If you are a coffee lover then you know coffee is a perfect way to start your day. While most people love to start their mornings with coffee and enjoy a cup anytime they need to rejuvenate, most people don’t think about the technologies involved in preparing this golden drink. You might have seen the automatic drip coffee machines in your nearest coffee shop, but what do you think was being used to make coffee before these technologies? It was a percolator. These are the important things to remember when using a percolator on your own.

Different Percolators Work Differently

There are many types of percolators and their distinction is brought about by their heating mechanisms. Some percolators can be used on the stovetops while others can be used on campfires. Coffee makers at black ink coffee explained that to learn the importance of percolating coffee, use a good coffee percolator that prepares your coffee by forcing hot water via a tube over your coffee and consequently brewing it to a super taste. Remember that if you don’t choose a quality percolator, your percolator can overcook or burn your coffee and give you a bitter cup of coffee.  A good coffee percolator will give you better quality coffee than the one you would have from filtered coffee.

Coffee percolators can be electrical too so choose one whose heating mechanism you are comfortable with. Get a coffee percolator with glass lids so that you can watch as your cup of coffee gets ready. Understand that percolators whether electric or stovetop use boiling water to derive coffee from coarse grounds of coffee. Know the chambers of your percolators where you should fill water and the chamber you should put your coffee beans in. Be patient with this process as it has to be repeated for a reasonable amount of time for a perfect flavor to be achieved.  An electric percolator can stop after the coffee is ready, but you have to keep checking the manual percolators to prevent your coffee from overcooking. Be keen on the gurgling sounds produced as the sounds can only stop after your coffee is ready.

Get Accurate Measurements

Measure a reasonable amount of coffee and water in your percolator. Add a tablespoon of ground coffee for every five ounces of water. However, unlike in other coffee makers, you should use coarse grounds of coffee instead of fine coffee. If you grind your coffee into very fine particles, you can have coffee grinds in your cup. You would want to avoid this. Interestingly, percolators use steel filter baskets, and thus you do not have to budget for plastic, reusable filters. Have a reasonable coarseness of your coffee grounds as any alteration on the size of the particles can affect the output.

Understand the Parts Of A Percolator

Every percolator has a heating element on its base. It has a vertical tube and a perforated filter basket on the top. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to help you fix these parts accordingly. Before you start using your percolator open it up and, familiarize yourself with the parts. Fill the water pot with water after you have measured the ideal cups of water. Some percolators also have markings to show you the limits you should not exceed. Your percolator has inbuilt filters although if you want finer particles you can use filters that fit the diameter of your filter basket. After adding your beans to the basket, ensure the grounds are evenly distributed. Don’t forget to use coarse particles of coffee. Note that as you percolate your coffee the coffee passes through the grounds time and again and in the process the coffee becomes more intense. You should therefore opt for medium roast coffees as light-roast beans will often not come through while dark roasts can end up being too bitter.

It is not difficult to use a percolator on your own even when you are using it for the first time. You need to understand that there are different percolators and their distinction is majorly on the heating mechanisms the percolators use. Understand the different parts of the percolator and the role of each part as this can make it easy for you to add water and coffee in the right segments. The number of temperatures you should heat your percolator to is essential to understand lest you overheat your coffee and have a bitter cup of coffee. Understand the type of coffee to use and the amount of coffee and water you can prepare in any one percolation. Know how to clean your percolator after brewing your coffee. Remember to unplug it as soon as you are done brewing your coffee. Let your percolator cool before you can disentangle it and clean it.