Reconsidering the Percolator: Lost American Technologies

[JCMach1]

Percolators were a fixture in American households once home consumer versions became available towards the beginning of the 20th century. Here is an interesting link that gives a bit more of the history. By the time I was a kid in the 1970′s they were in every kitchen and the taste of American coffee was the taste of the percolator.

But, go into a kitchen today and you would be hard pressed to find a percolator. Even among coffee aficionados, you might find any number of exotic appliances for making coffee, but rarely a percolator.

What happened?... http://rationalista.com/2013/07/08/reconsidering-the-percolator-lost-american-technologies/

Just a short little article I wrote about re-discovering the joys of a percolator.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I remember them well.

The problem with percolators is that they make terrible coffee.

[hlthe2b]

3. They did tend to burn the coffee, but I do remember them well...

My grandmother always had hers going....

[JCMach1]

4. one of the reasons people moved away from them... you had to pay attention

Drip coffee makers= plug and play...

[Little Star]

2. I like perked coffee better than drip.....

I also get a warm fuzzy feeling listening to it perk.

[Curmudgeoness]

5. I suppose that the convenience of drip models

is what did in the percolator. I used one for years after drip models became popular, and I still say that they made better coffee. But you have to be more vigilant. When it is done perking, you have to remove the grounds container, and it is hot so removal isn't easy. Also, you usually had some grounds or sludge at the very bottom of the pot, and it would make the coffee get too strong if you didn't drink the coffee soon after it was done. But boiling water in a percolator tastes better if it is fresh.

If you decide to go back to perking, I found that putting the coffee into a carafe instead of leaving it in the percolator helped to keep the coffee tasty.

[JCMach1]

7. Pyrex Percolator seems to eliminate some of those problems...

A side benefit is that it also makes excellent tea. The pyrex leaves none of the coffee flavor once it goes through the dishwasher...

[northoftheborder]

6. Percolator coffee: makes me shudder just remembering it's taste

That's probably why I didn't start drinking coffee until I was in my late 30's, and drip coffee makers were available. I never liked instant coffee either.