Boldjava wrote:I would encourage the use of a thermometer until you have confidence that you are achieving extraction between 195-205○ before flying without one.

A very good suggestion! Once you get used to your brewers characteristics you won't need it unless you want to play with different temps but a good kitchen thermometer comes in handy. If you do much cooking & want something very accurate you can't beat the Thermapen
http://www.thermoworks.com/products/thermapen/ There are cheaper alternatives but after a few end up in the trash can you'll find that the Thermapen is well worth the money.

...you can't beat the Thermapen (http://www.thermoworks.com/products/thermapen/). There are cheaper alternatives but after a few end up in the trash can you'll find that the Thermapen is well worth the money.

OT: Took a sauces course last winter. The chef's instruction, "Get a decent thermometer if you want to cook well." Brand shouted the class?

"Thermapen."

+1. Love my Thermapen. Great addition to any home cafe or kitchen.

At the Barista Parlor in Nashville, they use a Thermapen as part of their siphon brewing routine.

BTW: this is a decent budget alternative to the Thermapen:

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/rt616.html

It's not as fast reading or as accurate, but it's fast enough for our purposes. I carry this model in my travel kit. Beats taking a $100 tool on the road.

JohnB. wrote:I add the dry grounds to the top globe before I lock it down. As the water rises in the globe I quickly stir the grounds in & start my timer. This is done with the upper globe about half full of water. 45-50 seconds later I turn off the flame & remove the burner. I'm using a grind just slightly coarser then drip

Which filter are you using? Cloth/paper/mesh? If you want to see that impressive mound of grounds on top of the filter after drawdown you need to give the slurry a quick stir just as the level starts to drop in the upper globe. I used to do this but found that I preferred the resulting brew without that last stir.

There are various syphon brew methods that shops & owners use. Try them all & see which one you like best.

I'm using the cloth filter that came with the pot, eventually I will try something different.

BJava- I have the yama 5 cup tabletop.

This mornings brew I used 37g of coffee filled with 540g of water, coarsened up the grind quite a bit. Dialed the flame way back when it started to head up top. Dialed it to far back because it all came back down, DOH!! Got it back up top but it came up way to hot, once temp was stable around 198+/-1, I added the coffee got it stirred and let it brew for about 2:15 then took the flame out and let it draw down. Total time up north was right around 3 minutes. I preferred the tighter grind brew from yesterday, it seemed as if the flavors were popping a bit more. Could this be true or am I imagining, I'd say it's probably a bit subjective. Next time I will keep temp and grind the same but maybe steep the coffee up north a bit longer and have a longer brew time and see what I taste.

In regards to the therm. I have a Taylor brand. It reads in about 7-10 seconds. And can be calibrated. A thermapen may be on my christmas list this year.

Those are extremely long brew times so if it's drinkable you must be using something close to a press pot grind. If I used those brew times with the drip range grind I use I could probably strip paint with the resulting coffee.

I've tried all the filter alternatives & prefer the cloth.

JohnB. wrote:Those are extremely long brew times . . .

Not necessarily. While grind is important, it also depends on the coffee, a factor I've not heard mentioned in any of these threads. I routinely run 3:15 steep time with a ~30 second drawdown. And I know you've heard the exhortation from this particular roaster, along the lines of "our light-roasted coffee takes a good 3-4 minutes to extract."

...I've tried all the filter alternatives & prefer the cloth.

I am strictly a Corning (pictured) or Cory rod guy (yes, I have about 25 of them, to include two antique prototypes from the '30s that are over 8" long -- and no, I won't sell them).

People talk about the struggle with glass rod and stalls. I have had two stalls in 8 years.

I steep for 2 minutes and take it off the heat (using a pourover grind).

Boldjava wrote:I am strictly a Corning (pictured) or Cory rod guy (yes, I have about 25 of them, to include two antique prototypes from the '30s that are over 8" long -- and no, I won't sell them).

People talk about the struggle with glass rod and stalls. I have had two stalls in 8 years.

I steep for 2 minutes and take it off the heat (using a pourover grind).

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Very cool, my friend has a broken cory rod he picked up at a thrift store, he said he loved it, until the little one decided to bounce it off the kitchen floor! I'm going to look for one, I think sweet maria's sells them.

So I recently received a corning rod and put it to use today. Water went north and stabilized right around 200. Added my coffee ground at a 10 setting on my virtuoso, started my timer and pulled the burner at 1:15, a tiny bit went south but the rest stayed up top. It stalled....

Second try I moved the grinder to 14, same process. Super slow draw down as it went for 6:00 minutes before completely draining. Anyone who has used the corning rod feel free to chime in?! Grind coarser? Also, I do not stir, I more or less push the grounds down to wet them...

Thanks

I tried the glass rod in my Hario 5C but discontinued using it as it let too much silt pass by. No issues with drawdowns, in fact they were faster then normal.