BOILED COFFEE
Without doubt, coffee is more often boiled in its preparation than treated in
any other way. Usually, an ordinary coffee pot is all that is required in this method of preparation. The
amount of ground coffee used may be varied to obtain the desired strength.
BOILED COFFEE
(Sufficient to Serve Six)
1 c. cold water
1/2 c. ground coffee
3 c. boiling water
After scalding the coffee pot, put 1/2 cupful of the cold water and the ground coffee into it. Stir well
and then add the boiling water. Allow it to come to the boiling point and boil for 3 minutes. Pour a little
of the coffee into a cup to clear the spout of grounds, add the remaining cupful of cold water, and put
back on the stove to reheat, but not to boil. When hot, serve at once. Never allow the liquid to stand on
the grounds for any length of time, for the longer it stands the more tannic acid will be drawn out.
As coffee made by boiling is usually somewhat cloudy, it may be cleared in one way or another.
The last cold water is added for this purpose, for as it is heavier than the warm liquid it sinks to the
bottom and carries the grounds with it. Coffee may also be cleared by stirring a small quantity of beaten
raw egg, either the white or the yolk, or both, into the grounds before the cold water is added to them.
One egg will clear two or three potfuls of coffee if care is exercised in its use. What remains of the egg
after the first potful has been cleared should be placed in a small dish and set away for future use. A
little cold water poured over it will assist in preserving it. If the egg shells are washed before the egg is
broken, they may be crushed and added to the grounds also, for they will help to clear the coffee. The
explanation of the use of egg for this purpose is that it coagulates as the coffee heats and carries the
particles of coffee down with it as it sinks.
Another very satisfactory way in which to make boiled coffee is to tie the ground coffee loosely
into a piece of cheesecloth, pour the boiling water over it, and then let it boil for a few minutes longer
than in the method just given. Coffee prepared in this manner will be found to be clear and therefore
need not be treated in any of the ways mentioned.
FILTERED COFFEE.--When it is desired to make coffee by the filtering process, the coffee
must be ground into powder. Then it should be made in a drip, or French, coffee pot. If one of these is
not available, cheesecloth of several thicknesses may be substituted. The advantage of making coffee by
this method is that the coffee grounds may sometimes be used a second time.
FILTERED COFFEE
(Sufficient to Serve Six)
1/2 c. powdered coffee
1 qt. boiling water
Place the coffee in the top of the drip pot, pour the boiling water over it, and allow the water to drip
through into the vessel below. When all has run through, remove the water and pour it over the coffee a
second time. If cheesecloth is to be used, put the coffee in it, suspend it over the coffee pot or other
convenient utensil, and proceed as with the drip pot.
PERCOLATED COFFEE.--The coffee used for percolated coffee should be ground finer than
for boiled coffee, but not so fine as for filtered coffee. This is perhaps the easiest way in which to
prepare coffee and at the same time the surest method of securing good coffee.
PERCOLATED COFFEE
(Sufficient to Serve Six)
1/2 c. finely ground coffee
1 qt. cold water
Place the coffee in the perforated compartment in the top of the percolator and pour the cold water in
the lower chamber. As the water heats, it is forced up through the vertical tube against the top. It then
falls over the coffee and percolates through into the water below. This process begins before the water
boils, but the hotter the water becomes the more rapidly does it percolate through the coffee. The
process continues as long as the heat is applied, and the liquid becomes stronger in flavor as it
repeatedly passes through the coffee. When the coffee has obtained the desired strength, serve at once.
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