D'oro or Lavazza (lately lavazza only).
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Re: Stovetop coffee

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Screw you guys, International Roast all the way!
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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by J.D. »

AstrO wrote:This topic couldn't have come at a better time, as we just received a stove top as a present. Now I have to work out how to use it. Subscribed!
Which one is it Astr0?

The techniques are basically the same anyway.
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Re: Stovetop coffee

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J.D. wrote:Which one is it Astr0?

The techniques are basically the same anyway.
I'll check and post when I get home today (although that won't be till late).
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Re: Stovetop coffee

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pixelboy wrote:I used to swear by the same process until I was given a Breville Cafe Roma..

It makes an excellent coffee with an amazing crema that pours and settles like a Guinness almost.
I was given something similar and had no luck at all. :(

My brother uses a Krupps which is more or less the same and he's had it for about 15 years so they can go the distance.
DexterPunk wrote:This all makes me sad. I love coffee and can't have it anymore. Was doing weird things to my heart :s
Yeah I've heard about arrhythmia from coffee. Pity.

As for beans, I just get them from a few places I know which sell them out of a large bag or basket. Sometimes you can get them from places where they do their own. Unfortunately, in Melbourne, there aren't very many of those and the ones who are around are owned by big money and staffed by beatniks. I prefer the backyard operations. For such a coffee-focussed culture, there isn't a lot of support in Melbourne for grass roots operations.

I don't put them in the fridge but I'm re-considering because I have a static build up in my grinder at the moment. They say it works better.
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Re: Stovetop coffee

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norbs wrote:Screw you guys, International Roast all the way!
did your plunger break?
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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by pab »

bengatta wrote:
norbs wrote:Screw you guys, International Roast all the way!
did your plunger break?
That's a bit of a personal question isn't it?
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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by AstrO »

AstrO wrote:
J.D. wrote:Which one is it Astr0?

The techniques are basically the same anyway.
I'll check and post when I get home today (although that won't be till late).
I have the below Bialetti...
bialetti musa.jpg
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Stovetop coffee

Post by Dan »

I love my coffee but most of the time I have it in the morning, don't really have the time though so I'm just rocking a DeLonghi Citiz that uses the nespresso capsules, it's actually not that bad and good for the price. Beats the parents $1.5k machine by far.
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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by J.D. »

Okay, I haven't used a stainless steel pot but the method is the same either way. The Musa should probably be much the same as the Moka (no pressure valve).

Here is a fairly good method for a Moka pot:

[youtube] [/youtube]

The guy is pretty full of shit. One setting "lower than drip" is meaningless. Just medium to medium fine grind will do. Do it yourself if possible. by the way; it's pronounced "MOK-ah", not "MOKE-ah".

Never let the coffee fill to the top of the central spout or it will spray everywhere, even if the lid is closed. That's why you should never fill above the bottom of the safety valve (bottom chamber).

Keep all seals free of coffee grounds or they will leak like crazy under the pressure.

And here is a method for the Brikka (like mine):

[youtube] [/youtube]

As I said, I've never used a stainless pot but I'm guessing it wouldn't be anywhere near as important to season it as it is with aluminium.

The Moka pot goes to about 1.5 bar pressure and the Brikka goes higher because of the valve.
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Re: Stovetop coffee

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Is this how coffee should look?

Image
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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by ysu »

what coffee, norbs?
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Re: Stovetop coffee

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ysu wrote:I've always used stove-top coffee makers. But it's a no-name local thingo. My choice of coffee is either Piazza D'oro or Lavazza (lately lavazza only).
Still works the same way though?

I was forced to buy a bag of Lavazza the other day...
Dan wrote:I love my coffee but most of the time I have it in the morning, don't really have the time though so I'm just rocking a DeLonghi Citiz that uses the nespresso capsules, it's actually not that bad and good for the price. Beats the parents $1.5k machine by far.
I actually looked at one of these once. As far as I can tell, it's a Nespresso at about ¾ the price. I understand they do a pretty good job. The deal breaker for me was that I could only use the capsules instead of going to my local bean burner.
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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by J.D. »

Bargain alert!

This is an insane price:

http://aldi.com.au/au/html/product_range/expressi.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have not used one of these things but I understand they are very good.
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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by Shonky »

I have one of the aldi machines and while I think the coffee is alright, it's not as good as what you would get from a decent coffee shop or a fair dinkum coffee machine, but it beats the shit out of International roast or blend 43.

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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by AstrO »

When I was over in Melbourne last week I picked up the new EXPRESSI machine in black, along with a bunch of pods. I have to say that I rate it highly. :)

BUT they didn't have any Milk Frother's in stock, so I ended splurging and buying one of these, with some birthday cash, when I returned to Adelaide.
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Re: Stovetop coffee

Post by Pinger$ »

Have a Moka pot here... don't use it all that much, but that's probably me being lazy.. not buying fresh coffee.
It makes a great cup of coffee and I too found the quicker you take it off the stove (just before it splutters), the better.
If you haven't tried an affogato, try one :) They're amazing using good coffee!
(pour one of two espesso's worth of hot coffee over a decent scoop of ice cream in a glass or small bowl - at least, that's what I do)
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