OT...Hello the Fire...How's the Coffee?

[slimster]

Just wanted to say hello and a little about myself and ask a question. I lurked for a while and finally registered. Don't know why I stupidly waited so long since this seems like such a great forum and a great bunch of guys (and gals). Any way I'm a freedom and gun lover and my battery does include 5 leverguns at present (among other types). They are 1. a 1959(year of my birth) production model 94 Winchester in .30-30, 2. a Win. 94 Trapper .30-30 angle eject pre safety, 3. a stainless Puma 20" in .357, 4. a stainless Puma 20" in .454, and 5. a Marlin 1895 GS in 45-70. so maybe I've got the bases covered....Anyway I woke up this morning to an industrious clatter and found my lady friend furiously scrubbing away at the beautiful brown glaze on my coffee pot! It just seems to me that the coffee from a sparkling, freshly scrubbed pot doesn't taste as good as coffee from a "well seasoned" unit. Mind you we're not talking about a slimy crusty pot, just a nice healthy well used stain, to impart an extra character to the brew. I always rinse well with nice hot water and wash occasionally, but never scrub! Anyway after explaining my views on the matter I had to listen to a lecture along the lines of how "its unsanitary" and "it's got to be unhealthy" "gross" etc. I'm durn sure not gonna let her get her hands on my enamel "huntin, fishin, campin" unit. Anyway, in the home politics arena my side did not get effectively lobbied. If wisdom were money. then this forum is truly a gold mine so I would love to hear you guys' thoughts on the matter. Thanks!!!

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

Howdy,
And Welcome. If you were a Cajun Coffee drinker, like Community or SeaPort you wouldn't have that problem. It don't scrub off.

[Hobie]

We're glad to have you here!

I'm not a coffee drinker but have been making coffee for fanatics since I was 6 years old. Most will have some degree of agreement with you on the seasoning of the coffee urn.

I once had an "old" warrant officer (I'm the age now he was when I knew him!) who strongly believed that a coffee pot wasn't broken in until there was a "glaze" that protected his precious brew from the metalic portions of the percolator. Oh, yes, only a percolator would do, and a big one at that. If he could have had one of the units from the mess hall in his office, he'd have done that.

[Old Savage]

Brita filtered water with Maxwell House Original Medium along with whatever is in the grinder. Water is boiled in a Pfaltzgraf iron tea kettle with ceramic coating with some chipping and rusting inside. Using, of course, the settled cone pour through unbleached Melita filters into a Melita glass pot.

Had a 59' and a Stainless Rossi and I have a Presafety angle eject 30-30 and a Marlin 1895SS.

[Griff]

Welcome to the forum. I only have about 3 things that belonged to my grandmother... the pride and joy of our family (Grandma, not the things)... I have a 12qt dutch oven, a square 12" frying pan and an enameled coffee pot with basket, all were given her by her mother upon her marryin'. (They're in my camping box now as my wife has bought me some new stuff for the kitchen). So, anyways, several years back... about 30 give or take a few, the frying pan was my daily breakfast pan, (I love to cook breakfast...); my wife was tired of seeing this greasy, caked frying pan sitting on her stove. So she cleaned it... right down to the bare iron. Then put it in her new dishwasher!

Talk about stressin' out! She had no idea how close she came to getting the boot! She's since learned proper care and feeding of the cast iron & enamel cookware.

[bsaride]

My Gawd Griff,

It's amazing she survived that episode!

+1 vote for a well seasoned pot and cup for drinking my coffee from.

[AJMD429]

Bachelor College-kid Coffee:

1. Saucepan - fill with water and a handful of coffee grounds, and boil on stove.

2. Mug or Cup of some sort - place on a tabletop nearby.

3. Old T-shirt - put it on, pull it out over the Cup, and carefully pour the water through the shirt into the Cup
(...it is important to avoid the genital area*).

4. Houseplant or Compost bucket - Toss grounds from shirt into same.

5. Roommate's Laundry Basket - Toss shirt into same.

(*thus, it is advised not to ingest alcohol during the previous hour or so)

[Chuck 100 yd]

Welcome to the fire. The coffee is hot!!

[gundownunder]

I feel for you Griff

By the way gentlemen, I beleive the word we are all looking for here is patina.
On tea and coffee pots it enhances flavor but on steel and cast iron cookware it also forms a non-stick coating. My son bought himself a wok and wined incessantly about how everything stuck to it and it always needed scrubbing with a wire brush ( his mother taught him ), when he showed it to me it was bright shining steel, I seasoned it for him and now it works like it was meant to.

Back in the early years of our marriage I had a carving knife with an edge so keen you could almost split hairs with it, she took the edge off it "because its sharp and dangerous" . Its OK, I cured her.

[JReed]

Welcome

Yep it has to have that patina or it just aint right.

[Rusty]

Welcome Slimster,

I think the operative word here is "seasoned" coffee pot.



Years ago when I was with the S.O. we had an incident at the shrimp docks. One of the mates was drunk and started shootin the boat up. One of the first officers on the scene secured everything till back up got there they then went on the boat lookin for the shooter. He was hiding behind a drag door, which is a double thickness of 2X4's that was waterlogged from use. The shooter peeked around the side with a S&W M10 when the officer opened up. A .30 carbine went through the drag door, entered the shooter under his belt buckle and traveled sideways till his hip bone stopped the round... he was down.
After the smoke cleared it was learned that the mate was angry because someone had washed his coffee pot.

[slimster]

Thanks for the show of support for my side of the issue guys! Now I have some ammo! Griff I know what ya mean. My grandmother had an old cast iron frypan that was her mother's. It was so well seasoned that it was shiny black and NOTHING would stick to that rascal. I wonder how many years of seasoning your wife washed "down the drain"? I guess if a "patina" on the pot hasn't killed me yet and hasn't seemed to hurt any of you guys, maybe I can convince her that it"s not unhealthy.(but I'm not holding my breath)! Thanks again!

[kimwcook]

I had a coffee mug that I had "seasoned" for years. It was a nice dark brown on the interior. No soap ever touched it, just water. The women in the office would always say "It's gross", "It's unsanitary". One day I came into the office and I couldn't find it. I asked where it was and someone told me it's in the rack ( dishwashing drying rack). I found that one of the women had washed it. It was sparkling clean. I grabbed my cup and told everyone if they ever touched it again, they'd have digits removed. I'm still working on getting it right.

[Haycock]

Heya Slimster! Welcome.

If the lady just HAS to wash the thing once in a while, ask her to please do it with white vinegar and hot water.... NO SOAP! That way, she'll get to keep it (and by extension you!) clean and in line, and you'll get to avoid the inevitable soapy coffee that results from regular dish washing.

Yes, these are the terms I have negotiated with my lady (wife) too.

Good luck. May John Moses Browning be always at your side.


Haycock

[Ysabel Kid]

Welcome to the fire!

Can't speak to your coffee question/observation - never picked up the habit myself. My caffienation of choice is sweet tea or diet coke.

Sounds like a nice battery of levers, but you are missing one - you need a good lever-action .22 rimfire!!!

Post some pictures of those beauties!

[slimster]

Ysabel Kid, unfortunately you are correct, I need to fill that gap in my arsenal. Unfortunately I am presently in one of those "more going out than there is coming in" periods in my life, so it will be a little while before I can remedy that omission. I will also need to obtain a digital camera or a scanner so I can provide some pics. I'll have to see if my daughter can maybe scan some for me or something when next we visit.

[El Chivo]

I got these nice Italian espresso pots that are like little pressure cookers. The instructions say you have to make a few cups of coffee in them before you'll have anything fit to drink.

I scrub them out periodically with hot water and elbow grease but no soap. If I let the patina get too thick (like a crust) it does taste bitter.

[Old Savage]

Breaking news! The wife tells me we are now using Trader Joe's Organic Bolivian Blend blended with Cascade Pride Chocolate Macadamia. A little bitter I say.

[Doc Hudson]

Welcome to the forum. I only have about 3 things that belonged to my grandmother... the pride and joy of our family (Grandma, not the things)... I have a 12qt dutch oven, a square 12" frying pan and an enameled coffee pot with basket, all were given her by her mother upon her marryin'. (They're in my camping box now as my wife has bought me some new stuff for the kitchen). So, anyways, several years back... about 30 give or take a few, the frying pan was my daily breakfast pan, (I love to cook breakfast...); my wife was tired of seeing this greasy, caked frying pan sitting on her stove. So she cleaned it... right down to the bare iron. Then put it in her new dishwasher!

Talk about stressin' out! She had no idea how close she came to getting the boot! She's since learned proper care and feeding of the cast iron & enamel cookware.

That is defensible grounds for assault and battery if not manslaughter! It's a good thing you love your wife.

I took my Lodge Cast Iron Griddle/Grill Pan to Culinary School once to grill some asparagus bundles for a banquet we were catering. During the clean up, one of my classmates came over and told me that she'd caught one of the underclass washing it in soap and water. She'd stopped her and gave her some quick instruction on how to properly clean cast iron. Jessica knew I'd be furious, and she was right. I asked her to do me a favor and NOT tell me who was boneheaded enough to wash cast iron like it was a cheap teflon skillet.

[Doc Hudson]

Welcome aboard Slimster.

I guess you could safely say I'm not a coffee snob. As a matter of face, I ain't even picky about my coffee. I get just as much pleasure from truckstop coffee that has been on the warmer half the day as I do from fancy pants $5.00 a cup coffee. And I prefer the price of the truckstop coffee and generally enjoy the atmosphere better.

The only time my old enamel coffee pot gets washed is when I forget and leave the grounds in the basket from one camping trip to the next. Then it gets a good scrubbing. Otherwise, just a good rinse and heat the water in the pot.

I guess my coffeemaker at home gets run through the dishwasher a couple or three times each year, whether it needs it or not. Otherwise, I rinse before making a fresh pot, and rinse out the grounds basket once in a while.

[Modoc ED]

There's plenty of good, potential, lady friends out there but darn few good seasoned coffee pots. Were it me, I'd replace the lady friend and re-season the coffee pot.

Welcome aboard.

[Old Savage]

Whoa!!!!!!

Better have a white moca 190 whole milk 6 pump triple sitrred venti and keep the lady.

[Hagler]

Welcome!

Shawn

[Rick]

+1 to Nate Kiowa Jones. Start using Community Dark Roast and it will stay brown. They sell my mail if you are not near Cajun Country (South Louisiana). One potential problem, once you like it, most other coffee tastes like dirty dish water. I love the stuff, but when I moved back to Texas, I had a problem. Thankfully they sell Community in the stores in Southeast Texas now.

[rjohns94]

welcome to the fire. I don't do coffee

[shawn_c992001]

I usually just stick to Folgers or Maxwell House. When my wife and I just started living together. I bought a 10" and 12" Lodge cast iron skillets. I make cornbread in the 10" and usually cook breakfast in the 12", bacon, eggs, pancakes, etc. She decided to use the 12" to fry some fresh trout one evening, no big deal. I jumped in the shower after dinner to wash off the coal dirt. After I got out I walked into the kitchen, and what do I see? My lovely wife with a BRILLO PAD!!! STOP STOP STOP! was all I could get out! She was wondering what was going on and I had to explain to her about not scrubbing cast and it loosing it's nonstick property. Luckily I caught her early enough no real damage was done. She does good with the coffee pot just water and vinegar, but I'm the only one that drinks coffee.