Category: Coffee Recipes

How a Coffee Maker Works

We all wake up in the morning and depend on our old friend to start our day – the coffee maker. The only effort we have to put in when wanting to enjoy a mug of coffee is to add a scoop of coffee, add the required amount of water and turn the machine on. We stand back and wait for our coffee to be ready before we can enjoy it. Think about it, have you ever stood there and tried to understand how the water gets from the compartment to the top of the machine? Have you ever wondered what that gurgling sound was? Here is what goes on inside.

If you open the top of the coffee machine, you will find the bucket that holds the water when you pour it in before the cycle starts. If you look inside, you will find a hole in the bucket’s bottom, and this will become clear to you very soon. You also see a tube, and the purpose of this tube is to carry the water to the area where it drips out. The drip area is the part you see from the top that contains all the tiny holes. This is where the water arrives from the tube and then simply drips through the tiny holes.

If you turn the bucket upside down, you will see another tube and this is called the hot-water tube. This tube (tube2) connects to the black tube (tube1) that you see when looking at it from the top. Remember the hole in the bottom of the bucket mentioned earlier? Well, this is where tube2 picks up the cold water – from that hole. Also visible inside are the power cord and the on and off switch of the machine.

Next is the heating element. This little part is what makes the water hot. The heating element is just a simple coiled wire. This is similar to filament in your standard light bulb or the element in your every morning toaster. The coil in the coffee maker is held firmly in plaster, and this makes it rugged. This element has two jobs.

* The heating element (or the coil) boils the water when it is put in the coffee maker.
* The element makes sure the coffee stays warm once the cycle is complete.

The heating element inside the coffee machine is pressed firmly against the warming plate. A heat conducting grease ensures that heat is transferred competently to the warming plate. The conducting grease is messy and is extremely difficult to get off yours hands. This grease can be found in power supplies, amplifiers – basically anything that squanders heat.

There is a part that’s not visible in a coffee maker and this is the one-way valve. This valve can either be in that hole that was mentioned earlier or it could be in the heating pipe, and this pipe is aluminum. If a coffee maker had no one-way valve, the hot water would just flow back into the bucket after trying to make its way up the tube.

The History of Coffee Makers

Coffee has been used as a drink for well over 2000 years. The first methods of brewing coffee were pretty crude but they have advanced greatly over the centuries. People used to just chew the cherry that came off the coffee tree to get a stimulant effect. Inside the cherry was the coffee bean. Over time with experimentation, people started to roast and then grind the beans for better flavor.

As early as the the late 1700s, coffee makers began showing up. This made it easy for people to brew coffee and not worry about getting grounds in their cup. This was expensive and not many people had them. The basic design is similar to coffee pots of today. There was a pot on the bottom with a place to put your ground coffee on the top. This was connected to a chamber on top where you poured in your boiling water.

People tried many different types of coffee maker throughout the years since then. There have been percolators, vacuum coffee makers, and drip coffee makers. Percolators use a pot over a heat source that forces the water into an upper chamber where the coffee grounds are. The water drips through the coffee and back into the lower pot. You know it is ready when it stops making percolating noises which are easy to hear. Then you remove it from heat before it boils. Vacuum coffee makers use what looks like two pots, one upside down on the other. As it is heated, the pressure forces hot water up into the top chamber where it infuses with the ground coffee. When you remove it from heat, the pressure is reversed and the coffee goes back to the lower pot ready to drink. Drip coffee makers are the kind we are all used to. Whether automatic or manual they work by dumping hot water over coffee grounds that sit in a filter. It strains through into a pot and is ready to drink.

With the advent of electricity, coffee makers became very popular and a little cheaper. In the early 1900s coffee makers really started to boom and by the 1970s almost everyone had a coffee maker in their home. These were usually of the automatic drip variety as they were the easiest to use. Todays coffee makers have many features. They have timers that allow you to specify when you want your coffee maker to turn on, have built in grinders, storage areas, and much more. You can buy home espresso and cappuccino machines also. Coffee makers today range from the single cup variety to commercial units that make gallons at a time so no matter what your need, you can usually find it.

As more and more people start to enjoy different kinds of coffee, coffee makers become easier to use and offer more features. Many combine espresso, cappuccino, and coffee all in one machine but it is rather bulky still. Look for these to shrink in the near future.

Electric Coffee Makers

There are many types of coffee maker available on the market today. When most people think of a coffee maker, they think of an electric coffee maker. This means the coffee maker is plugged into an outlet and is powered with electricity. This is the most common way to power your coffee maker because of its simplicity. You just plug it in, add water and coffee, and push start. This is much easier than the older vacuum and stove top coffee makers from years past.

It can be hard to imagine not using an electric coffee maker. Many of us have grown up with them not knowing how hard it was to make coffee long ago. It used to take a lot of time to stand there by the stove and watch your coffee brew and make sure everything was going right. Lucky for us, we just have to push start and wait. The electricity heats the heating element which is in the water container. The water is heated to a specified temperature and then by gravity or a pump pushes the water over the ground coffee. The result is a nice, easy cup of coffee. This has a great advantage over stove top coffee makers as you don’t have to worry about your coffee being too cold or so hot it takes the skin off of your tongue. Electric coffee makers don’t use a ton of electricity so you won’t even notice a change in your utility bills.

Electric coffee makers come in many different varieties. There is everything from a single cup coffee maker to a restaurant grade coffee maker that produces gallons at a time. By using electricity to heat the water, you are guaranteed the same temperature coffee every single time. Electric coffee makers also allow you to set a time for coffee to be brewed. This is handy for those of us on a tight schedule and don’t want to waste time messing with the coffee maker in the morning. Simply set it up the night before and it will start your coffee before you even wake up.

Expensive models come with all sorts of special features. There are some that only brew one cup at a time but use special pods of high quality coffee and might even top them off with foam. Other models can have built in grinders, a storage area for extra coffee and water, or be combination machines that make espresso and cappuccino as well as normal coffee. You have so many options available, you really need to choose the coffee maker that is right for you. If you have a lot of coffee drinkers in your home, you might pick a large one. If you live alone, a single cup maker might be perfect.

You can find electric coffee makers pretty much everywhere. Every store that carries a coffee maker will have 99% electric coffee makers. Occasionally they will have some that don’t use electricity, but these are either for professional coffee makers or campers.

Discount Coffee Makers

Some coffee makers can be pretty expensive depending on the brand name and what features it has. There are many models that cost over $200.00 and don’t seem to do much more than a normal coffee maker. If you are on a budget or just like to live frugally, you might consider a discount coffee maker. A discount coffee maker usually doesn’t have many bells and whistles but for someone who just wants a regular cup of coffee, could be a very cheap option.

Discount coffee makers are usually of the automatic drip variety. You pour your water in, add a coffee filter, then dump in some ground coffee. All that’s left to do is turn it on and walk away. Discount coffee makers sometimes come with a timer but sometimes not. A discount coffee maker won’t make you espresso or cappuccino and usually have little or no options when it comes to changing the flavor or strength of your coffee. The only way to change the taste is to put in more or less ground coffee.

Just because you decide to buy a discount coffee maker doesn’t mean you can’t have a good cup of coffee however. If you go to your supermarket, there is usually an aisle dedicated to coffee. In this aisle, you can find all types of different coffee flavors that might appeal to you. Sometimes they will have a large machine where you can pick the type of coffee you want and have it ground to your specifications. By using this fresh ground coffee, it can make even a discount coffee maker produce a very nice and flavorful cup of coffee.

You can find discount coffee makers in a number of places. A large retail store is usually a good bet as they start as low as $15.00 a lot of the time. Supermarkets and coffee specialty stores usually carry coffee makers but not the cheap kind. A great place to find a discount coffee maker is at a thrift store. You can usually find one for $5.00 or so and they work just fine. If the idea of using a second hand coffee maker isn’t your thing, you could always try a website. There are many websites that sell coffee makers and often offer you free coffee or other deals. With websites you will need to check around as there are thousands of them.

Before you search for a discount coffee maker, you should know exactly what you are going to use it for as there are many types available. If you are looking to buy one for the workplace, it might be a good idea to get your employees opinion. If they want something fancy, have them all pitch in a few bucks and get something good. If nobody really cares, you might just bring an old one you have in your garage. It is hard to destroy a coffee maker so even the ugliest, dirtiest one can easily be cleaned up and used again and again.

Coffee Vending Machines

As early as the 1960’s coffee vending machines started to show up at airports, hotels, and many industrial plants around the world especially in the USA. The first coffee vending machines used all freeze dried ingredients and mixed them with water then added your selected amount of cream and sugar. There wasn’t a whole lot of selection. Today, fancy coffee vending machines can make you espresso, cappuccino, hot chocolate, soup, tea, and many variations of coffee.

Coffee vending machines are very useful for many reasons. You don’t need an employee to run them, you can put them anywhere, the ingredients aren’t too expensive, and they make quite a bit of money in a good location. Coffee vending machines can make from 100 to 600 cups of coffee before you are required to refill the cup dropper. This is what drops the cup down before the coffee or beverage of your choice is dispensed into it. The coffee vending machines usually use one size cup that is around 8 ounces. The cups are recyclable and quality made to simulate a cup you would receive at a coffee shop.

Many new coffee vending machines have a very stylish look as opposed to the big square boxes of the 80’s and 90’s. They don’t take up very much room, produce a high quality product, and can make the owner a nice amount of money every month.

Espresso and cappuccino are becoming more and more popular and thanks to places like Starbucks, more people like them and know what they want to order. Many of the newer coffee vending machines let you pick and choose what type of espresso and cappuccino you want. You can also get lattes and mochas of many varieties.

There are many ways you can purchase a coffee vending machine. Most machines will have a phone number or other information so you can call the manufacturer. The easiest way is to use the Internet. There are tons of companies that sell coffee vending machines and will offer you low payment plans and many other deals that you mind find appealing.

Coffee vending machines are a great way for someone who wants to make a little extra income without doing much work. When used in conjunction with pastry and soda machines, if you have a large amount of coverage, you might not need a full time job at all! This is also great for retired people who want a little extra money each month. Some of the newer machines cost about $1.00 for the ingredients per cup and will make you about $2.50. Of course, wherever you place them will demand a percentage but that can be easy to work out.

Coffee vending machines have been around for over 50 years and chances are they will continue to be refined and upgraded. This ensures the busy employee or traveler that they will always be able to grab a cup of coffee even if there aren’t people there to make it.