Coffeemakers: Just About Foolproof (Where I Am the Fool)

December 21, 2007 in Appliances,Cooking and baking,The kitchen with 8 Comments

It’s shaping up to be one of those days. You know, one of those days where you forget to put the filter carriage into the coffeemaker and coffee goes absolutely everywhere before the darn thing belches out a never ending wave of coffee grounds? No kidding, this just happened to me and my coffeemaker about fifteen minutes ago, and I’ve been sopping up wet grounds ever since.

3-c. Stovetop Espresso MakerBialetti 6-c. Dama Pink Stovetop Espresso Maker
DeLonghi 1.3-L. Espresso Maker, Stainless SteelDeLonghi 6-c. Esclusivo Electric Moka Espresso Maker, Black & Stainless Steel

Coffeemakers are nice — though truthfully somewhat temperamental when confronted with those of us who wander into the kitchen half asleep. Espresso makers, on the other hand, are utterly grand… especially the simple stove top sort. I can’t live without mine, which I suppose makes it one of those things deserving of their countertop footprint. In fact, when my family gave me a fancy plug-in espresso maker with a milk foamer and timer, I gave it to the Goodwill without ever having used it.

Though I have offered up a variety of different sorts of espresso makers above (click for info, as always) I’d steer anyone looking for last-minute gift ideas to the model in the upper left hand corner. Of course, you could always do what I did and source a well-loved second-hand espresso maker straight from Italy.

About Christa Terry: Christa Terry is a writer and wedding and lifestyle expert whose book iDo: Planning Your Wedding with Nothing But ‘Net is a one-stop planning resource for modern, free-thinking brides and grooms. With one husband, one toddler, and more on the way – kids, not husbands – Christa somehow manages to stay on top of the tricks and trends that make getting married and living life stylish and fun.

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8 Responses to “Coffeemakers: Just About Foolproof (Where I Am the Fool)”

  1. mkb December 21, 2007 at 10:31 am #

    I like our cow-themed Mukka Express but it’s far from foolproof. Get any coffee in the gaskets and cofee sprays all over your stove. Bleah.

  2. Toby Wollin December 21, 2007 at 10:57 am #

    My mom used a stove top percolator like this one: http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/jump.jsp?itemID=6197&itemType=PRODUCT&searchid=inceptor
    The only thing she had to ever do was replace the little glass dome thingy in the top. Made great coffee. Simple. As long as she did not wander off to do something major like clean the bath, she did not have any problems with it. We got her a coffee maker. Disaster.

  3. Never teh Bride December 21, 2007 at 11:17 am #

    mkb: The Mukka’s instruction sheet looks complicated…

    Toby Wollin: Sometimes the old stuff is indeed the best stuff. Why mess with success?

  4. Jennie December 21, 2007 at 5:29 pm #

    French Press, easy, one or 6 cups, foolproof……Add coffee, boiling water, excellent!!!

  5. Klee December 22, 2007 at 12:35 pm #

    Stick with the moka pot- I have it in 2cup, 4-cup and 8-cup sizes, depending on household size. It makes the best espresso, quick clean-up virtually unbreakable. When it comes to coffee, listen to the italians- there isn’t a household in italy without one of these babies

  6. Toby Wollin December 22, 2007 at 8:02 pm #

    Never teh — you might want to mention to Manolo or “whoever it is who makes the technical changes to the main site” that it might be a good idea to put a link to this spot on his listing so that visitors don’t have to scroll down, down, down to the article on his home page to get a link here.
    Just a thought.

  7. Jennie December 23, 2007 at 7:13 pm #

    No link from Manolo for the Men….

  8. Never.teh.Bride December 24, 2007 at 9:25 pm #

    Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I’ll pass ‘em along!