OT: Small appliances - again! Coffee maker

That's gotta be killing you, to buy "fair trade" coffee! Do you wear Birkenstocks? :-)

We are happy with a KitchenAid 4 cup coffee maker and Kirkland Columbian coffee. I've tried grinding the beans and it doesn't taste any better to me, and Starbuck's doesn't impress me..

Recently picked up an Oster countertop convection oven on sale at Costco for $50, it works great and really does reduce cooking time by about 30 percent.

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=========== For great coffe at good prices see

I have bought from them several times and have been pleased with their service and products.

I like all their coffees I have tried, but special favorates are

?p=catalog&parent=3 I brew using an espresso machine.

Unka' George [George McDuffee]

------------------------------------------- He that will not apply new remedies, must expect new evils: for Time is the greatest innovator: and if Time, of course, alter things to the worse, and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better, what shall be the end?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman. Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).

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Isn't that just for those little cups? You don't brew 16-20 ounces at a time, do you?

Yep, that would be the principle "Toddy Maker" method. Very smooth!

I agree, better coffee from cheap beans freshly roasted is better than good beans roasted long ago. I'm lucky to have a bunch of small custom roasters around.

On Sat, 7 Mar 2009 18:37:53 -0500, the infamous "Buerste" scrawled the following:

No doubt!

Aw, go soak yer beans.

You say that like it's a good thing?

A friend in LoCal used to make polymer clay Santa pins with his pants normal in front and hanging down in the back, showing his arse.

My last GF gave me a great piecrust recipe. I'll email it to ya.

Ouch!

-- "Not always right, but never uncertain." --Heinlein -=-=-

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My espresso machine makes 4 little or one standard cup [mug].

Since I retired I usually use the steamer/frother to make a latte in a large 22 oz glass. Easy way to do this is to use chocolate milk. A splash of vanilla and/or kalauha syrup and its as good as Starbucks.

I also just drink it straight from a standard mug.

Super markets/wal-marts around here carry some of the flavored syrups.

I have an older steam type Mr. Coffee about 10 years old that is still going strong that I bought when I went back to school. Mr. Coffee now has both steam and pump models. wallyworld for discount prices]

Another key is to use good water. If you have hard water, it is worth while to get distilled or spring, no more than you use for coffee.

IMHO -- key to getting good results from a steam type espresso machine [the more expensive ones have pumps] is to pack the coffee in the basket so back pressure will build up and all the good stuff will be steamed out. I can get 3 dippers of coffee in the basket if I tamp it down, where two are what is suggested. Turns out that a small Frank's hot sauce bottle is just the right diameter for a tamper for my machine.

Unka' George [George McDuffee]

------------------------------------------- He that will not apply new remedies, must expect new evils: for Time is the greatest innovator: and if Time, of course, alter things to the worse, and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better, what shall be the end?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman. Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).

I'm not certain why piecrusts have come to focus, but a really good crust is rare and a worthy pursuit. About 70 miles to the west is Catawba Island on lake Erie. The limestone soil grows the best peaches in the world! Ohio also grows wonderful cherries. You can see where I'm going with this...

Please do send the recipe!

the coffee maker that I think works the best for drip coffee went out of production a few years ago - Capresso Aroma Classic - what makes it different is that it boils the water in a container above the basket, then releases the boiling water through a small shower head onto the ground beans - it seems to make much tastier coffee - and it should be easy enough to replicate (or just buy one from ebay or some second hand store) ---- and it looks cool too. Now, if it had a thermal caraffe

On Sun, 8 Mar 2009 01:11:46 -0500, the infamous "Buerste" scrawled the following:

Will do. It's more "the right way to make it" than a special recipe. I've used it all of once (my first time) and the crust was light, tender, and flaky.

And please send a peach pie and cherry pie (or some sweet li'l cherry-holders) to me.

LJ--The man who ties cherry stems into knots with his tongue to impress girls.

-- "Not always right, but never uncertain." --Heinlein -=-=-

I'll second the Braun choice. I've had three Brauns, very similar models, over the last 25 years. Major difference is that the latest one is remove-n-pour capable. Which feature I do not use.

In my limited experience the cone-type makers are, dollar for dollar, vastly superior to the basket type.

Best -- Terry

Their only faults being having the top carafe and warmer makes them too tall to fit under average upper cabinets so they mess up counter layouts, you pretty much need it near the sink for the water hookups.

And for US households the faster machines like the OL-35 require an oversized circuit. The average American residential kitchen has two dedicated appliance circuits (120V 20A 2100W effective each) which really isn't enough. (Mine has more, but it's not average.)

Remember to check spec plates for power ratings when haunting auctions for a Bunn-O-Matic or eq., you might need to run a new power line to it - but it's worth the effort.

Waitaminnit... Whose son here is a field service tech for Hobart? You should be able to arrange for an exchange and/or tech support.

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If pie is your goal, you might want to check out the Joe Pastry blog. An ex professional baker that explains just about everything. He is such a perfectionist that he built his own wood fired brick oven in his back yard to get just the kind of pizza he wanted.

Pie how to link here:

Thanks, nice site!

My uncle taught me about jarring cherries in Vodka for six months or so.

I'm tempted. I love those Bunn OL and OT machines. But right now I should save my money for other things!

Thanks. I had a couple of e-mails from people last night. I sent them the details of the problem. Or at least what I think it is:

"There are no signs of overheating around the water heater element. No signs of anything wrong at all, in fact. The water level in the reservoir is sensed electrically. There are a couple of electrodes in the reservoir. Presumably the resistance between them rises once the water level falls below the electrodes, and the electronics senses this and switches off the heater. The electrodes are a little rusty, but they are in a place which makes them inaccessible, and I doubt they are the problem. I suspect the electronics are faulty."

Here's a picture of the electronics:

Incidentally, does anyone know if the Bunn OL and OT machines contain electronics? It's a effective way to make a great machine hard to fix.

Best wishes,

Chris

Interesting. Joe is seriously keen on pie!

Chris

On Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:18:12 +0000, the infamous Christopher Tidy scrawled the following:

Dittoes, but he got my goat with "course meal" (s/b "coarse") on that pie page. Cream cheese in the pie crust? Interesting.

-- "Not always right, but never uncertain." --Heinlein -=-=-