How To Use A Camping Percolator | A Beginner’s Guide

There are some important luxuries in life that make one’s outlook on life pleasant. Something good to remember in the hard times that gives us strength and fills us with hope. But unfortunately, money can’t buy these luxuries.

If you are a coffee lover, you may already have started to crave something. Well, we’re with you. We crave it too. Because it’s one of those priceless luxuries of life – a cup of fresh coffee out in the open in the glorious days of camping.

Good coffee is tricky to make. But if you know how to use a camping percolator, then you’re all set. And if you don’t know it, well, stay with us. We’ll teach it to you right here.

Understand the Parts First

This is important to know if you want to use a percolator the right way no matter where you are.

Inside the percolator, there is a small apparatus that does the real work of filtering and brewing. This small apparatus is the combination of a pot and a tube that runs along the entire internal length of the percolator.

What do These Parts do?

The pot is shaped like a tiny little bowl with perforated holes all throughout, and its purpose is to hold the coffee beans. This bowl acts as the perforation chamber due to its numerous holes and the lid that’s put on top of it.

And the tube, which is hollow inside, runs through the middle of this tiny bowl.

Both of these are connected together and placed inside the percolator.

How Does It Work?

You probably don’t need to know this, but it sure will help you to make better coffee.

Well, it is actually very simple. You put water directly into the empty percolator.

Then you put coffee in the small pot, and then you connect the tube to the pot. After that, you have to place the combined apparatus carefully into the water inside the coffee percolator.

And now this is where science does its thing. When the water starts to boil, bubbles form in the pot. As the concentration of these bubbles increase, the pressure rises underneath.

When this happens, the bubbles start to travel upwards through the hollow tube and collect in the pot where the coffee has been placed.

The bubbling water sits in the pot with all the coffee, starts to soak in all the flavor and aroma. And in this way, it brews for a long time to gradually turn into that delicious, richly flavored hot drink that you enjoy so much with the gracious, full use of your senses.

How to Use a Camping Percolator?

Enough talk now let’s make some of that good stuff with the camping coffee percolator! We got some steps for you to follow.

Step 1: Fill the pot

Don’t fill it to the brim, but notice that there is a line to mark the proper measure of water you can put into the percolator without spilling. If you’re not making a measured cup or two, then fill water up to that mark.

Step 2: Put coffee into the small pot

If you are using coarse freshly ground coffee, you can put it directly into the pot, but if you are using regular ground coffee, then you’ll need to put a filter in the pot and then pour the coffee onto the filter.

Put some extra coffee for the pot  – so, if you are making 1 cup of coffee, then you need to put ½ tablespoon of coffee for that cup alone, and an extra tablespoon of coffee to get lost in the pot.

After you have done this, assemble the pot and the tube apparatus and put it inside the percolator water for the actual brewing.

Step 3: Watch the coffee brew

You need to watch over the brewing not only for the purposes of slow comfort but also for the purposes of safety.

Since you’ll be using a gas cylinder or brewing over a direct wood fire, you need to keep a careful eye on the percolator to manage the flame.

Always keep the flame at medium.

When the bubbling starts, you’ll be able to see it through the bubble spot. At that point, minimize the flame of the stove or move the percolator off the center of the fire and let it sit there for another 15 minutes.

Step 4: Pour the coffee into a mug

Take out the percolator, open the lid, take a deep breath through the aroma of the coffee, and appreciate the work of the best camp percolator that you have brought along with you.

Then take a mug, pour the coffee into it, lose yourself in the richness of that beautiful fragrant coffee smell, look at the beautiful view of your campsite and take a sip thinking about how truly blessed you are to be able to do this at least once in your life.

Tips For Using A Percolator

Always rinse out the percolator with a gentle liquid soap – wash all of its components individually, starting from the water pipe to the lid of the small pot. This will ensure basic hygiene and will also ensure that residual coffee doesn’t interfere with the freshness of your new brew.

Use coarsely ground coffee beans to avoid extracting too much through the percolated holes. If you use coffee beans that have been too finely ground, then it will seep through the holes and mix in with your end drink.

If you are using a campfire to make the coffee, you can lower the flames by shifting the coals underneath the percolator.

Conclusion

There’s nothing more amazing and grounding than to have a fresh brew of coffee out in the open. If you’re getting ready for your camping trip, we all envy you immensely.

Regardless, we hope you now know how to use a camping percolator and that you will be enjoying your coffee on behalf of all of us who’re stuck at home. Good luck, and we wish you a great time out there!

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