Making a 1/2 pot in a BUNN

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
BenKeith
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#1: Post by BenKeith »

I just replaced my old Bunn with a new one. While changing my modified parts to the new, I thought some others might be interested. I almost never make a full pot, 36 ounces of water is my normal pot. Needless to say, this is just a little over two minutes of brew time, so I have a couple of mods I do to get my four minutes brew time. The filter basket has a bushing I made that presses snugly into the factory hole and is drilled with a 0.098" hole. Doing this makes it hold too much water and will push the grounds up above most filters so you have to restrict the shower head also. The easiest way to do this is to plug off two holes and make a triangle pattern. Me being an annal perfectionist, I plugged off all five and drilled smaller ones, but it has been so many years ago I don't have the sizes. I will say, it's not worth the effort because I never say a difference between the three factory holes and my five smaller ones. I keep a standard basket and shower for those occasions I do make a full pot. It does make a much better 1/2 pot with these couple of mods, and you get the grind dialed in.

Some say just grind finer so I clogs the filter more but I could never get that to work and have a good tasting coffee. I had to grind way too fine and still couldn't get good coffee.

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achipman
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#2: Post by achipman »

Have you tried the flow restrictor? You can contact Bunn to order one. Their troubleshooting tips have the info.

From their page:

"If you use decaffeinated, fine grind coffee or have soft water, you need a flow restrictor sprayhead. Please contact our customer service department for a flow restrictor sprayhead at 1-800-352-BUNN(2866) or complete the Parts & Service form.."

Even if you don't have any of the above mentioned criteria, the flow restrictor is designed to slow down the water.

Link to parts form mentioned above.
"Another coffee thing??? I can't keep up with you... next you'll be growing coffee in our back yard." - My wife

BenKeith (original poster)
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#3: Post by BenKeith (original poster) »

Didn't know they even made one. I did my mod almost 15 years ago, not sure they did then. That might keep from having to mod the shower head, I would have to try, but I have no need to, my modifications have worked perfect for many years. That still does nothing for slowing down the soak time. If you just slow the flow through the shower, the funnel is not going to keep enough water in it to maintain a proper soak of the grounds. Totally my non professional opinion, but mine works great for me.

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yakster
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#4: Post by yakster »

I had Bunn send me out a flow restrictor sprayhead when I was using my BTX. I think they even have deeper "gourmet" filter holder baskets that are deeper to allow the coffee to bloom without hitting the sprayhead.

I also read of some tricks with filling the reservoir with water and then closing and opening the lid on top to pase the release of the water... you can close the lid for just long enough to bloom the coffee and then open the lid and wait before closing it for the brew cycle. If I remember correctly, this worked better with full pots, since I got my Behmor BraZen, I haven't used the Bunn.
-Chris

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cannonfodder
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#5: Post by cannonfodder »

I have my BUNN plumbed in. It was just a matter of setting the brew timer so I got half a pot. I hardly ever use it but it does make a decent pot of coffee after you get the temperature/timing/grind all dialed in.
Dave Stephens

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achipman
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#6: Post by achipman »

yakster wrote:I had Bunn send me out a flow restrictor sprayhead when I was using my BTX. I think they even have deeper "gourmet" filter holder baskets that are deeper to allow the coffee to bloom without hitting the sprayhead.

I also read of some tricks with filling the reservoir with water and then closing and opening the lid on top to pase the release of the water... you can close the lid for just long enough to bloom the coffee and then open the lid and wait before closing it for the brew cycle. If I remember correctly, this worked better with full pots, since I got my Behmor BraZen, I haven't used the Bunn.
The phased approach only works with the models that have valves. I think all newer models have the valves, but with my parent's old velocity brewer, as soon as you pour the water it starts coming out.
"Another coffee thing??? I can't keep up with you... next you'll be growing coffee in our back yard." - My wife

monstro18
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#7: Post by monstro18 »

It took me a need for a faster brew than a manual pour over to finally decide to hone in my Bunn brewing skills. It took me nearly 2 weeks to get the same taste out of the Bunn as my usual pour over. You need to think of the factors you have control of and factors you do not have control of.

Bunn controlled factors: speed of the "pour", minimum of 20 ounces water
My control: amount of water above 20 ounces, pre-infusion if above 20 oz, grind size, amount of coffee

When I started, my thought process was as follows, I brew 20 oz water and 36 g. coffee with the pour over and add 8 ounces of hot water to tone the full strength brew down. So I will brew 28 oz water and 36g. in the Bunn.
I knew it was a fast brew with less water contact time, and I am taking more water through the grounds so I had to think of this 2 fold. 1-I needed a finer grind than a pour over required because of the shortened brew time. 2- I needed to start fine and adjust slightly more course every brew till I hit the taste I wanted (this is due to the fact that I was taking more water through the coffee than I would with a pour over, it slows down the extraction so that it fully extracts and not over extracts at the 28th ounce)
This also is what I have found to be the maximum amount of coffee you can brew in these machines and not get grounds in your coffee.

Brewing procedure: 1. Honed in the grind and I use the same grind every day. 2: heat a little water in the microwave while I grind my coffee (less than half a mug) 3: Run the microwaved water through the filter to remove the paper taste. 4: pre-infuse the coffee by running a little of the 28 ounces of water I put in the reservoir into the coffee for 30 seconds (2 oz if I had to guess) 5: finish the brew cycle and remove the grounds immediately (exactly 2 minutes is what it should take). Hopefully this helps!

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