The 12-cup electric drip coffee maker from only 2017 quit after brewing a partial pot of hot coffee. The reservoir still had some cold water. When I poked around my supermarket website for candidate replacement coffee makers and spotted a Chemex, I thought, "Whoa! I have one of those!" I'd had it for many years but didn't use it and forgot about it.
Anyway, I made short-term use of my Chemex with the broken machine's filter basket and filters instead of hunting down square Chemex filters. (I did notice the ad also showed a separate mesh filter. My Chemex was so old it didn't come with the filter.)
How did I arrive at using the Chemex and the coffee machine filter basket to brew?
The Chemex box showed brewing instructions. The manual inside had additional info. They called for square filter papers that you fold twice and make it conical. Didn't have any such filters. The supermarket website didn't list any. Anyway, I found a YouTube video that showed the brewing process to be relatively easy: "HOW TO BREW CHEMEX COFFEE | a simple chemex brewing guide". I wondered about using filters already on hand and folding them twice, as I saw on Google that regular filters are usable.
Peering into a Chemex, Glancing into Drip Coffee Makers
"Chemex – The History & Brewing Guide" explains the chemistry look of the carafe, indicating also the association with the inventor and product name.
The Chemex is a classic and elegant brewing device that was designed by the German chemist, Peter J. Schlumbohm. ... in production since 1941. ... Schlumbohm was inspired by two laboratory apparatus: his laboratory glass funnel and his Erlenmeyer flask. He added an air channel to the funnel in order to leave space for the air displaced by the liquid dripping into the vessel to escape easily. He added a "belly button” to the Erlenmeyer and then combined it with the modified glass funnel.
Brew process starts with boiling water, placing a coffee filter in the conical area and dampening it, and adding coffee grounds. The pour process requires boiled water for "bloom", then more water in stages for optimal flavor extraction: "If your coffee is fresh enough, you will see an amazing bloom, which is the reaction of the coffee when water is added and the carbon dioxide is released."
Electric coffee makers have "shower heads" that dispense boiled water over the basket containing grounds. The coffee drips into the carafe. More recent machines have a pause device at the bottom of the filter basket so you can pour coffee before brewing completion. Caution: As pausing does not stop the brewing process, the carafe needs to be back on the hotplate quickly to prevent fluid overflow.
Musing Over Additional Past Coffee Maker Events
I had used a Melitta pourover coffee brewer in the distant past, similar to "Melitta 36 oz. Pour Over Coffee Brewer, Black". Liked it OK, but was ready to try a drip method that didn't require babysitting. My cone was transparent plastic. I don't remember the carafe, but I suspect I had broken it. I recall having tried the cone on a different-company carafe, but the seating alignment was less than perfect. I concluded that I must have tossed the cone. Maybe that cone might have seated onto the Chemex rim or fit inside the Chemex funnel part.
This recent adventure with the broken coffee maker made me think of other machines in my past. I even had an electric percolator, which I think I'd donated. (Listen to the perky music. "Time for Coffee - Singing Coffee Pot") I'd also had a Mr. Coffee, so old that it didn't have a pause feature.
Over time, I've broken maybe two carafes, bought at least one replacement carafe. Have tossed out two carafes because they didn't seat onto newer machine hotplates. Wouldn't you know, the Proctor Silex carafe is juuuust slightly too large for the Hamilton Beach machine's hotplate. In any case, I think the lesson is to never toss out functional coffee maker parts or carafes or lids.
The Chemex goes back into the box, relief pitcher again as needed.
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