PanHandler wrote:

"Sawney Beane" wrote in message
...

Did you calibrate it? In preparation for such measurements, I put
a thermocouple into a pan of boiling water and got 217 F.

If I were going to measure the temperature of a drip coffee maker,
I'd put my probe into the grounds and close it up. With the
machine open, I imagine a small stream of very hot water will lose
heat very fast from evaporation and radiation.

With a French press, I imagine the water could cool below 200F as
it's poured into the brewing cup. Then the cup probably absorbs
significant heat from the water. I wonder how important it is. I
wonder if a longer brewing time can compensate for a lower
temperature.

In a pot of rapidly boiling water at 212' above sea level the reading was
dead on at 212º. I placed the probe in the stream (tricky to do) for about a
minute. There weren't any grounds in the basket to measure, but as the water
temp can't be controlled anyhow, it seemed useless to check them had they
been there. In a French press the water going in is at 212º, and after the
press the brew was at 188º. The coffee was great, and that's the bottom
line!


I heated two cups to a boil, stirred in case there were cold spots,
and brought it to a boil again. I poured it into my French press,
which is thin glass, from about four inches higher. In the stream,
my probe read 206, which would be 201 F. Pouring took three or
four seconds. Immediately, the water in the press read 197, which
would be 192 F.

I would normally cover the press to conserve heat. I left it open
this time, with no grounds. In approximately two minutes it was 172 F.

One of these days I'd like to keep a probe in the neighbors' drip
brewer to see how hot the grounds get.

I figured the best way to keep brewing water near boiling was to
boil it in a pan on medium heat, turn off the electric burner, stir
in the grounds, and cover. I tried it this morning. I found the
flavor similar to that from my aunt's stainless percolator.

Later I tried my usual method with pyrex, a plastic filter, and a
ceramic cup. The coffee had the delicious nutty flavor I'm used
to. Somewhere I've read that if you've been cutting onions,
rubbing your hands on stainless steel will deodorize them because
the nickel is a catalyst. I think contact with stainless steel
makes coffee less tasty to me. That may include the screen in my
French press.