Best Ceramic Teapot (for coffee use!)
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CathyWeeks
- Posts: 321
- Joined: 8 years ago
A bit of background - I seem to break glass and ceramic coffee equipment ridiculously easily. In the last 5 years or so, I've broken my smallest Chemex, two glass teapots (the lid fell off during pouring), and now I just broke the lid of my ceramic teapot that I've been using for the last 3 years with good results. It's this: http://www.amazon.com/RSVP-Cherry-Stone ... 000UGTJBA/
This teapot is pretty good, and I could just replace it with the exact same one. But I'd love one that has a better spout (this one drips a little, but not bad), and more importantly, heavier with more thermal mass to hold the water temperature even longer.
You may be wondering how I use a teapot for coffee brewing - it's specifically to heat my water in the microwave. I measure the right amount of water in a measuring cup, then pour it into a ceramic teapot, put the lid on, and put it in the microwave. With experimentation, I figured out the right amount of time to microwave it to get it right into the 195-ish range (and how to vary it depending on time of year +/- 15 seconds). I liked the ceramic best, because it did the best job of keeping my water at the right temperature for long enough to brew my coffee. I'd always planned to knit a cozy for it, but hadn't gotten around to it (knitting is slow!). Most often, I use an immersion method for brewing (Duo Coffee Steeper or a Sowdon Softbrew, though there's a FP kickstarter that I'm considering backing).
Anyway, last weekend, I broke the lid of my ceramic teapot. Specifically, I was stupidly carrying the teapot with the lid just sort of balanced on the top, rather than seated properly, and it fell off, and rather comically bounced off the edge of my sink, then the open dishwasher door, and landed on the kitchen floor nearly unscathed - but without the little tab that makes it a "captive" lid that prevents it from falling out during pouring. Since I heat my water with the lid on, the lid gets REALLY hot, and holding it on is not really a pleasant experience (I'm doing it anyway with a pot holder until I get a replacement). No luck finding a replacement lid - I've tried.
Anyway, I'm looking for a teapot with the following features:
Heavy/thick/durable stoneware - lots of thermal mass
Captive lid
Microwavable
All ceramic (or with removable metal parts - like a metal strainer which I won't use)
32-ish ounce capacity
Yes, I've considered getting an electric teakettle with a variable temperature control, but even the one everyone seems to like the best has plastic inside (where the handle bolts on). Granted - I do have some plastic equipment (Aeropress, and the lid of my Duo) but I try to minimize it's use with hot liquids as much as possible (and because of that the Aeropress isn't my every-day coffee maker, and I've been trying to figure out how to modify the lid of the Duo - maybe adhere a sheet of stainless foil to it or something, but haven't figured how to do that yet).
I'm also interested in the Stagg kettle from Fellow, but it has a plastic lid (though I've heard they're working on a metal lid), but it's stovetop. But the spout (and it's presumably more durable being metal) looks wonderful, and I love the built-in thermometer in the lid. With a stovetop kettle I'd have to pay more attention (with the microwave, I just set the time and walk away - then fetch when the timer rings).
This teapot is pretty good, and I could just replace it with the exact same one. But I'd love one that has a better spout (this one drips a little, but not bad), and more importantly, heavier with more thermal mass to hold the water temperature even longer.
You may be wondering how I use a teapot for coffee brewing - it's specifically to heat my water in the microwave. I measure the right amount of water in a measuring cup, then pour it into a ceramic teapot, put the lid on, and put it in the microwave. With experimentation, I figured out the right amount of time to microwave it to get it right into the 195-ish range (and how to vary it depending on time of year +/- 15 seconds). I liked the ceramic best, because it did the best job of keeping my water at the right temperature for long enough to brew my coffee. I'd always planned to knit a cozy for it, but hadn't gotten around to it (knitting is slow!). Most often, I use an immersion method for brewing (Duo Coffee Steeper or a Sowdon Softbrew, though there's a FP kickstarter that I'm considering backing).
Anyway, last weekend, I broke the lid of my ceramic teapot. Specifically, I was stupidly carrying the teapot with the lid just sort of balanced on the top, rather than seated properly, and it fell off, and rather comically bounced off the edge of my sink, then the open dishwasher door, and landed on the kitchen floor nearly unscathed - but without the little tab that makes it a "captive" lid that prevents it from falling out during pouring. Since I heat my water with the lid on, the lid gets REALLY hot, and holding it on is not really a pleasant experience (I'm doing it anyway with a pot holder until I get a replacement). No luck finding a replacement lid - I've tried.
Anyway, I'm looking for a teapot with the following features:
Heavy/thick/durable stoneware - lots of thermal mass
Captive lid
Microwavable
All ceramic (or with removable metal parts - like a metal strainer which I won't use)
32-ish ounce capacity
Yes, I've considered getting an electric teakettle with a variable temperature control, but even the one everyone seems to like the best has plastic inside (where the handle bolts on). Granted - I do have some plastic equipment (Aeropress, and the lid of my Duo) but I try to minimize it's use with hot liquids as much as possible (and because of that the Aeropress isn't my every-day coffee maker, and I've been trying to figure out how to modify the lid of the Duo - maybe adhere a sheet of stainless foil to it or something, but haven't figured how to do that yet).
I'm also interested in the Stagg kettle from Fellow, but it has a plastic lid (though I've heard they're working on a metal lid), but it's stovetop. But the spout (and it's presumably more durable being metal) looks wonderful, and I love the built-in thermometer in the lid. With a stovetop kettle I'd have to pay more attention (with the microwave, I just set the time and walk away - then fetch when the timer rings).
