That's the Aeropress coffee device that I've recommended many times, but what's going on with the cast-iron tomato pot, which is quite heavy, but, he assures me, balanced? He's making it "automatic." That is, instead of pushing the plunger slowly by hand, the steady weight of the pot does the work.
Here's the Aeropress at Amazon, if you want one. As for the tomato pot, I don't think they make them anymore, but I found a pumpkin one that's the same brand. There's a tiny tomato one.
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A cup a cup a cup a cup a cup.
I bought this but could not get good coffee - my fault must be. I then got the Keurig with Starbucks. That is not good either. I just cannot get good coffee, unless I actually go to Starbucks. Then half the time, the coffee is not fresh or hot. I love fresh and hot coffee. I just cannot find a way to get this. Any recommendations.
NB: It was Bond who started this: I like my coffee black, "very black." Bond started us to think of what we wanted, before we had it.
I love the tomato pot.
We had our daughter's wedding @ a "Persian"[Iranian] restaurant a couple weeks ago. The food was great, but the coffee was incredible. Like nothing myself, or anyone else had ever tasted.
What are the odds of a disaster there?
If it were me, > 90% for sure.
this seems perfectly logical.
The problem with the Aeropress is that it's not good at making crema.
If that that pot is round inside then it's perfect or NYT style no-knead bread. Mark Bittman YouTube video.
For some reason on this and other mirrors, they omit a resting period or some 10 minutes after folding and before inserting into oven which is quite dramatic because it's super hot.
KB, if you want more/better crema on your AeroPress coffee, you need to get a metal disk filter (mine's from Coava). The paper filter was mandated by the designer of the AP as a way of eliminating (supposedly unhealthy) oils in coffee. And, you need oil to get crema.
I retired my AeroPress and decided not to drink that awful stuff anymore.
It interferes with my one superpower of minty fresh breath and appealingly kissable mouth.
You too are cursed with electrical outlets with the ground on the top.
That follows the code but is backwards for every device you'd want to plug in.
Every energy meter is upside-down, every surge protector hangs upwards.
I like store brand instant decaf, with a little store brand instant caf added to prevent sleep.
The important gourmet addition is microwave-heated water.
I'd avoid the pot idea on shipboard.
Aeropress is bleh. I haven't touched mine in months.
Give me the Clever dripper or a pourover any day of the week. Superior brewing methods make for a superior cup of coffee.
I'm interested in your tins.
Off the top of my head, the 8 spices I used most are
allspice
cinnamon
corriander
cumin
chile flakes
oregano (Mexican)
sage
turmeric
Although I just used a pile of dry thyme.
I also like both garlic and ginger powder but only for little things and emergencies when fresh isn't around which is almost never.
And my new favorite thing is fennel
and the other new favorite thing is clove
And that other one like fennel that starts with C. I noticed most spices start with C
Caraway. This jar never gets opened. Worse than fennel, stronger and harsher. I think. It's the flavor put in rye bread. But I never make that stuff so I'm not sure. Who knows? Maybe it'll become favorite.
Cardamom is weird. They're pods with tiny black seeds. The tiny seeds are POWERFUL licorice but the husks are dull, they grind the whole pod without picking out the seeds, so dulled, and then the power of the licorice cooks out anyway. So it's hardly worth picking out those tiny seeds has been my experience. I find cardamom disappointing. But who know? Maybe that'll become favorite.
Instructions for AeroPress, and the video demonstration both say give it a few seconds and shove it through. And use a lot of grind. More than you normally do. The AeroPress consistently produces the best coffee I ever tasted. Much better than Starbucks, in fact Starbucks brand was the worst brand I pushed through the Aeropress. It made bad coffee like Starbucks taste okay for me, but you must follow instructions as the geeks who devised it describe.
Ideal temperature for coffee to brew 170℉
Drip is too slow. Perk is too thorough, according to the geeks who devised the thing. But I never do that anymore for I have grown beyond the human need for coffee. Yes, there are substances much more invigorating and satisfying for those existing at higher higher moral and ethical level, like Ovaltine. Which, surprisingly, is not oval.
America's Politico: Your problem is probably the water. Use bottled water and your coffee will be good. I bought the Aero Press at Althouse's suggestion several months ago, and I look forward to every morning now.
Chip Ahoy,
That pot is tolerably round inside, but is probably too small for the NYT no-knead bread project, which calls for a six-quart Dutch oven.
(I know because I have one of those. I bought it many years ago as a gift for my father-in-law, an avid tomato grower, and sadly inherited it back after first he and then my mother-in-law died. I have never used it. And Ann is being coy about the maker; it's Le Creuset.)
Cook's Illustrated did a refinement of the "no-knead bread" a few years ago. I can't lay my hands on the issue it was in, but it's in The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook as well. The refinements include a little lager, a little white vinegar, and a very little quasi-kneading.
As for the AeroPress, I've found that it makes terrific coffee, and yet I don't actually use it much; we use a French press most of the time. It's an extremely handy thing to have when you just want one cup of good coffee, and you have a microwave and little else.
I suggest one of these. Aeropress isn't mentioned among the applications but I sure it can be adapted.
Chip Ahoy,
allspice
cinnamon
coriander
cumin
chile flakes
oregano (Mexican)
sage
turmeric
Hmmm. I don't use allspice at all. Coriander and cumin and turmeric I can't do without now. I don't keep chili flakes, just whole dried chilies and a couple of different chili powders (Kashmiri, which is mildish -- somewhere between paprika and cayenne -- and then proper hot red chili powder). Oregano, absolutely. Sage -- well, I have "rubbed" sage in the spice rack, because if you're making spice rubs you need the dry stuff, but mostly when I want sage I go out and pick some. Ditto mint and basil, two other things I can't do without.
Caraway is delicious in baked apples. It's a late-Medieval idea.
Allspice goes beautifully with pork. You can also put a few allspice berries in a peppermill along with the usual black peppercorns and it gives the grind a warm accent flavor.
Nutmeg is indispensable. Just a speck, not enough that people can identify it, transforms savory foods like spinach, cooked mushrooms, bechamel-based sauces. Buy whole nutmegs, not pre-ground.
Some herbs are almost useless when dried: tarragon, dill, basil, parsley... if you can't get them fresh, it's hardly worth bothering.
Might want to adjust the grind just a tad coarser if pushing is that much of a chore as to make schlepping that big ugly hunk of cast iron around worth it....
I saw that picture and wondered how is that heavy Le Creuset casserole pot being balanced like that, at first glance it looks like a photoshop/fake picture. These casserole pots heat very evenly, for both stove top and oven and now as demonstrated here also make a great cup of coffee.
The patriarch of the Iranian family who owns the restaurant told me much of the great taste was secret. He did say he uses cardomom in it.
I expected to like tarragon, but it makes me feel slightly nauseous.
What do we think of the Keurig coffee system?
I love my Le Creusets, got one for Christmas one year and bought myself a couple more. I love that it goes in the oven and on stovetop. I've baked bread in the Dutch oven back when I was eating wheat bread, started out with the lid on in a preheated pot in a very hot oven then ended up baking to completion with the lid off, made the best crackly crust sourdough bread.
Seems like a lot of trouble to go through to get a cup of coffee.
I was under the impression that Meade was going to Obamastock on the UW campus. I thought we would have pictures, and impressions.
Did I miss the Obamastock update??
That is either a coffee enema or a coffee sex toy. I'm not sure which, but pretty disgusted either way.
This sort of thing is fine if what you like is the coffee-making ritual, and you enjoy the fussing and puttering and clean-up.
If you just want a single serving of good coffee on demand with a minimum of cleanup or inconvenience, Keurig K-cups are the way to go.
What do we think of the Keurig coffee system?
We don't think of the Keurig coffee system.
The Keurig machine is better than Maxwell House that has been sitting in a Bunn coffee maker for 5 hours, but that's like saying that a broken finger is less painful than a broken arm.
The Keurig stuff is an instant-coffee blend and invariably tastes like plastic.
Why not just crush a caffeine tablet up in a cup of diluted Gravy Master?
Beldar, Palladian thinks we're declasse :(
@Chip the spices in the little metal tins are these. The metal box it comes in is nice (and I use it elsewhere in the house.
"This sort of thing is fine if what you like is the coffee-making ritual, and you enjoy the fussing and puttering and clean-up."
It's not hard to clean.
"If you just want a single serving of good coffee on demand with a minimum of cleanup or inconvenience, Keurig K-cups are the way to go."
I think of that as being something for offices. The actual coffee in those things isn't good enough. The Aeropress makes better coffee than the cafés around here, and walking over to a café is kind of a lot of trouble.
I have a vintage ceramic Drip-O-Later coffee pot, it actually makes decent coffee, but if making a full pot gets cold too quickly. I suppose a tea cozy might work to keep it warm, or serve to several people immedialtly.
Porcelier Drip O Later coffee maker, 1930-1950's
Found the same one I have.
Should be Drip O Lator, not Drip O Later.
Chip Ahoy,
allspice
cinnamon
coriander
cumin
chile flakes
oregano (Mexican)
sage
turmeric
while we are on kitchen spices, mine tend to me those spices and Mediterranean/Asian stuff - paprika, orange flower water, korean soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, pomegranate vinegar, saffron.
I'm too poor to travel, so I bring the world to my kitchen. My hubby to be is my guinea pig for all the new discoveries. ;)
Inga said
I love my Le Creusets, got one for Christmas one year and bought myself a couple more.
I'm jealous...the cost of one of their dutch ovens is the same as my car payment :P And I'm the Williams Sonoma shopper in the house
Don't you enjoy having a man around the house?
They're just so ... different.
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