Best Coffee Maker On Grid or Off?

As appliances in our home have "bit the dust" (that's southern talk for died... kicked the bucket... no longer working), I've looked for alternative replacements that are truly "simple machines", needing little in terms of fossil fuels. So when the expensive drip maker started giving us trouble many months ago, I pulled out a French Press I had stored away and used that for my morning brew.

My husband, not so eager to let go of his electronic gadget (he adores technology), continued to use the drip maker by pouring water in the basket over the grounds every time he wanted a cup. Since this contraption had a spring release in the bottom of the basket in order to stop the dripping when you pulled out the carafe, the process took some time. Let's just say... it wasn't very efficient. And it never seemed clean to me. And it took up a lot of space on the counter. And it was ugly. And... 

Okay... I confess I didn't like it.

For the most part, I was okay with the French Press. It made a decent cup of coffee, but it always seemed slightly bitter. Not my favorite flavoring, but REALLY not my husband's favorite! We needed something we both liked. Something efficient, clean, and non-electric.

Enter the Chemex.

Now I know you've probably seen one of these. I even remember my dad using one when I was a kid (he'd make coffee with anything, IN anything!). They've been around a long time; 1941 to be exact. And it is totally S.I.M.P.L.E. Even more simple than the French Press.

But that's not the only reason I like it so much. The coffee isn't bitter at all! With the French Press, the grounds sit in the water and continue to do so (which is why I think it takes on a bitter taste). However, with the Chemex, the water passes over the grounds, just like in a drip maker, but instead of using an electric pump to get the water over the grounds, it uses gentle muscle action combined with gravity.

That's right... you lift your arm and pour the water over the grounds and gravity pulls the water through the filter into the bottom of the carafe. It takes just a minute and it's basically a no fail method as long as you have a heat source for a water kettle.

Here's a little brewing tip from Chemex... pour just enough hot water over the grounds to wet them through and allow them to "bloom". When the little bit of water you poured over them has drained out, you know to go ahead and pour the rest of the water over the bloomed grounds.

 

The little "belly button" on the side is an indicator of 

how many cups of water are at that mark 

(ie: for a 6 cup pot, the belly button denotes 3 cups). 

One of the biggest drawbacks for me with the French Press was the fact that I had no way to keep the coffee hot once the water was poured over the grounds. With the Chemex, you have two alternatives that seems to work... a simmer plate on a gas stove or a stainless steel wire grid for an electric stove. The manufacturer does not recommend placing the Chemex directly on an electric stove, nor over an open flame, but with a simmer plate or wire grid, it works great! Just be sure there's some coffee in it!

Glass lid sold separately.

We'd had our pot almost a month when someone left only a couple of tablespoons of coffee in the carafe on the simmer plate. I came in MUCH later, only to find dried up crusty coffee all over the bottom. Seriously, I thought it was totally ruined. I allowed the pot to cool completely and then I rinsed the inside with water... almost every single bit of it washed right out! The remaining bit came out with some soap and a bottle brush. Whew! A piece of cake (although I do NOT recommend this!).

The bottom of the Chemex resembles a glass beaker, like you'd find in a laboratory, while the top also hails from the chemist's lab: a glass funnel. Combined into one continuous piece, the Chemex has very little to clean.

My hand can't fit down inside, but by using another simple tool, the bottle brush, I can easily and quickly make a pass through the inside with a bit of soap and water... and clean up is complete! However, I do prefer to remove the wood collar most of the time so as to prolong the finish. I thought this would be hard to take off and on, but it's been much easier and quicker than I anticipated. In the end, I have a spotlessly clean coffee maker every single time.



Finally, there is the cost issue. Many electric coffee pots range from $50 - 150. And unfortunately, their lifetime is only about 2 - 3 years... at least in our home. The cost of electricity is also added to raise the bottom line of these devices.

With the Chemex, you can expect to pay $35 to less than $50, unless you select a handblown model (mine is a Classic 6 cup pot). And, you only have to heat the water once (again, this is unless you use the simmer plate to keep it warm, but it's always an option to just enjoy your coffee immediately after brewing). Certainly the glass could break, but the replacement cost is so much less than an electric pot! And with almost every drip maker, there's a glass carafe anyway. Have you ever tried to replace that? A new one is at least half the price of a Chemex.

In the spirit of full disclosure, you should know Chemex sent me their product to try at my request. Without a doubt, I'm sold! I can not reasonably see why I will ever go back to an electric drip maker when I can have the same thing, only better, for less money and save some extra bucks in electricity costs. With all the electric coffee pots I've purchased over the years, I just scratch my head and wander why I didn't figure this out sooner?

Cutting the Grid Apron Strings, One Appliance at a Time...

I've been thinking a lot about reducing our electric and natural gas bills as of late. Who hasn't? It's a crazy world out there and prices keep rising, not to mention the fact that as a culture in general, we're very vulnerable in the area of electricity and fossil fuel dependency.

Photo Credit

Our goal or focus as a family has been to 1) reduce our utility bills and 2) to become less dependent on utility companies in general. Living "off grid" meant either going with solar or wind power and producing our own energy. There really wasn't any other alternative in our minds.

But after reading a few blogs, conversing with Brenda of Freedom Acres Farm, and then reading Michael Bunker's book, Surviving Off Off-Grid, I've learned a lot over the last month and it's changed my mind a bit about our choices.

Going on solar power or wind power should only be seen as an intermediate step because you're only trading one dependency for another. This isn't to say you shouldn't use solar power, wind power, or some other alternative power source, but it isn't the grand solution to end all issues. Seeing solar as a way to ease into a life of less dependency is a more realistic option. And before one can even consider an alternative power source, you've got to cut back on your current dependency. Brenda really helped me see the need for this (thanks, Brenda!).

Now if I were to suddenly go through my house and trash every electrical appliance or gadget, I'd certainly have a mutiny on my hands, quick as a wink! And I won't attempt to list all our energy dependent appliances, but what I'm trying to do is cut the apron strings to the grid one appliance at a time. Let me give you an example...

This has been our coffee pot for the last several years. It's usually used on a daily basis, heating the coffee for about 2 hours before the hot plate shuts off unless we think about it and turn it off manually (not often). We like it a lot except that it stopped working the other day despite my regular cleanings and maintenance. Normally, we would have immediately gone out and purchased something similar, but this time, I talked with my husband about considering alternatives.

One option that we already had in the back of a cabinet is a French Press. I purchased this a couple of years ago when we were traveling, attending a retreat, and I needed my own low-acid coffee. It's a straightforward alternative in which you place the grounds inside the bottom, pour boiling water over them, stir, let steep for a minute, and then gently press the plunger down over the grounds. You can then pour your coffee. The French Press is easy to clean and simple to operate.

The drawback to the French Press is that it can't go directly onto a heat source (at least mine can't), the glass could easily break, and it doesn't keep the coffee hot. Think of this as an immediate coffee maker in which the coffee should be consumed as soon as it's brewed. Mine will make about 3-4 regular cups, so it's fine if you have a small group. However, if you want another cup, you'd need to start over.

A second alternative was an old fashion percolator; my husband's preference. We purchased this stainless steel model at an army surplus store before our camping trip to the coast. Another uncomplicated device, which holds coffee grounds in a basket containing small holes, while pumping heated water up a tube into the basket, allowing the water to wash over the grounds and then drain through the holes back into the pot. The cycle repeats itself until it's brewed to your preference. Since the holes in the basket are small, large grounds don't come through, but smaller grounds do. Some opt to use a paper filter inside the basket to prevent this.

The percolator can go directly on the heat source, keeps the coffee hotter, and can serve more people. Plus, you don't need to start over for that second cup.

Now both of these alternatives require an initial purchase, both of which probably required some kind of fossil fuels to fabricate and deliver. But neither require an on going fuel source other than the simple heating of water, either in the pot itself or another receptacle. An open flame from a campfire would do the job.  Neither of these options would I leave on for 2 HOURS to brew. I'm actually hoping to try the percolator on my wood stove this winter to see if it will get hot enough to actually work. If so, that's a heat source I'm already using, but I would be using it for more than one purpose.

Both options brew coffee differently than a drip coffee maker and thus both cause the coffee to taste a bit different. I don't know how to suggest testing this to see which is to your liking other than asking around to see if a friend has one of these to borrow. There will always be those who insist one is preferable over another. Let me just say, we're foodies to a certain degree, and a good cup of coffee is to be relished, but the truth be told, in time, you'll adjust to whatever you have - a probably like it.

One thing to consider if you are opting for the French Press... get a thermos. The kind that they use in coffee shops. Fortunately, I already had one and this did not require a new purchase (see mine in the photo). I can't tell you the number of times I've used this thing! Well worth the purchase price, I can assure you! In the winter, I use it for my hot beverage bar if I'm not using my electric tea kettle (which I'm reconsidering now!). Just heat one large batch of water each morning, pour it in the thermos, and you have hot water all day long. Instead of using electricity several times a day, you're only using it once a day, unless of course, you decide to heat your water on the wood stove!

Now you might be thinking that this little change isn't much and so why bother? What's the difference in a little ol' coffee pot? It's a small change indeed. But little things add up over time. Imagine changing 12 of your appliances over the course of a year? One per month? That would start to make an impact, now wouldn't it. Maybe not in terms of the world, but in your own immediate world, it certainly would! And if you're considering solar power, you're more than likely going to need to reduce your electrical usage if you want to go off grid anyway.

If we were to install solar realistically (and believe me, we've looked into it with 3 different companies), we could only generate 60% of what we are currently using. We'd still need to purchase the additional 40% of electricity - ON A GOOD DAY! That means, to be totally off-grid, we'd need to reduce our energy consumption by 40-50% before the solar was ever installed. Puts things into perspective a bit more, doesn't it?

Ryobi Power Usage Meter

A power meter will help give you an idea of how much each appliance is using in terms of kilowatt hours and how much that's costing you as well. We purchased ours, but I understand some local libraries will allow you to check these out if they have them. A quick google search showed me several right off the top. Once again, you may feel that your appliance isn't using that much electricity, so why bother. But a drop on the bucket adds up!

Obviously, each person will have that one appliance they just don't want to give up and they'd rather pay to use it. This is exactly why we should be allowed to govern our own lives and not have the government tell us what we can and cannot use. What's important to me, may not be important to you and visa versa.  But it's good to know there are alternatives, what they are, how to use them, and if possible, obtain them as a back up. Just in case.

What appliances have you cut off from the grid and what did you replace it with? Sharing ideas is what helps each of us think outside the box!

Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS