5 ms·

Man, you just brought up one of my biggest pet peeves. The design of modern drip coffee makers. Prior to about 15 years ago, the basket for the grounds was alm

Man, you just brought up one of my biggest pet peeves. The design of modern drip coffee makers. Prior to about 15 years ago, the basket for the grounds was almost always full separated by a compartment from the heating element and pumping area. Slowly, these areas were combined into one, with a plastic lid that covers both where the grounds are place for filtering, and the basin that water sits in. Maybe its a simpler design. Maybe. By combining the regions, steam builds up and small particles of coffee find their way into the water storage basin (inevitably). Because of this, the heating element and pumping area are exposed to small particles of coffee, which creates buildup, and can clog the elements. Thus, a modern coffee maker designed in this way *will* fail after a number of cycles. There is no way to prevent particles of coffee from getting into the pumping area, and its otherwise inaccessible (no way to clean). Prior drip coffee makers, they had lasted me as long as I had an urn that still fit them. Never any issues with the mechanism. No issues with buildup or clogs in the water storage area. Its my number one consideration when purchasing a drip coffee maker.

inetknght 4y ago
> small particles of coffee find their way into the water storage basin (inevitably). Because of this, the heating element and pumping area are exposed to small particles of coffee Fun fact: I had a coffee maker literally catch fire because of a build-up of coffee grinds on the water heating element.
p_l 4y ago
Not saying I don't believe you, but having had little experience with drip coffee makers since ~2010 when I lost my last one, I simply can't imagine the design involved that would let coffee get into pumping area (worst was that you accidentally spilled ground coffee into water tank. Can you point to some examples? Just so I can share what to avoid :O
- RosanaAnaDana 4y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp9H0MO-qS8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp9H0MO-qS8 The specific mechanism that gums up the works occurs at 6:45. When you raise the lid of the modern version, grounds and coffee bits that have dusted up to the lid of the coffee maker drip via condensation into rear water reservoir. For greater detail, juxtapose minutes 8-11 with minutes 16-21. Mr. Coffee represents the king of drip still. And it is the greatest contributor to this fundamental design flaw (imp).
  - p_l 4y ago
    Thank you very much, bookmarked for any future drip making needs to avoid buyib bad crap.
Freak_NL 4y ago
Just get a Moccamaster and never change brand again. It's a Dutch brand, but they seem to offer them worldwide. Separate lids for the grounds and the water reservoir. Spare parts can be ordered, but on the whole the thing just lasts. It comes in a range of hip bright colours, but also just shiny metal. https://moccamaster.com/ https://moccamaster.com/
- morsch 4y ago
  239 EUR, yikes. That's 10 EUR less than I paid for my super automatic espresso machine. I guess it may be worth it if it lasts a lifetime (which my espresso machine won't, even though it's been going strong for like 7 years). Edit: Ah, 239 is the MSRP, you can get it for 200, less when it's on sale.
  - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
    >239 EUR, yikes. That's 10 EUR less than I paid for my super automatic espresso machine Sorry to break it to you, but that's actually not much money for what good drip machines usually cost. I don't want to sound like a snob (I promise I'm not), but at 229 Euros your "super automatic espresso machine" is probably pretty junk Aldi/Lidl-grade machine or some budget DeLonghi/Philips, that make awful espresso, no offence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuFQbiIVUkw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuFQbiIVUkw 229 Euros is the cost of a good electric grinder alone, while a decent non-automatic espresso machine starts at north of ~500 Euros for the most basic models, from Sage for example, and fully automatic ones from Jura go for north of ~2000 Euros. And those brands and prices aren't some snobby enthusiast grade luxury one-of-a-kind machines, but your basic home/small office appliances from reputable makers in the industry. Yeah, making great espresso is hard as it has so may variables and automatic machines that can pull it off with minimal human intervention are very very expensive. Which is why I recommend people on a budget stay away from automatic machines in that price range as they suck. I'd recommend James Hoffmann on YouTube for a deep dive into the world of coffee, espresso, grinders and coffee machines. He really opened my horizons to the world of great tasting coffee, with the downside that now, the coffee that I though I enjoyed, and most other commercial made coffee, tastes like crap to me haha.

inetknght 4y ago

> small particles of coffee find their way into the water storage basin (inevitably). Because of this, the heating element and pumping area are exposed to small particles of coffee Fun fact: I had a coffee maker literally catch fire because of a build-up of coffee grinds on the water heating element.

p_l 4y ago

Not saying I don't believe you, but having had little experience with drip coffee makers since ~2010 when I lost my last one, I simply can't imagine the design involved that would let coffee get into pumping area (worst was that you accidentally spilled ground coffee into water tank. Can you point to some examples? Just so I can share what to avoid :O

RosanaAnaDana 4y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp9H0MO-qS8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp9H0MO-qS8 The specific mechanism that gums up the works occurs at 6:45. When you raise the lid of the modern version, grounds and coffee bits that have dusted up to the lid of the coffee maker drip via condensation into rear water reservoir. For greater detail, juxtapose minutes 8-11 with minutes 16-21. Mr. Coffee represents the king of drip still. And it is the greatest contributor to this fundamental design flaw (imp).
- p_l 4y ago
  Thank you very much, bookmarked for any future drip making needs to avoid buyib bad crap.

Freak_NL 4y ago

Just get a Moccamaster and never change brand again. It's a Dutch brand, but they seem to offer them worldwide. Separate lids for the grounds and the water reservoir. Spare parts can be ordered, but on the whole the thing just lasts. It comes in a range of hip bright colours, but also just shiny metal. https://moccamaster.com/ https://moccamaster.com/

morsch 4y ago
239 EUR, yikes. That's 10 EUR less than I paid for my super automatic espresso machine. I guess it may be worth it if it lasts a lifetime (which my espresso machine won't, even though it's been going strong for like 7 years). Edit: Ah, 239 is the MSRP, you can get it for 200, less when it's on sale.
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago
  >239 EUR, yikes. That's 10 EUR less than I paid for my super automatic espresso machine Sorry to break it to you, but that's actually not much money for what good drip machines usually cost. I don't want to sound like a snob (I promise I'm not), but at 229 Euros your "super automatic espresso machine" is probably pretty junk Aldi/Lidl-grade machine or some budget DeLonghi/Philips, that make awful espresso, no offence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuFQbiIVUkw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuFQbiIVUkw 229 Euros is the cost of a good electric grinder alone, while a decent non-automatic espresso machine starts at north of ~500 Euros for the most basic models, from Sage for example, and fully automatic ones from Jura go for north of ~2000 Euros. And those brands and prices aren't some snobby enthusiast grade luxury one-of-a-kind machines, but your basic home/small office appliances from reputable makers in the industry. Yeah, making great espresso is hard as it has so may variables and automatic machines that can pull it off with minimal human intervention are very very expensive. Which is why I recommend people on a budget stay away from automatic machines in that price range as they suck. I'd recommend James Hoffmann on YouTube for a deep dive into the world of coffee, espresso, grinders and coffee machines. He really opened my horizons to the world of great tasting coffee, with the downside that now, the coffee that I though I enjoyed, and most other commercial made coffee, tastes like crap to me haha.