So This Is Christmas

Merry Christmas is such an infectious feeling I like to feel that way all year around.

So if you are visiting just before Christmas, just after Christmas or even here on Christmas day I am sure you will find something of interest for you and in the spirit of Christmas.

It may be said that Christmas is no longer a celebration but this must be spoken by people that have never had trouble closing their eyes on Christmas Eve in an expectation of what maybe left for them on the carpet under the tree.

I continue to look forward to the surprise on my Grandchild's faces to this day at Christmas events.

Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

How To Use A Coffee Percolator

By Janice Chee

Coffee percolator is a coffee brewing device that looks like an urn. Coffee percolator, or caffettiera in Italian, may have gotten its name from the word percolate. The percolator was really the first device invented for brewing coffee. Percolators are now obsolete and have been primarily replaced with the drip brew system.

Coffee percolators made less refined coffee. Most of the time it exposes the coffee grounds to higher temperatures causing a burning of the coffee. This may cause the already brewed coffee to circulate again through the beans. Over extraction caused coffee to be bitter and burnt. Coffee percolator ruined the essential oils in the coffee. This may result to a release of pleasant aroma during the brewing process but resulted in a much less pleasant flavor.

Coffee brewed using percolator has a quite distinctive flavor that some people consider as an acquired taste. Typically older groups of people still use the percolator. This stems from the fact that they were raised on this method, and it has stuck.

Starting from the top, it has an opening or spout where it lets someone to pour coffee to a cup or any other container. The lid along the spout is usually made of clear material so you can check on the coffee while it brews. The percolator also has a perforated chamber designed for holding coarsely ground coffee.

There are two basic types of percolators. The first one pushes pressurized boiling water through the coffee grounds into the chamber, while the second one uses gravity in continuously moving the brew. The water level must be lower than the bottom of the chamber for ground coffee.

Place the percolator closest to a heat source such as stove or campfire. The temperature rises and the hot water goes to the top through the perforated lid of the chamber. It then seeps through the grounds and leaves the chamber through the bottom, going back into the lower part of the percolator.

The overall temperature reaches boiling point while the brew continuously seeps through the grounds until you hear the perking stop. Some percolators have a built-in electric heating element that automatically reduces the heat, keeping the coffee warm but not boiling.

It may take some practice to learn how to use one. Experiment before you serve to guests.

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