Coffee Brewing Equipment
Drip Brewer:
The drip brewer is the most common type of
brewing equipment available today. They come in a large
variety of sizes and shapes and from a design stand point can brew coffee
correctly as long as they meet the requirements necessary for properly
brewing coffee.
There are a few things to look for when purchasing a drip brewer.
- The spray head must
completely and evenly wet the ground coffee.
- The heated water should be
between 195 to 205 degrees F.
- The brew basket should be
large enough to hold the proper amount of coffee
For most people the price of a commercial
coffee brewer is out of the question. The most common home
brewer is the pour over type drip brewer. When selecting a
drip brewer make sure there is a spray head delivering water to the brew basket
so that complete and even extraction of the coffee occurs. Be
aware that some models do not heat the water hot enough to properly brew coffee.
While this will not produce an unacceptable cup it will not fully extract
all the desirable flavoring from the coffee and may require using more coffee to
reach the proper strength. Also some of these brewers will
not hold enough ground coffee in the brew basket to adhere to the proper
coffee to water ratio and the brew
basket overflows.
French Press:
The French Press offers the most control of the
brewing process. Almost any volume of coffee can be brewed up
to the full volume of the press. Any length of brew time can
be used and water at any temperature can be added. From a
brewing coffee point of view the only
coffee brewing variable that may have a limitation is the size of the ground
particle size. The plunger filter or strainer design may
require that the particle size be large enough to prevent any from getting by
and ending up in the finished drink. In the case where wire mesh strainers are
used the flavor of the coffee can actually be enhanced due to the fact that some
of the larger flavoring compounds are not removed and these add to the body and
flavor of the cup
Vacuum Pot:
The vacuum pot is an interesting method of
brewing coffee and is also fun to watch. This method of
brewing is relying on the properties of water and water vapor to perform the
brewing process. The original version looks like some sort of
chemistry experiment with a bottom globe or pot for the cold water, an upper
globe that contains the brew basket and a tube that connects the two.
The top filter tube assembly is installed into the bottom globe with a
cork like fitting so that there is an air tight fit. The
water is brought to a boil and in the process the water is forced up into the
ground coffee similar to a percolator. After the water has
been moved to the top the bottom chamber is allowed to cool and the remaining
water vapor sucks the heated water through the ground coffee back into the
bottom as it cools. The vacuum pot does have some drawbacks
with regard to controlling the parameters for properly
brewing coffee but a well designed
vacuum pot in the hands of a skilled operator can brew good coffee.
Percolator:
The percolator may bring back memories of the
coffee commercials of the 1960's for some people but this apparatus is no longer
a preferred method of brewing coffee in the home. But when it
comes to commercial brewers they are still in wide use. The
draw back to this type of coffee brewer is that during the brewing cycle first
only heated water is passed through the ground coffee bed but in short order
both brewed coffee and water are passed through. In the
process the brewed coffee is reheated over and over as it re-circulates through
the heated surface causing the percolation and a breakdown of the flavoring
compounds occur. This produces bitterness in the final brew.
The brew time is also set by the amount of water initially put in the pot
and the wattage of the heating element. Since the wattage is
fixed for a given percolator the larger the volume of water the longer the
brew time. Generally
percolating coffee results in over extracted bitter coffee.
Urn:
The urn is not much more that a large
percolator. The main advantage of the urn is the ability to
brew a large amount of coffee in one container right where the coffee is to be
served and dispensed through a spigot into the cup. The
trade-off for this convenience is the inevitable over extraction of the brewed
coffee. The brew times can be as long as 30 minutes and even
the coarsest ground coffee will suffer from over-extraction and end up bitter.
Espresso Machine:
Espresso brewing is not at all the same process as brewing coffee by any
stretch of the imagination. Espresso is a highly concentrated
brew containing both extracted coffee and a lighter emulsion of extracted
coffee, oils and tiny bubbles of aroma mixed together floating on top called
crema. The brewing process requires the forcing of high
pressure heated water through a bed of very finely ground coffee packed into a
small filter. The extraction process occurs in approximately
25 second. The single shot espresso is about .3/4 ounce of
liquid containing about five times the flavoring compounds that a 1 ounce cup of
regular coffee would contain. The coffee used in the espresso
drink is usually a combination of darkly roasted coffees specifically blended to
achieve a flavor profile and head of crema unique to espresso.
The espresso machine is a highly specialized machine containing a boiler
to produce steam for steaming milk and a pump and heat exchanger needed to
produce the 195 degree water at 130 psi. Because of their
cost most espresso machines are found only in coffee houses and restaurants.
Don't think that purchasing espresso appliances at the department store
will produce espresso like you receive from the barista at the local coffee
shop, you will be disappointed.
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