No More Electric Coffee Makers For Us

Years ago I had one of those accounts that earned points for everything I did through that account. I had forgotten about the plan and never cashed in a single point. When the program was ending, I received a letter which stated that I had accumulated hundreds of thousand points which I needed to use or lose. I went online to look at what they had available for all the points I had accumulated and saw that they had a Keurig Coffee maker available.

Since they were ALL the rage at the time, but still so out of the price range for me, I cashed in all my points and “bought” myself one of those “Fancy New Coffee Makers!” I was so excited when it arrived. Now every single cup would be hot and fresh. Over time I realized it was a lot more expensive per cup and produced a lot more garbage than just making a pot of coffee. When it broke, we decided not to replace it. But what to do, what to do for that hot cup of brew. . .

We finally decided a simple stove-top coffee pot would serve us well. After reading many reviews on glass or metal options, we opted for a simple, stainless steel, percolator-style, stove-top model by Copco.

We have had this pot now for about 4 years and it definitely looks like it is well used! No longer does it have that shiny silver outside, the inside definitely looks well loved, but it is still going strong. We have used this coffee pot on a gas range, an standard electric range (not a glass top!), and even at the side of the bar-b-que to reheat a cuppa. I have learned that on our gas range it took 12 minutes from start to finish for a good cup of coffee, and on the standard electric it is 15 in summer and 16 minutes in winter.

One thing is certain, we will not be going back to an electric coffee maker any time soon. With this little work horse around making perfect pots every morning, why chance it!


Pros
~ Makes a great cup of coffee!
~ The basket for ground coffee is large enough to make any strength coffee you might enjoy
~ Makes up to 8 standard, smaller sized mugs of coffee (about 3-4 of our large mugs)
~ Can make as few as 4 cups (this is actually about one and a half to two of our large mugs)
~ Heats quickly and evenly
~ Cleans up easily
~ Very little waste - in fact, the used coffee grounds are feeding my garden as we speak.

Cons
~ We needed to replace the clear percolator knob in the center of the lid after about 2 years. It cracked, then broke. Our original knob was clear plastic, and we replaced it with one that is made of clear glass.
~ Not good at making one single cup of coffee.
~ Not recommended for fire places, fire pits, campfires, and such.
~ Of course, it is NOT programmable, so you are going to have to start it yourself.
~ The Wire spring did pop off the solder or weld on the stem or chimney part inside, but with a little wiggle and turning the spring around on the stem, it stays perfectly placed during brewing.
~ Does take a little trial and error to discover your perfect brew.


Notes: For outdoor cooking, I would definitely not recommend this model as I am unsure of the handle’s ability to withstand being over flames or close to flames. There are better models available for outdoor cooking that would be well worth the investment if that is your need or desire.

When we bought our model several years ago, it stated that it was made from stainless steel inside and out. I do notice that several reviews online now claim that some interior parts are made of aluminum. This may be an important detail to anyone interested in a stove-top percolator. If we do need to buy again, I will be checking this detail very carefully as we much prefer the all stainless parts. There are several models online now that do still profess to contain all stainless and we hope to be trying out a few of those over time as well. Many of these are more well suited for campfire cooking as well.