Vacpots, Q's and A's

[IMAWriter]

Cloth filters are a little more forgiving than glass filters when it comes to grind quality. A glass filter will 'bounce' if the water is too hot which means that you have too much heat, and you need to control that, otherwise, you will experience a stall and a bunch of fines in the end cup.



Gary

Gary, with my Yama 8cup, I use the Silex "Lox-in" glass filter, with the chain and hook. The hook easily attaches to the side of the tube extension.
I have been using a vac pot (several,actually) for about 10 years.
My method is slightly different, not necessarily better :>D

First, I preheat a bit of water in the micro for about 30 seconds, just to warm it up. Then I gently pout it into the bottom of the Yama, to pre heat it, so as not to crack the glass when I....
Pour in preheated water from my electric kettle (at a measured 190f.), turn on the heat to just below medium, and attach the upper globe, with glass filter.
I grind the coffee while the water is rising. When nearly all is up, I evenly pout in the grind, as the explosion up occurs. This roiling water really helps to agitate the grind, so no, or little stirring is needed. Any grind on the glass upper, i gently push towards the center with a chopstick.
 I then lower the heat to as low as I can, but not so low that I see coffee colored water in the bottom. (the only weakness of the Yama is that it retains maybe an oz more water than does my vintage Silex.)

No matter, as I add a few more grams of grind "for the pot" as they say.
3.5 minutes later, I remove the Yama from the gas burner, and place on top of the cook top vent, and turn the vent to high, helping to facilitate the trip north, which adds the extra 30-45 seconds of brew/contact time. YMMV on the exact brew time.

[BoldJava]

Or, just leave the water up north a tad longer before adding the coffee.

With the stainless steel pot I had, I couldn't get the coffee to temp (197 for me) ever.  It would get to about 183-184 and just sit there.  It didn't matter how long I waited.  Jason's fix, pre-heating, or running it north more than once would be the workarounds.  I don't preheat so I let the Nicro SS go.  To whom?  Why Jason, of course, with full disclosure <grins>.

B|Java

[BoldJava]

Welcome to the Nicro filter club!   I am a big fan of them.  They work really well with the Yama 8 cupper that I have.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts on how it compares to the other filters you have.

And once again, I will probably struggle with the proverbial dilemma -- will the virgin toy ever meet the brown water?  

B|Java

[peter]

No matter, as I add a few more grams of grind "for the pot" as they say.
3.5 minutes later, I remove the Yama from the gas burner, and place on top of the cook top vent, and turn the vent to high, helping to facilitate the trip north, which adds the extra 30-45 seconds of brew/contact time. YMMV on the exact brew time.

Hmmm....  after my grounds go in (after all the water is up top) I start my timer for 2min., after which is goes off the burner and the southward trip takes another 30-45sec. like yours.

Also, I don't see the need for all the pre-heat futzing, both of the Yama's bottom or the water in the kettle.  Why not simply put the desired amount of water in the bottom and heat it on the stove?  

 

[ButtWhiskers]

Those stainless filters work just fine if you grind coarse enough.  Let your coffee be your filter!

[milowebailey]

It was time to add a Nicro stainless steel filter to the arsenal.  New, old stock. Never used.  Notice the $1.00 price written on the top of the box.

B|Java

You are really milking those kow kups, and that's udderly unnecessary  B|Cheeselander..... I vote you moooov them out of the way.

[BoldJava]

Those stainless filters work just fine if you grind coarse enough.  Let your coffee be your filter!

OK, the SS Nicro is going to get a bath, very soon.  Will try moving the grind up with it.

You are really milking those kow kups, and that's udderly unnecessary  B|Cheeselander..... I vote you moooov them out of the way...

I thought after 4 days in sunny Wisconsin you would be a bit more of an ambassador for our corner of heaven.  Give the cows the hook?  You crazy?  They are the essence of our being in Lake Cheddar.

B|Bucolic

[dg]

I have been using a Nicro SS filter with my 8 cup Yama for a couple for years.  The procedure I use is pretty simple...

1) First (and most importantly), make sure your ground coffee has as little chaff in it as possible (too much chaff left in the ground coffee will plug the filter)

2) Heat up your water in the bottom pot and bring it to a rolling boil

3) Turn down your heat so that the water in the bottom pot is barely boiling

4) Put the siphon down into the bottom pot

5) Allow water to travel north

6) Add ground coffee slowly to the water

7) While avoiding stirring the coffee too much, get all your grounds soaked in the hot water (this usually takes me 45-60 seconds)

Because the Nicro 'down time'/ filtering is faster than when you use a Yama cloth filter, let the coffee water mixture stay north for 3 minutes, rather than the traditional 2 minute that you would use with a cloth filter.

9) It should take the Nicro only 1 minute to bring the coffee back down 'south'.  If it takes longer than 1 minute, it is probably because there is too much chaff in the grounds you are using.

10)  The 3 minutes up north, plus the 1 minute needed to filter and bring the coffee back down south to the bottom pot, will provide you with the exact 4 minutes of brewing time that is generally considered optimal for the Yama.

hope this helps
dg 

[Tex]

I have been using a Nicro SS filter with my 8 cup Yama for a couple for years.  The procedure I use is pretty simple...

1) First (and most importantly), make sure your ground coffee has as little chaff in it as possible (too much chaff left in the ground coffee will plug the filter)

Fines? There should be little or no chaff in the coffee.

2) Heat up your water in the bottom pot and bring it to a rolling boil

3) Turn down your heat so that the water in the bottom pot is barely boiling

Wouldn't this work better if you waited 'til the water was north before turning the heat down?

4) Put the siphon down into the bottom pot

5) Allow water to travel north

6) Add ground coffee slowly to the water

7) While avoiding stirring the coffee too much, get all your grounds soaked in the hot water (this usually takes me 45-60 seconds)

What undesirable impact would stirring the grounds into the water have?

Because the Nicro 'down time'/ filtering is faster than when you use a Yama cloth filter, let the coffee water mixture stay north for 3 minutes, rather than the traditional 2 minute that you would use with a cloth filter.

9) It should take the Nicro only 1 minute to bring the coffee back down 'south'.  If it takes longer than 1 minute, it is probably because there is too much chaff in the grounds you are using.

10)  The 3 minutes up north, plus the 1 minute needed to filter and bring the coffee back down south to the bottom pot, will provide you with the exact 4 minutes of brewing time that is generally considered optimal for the Yama.

hope this helps
dg 

[dg]

Tex

Great questions.  Let me see if I can answer your questions...

Chaff?
>I roast my own coffee and I find that if there is too chaff on the beans after I finish roasting, it will get mixed in with the ground-up coffee and tend to plug the Nicro.

Whether to reduce heat before or after the water travels 'north'?
>Purely a personal preference....  I find that if I leave the stove temperature on high until the water all travels 'north', the water will sometimes come up rather violently into the top of the siphon and will splash over the top.

Over-stirring the grounds in the siphon?
I actually picked this advice from another person in this Vac-Pot discussion string.  It seems that if you vigorously stir the grounds while up north in the siphon, there is a greater chance of stalling once the coffee starts heading south to the bottom pot.  I took this advice and I now find that the 1 minute 'down time' using the Nicro SS filter is more consistent (1 minute +/- 10 seconds). 

Hope this makes sense...

cheers
David

[Tex]

Tex

Great questions.  Let me see if I can answer your questions...

Chaff?
>I roast my own coffee and I find that if there is too chaff on the beans after I finish roasting, it will get mixed in with the ground-up coffee and tend to plug the Nicro.

Whether to reduce heat before or after the water travels 'north'?
>Purely a personal preference....  I find that if I leave the stove temperature on high until the water all travels 'north', the water will sometimes come up rather violently into the top of the siphon and will splash over the top.

Over-stirring the grounds in the siphon?
I actually picked this advice from another person in this Vac-Pot discussion string.  It seems that if you vigorously stir the grounds while up north in the siphon, there is a greater chance of stalling once the coffee starts heading south to the bottom pot.  I took this advice and I now find that the 1 minute 'down time' using the Nicro SS filter is more consistent (1 minute +/- 10 seconds). 

Hope this makes sense...

cheers
David

Thanks David - it all made sense: there must be something wrong?

[dg]

Tex- how did you make out with the Nicro filter?

[headchange4u]

I scored this supposedly very rare Cory Fast-Flo filter made from glass. From my research the ceramic models are fairly common with the glass being more rare. I thought I might get into a bidding war over the item but I was the only bid.

Anyone ever used one of these? The design seems a bit sketchy but it make work fine. I bought it mainly to add to the collection anyway.

[BoldJava]

Anyone ever used one of these? The design seems a bit sketchy but it make work fine. I bought it mainly to add to the collection anyway.

Yes, I have the ceramic (what else is new?), a clear glass one with a green hue to it, and a ceramic one from Canada (which is a tad larger, maybe metric measured with the cast?).

B|Java

[headchange4u]

Anyone ever used one of these? The design seems a bit sketchy but it make work fine. I bought it mainly to add to the collection anyway.

Yes, I have the ceramic (what else is new?), a clear glass one, and a glass one with a green hue to it from Canada (which is a tad larger, maybe metric measured with the cast?).

B|Java

How do they perform as a filter? I've read that these were the predecessor to the glass rods.