Vacpots, Q's and A's

[Tex]

Well, I had a disastrous stall just now.  

Although nobody was injured—thank goodness—my new pot exploded to the far corners of the kitchen. If you ever should take the advice of a newbie vacpot user, do NOT, under any circumstance, ever ever EVER try to circumvent the stall with a cool towel wrap. :nono: Really bad idea! Now, where's my dunce cap? :BangHead:  The stall probably had to do with too much stirring, since the ground was the same as my previous two vacpot brews.

Happy to report, after 45 minutes of clean up, the cory made it through fine—along with the humans and pets.  

PM

Damn, you're lucky no one was hurt! I use a cool, wet towel all the time; so maybe I'll rethink the wisdom of that?  

Thanks!

[peter]

Well, I had a disastrous stall just now. 

If you ever should take the advice of a newbie vacpot user, do NOT, under any circumstance, ever ever EVER try to circumvent the stall with a cool towel wrap. :nono: Really bad idea! Now, where's my dunce cap? :BangHead:  The stall probably had to do with too much stirring, since the ground was the same as my previous two vacpot brews.

Happy to report, after 45 minutes of clean up, the cory made it through fine—along with the humans and pets. 

PM

Kudos for being willing to eat some humble pie, and post this, so the rest of us dunderheads will know better.  Thanks.

[BoldJava]

Well, I had a disastrous stall just now.  

Although nobody was injured—thank goodness—my new pot exploded ...do NOT, under any circumstance, ever ever EVER try to circumvent the stall with a cool towel wrap...The stall probably had to do with too much stirring, since the ground was the same as my previous two vacpot brews...

Paul, thanks for the post.

All, please read the instruction sheet that is provided with all pots I distribute.  In those I offer these suggestions:

1)  Do not stir.  Stirring separates the fines from the grinds and those fines clog the Cory filter and cause stalls.  Instead, push the grounds down the side, saturating the grind, without stirring.  (Vienna and darker roasts -  showing oils - tend to stall more than lighter roasts).  If you must stir, use the cloth filter, not a glass rod.
2)  Be very careful about even a drop of water on the pot.  After filling the pot, form a habit of wiping the bottom and sides of the pot to remove all traces of moisture.  This helps avoid stress on the glass as heat is applied.  I am compulsive about this.  

As Paul humbly notes, don't use cool, wet cloths as a method of expedite draw down.  If your unit stalls, just leave it sit off the burner, and self cool, during which it will self-draw down.  At most, you will lose 70 grams of coffee.

B|Java

[thugmusk]

As Paul humbly notes, don't use cool, wet cloths as a method of expedite draw down.  If your unit stalls, just leave it sit off the burner, and self cool, during which it will self-draw down.  At most, you will lose 70 grams of coffee.

B|Java

Someone did that "self cool", I think a member of the SM list, or maybe here, it imploded a good time later.  The advice that comes with Cona models for a "complete" stall is to put it back on the heat to force it north again.

[pm]

This was the first time I actually mopped the ceiling (noticed the coffee stains later on). Given the velocity of the glass shards and very hot coffee, I count my lucky stars.

[BoldJava]

As Paul humbly notes, don't use cool, wet cloths as a method of expedite draw down.  If your unit stalls, just leave it sit off the burner, and self cool, during which it will self-draw down.  At most, you will lose 70 grams of coffee.

B|Java

Someone did that "self cool", I think a member of the SM list, or maybe here, it imploded a good time later.  The advice that comes with Cona models for a "complete" stall is to put it back on the heat to force it north again.

If liquid is present in the south end, yes.  If not, toss a towel over it and leave it alone.

Did some reading on the homelist this morning.  What I find odd is that in reading about the rare implosion, while everyone discusses "fines" in grinds from mediocre grinders as the cause, no one attributes or discusses stirring the grinds as a cause.  Don't stir.  Push the grounds to immerse them.  Later on, in a 2nd thread, almost as an afterthought, the gent that had problems eventually comes to the conclusion that his stirring was the issue, particularly stirring at the end.

As well, if your grinder is inexpensive and throws a lot of fines, try sticking with the cloth filters that come with the unit and see if the stalls lessen.

In my one year with the Yamas, I have had 3 slow drawdowns (never a complete stall).  All were with darker roasts which I had purchased.  I use a Macap 4 and grind a tad finer than pourover.  Here is the rice paddle I use to push the grounds down the side to immerse them:  http://www.simply-natural.biz/Rice_Paddle.php.  You can grab one at any Asian food store.

B|Java

[pm]

Someone had posted a video from a Japanese cafe where the guy stirred the water more than once; I think that stuck in my mind as a "good" thing to do. The counter suggestion simply played second fiddle in my mind.

[BoldJava]

Someone had posted a video from a Japanese cafe where the guy stirred the water more than once; I think that stuck in my mind as a "good" thing to do. The counter suggestion simply played second fiddle in my mind.

Understood.  Not trying to 'grind' you at all.  Not my intent.  I am trying to encourage others to learn by your experience and 'read and heed.'  Thanks for your willingness to share your experience.

B|Java

[pm]

Understood.  Not trying to 'grind' you at all.  Not my intent.  I am trying to encourage others to learn by your experience and 'read and heed.'  Thanks for your willingness to share your experience.

B|Java

Sure thing. Not feeling ground at all. 

[peter]

That measuring spoon that came with my Yama?  I use the squared-off handle of it, to push my floating coffee down.  But that's only at the beginning, when the coffee first went into the hot water.  After that, with the correct amount of heat so that the brewing coffee is gurgling nicely, I don't think it needs any intervention.

Like B|Yama, I've never had a complete stall.  But on one particularly slow draw-down, I lifted the glass rod out, thinking it was stalled.  Why would this not be a safe resolution to a stalled brew, assuming you were using a glass rod?

[thugmusk]

Why would this not be a safe resolution to a stalled brew, assuming you were using a glass rod?

It won't budge.

[pm]

So, I've started a thread on Yama, the good luck pot. Though you might not think my pot itself was so lucky, it was nice enough not to cut me to shreds as it transformed, so I consider it a lucky pot. Here's the thread (where you can see an image of lil Yama).

http://www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com/index.php?topic=7052.0

[BoldJava]

RenoB stopped by to pick up an 8-cupper.  He brought along his Krups grinder to see if the grind would throw too many fines to try and use a glass rod with it.  Short story, it worked fine without a stall.

The setting we tried it on had plenty of fines; some dust-like in the grind.  It was one notch finer than I would use on a go-forward basis.  We pushed down the grinds to saturate them, without ever stirring.  The draw-down ran 1:10 in comparison to my typical :45-1:00.  All in all, a very good draw down, considering how fine the overall grind was.  Great cup of Costa Rican.

Others ask me if "their" grinder will work with the glass rod.  It is always hard to tell.  I know the Macap 4 works but can't tell others if theirs will work.  After today's experience, I am more convinced than ever that it isn't the price of the grinder that is so critical to avoid the stall with the rod as it is to not stirring the grinds with the vacpot.  

Just one opinion and your mileage and experience may differ.  B|Java

[RenoB]

Great cup indeed Dave!  Thanks for the demonstration/instruction, sure beats reading a book about it.  Gonna go solo here for the first time shortly, will let you know how it goes.

[RenoB]

First time jitters LoL

Was nervous about pressing the top into the pot so I didn't get a good seal at first.  Fixed this by removing it from the heat and letting it cool down.  Second attempt better, phew.

After adding ground coffee and pushing it down, it was really bubbling.  So, nervous again, I removed it from heat after only a minute.  Then the draw down started, very slow.  Too slow.  But not a complete stall, probably 3+ minutes before the final wash out.

I went one step coarser with the Krupps than what we used this afternoon.  Good cup none the less (Guat Peaberry).  Look forward to trying again in the AM!