1.     Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the  microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.

2.    Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome…  Coffee filters are lint-free so they’ll leave windows sparkling.

3.    Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.

4.    Filter broken cork from wine.  If you break the cork when opening a wine  bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.

5.    Protect a cast-iron skillet.  Place a coffee filter in the  skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.

6.    Apply shoe polish.  Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.

7.    Recycle frying oil.   After frying, strain oil through a sieve  lined with a coffee filter.

8.    Weigh chopped foods.  Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a  kitchen scale.

9.    Hold tacos.  Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.

10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot.  Line a plant  pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through  the drainage holes.

11.  Prevent a popsicle from dripping.  Poke one or two holes as  needed in a coffee filter.

12. Do you think salons used expensive strips to wax eyebrows?  Use  strips of coffee filters..

13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken  fingers, etc on them..  It soaks out all the grease.

14. Keep in the bathroom..  They make great “razor nick  fixers.”

15. As a sewing backing.  Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliquéing soft fabrics.

16. Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.

17. Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.

18. Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car..

19. Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.

20. Can use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies..  Saves on having extra bowls to wash.

21.  Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.

22. Use them to remove fingernail polish when you run out of cotton balls.

23. Use them to sprout seeds.  Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.

24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers.  Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in  phone book.

25. Use as a disposable “snack bowl” for popcorn, chips, etc.

http://www.deardrbrew.com/2009/05/brew-temperature.html

We have lots of customers who want a home brewer that brews at the correct temperature. Coffee should be brewed at 195 – 205 degrees F, and most home brewers brew below this temperature because they heat the water on demand. Bunn has a hot water reservoir in their brewer, which keeps water at the correct temperature and ready for brewing at all times.

Consumer Reports did a study on water run through the home coffee brewers according to the manufacturers’ instructions and had an outside lab analyze the water for semivolatile compounds, including six common plasticizers (phthalates) used in consumer products.

Studies were done for bisphenol A (BPA), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) and benzyl alcohol. Seven coffee makers were studied, and two of them stored water in them until ready for brewing. Small levels of benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) and benzyl alcohol were found in water heated in six of the seven coffeemakers models. They also found very low levels of BPA in two of those six coffeemakers.

The good news: Based on their analysis, they concluded the levels of compounds detected would not be expected to pose a health risk.

Here’s what they said about the Krups FME-2:
“This model includes digital controls, water filtration and a programmable 1-to-5  hour auto shut-off system, all of which are rare in this price range. Niceties, such as a soft-eject button for the cone filter department and an audible signal when brewing is complete, round out this unit’s value.”

“Features:
Brewing Temperature: up to 190 degrees F
Carafe: Glass
Brewing volume: 12-cup
Brewing time: 9 minutes”

Here’s what they said about the Zojirushi Fresh Brew EC-BD15:
“This model  boasts a double-wall thermal carafe that is larger (52 oz.) than that of any other model in this price range. It has the best brewing temperature of any comparably priced model, and it sprays water evenly over the ground coffee to ensure good over-all extraction. It’s control panel, however, could be more intuitive.”

“Features:
Brewing Temperature: Up to 195 degrees F
Carafe: Steel double-wall vacuum thermal
Brewing volume: 10-cup
Brewing time: 8-1/2 min.”

The AeroPress comes in a box plastered with adulating quotes – some from noted coffee authorities, and some from regular, coffee-drinking people. Upon opening the box, one finds an array of plastic parts. The owners manual explains what the major parts are, but some parts are not described (such as a piece that apparently holds the stack of paper filters, and a funnel piece) and the user must figure out the role that they play.

The AeroPress is basically a press where the filter goes on the bottom of a tube, the coffee grounds goe on top of that, followed by the hot water, and then a piston fits inside the tube and forces the hot water though the coffee grounds and directly into your coffee cup. The instructions do a decent job of describing the process, and it’s not a very hard process.

The process begins by heating the water to 175F degrees (much lower than the usual 195-200F), grinding the coffee to a slightly-finer-than-drip-grind size and inserting a filter into bottom of the tube. With the scoop that is provided, put 1-4 scoops of ground coffee into tube, Each scoop makes the equivalent of a single espresso shot or 5 oz. of Americano coffee.

Pour the hot water into the coffee grounds inside the tube, and then stir for 10 seconds with a stirrer that is included. Next, insert the smaller-diameter tube inside of the larger tube. Slowly press down and force the water through the coffee grounds. Correctly done, this step should take 20-30 seconds.

The coffee ( or at least the espresso shot) is now made. For an Americano, add some more of the hot water to the coffee. For a latte, add steamed milk. Enjoy.

Clean up is very easy with the AeroPress – simply unscrew the bottom of the tube and press the filter and grounds out of the bottom of the tube and into the garbage. Filters can be rescued, cleaned and reused if you want.

How is the coffee? It’s very good at the least, and quite possibly the best I’ve ever had. The low brewing temperature keeps the coffee from being acidic, but the coffee is not sour like most low-temperature brews. The way that the water is forced through the coffee extracts lots of flavor and body (without bitterness) into the finished product.

Altogether, the AeroPress is very impressive, and highly recommended. I have found that it’s great when you just want to brew a cup or two – such as in the afternoon or evening.

Our first shipment will arrive in a few days. At that time, we’ll make a few cups of coffee and post a review.

(There have been some reports that the brewer is due to be discontinued in the US market. We asked our contacts at Krups, and the responded with the following: “F468  (Moka Brew) is a mainstay of the specialty store program. It continues for the foreseeable future. Thanks.”)

A little history (about all I know) – the Moka Brew has been a hit with coffee connoisseurs in the past, and it is very popular in Europe. The main advantage to the Moka Brew is that it brews by steam, which means that the water will always be at least 195-200F when it hits the coffee – just the right temperature for brewing.

First impressions: an odd-looking contraption, for sure, but very stylish and modern-looking. Only an 8-cup brewer. Brew time was about 7 minutes – slower than most home brewers, but not interminable. The temperature of the coffee right after brewing was 187F.

The Set-Up: the cold water goes into the tank under the carafe. The paper filter (a small, round disk) and coffee go under the lid of the carafe. (About 100 filters are included with the brewer.) Once everything is in place – including locking the carafe in place using the lever on the top of the brewer, simply press the “on” button to start the process.

Brewing: Total brewing time is about 7 minutes when starting with room temperature water. In the first few minutes, the water is heating. Then, steam begins making it’s way to the top of the brewer and condensing over the grounds. The fact that the process begins slowly helps to wet the grounds before brewing for better flavor extraction. Gradually, the amount of water being forced through the grounds increases, and it all finishes with a cascade of water coming through at the end – fun to watch.

The Coffee: All in all, a very good cup with lots of body and a full range of flavor extraction. Since the brewing process is a bit like brewing espresso with the steam being forced through the coffee grounds, the resulting coffee is a bit stronger than regular drip coffee. The coffee very hot.

Clean-up: Clean-up takes slightly more effort than a drip brewer does, if only because the paper filter tends to stick to the bottom of the filter basket, and, since it is a flat disk, there are no edges to grab to pull it out. Besides that, just rinse out the carafe and the brewing process is ready to be repeated.

Notes: The carafe is heated by a warmer, and there is no automatic turn-off. For better coffee, it would be better to transfer the coffee to a thermal carafe or airpot after brewing.