Posted Sat Apr 3, 2010, 1:37pm Subject: Pour over kettle alternatives
The buono is rising in price and the other ones are just ridiculously expensive. Are there any good alternatives to a controlled pouring kettle? If I took a tea kettle where the spout came from the bottom, would that work too?
IMAWriter Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2002 Posts: 5,477 Location: Brentwood, TN Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Nothing at the moment Grinder: Vario-W,Preciso-Esatto/KyM... Vac Pot: Adcraft SS, Yama 8 cup Drip: Brazen.Chemex, Hario, Clever... Roaster: Behmor 1600, CO/UFO combo
Posted Sat Apr 3, 2010, 10:58pm Subject: Re: Pour over kettle alternatives
Are you referring to an electric water kettle? If so, there are several under $35 US (I own a Phillips, 5 years old and still heating perfectly. $29) Most shut off automatically when boiling temp is reached.
Posted Sun Apr 4, 2010, 9:43am Subject: Re: Pour over kettle alternatives
kwantran Said:
The buono is rising in price and the other ones are just ridiculously expensive. Are there any good alternatives to a controlled pouring kettle? If I took a tea kettle where the spout came from the bottom, would that work too?
Posted Sun Apr 4, 2010, 2:29pm Subject: Re: Pour over kettle alternatives
I've been thinking about this as well. I'm not sure if I want to shell out the cash for the Hario either. On the more expensive end is the Takahiro kettle which makes the buono seem like a deal. @BoldJava, that Taimo looks very similar, I hope to see it available. I spoke to a barista at four barrel coffee (SF) and they thought it had much better pour control and construction. Right now, I am using a stainless teapot much like you would find at a typical vietnamese or chinese restaurant: Click Here (www.kaboodle.com) . That was about $10 and has good-enough pour control.
Another alternative I've been considering is an oil drizzler which seems to generally be lower in price. Local 123, a cafe in Berkeley CA is using an oil drizzler (by typhoon, pictured) which I subsequently saw at sur la table for $20. It's not as stylish as the others, but I think it would work pretty well with its narrow spout. Also, its capacity is 500ml/17 oz, so you could easily get used to consistently measuring the volume if you're not weighing your pour. There are other interesting looking oil drizzlers out there like this one: Click Here (www.amazon.com)
The other alternative I'd like to try is a glass fat separator: Click Here (www.amazon.com) although it might not work as well with its wider pour spout.
I might go for the hario though, since I absolutely love my other hario products (cafepresso, skerton grinder).
@IMAWriter, The distinction here is that it's not necessarily used to heat the water in, but just for pouring, much like at a cafe doing single-cup pourover. My electric kettle is basically a stainless pot with a broad lip. Not so great for a controlled pour. When the water reaches full boil, I dump it into my pouring kettle which also cools it down to a good brewing temperature (you could raise the temp by pre-warming the kettle before dumping). For French press and CCD, I just pour from the electric kettle after waiting for it to cool to temperature.
Posted Sun Apr 4, 2010, 7:00pm Subject: Re: Pour over kettle alternatives
Cracklebox Said:
I've been thinking about this as well. I'm not sure if I want to shell out the cash for the Hario either. On the more expensive end is the Takahiro kettle which makes the buono seem like a deal. @BoldJava, that Taimo looks very similar, I hope to see it available. I spoke to a barista at four barrel coffee (SF) and they thought it had much better pour control and construction. Right now, I am using a stainless teapot much like you would find at a typical vietnamese or chinese restaurant: Click Here (www.kaboodle.com) . That was about $10 and has good-enough pour control. ...
We were in Honolulu in February. I went through Chinatown with a fine-toothed comb, looking for the perfect kettle with the right pour control. Despite turning over every pot I could see, nothing came close to touching the Hario. I got skunked, but it left room in the suitcases for more greens to roast.
yakster Senior Member Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 1,006 Location: San Jose, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Factory / La Peppina... Grinder: Vario / Kyocera Vac Pot: Yama 8 + Pyrex Lox-in Rod Drip: Brazen / Kalita / Chemex /... Roaster: Behmor
Posted Sun Apr 4, 2010, 10:56pm Subject: Re: Pour over kettle alternatives
I saw a glass tea kettle at a thrift store that had a metal plate underneath it that sat on a base with two switches that probably would have been perfect, but for some stupid reason I didn't buy it and it was gone the next time I went back. I couldn't tell if it was an Inductive Heat unit or just a hot plate unit.
I've wondered if the 500 ml glass tea pots commonly sold on eBay for less then $20 would work, I like the idea of glass. Here's two non-eBay links for the type of pot I was looking at at Tea Mugs and Amazon, but I worry about breaking it and I think I'll just stick with my existing kettle, though it doesn't pour that well.
There also seem to be more and more glass kettles being imported with disks on them for induction cookers, I wonder if you can strip off the disk or use them on a radiant cooktop anyway. Here's one non-eBay example: Fantastic Tea Borosilicate Kettle. It'd also be cool if you could get those conductive heatpads and put them on the base of a vacuum pot if you had an inductive cooktop.
e53er Senior Member Joined: 21 Apr 2002 Posts: 162 Location: L.A. Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: NS Oscar, Solis SL90 Grinder: Mazzer Mini, Solis Maestro Vac Pot: Bodum Santos Drip: KMB, Hario V60 dripper Roaster: Poppery II
Posted Mon Apr 5, 2010, 9:24am Subject: Re: Pour over kettle alternatives
While I'm enjoying the Hario V60, I've also sidestepped the Buono in favor of a <$10, smaller, stainless steel kettle from TJ Maxx with a spout just as narrow as the Buono's. So you might want to search them or similar discount stores (Marshall's, Ross, etc.). The downside is that, depending on kettle capacity, you might need to fill the kettle more than once for larger pourovers.
s0ckeyeus Senior Member Joined: 18 Jan 2010 Posts: 309 Location: KY Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Tue Apr 6, 2010, 6:54am Subject: Re: Pour over kettle alternatives
You'd think it'd be easy to find a kettle that would work...but it's not. At least not in this country. I use a regular tea kettle on the stove and transfer the water to a small 'kettle' used to make Arabic Tea in Africa. It only holds about a cup of water. The nice part is that I can gauge how much water I'm using in my pour without having to pre-measure the water I heat on the stove. The bad part is that I bought my equipment in a third world country. A teapot with a good spout might work, but you'd have to ensure that it's preheated. Ethnic food/grocery stores (real ones, not yuppie alternatives) might have some stuff available as well.
"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons" - T.S. Eliot
Posted Wed Apr 7, 2010, 3:09pm Subject: Re: Pour over kettle alternatives
Score.
I stopped after work at a restaurant supply company to buy some cupping spoons. 15 of us are having a Yemen Fest at our home on Saturday. What do I see in the clearance section but 6 lovely ladies, all in a row?
"How much you want for those stainless steel pots?" The co-owner explained that the pots are the remnants of a large order that he had left over; $168 marked down to $100; $25; $20. Then he said, "How about $5.00 each? I have been trying to move them for 3 years..."
I walked with all of them and will pass them along to friends this weekend at cost. The control is unbelievable. No back-spill from the design. I can literally measure out a drip at a time out of that 8" gooseneck spout and it goes right on the pourover, not back down the spout.
50 oz pots. When I pour boiled water into them, they sit at 200 degrees. Sweet.
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