So what else is a coffee maker good for?

01-11-2005, 06:28 PM

I'm not a coffee drinker, but my wife is, so we have a coffee maker - the brew-through-filter-into-a-pot variety. I was wondering if there's anything the coffee maker can do for me, a non-coffee drinker. is there anything else I can make with it that I would like? I can't modify it, at least not to the extent that it can't make coffee any more, so I guess soft-serve ice cream and juiced carrots are not realistic expectations. I have a hot-water dispenser at the sink, so hot tea and (instant) hot chocolate are easier from the tap than they would be using a machine.

And there's no need to restrict myself to having it dispense products for human consumption. With a few modifications, I could use it as a bug zapper when it's not making coffee, but then I'd be the one stuck cleaning the pot out every day. Or I could turn it into an under-desk foot warmer for my unusually cold office.

On second thought, maybe it's best to stick to food and beverages.

Any ideas?

Micah Cohen · 01-12-2005, 08:45 AM

I use my coffee machine to brew iced tea. I use one of those gallon-sized Lipton tea bags, and then mix the finished concentrate in a big jug with water and sugar, and I have "real-brewed" iced tea.

This thread could be truly interesting if people do have multiple uses for their coffee machines aside from coffee. We could write a "HTF Coffee Maker Cookbook."

MC

Scott Merryfield · 01-12-2005, 08:56 AM

Quote:

I use my coffee machine to brew iced tea.

We purchased a machine from the makers of Mr. Coffee specifically made for brewing ice tea. It works very well.

You could try making hot cocoa like my idiot former brother-in-law. He used milk instead of water. The milk burned (duh), ruining the coffee maker.

Shane Martin · 01-12-2005, 11:40 AM

I used to use my for brewed iced tea but we did the same thing as Scott and got a "Iced Tea Machine" from the same makers.

Lew Crippen · 01-12-2005, 12:02 PM

Why do you want it to do anything else Brian? If it makes good coffee, is that not enough? Anything other use that you might find, would probably be so outside its normal function that you would be dissatisfied in any case.

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JeremyErwin · 01-12-2005, 01:26 PM

It's "good" for playing those fun games of "Why has my coffee suddenly acquired that peculiar aftertaste?

Serious coffee drinkers enjoy consistency and ceremony-- the caffeine induces a sort of operant conditioning

Elinor · 01-12-2005, 01:50 PM

Ok, I don't want to get too elitist here, but for tea water should be brought to boiling. I don't think a tap dispenser is going to get that hot. The coffee maker shouldn't either, but I think it would get closer.

So if you're going to make tea, you'll get better tea from the coffee machine than the tap, I believe.

Jeff Gatie · 01-12-2005, 03:02 PM

Quote:

but for tea water should be brought to boiling.

Not for iced tea. As my southern belle ex-girlfriend said "[southern drawl] Iced tea should simmer, never boil. Boiling makes the tea cloudy.[\southern drawl]". Course she also added 2 cups of sugar to a half gallon of tea, so what did she know?

Charles J P · 01-12-2005, 03:09 PM

Quote:

So if you're going to make tea, you'll get better tea from the coffee machine than the tap, I believe.

Just for a bit of trivia, I believe most decent coffee makers heat water to the mid 190s fahrenheit.

Elinor · 01-12-2005, 03:17 PM

Exactly my understanding. Water for coffee should be below boiling for optimum brewing.

The boiling recommendation for tea, Jeff, is how the Brits recommend doing it. I usually drink imported British tea (hot) so that's why I recommended it. Don't drink much iced tea though, so I'll defer to the young lady from the South