I found a percolator in my aunt's things, this style below. I'm not a coffee drinker but thought I might use it for company or camping trips, it brings back memories of camp trips when I was a kid.

I'm guessing you measure out the correct water, and then the proper amount of grinds go into the basket, then what?

Do you heat the water before inserting the basket, or just put it all on the stove cold?

I remember at some point you see the coffee percolating in the glass handle up top, how do you know when the coffee is done brewing? Can you use any type of grinds, or some especially for percolator pots?

Thanks.

Fill with water to just below the bottom of the basket, use regular grind coffee (about 4-5 heaping table spoons full), assemble and put on stove. Let it perk for about 5 minutes and enjoy.

It should be ground for percolators. As I recall Mom would make the "fancy" percolator coffee for Sunday dinner when my grandparents would come over. Put the grounds in the basket cold water in the pot and heat it on the stove for 15 mins or so. I was a youngster so others may offer a little more specificity.

I remember it being good though, fond memories those.

Those are great! You don't measure anything tho, you just dump a bunch of grounds in the basket, fill it up with water and let it perk away on the Coleman!!

The longer you let it percolate, the stronger your coffee will be.

That amount of coffee would kill me. Today at McDonald's I ordered 1/4 cup of decaff and fill it up with hot water. The guy actually took a double take. I repeated what I wanted so he served it up. Ocationally the clerk says, "Just take it. I can't charge you for that." I always give them at least a quarter to pay for their time and the cup.

What kinda sprout needs percolator instructions?

,...as if I ain't feelin' old enough today.

By the way,...that's a Revere Ware Percolator.

One just like it was a part of the household goods during the majority of my youth. It's very good quality.

I started drinking coffee out of one just like it when I was about 4 years old,....half coffee,...half milk,...3 tablespoons of sugar.

Put it on high heat until it first perks, then turn it low enough so it just barely keeps perking. Then you watch the color of the coffee in the glass dome until it looks like you want. Now it's ready to drink.
If you don't want the contents of the pot to get bitter, remove the basket & grounds so it doesn't drip into the pot after brewing.
If you have grounds floating around in your coffee, throw a half dozen drops of cold water on the top of the liquid and they'll all drop to the bottom.
Awesome coffee, and you don't need a timer or a measuring cup or spoon.
BTW, it's a crime against nature to add sugar or milk...

My Aunt Margie had one exactly like that when I was a little kid. She loved her fresh percolated coffee. I remember being fascinated with the way you could see it percolating through that glass bulb at the top.

you can buy the filters for those perc @ walmart, I use a perc all the time my wife hates the smell of Coffee so I have to make it in the garage on my campstove

I have a percolator that works essentially the same, except without the bulb on the top, and you just plug it in instead of put it on the stove top. I'd like to get one like that one to see if it makes better coffee.

Baekoff how old are you?

Instructions for a coffee perculator? well I never...

I don't believe it requires a filter. The cage contains the coffee, and then you just thoroughly clean it out with a brush and hot soapy water.

Here you go, Barkoff. How To Use A Stovetop Percolator

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vkKHMiiErrk[/video]

It's always been hot dirty water to me.

53, just never acquired a taste for coffee. My father liked coffee but he was limited to the coffee shops. My mother, she never drank coffee either. My exposure to coffee making was when I was young, watching gramps use a percolator on top of the Coleman.

My daughter all drink coffee, and my wife does a little, I figure that will give me the chance to carry on tradition...still have gramp's old Coleman and pot also.

One of those has been sitting on my parents stove top since I can remember.


My dad makes his decaf(heart condition) on a drip maker but my mom still uses the perc.

Our fancy POS Cruisenshart quit working the other day, $100 junk.

Do none of you guys make coffee at camp? To be honest (and not to be rude) I find it strange some folks don't know how to use a percolator. It's ridicously easy, like some have stated above.

I've got 3, and sometimes make my daily morning coffee in one even when at home. I like to keep it warm by putting it on the wood stove.

My mom got me hooked on coffee when I was a little kid. She'd let me take a sip of hers. When I started sipping about half of it, she started making me my own cup of coffee every morning. School was rough because, by the time I got home from school, I needed my second coffee fix, and felt like a zombie till I got it.

I still remember waking up to the percolator on the coleman or open fire when I was a kid on my first few hunting trips.

Even though I don't drink coffee any more, (medical condition) I still make coffee every morning in camp because everyone else loves coffee in the morning and I love the smell of fresh brewed coffee.

I got tired of breaking the little glass bulbs on the lid of the percolators, and I got a Coleman drip coffeemaker from a friend for Christmas a couple years ago, so now I make drip coffee in camp. IMHO, the drip coffee maker makes better coffee because it is ground finer, but the percolator made better memories. And my dad used to make some coffee that would wake up the dead on some of those hunting trips......

Bob

Fixed.

That's "grounds" for divorce!

Will someone explain why percolated coffee has to use courser ground coffee than a drip coffee maker? I just buy the preground Eight O'clock coffee for my electric percolator and it tastes fine. I assume it's ground for a drip coffee maker. Would my coffee improve if I used a courser grind in my percolator? Why?

AH!! Coffe at camp, the old perc is the easy way out , but good, still make it in the pot over the fire, realy the only difference is adding egg shells to the grounds while the water boils

Took me a few years to learn this.

I now understand.

+ 1 more scoop for the pot!

Revereware...quality coffee pot. I have an old drip version of that.

I was going to say...

4-5 tablespoons for 5 minutes would be like drinking tea.

I'd go 10 minutes on the perk.

Maybe more porous, allowing more water to pass through all the coarse grounds as opposed to a limited area in the fine grinds?

So you don't need the paper filters that drip uses.

Coarser ground coffee won't go through the holes in the percolator.

Finer ground coffee releases more flavor (more surface area)

Any extractive metallurgist could tell you that.

Sycamore

Miserable percolater jingle - had it stuck for my entire life.

From me, to you.

Since I don't have a problem with grounds getting into my coffee, I guess what I use is OK.

Do they even make those anymore

Ahhhhhhhhhh, the good ol' days.

Not likely of the quality of Barkoff's.

Providing the water passes through all the grinds, and not just the center 50%.

In addition to fine coffee, you can make another hot drink......will have to find the recipe, I guess..it had pineapple juice cranberry juice, brown sugar and a cinnamon stick in the basket with maybe a clove......good stuff.

Always had a peculator at deer camp either sitting on the wood stove, or the converted propane stove.

That sounds like something you could put a little kick to.

Yep, you could.....I am looking....if'n no luck tonight I will for sure have it in a couple of days...

Get yurself a Bull Duram bag Bark, and boil yurself up some real coffee

Wouldn't that be considered a tea?

I reckon iff'n ya put tea in the bag you'd get tea

That's the only style of coffee pot I ever remember seeing my mother use at home until I was well into my teen years when she finally got an electric percolator.

My wife collects old tin, pewter and aluminum ware of all kinds and I just now counted seven different size and shapes of the old stove top percolator style coffee pots she has sitting out on display right now. Knowing her she likely has a few more stashed around somewhere.

My maternal grandmother served three types of coffee for every meal. Her oldest son drank only perk coffee, grandma drank straight boiled "cowboy coffee" only. Her youngest son was allowed to drink only instant decaf after having part of his of stomach removed because of bleeding ulcers. She kept a third pot of plain boiling hot water on her old wood burning cook stove just for his instant coffee.

I thought it may be Revere with the copper bottom.

Sounds like you started out like me almost 50 years ago, my Dad always asked if I wanted some coffee with my milk and sugar.

Your gram sounds like both of mine! There always seemed to be coffee on the stove.

It is a Revere Ware with a copper bottom, pre-1968.

Yep, night or day, always some coffee and down to earth, common folk conversation at grandma's table.

Don't know if it was just a southern thing or not but I remember a lot of the old timers used to pour a little hot strong coffee in a saucer then sop it up with a biscuit. Come to think of it most of the old timers back in those days didn't have very many teeth left, either.

I'm sorry, (truly, no flames meant here) but I had to laugh my azz off at this post.. It's apparent that you're young enough to not remember these wonderful old coffeepots that have been used literally for decades.. This style was all we had from the time I first remember it on the stove (circa '53) until we finally quit using them in the mid-'80s..

Measured coffee grounds go in basket, fill pot with cold water until just under the basket level, place on heat and boil (perk) for enough time (usually estimated) to give the user a brew dark enough to taste..

Some families even put timers on to make a more even perk..


I just found it amusing this am - considering the age of many of us here vs. those of a younger generation who were born late enough to not have the experience of a stove-brew pot of coffee.


In reverse, it's like us geezers tryin' to survive in a techno-world that the youngsters take for granted...

I used to live in Onieda NY... (Griffiss AFB)

Well Rome NY where the revere wear outlet was.

Wonder if it's still there

Thanks for the memories! Did not drink coffee when I was a kid but when it was done, it meant the biscuits, gravy, homemade jam, etc.. was ready too! This post really put a smile on my face thinking about it.

I keep an old perculator around just for when the lights go out. All the fancy pants coffee makes don't work but my old perc will make coffee either on the gas stove or in the fireplace.

Then I can sit in the light of a kerosene lantern and drink coffee.