True Story: Exploding Percolator
I'm sharing this experience because its so bizarre. Enjoy a good laugh because it all absolutely true.
I've been drinking coffee for the large majority of my life. I prefer percolator brewed coffee using freshly ground beans (yeah, I write in coffee houses so I'm a bit particular.
I have a metal Cabela's 9 cup percolating coffee pot which consists of 5 parts; the pot, a viewing clear plastic knob on the hinged lid, the metal stem, the metal perforated filter basket and a metal perforated lid for that basket. Aside from the knob NOTHING is screwed on and EVERYTHING is loose.
A few days ago I added 9 tablespoons of coffee grinds and made coffee, no issue. After my second cup of the day I figured I'd add a bit of water to eek out what I could from the beans. The end result was that I added too much water and the coffee was rather thin. Solution: add a 2 tablespoons of coffee to the basket and let it perk for a while to fortify the coffee to my liking. On an electric stove I set the burner to 2 (out of 10) and went about researching for my writing. Forgetting the coffee as I typically do I was surprised to hear a modest explosion and extreme hissing from the kitchen. Normally when I forget the coffee it overflows, I bet bitched at by my wife and have to clean the stove. This time about 1/3 the grinds were all over the range top, on the wall, and on the counter top.
I'm at a total loss how something so loosely connected (the pot itself) can result in an explosion like this. I've done the exact same thing before a number of times and have never had anything similar to this happen. It is for this reason I'm looking to science for an explanation.
I've been drinking coffee for the large majority of my life. I prefer percolator brewed coffee using freshly ground beans (yeah, I write in coffee houses so I'm a bit particular.
I have a metal Cabela's 9 cup percolating coffee pot which consists of 5 parts; the pot, a viewing clear plastic knob on the hinged lid, the metal stem, the metal perforated filter basket and a metal perforated lid for that basket. Aside from the knob NOTHING is screwed on and EVERYTHING is loose.
A few days ago I added 9 tablespoons of coffee grinds and made coffee, no issue. After my second cup of the day I figured I'd add a bit of water to eek out what I could from the beans. The end result was that I added too much water and the coffee was rather thin. Solution: add a 2 tablespoons of coffee to the basket and let it perk for a while to fortify the coffee to my liking. On an electric stove I set the burner to 2 (out of 10) and went about researching for my writing. Forgetting the coffee as I typically do I was surprised to hear a modest explosion and extreme hissing from the kitchen. Normally when I forget the coffee it overflows, I bet bitched at by my wife and have to clean the stove. This time about 1/3 the grinds were all over the range top, on the wall, and on the counter top.
I'm at a total loss how something so loosely connected (the pot itself) can result in an explosion like this. I've done the exact same thing before a number of times and have never had anything similar to this happen. It is for this reason I'm looking to science for an explanation.
Same thing happened to me on a camping outing. The next time we went camping I brought a Mr. Coffee and a converter to hook to the trucks battery.
SO here we are, out in the middle of nowhere... Flip the switch... We got exactly 2 1/2 cups worth of the 10 cup carafe filled when I hear this "Beep Beep Brooooowwww....." and look over - the battery was down to about 10 1/2 volts and shrinking fast. Darn.
Not to be deterred (after all, we're talking about Coffee!), I pull the car over, hook up the inverter, thinking "this will fix that", it gets about another cup or so worth in the carafe, and now the car starts laboring... I'm thinking by now "The coffee Gods hate me"... I shut off the inverter - and the car picks right up. BAH!
We ended up heating a pot of water and pouring it through the filter. Turned out pretty good... but I still need to hook up a meter to see what in Godzilla's name they have for a heating element, and how they keep it from melting the plastic base.
The important thing was, we were able to adapt, and survive. It was either that, or fail at coffee...
Funny how things stick in your mind like that.
I also use the catch phrase every so often (usually gets a chuckle)... "I've always preferred my coffee like my men - strong, black, pungent aroma, and bitter as hell... "
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_8qa...
(Sorry, I have no serious answer to your query,but I sympathize. No coffee is a real crisis.)