Any self-respecting coffee lover must know what a coffee maker is and how to operate one. Basically, coffee makers are used for grounding coffee beans and blending them perfectly with water. Technically speaking, a coffee maker produces non-espresso coffee.

How They Work

The most common coffee maker has three basic parts: the bucket, the tube, and the drip area. The bucket is where you put the water at the beginning of the process. It has a hole in the bottom part. A black tube moves the hot water into the drip area, where the water seeps through tiny holes and into the coffee grounds.

It might seem a very simple cycle but if you open a coffee maker, you will find out that it also has a power cord, a heating element which is responsible for making the water hot.

There are many other devices that serve the purpose of brewing coffee, such as stovetops, moka pots, and French presses. A coffee maker is one of these coffee-making appliances. Coffee makers could come in the form of either drip coffee makers, which is the most common kind, percolators and urns, and vacuum brewers. All of them, of course, serve to brew coffee according to your taste and preference. There are only slight differences as to the process by which these devices brew coffee but it would be interesting to note that these small differences are what give coffee distinctive tastes from one another.

Types of Coffee Makers

Drip coffee makers are the most commonly used in the world. This device literally drips the hot water into the ground coffee, thus its name, producing strong-flavored coffee. Using a drip coffee maker requires extra care in getting the proper water temperature, brewing time, and the quantity of coffee to be grounded. A medium-sized drip coffee maker can produce four to six cups of coffee for every use.

The vacuum coffee maker is regarded by coffee connoisseurs as the one which produces the true good cup of coffee. Coffee from this kind of coffee makers has rich flavors, taste, and strength. It is most popular during the 1920s to the 1950s.

The percolator is the least popular type of coffee maker. Many do not consider it a true coffee maker because it boils coffee instead of brewing it. Furthermore, the water passes through the grounds several times, resulting in bland and bitter-tasting coffee.

Cleaning

All coffee makers need to be cleaned out at least once a month. If you use it everyday, it is ideal to do the cleaning every 24th use or so. Vinegar and water solution are commonly used for this job but you might also need decalcifying detergents, depending on how much sediments need to be removed.

Cleaning a drip coffee maker requires removing the filter and filling the container with a water and vinegar solution (1:1 ratio). Turn the coffee maker on then turn it off after about half the time you need in brewing coffee. Let the solution rest for up to 15 minutes before running the coffee maker again. After all the water passes through, repeat the same process using plain water. Rinse again after ten minutes.