What is the best method for cleaning the inside of an old style electric percolator coffee maker?!
One told me to use a vinegar & water solution.
Answers: My friends tell me not to clean/scrub out inside with dish soap & water to remove the coffee residue/stain build-up.
One told me to use a vinegar & water solution.
I bought a beautiful one at of all places a Goodwill store it was a 1960's type with the long thin spout, and when I was a chef to get the tarnish and strains off of silver and aluminum trays a solution of hot water and washing soda, will do it, it is available in the laundry section, vinegar does work on mineral deposits and hard water issues, the flavours and tannins from the coffee imbed them selves in the pore of the metal, so you need to use something to remove them, vinegar is good for a rinse agent after the washing soda.
Add 2 tablespoons of washing soda to the pot and the fill it with boiling water, let it sit for 30 minutes and then remove it and then add the vinegar about 1/2 a cup with the same amount of boiling water, again let it sit for 30 minutes, then rinse it with cool water and dry it with a towel or paper towels. I do this every 2-3 months to keep it clean and the residue flavours from accumulating.
Brew a pot using 1/3 vinegar, 2/3 water. Obviously, don't use coffee. =)
Do it twice, then run a pot with JUST water twice.
That's the way I do it anyway....
Yep. Use vinegar and water, heat it just like you would the coffee it comes out shiny and new. One rinse and you're good to go. I do this all the time to my percolators and teapots.
vinegar, it is what i use. my mother and grand mother as well, smells, but works.. just run it through as if you were making a pot of tea or coffee.
vinegar
Vinegar works great. Let it set over night and rinse several times with plain water. Loved those old percolators!
Try SIMPLE GREEN. It was developed for the coffee roasting industry. It will not hurt the metal and it is a safe cleaner, non toxic.
a good method for cleaning out any coffee pot, be it glass or an old percolator, is to fill the pot 1/2 way with ice, add a couple of cut up lemons (squeeze the pieces a little to release some of the juice) and about 1/4 cup of coarse salt (like kosher salt). put the lid on the pot & swirl the contents. this will gently scour the inside of the pot and will rinse completely clean, unlike dish detergent which can leave a residue. you may need to do this more than once to completely clean the inside of the pot.
however, i highly recomend that you purchase a new, drip style coffee maker. you can find many inexpensive models, if budget is a concern. studies have shown that any negative properties in coffee are removed by using the drip method & paper filters. also, the drip method or even a coffee press method (hot water added to a french press coffee pot, also an inexpensive method) flavor is far superior to percolated coffee, as basically the percolator just boils the coffee in itself, over & over again. The boiling method is the reason for all those old commercials for coffee that started with "jim says i make the worst coffee..."