Coffee filters

Bruceter

Bruceter

Gold Member
Joined
May 19, 2000
Messages
1,476
Does anyone here use the gold mesh reuseable coffee filters?
Do you think that they are an improvement over the paper type, are they a pain to clean?

TIA

Bruceter
 
and it is out in my storage shed. I only used it when I was in the field in conjunction with a plastic Melita filter holder. It worked well enough there but it is a bit of a pain to clean. It is a #4 cone filter and I don't exactly what shape it is in but if you want to PM me with your mailing address and cover shipping, I'll send it to you.

Thanks,

Rick
 
Bruceter said:
Does anyone here use the gold mesh reuseable coffee filters?
Do you think that they are an improvement over the paper type, are they a pain to clean?

TIA

Bruceter
Click to expand...

I use a "forever" mesh filter that you can get in the coffee aisle in any grocery store. Also called a 5 year filter and the gripes I have against it are few.

Works good and at $4 I haven't had any real issues, been using it a year and counting and provided after you finish making your coffee you take it out and dump the grounds and then flip it over and run it under some water to get the gunk out it works great.
 
I use a permanent filter and when the coffee is brewed, I take it and the basket out and blast them with warm soapy water and then the hose sprayer. It takes a minute and they are more than clean enough of any oils.

I should say, that's for the Mr. Coffee machine. I really prefer single mug brewing in my French press -- which also has a metal mesh filter. :)
 
I've been using them for years. Some times the gold plating wears off. The only thing I noticed is that I get more fines at the bottom of the pot, but that doesn't bother me... I drink'em anyways.:D

I've more than paid for it with the $$ not spent on paper filters.

Ric

"Coffee:
we can get it anywhere,
and get as loaded as we like on it,
until such teeth-chattering,
eye-bulging,
nonsense-gibbering time
as we may be classified unable to
operate heavy machinery."

Joan Frank, 1991
 
Bruceter said:
Does anyone here use the gold mesh reuseable coffee filters?
Do you think that they are an improvement over the paper type, are they a pain to clean?

TIA

Bruceter
Click to expand...



I have used one and if you boil it in water for 10-15 minutes it cleans up easy.I now use paper out of convenience. I will say using a stainless holder for the filter and coffee allows for a better taste.

Some friends and I made several diiferent coffees in plastic and stainless and the stainless tasted better.
 
Thanks for the help guys,

Still a little un-decided on what I'm going to do for my morning fix.

Bruceter
 
I tried one and did not like it. Too hard to keep clean and I did not think it made as good coffee as paper filters. Making coffee is a chemical extraction. Any old-time chemist will tell you that when extracting a chemical from a powder, the finer you grind the powder the more efficient the extraction. Using paper instead of a mesh allows me to ultra-grind my beans into a powder the consistency of powdered sugar. This gives me what I consider to be the best coffee. YMMV

For me, the Melita cone filter works best. I've found that the actual Melita brand filters work better than the knock-offs. The little one cupper size works best but the pot-size also is good. As above, YMMV
 
knarfeng said:
I tried one and did not like it. Too hard to keep clean and I did not think it made as good coffee as paper filters. Making coffee is a chemical extraction. Any old-time chemist will tell you that when extracting a chemical from a powder, the finer you grind the powder the more efficient the extraction. Using paper instead of a mesh allows me to ultra-grind my beans into a powder the consistency of powdered sugar. This gives me what I consider to be the best coffee. YMMV

For me, the Melita cone filter works best. I've found that the actual Melita brand filters work better than the knock-offs. The little one cupper size works best but the pot-size also is good. As above, YMMV
Click to expand...

taken from here becuase I cant say it any clearer

http://www.wcrcompany.com/tips/brewing/


Drip
Always grind immediately before brewing. Grinds go stale in hours. An easy way to gauge your drip grind is to go to Starbucks/Peets, ask to have a small amount of coffee ground for drip, and take it home to compare grinds.
Generally they have their grinders dialed in well, and you can see from that how fine you should go.

Alternately, you can start from your burr grinders 'drip' setting. It'll usually be marked.

Either way, brew up a pot, and adjust from there. A common mistake people make is grinding too fine. I always hear people say they grind for espresso (very fine) for their drip, because it's 'stronger' or "Dude, I can use so much less coffee per batch!". Nice idea, but if you want stronger coffee you should add more properly ground coffee; (WARNING: GEEKSPEAK!) espresso grounds are fine because espresso brews in 25 seconds or so, and it needs maximum surface area for the water to saturate and extract from. Your drip has 4-10 minutes contact with the water; using a grind that was meant to only have 25 seconds contact, for a 6 minute contact, means it will WAY over-extract. It will be sour or bitter.

I use one of these mesh filters. I don’t have a problem with it and it is not any harder than anything else to clean
 
I've had one for about eight years, works great, easy to clean, less to throw away and the coffee tastes better (IMO)
 
The last cheap B&D came with a stainless mesh. I've used it for two years, dump the grounds when full, and rinse it off in a pretense of sanitation. I keep my stainless Thermos mug cleaner.

Percolating boiling hot water through it twice a day is good enought for me. From the looks of it, "guy" coffee is made this way nationwide. "Girl" coffee at the office requires too much work. Just don't let them see how it's done, they don't care.

Paper filters are better for prefiltration of garage solutions or field water sources. Not coffee - it's a marketing scam to get money for a continuing expense.
 
tirod3 said:
From the looks of it, "guy" coffee is made this way nationwide.
Click to expand...

Worldwide.

When I was in the Air Force, each of us got coffee detail about once a month or so. My turn came to keep the two huge urns full. I went to rinse the first one out and found that no one ever cleaned it. The urn was lined with thick black sludge. It took a while to scrape it out with paper towels, wash it down with hot soapy water and rinse it all shiny clean.

No one could understand why the coffee was so good that night. I didn't bother telling them.
 
I think when my box of paper filters run out, I'm going to try a french press.

Thanks for all of the input!

Bruceter
 
The French press is a great idea. It makes good fresh coffee, and you don't end up with a big pot sitting around for days getting stale. You can even play around with different coffees and it works well for loose tea also.
 
Bruceter said:
I think when my box of paper filters run out, I'm going to try a french press.

Thanks for all of the input!

Bruceter
Click to expand...

My french press for the occasions that I need to impress (otherwise my old old old percolator pot takes care of me)

http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/accessories/8e3a/

Works pretty darn well but it takes a bit of work for that one cup of coffee. Plus I prefer the plastic to glass as I take it camping and it gets knocked around quite a bit.
 
Horned Toad said:
taken from here becuase I cant say it any clearer
...I always hear people say they grind for espresso (very fine) for their drip, because it's 'stronger' or "Dude, I can use so much less coffee per batch!". Nice idea, but if you want stronger coffee you should add more properly ground coffee; (WARNING: GEEKSPEAK!) espresso grounds are fine because espresso brews in 25 seconds or so, and it needs maximum surface area for the water to saturate and extract from. Your drip has 4-10 minutes contact with the water; using a grind that was meant to only have 25 seconds contact, for a 6 minute contact, means it will WAY over-extract. It will be sour or bitter.
Click to expand...

Depends on the coffee, I suppose. Currently, I drink a Sumatra Mandheling coffee that works well with the method I have described. It is never bitter (low acid content, very heavy body). On the other hand, I've tried my method with a number of coffee varieties and have not noticed any great bitterness compared to other methods of brewing. On the third hand, I find I don't care much for most dark roasts no matter how the coffee is brewed.

Like I said twice above, YMMV.
 
knarfeng said:
I tried one and did not like it. Too hard to keep clean and I did not think it made as good coffee as paper filters. Making coffee is a chemical extraction. Any old-time chemist will tell you that when extracting a chemical from a powder, the finer you grind the powder the more efficient the extraction. Using paper instead of a mesh allows me to ultra-grind my beans into a powder the consistency of powdered sugar. This gives me what I consider to be the best coffee. YMMV

For me, the Melita cone filter works best. I've found that the actual Melita brand filters work better than the knock-offs. The little one cupper size works best but the pot-size also is good. As above, YMMV
Click to expand...

amen to that! :thumbup:
 
knarfeng said:
Depends on the coffee, I suppose. Currently, I drink a Sumatra Mandheling coffee that works well with the method I have described. It is never bitter (low acid content, very heavy body). On the other hand, I've tried my method with a number of coffee varieties and have not noticed any great bitterness compared to other methods of brewing. On the third hand, I find I don't care much for most dark roasts no matter how the coffee is brewed.

Like I said twice above, YMMV.
Click to expand...

All I drink is dark roasts, maybe one day I will have the time to experiment with really good coffee and some different roasts. But I have to wonder since I have been drinking the same style of coffee for so long, if the worlds best coffee expert gave me the worlds best cup of coffee, if it didn’t taste like what I was used to I probably wouldn’t like it.:D
 
Horned Toad said:
All I drink is dark roasts, maybe one day I will have the time to experiment with really good coffee and some different roasts. But I have to wonder since I have been drinking the same style of coffee for so long, if the worlds best coffee expert gave me the worlds best cup of coffee, if it didn’t taste like what I was used to I probably wouldn’t like it.:D
Click to expand...

I have often thought the same. :thumbup::thumbup:
 
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