Farberware Classic Stainless Steel Yosemite Coffee Percolator, 8-Cup

Skeptical at first… We like our coffee hot and to stay hot during the morning. This is something that our drip coffee makers have not been able to do over the years because of their temperatures or automatic shut-off features. We also have well water which has a slight mineral content that has eventually destroyed every coffee maker that we have owned by slowing the drip process to the point that it takes an hour to brew a 12 cup pot of coffee. So, in searching for a new coffee maker I came across this stove model percolator. It has all metal internal parts that are easily disassembled and cleaned. The metal straw-like tube that sends the hot water to the coffee grounds is large enough not to become clogged by well water minerals—and can be easily cleaned with a pipe cleaner bristle brush. All other parts a just as easy to take apart and rinse of or hand wash. The percolator is nice stainless steel and after washing/rinsing we just dry it and let it sit on our stove next to the teapots. It looks good on the stove. We were mostly worried that without using a paper filter that the regular ground coffee from the can might cause the grounds to get into the coffee during brewing. However, we have found that this is not the case. Our coffee of choice is Yuban which looks to be the same grind size as Maxwell House, Folgers, or most other canned coffee we have tried in the past. We did have to ply with the mix a bit. We usually use two level 1/4 cup scoops for a 12 cup pot of automatic coffee pot coffee. This wasn’t enough for the percolator pot. Increasing it to two heaping mega-scoops seemed to do the trick. So probably adding a third scoop would be enough. ***So the percolator will cause you to use a bit more coffee per pot. The coffee basket has small enough holes that it doesn’t seep through. So no additional paper coffee filters needed—which is a plus. For a 12 cup pot of coffee we just fill the pot to the 12 cup line with COLD tap water. The pot has various raised/indented fill line markings that can be seen on both the inside and outside of the pot. Put your coffee in the basket, put the basket lid on, put baskets on the straw tube with base, and put the lid on the pot. Put the pot on the stove. We put the pot on one of our stoves small burners which is the exact size as the coffee pot. I have tried different temperature settings. I find that on a burner setting of 7/10 the coffee will start percolating in about 20 minutes and by the 30 minute mark the coffee is perfect. Boiling hot and not bitter or chalky tasting at all. We just turn the burner off and let the pot sit on the burner and continue to percolate until it stops on its own. The pot stays hot on the burner for quite a long time (a few hours) like a teapot. Our overall thoughts on this coffee percolator are all positive. We really don’t have anything negative to say about it. It’s all stainless steel (except for the plastic handle and plastic pot lid). You can see when its starting/stopping to percolate, easy to assemble, simple to clean, don’t need any additional filters—unless you use some type of ultra-fine ground coffee, and the coffee tastes better and is significantly hotter than the plastic coffee makers that we continuously have to replace. So if we want fancy bougie high society foamy flavored Breakfast at Tiffany’s hockey puck type coffee we will use our pomp & circumstance Breville iPhone screen looking coffee computer machine with the premium grind beans and filtered water. But if I’m just making scoops of coffee from a can to get through the morning and actually make good black coffee, then this is my pick. Overall 5 stars…we love our percolator and we get a little counter space back by getting rid of the old coffee pot.

[UPDATE: After two years of daily use, it continues to flawlessly percolate incredibly delicious, hot coffee. But the little screw-in rings around the plastic top finally began to break down, so I ordered a couple glass replacement tops (they come in a two-pack): 2 pack Fitz-All Replacement Percolator Top, Small (2) Works great. Looks a little different as the top is a little bigger and you can't use the black ring around the base (it won't fit under the glass), but I don't have to worry about plastic in the brew.] I've had this pot for close to a year now (purchased Feb 2014), and just have to write a review. After my last drip coffee maker broke after only two years (because they're all made in China now out of cheap junk), I decided to try once again to find a better, more affordable way to brew an excellent, smooth, delicious and HOT cup of coffee. I've tried them all, drip, press, pour over (including the popular Japanese Hario), Italian stovetop Bialetti, none of them make it the way I like it, and most of them deliver lukewarm coffee by the time you get it to your lips - and I hate microwaved coffee, tastes awful. The only thing I haven't tried is a Keurig type single-serve machine, as they're expensive and will just break in time, same problem as drip. And then I came across this little wonder on Amazon, read the astonishingly good reviews and decided to risk giving it a try. I mean, $20 isn't a lot to risk. And WOW. I remember my folks percolating coffee when I was growing up, they used an electric percolator at home and a stovetop percolator for camping, but I assumed that was an inferior way to make coffee given all the fancy gadgets on the market now. Was I ever wrong! It not only makes good, hot, smooth coffee, the smoothest coffee any maker can make. It brings out flavor nuances I didn't even know coffee had, makes cheap grocery store coffee taste wonderful - and for the first time in my life, I'm experimenting with all kinds of coffee beans from all over the world, and finding out why everyone raves about rainforest shade-grown coffee so much, especially organic. I mean, I've tried it before, I just didn't think it tasted that much better for the price. But it turns out that percolating coffee at a low temperature (simmering, percolating is NOT boiling) for just the right amount of time (5-7 minutes, once it starts percing) keeps the water just hot enough, and saturates the grinds so thoroughly, that every bit of flavor is extracted along with the coffee sugars that shade-grown coffee produces, with not a hint of bitterness (cheap coffee is grown fast in the sun, and doesn't have time to develop the full flavors or sugars). It gives the coffee not only flavor and depth, but subtle sweetness. And talk about flavor! Depending on what you're drinking, where it was grown and how it was roasted, you'll taste earthy notes, sweet notes, smoky notes, chocolate notes, fruit notes, caramel notes, nutty notes - it's every bit as fun as tasting different wines or handcrafted beers! But like I said, it makes even cheap coffee taste really good, and it even tastes delicious black - I've always loaded up my coffee with cream or milk, because black coffee has always tasted horrible to me. Not anymore! I enjoy it both ways now. I've gotten into it so much, I've even started measuring grounds by the gram on a digital food scale, instead of just scooping it out - the difference in grams really affects the flavor, and you can fine-tune the amount to get it just how you like it. And I've found that different beans and roasts need different amounts to taste the best, some more, some less. And the coffee is HOT. I make a full pot, and pour it into a good-quality Thermos carafe (I use a Thermos Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Carafe, 51-Ounce ), keeps it hot and fresh-tasting for hours. No more lukewarm coffee, or burned coffee from sitting on the drip machine plate. And if the power goes out, I can make coffee outside on the gas grill, or take it camping with me. The great thing about a stovetop brewer instead of electric (I considered both) is you can experiment with temperature, length of percing and amount of grounds to get the coffee to taste just how YOU want it to. I've really had fun experimenting, and find that rainforest coffee can be perced longer (because more sugars and less acids), whereas cheap coffee in a can (sun-grown, full of acids and few sugars) should be perced less, or the acids start to come out. A few practical notes: first, read the instructions. It comes with great instructions for brewing different amounts and strengths and other helpful tips. It takes longer to brew a pot than drip machines, about 20 minutes for a full pot, 15 to bring it to perc temperature (enough to grab a quick shower) and 5-7 percing. And you can't set it on a timer so it's ready when you wake up. It also takes a little extra washing up each day, between the pot itself and the thermos carafe, and it needs to be hand-dried on the outside to keep up the nice shine (or you get dried water spots on it). For coffee this good, it's worth it! And it's nice to know you have CLEAN parts each day (instead of mold or bacteria that can build up in drip machines). But very busy people might not like that part of it so much, and sometimes I use a press or something else for a quick cup on super busy days when I have to get up and out really early and don't have time to wait for the pot to brew or wash it up after. Or I just get up a little earlier, I hate to miss my percolated coffee... Experiment to find out how long it takes to reach a good steady, percolating for the amount you want to brew - and then USE A TIMER. If you forget to turn it down once it starts percing, it will overheat and boil and produce a horrible, nasty tasting brew. NEVER boil the grounds! Heat on medium-high heat, not high, to avoid boiling, and turn it down low or medium-low for percing. It works great on gas or electric stoves. I have a ceramic top electric, set it right on the burner (no trivet needed), heat it on 8 (out of 10) and perc it on 2.8. You can perc it hotter, up to 4 or 5 maybe, it just depends on how you like it to taste. I find that the lowest temperature to keep it percolating regularly brings out the smoothest, sweetest, mellowest flavor, which is how I like it. People who like a stronger, punchier cup can use more grounds at hotter temps. Experiment! Some have complained about the clear plastic top deforming with the heat. I keep mine a little loose as plastic expands with heat, and have had no problems. But you can also buy glass replacement tops through Amazon. You don't have to use a filter, but I do (just a regular drip basket filter, which I poke down over the stem in the basket), as I use a lot of pre-ground coffee which is made for drip machines and finer than percolator grind, hard to find and a little coarser, a little of which can get into the brew, though not much. The paper also helps filter out the oils which can contribute to heart disease. I just dump it all into my composter each day (coffee grounds are great for the garden, btw). If the spring that supports the basket on the stem ever wears out, you can buy a replacement for that, too. Someone complained in an older review that the handle broke off because glued. Either the manufacturer changed it or the reviewer was talking about a different percolator, because this handle appears to be screwed and riveted on. In fact the whole unit appears well made and solid. Over time, coffee oils will build up on the inside, including inside the stem and inside a couple of curled narrow lips inside the pot (one at the top and one at the bottom, due to how the pot is constructed), staining it and which can affect flavor. The way to get rid of them is to perc a pot using dishwasher powder instead of grounds - scours it clean, and leaves it looking like new. I've done this twice now in the nine months I've had it, and it works great. In all, I'm amazed this humble little pot can produce such a fantastic brew. Turns out they really knew what they were doing in the "old days," and they did it better! No more newfangled coffee gadgets for me, filling up landfills as they break, just delicious, smooth, incredibly tasty HOT coffee from a pot that should last a lifetime.

I seen this pot on a blog and decided to check it out. I had a percolator style pot years ago, but I could not remember how it performed nor tasted. I am currently using an old Mr. Coffee drip machine. I have used Keurig and a coffee Ninja. The Keurig while very convenient, I could never find a coffee I liked. Also so many of the pods had a funny taste to me. The Ninja came up with the clean me now light problem. A real PITA and also a POS machine for the price. Clean me now please only to return in a week or two again. It is a known problem and if you doubt me, Google it. I gave both to the local Goodwill. So I decided to read some of the reviews here and then decide. Well after reading so many positive reviews, I decided I had to have one. Now all I needed to do was decide which one to order; the 8 cup or the 12 cup. The majority of the time, I am brewing a pot for just me. However on the weekends, I tend to make a bigger pot as my son will join me in drinking coffee. Reading through the description here I found where it states a cup is 4 oz. My Mr. Coffee manual has a cup as 5 oz. and I normally make 8 cups. So I did the math: 5 oz. x 8 = 40 oz. So 4 oz. x 10 = 40 oz. So I thought it best to order the 12 cup for a bit of room for the weekends. After using this pot a couple of times, I realized that I have a lot more coffee than my Mr. Coffee. So I decided to use an actual measuring cup to find out the truth. What I concluded is the Farberware cup is a 6 oz. cup and when I fill it to the 6 cup marking on the wall I have about 36 oz. for 6 cups. On the first few days I was making a bit more coffee than I normally do, and making it a bit too weak for me also. I measured the amount my favorite mug holds and it came to 12 oz. This pot when I make 6 cups will give me 3 good mugs of coffee. That is my intake for a normal morning of coffee. I now fill to the 6 cup mark and add 6 good scoops (tablespoons) of my coffee. I have been adding a scant amount of salt to the basket as one reviewer suggested. She claims it helps to offset the acidity. I can't swear to that, but I can swear that after using this pot for a week now, I will not be going back. The coffee is the best tasting I have made in my house. The smell in the morning is oh so delightful. I will say the coffee I use never tasted this good in my Mr. Coffee. I have a couple of brands and all taste better in the Farberware. The only drawback is the time needed to make a pot. I am retired so it doesn't bother me. If you are a worker bee, you will probably not want to spend the extra time. My 6 cup brew takes about 9-10 minutes to start the perk (boil) cycle. I then turn the dial to 3 and set the timer for 7 minutes. I turn it to the lowest setting when the timer goes off. I normally wait a few minutes before I pour the first cup too. I leave my burner on warm. I know this is getting lengthy but I also must say this; If you are like me, trying to decide between the 8 cup or the 12 cup, then here is a tip. If you read closely, you will notice the 8 cup comes with a plastic knob and the 12 cup comes with glass. I can attest to the 12 cup being glass. I can not attest to the 8 cup being plastic, however the descriptions validate my findings too. So if you decide to purchase the 8 cup and then buy the glass knob, you will be at the cost for the 12 cup pot anyway. Add to that if you compare the dimensions of the two closely, you will not find much of a size difference in the two pots. I would have chose the 8 cup if it had the glass knob. I hope this reviews helps to clarify these points for others out there. I will close by saying that I am very happy with my Farberware 12 cup percolator. I have put a cover over the Mr. Coffee for now. I will not be going back to the weak and lukewarm drip coffee any time soon. Signed; Spoiled in PA

I bought this to have another coffee option that doesn't require electricity to function. I have more coffee options than is reasonable, from the Jura J9 Impressa (an amazing piece of equipment) to a $5.00 pour over filter and just about everything in between including a Keurig, a Nespresso, several french presses, a Chemex and espresso machine. What I was looking for was a solution that requires no power, but makes a fantastic cup of coffee without requiring any other equipment or filters. I can take it with me anywhere and make coffee. The other thing I wanted was something that would make 'real coffee', not the washed out taste of instant coffee you get from Keurig and to a much lesser degree from Nespresso. I wanted real coffee, where you can taste the bold flavor of a properly roasted coffee bean. This delivered in spades. I should say that it is pretty easy to mess it up with a percolator, all you have to do is over cook the coffee. It will get really nasty tasting pretty quick. If you don't brew it enough, then it will taste like watered down coffee, also not fulfilling. My wife, who doesn't like strong coffee and typically goes for the Keurig, loved this coffee. So, it walked that line and pleased both of us immensely. For me, this is how I do it to make the perfect cup(s) of coffee. Add 1 coffee scoop (probably about a tablespoon, but I have an actual coffee scoop) per cup of brewed coffee. Add the appropriate amount of COLD water and place over a burner for 25 minutes total. This brought to water to a boil and started the percolation process at about 15 minutes, giving 10 minutes of percolation for the blissful taste of a perfectly brewed cup of java. Remove it from the heat immediately. I do pour my coffee through a melita coffee filter, but that is not wholly necessary as there was almost no residue left despite the fact that I didn't use the right coarseness of the grounds. The grounds container held back the grounds. About the burner... I was using a gas stove, but you could be using an electric stove in more or less the same exact way. I used the smallest burner I have. I wanted to bring the heat up fairly slowly an allow to percolate without boiling over and also heating the handle so much that you couldn't touch it bare handed. I have read about some people that have a cup of coffee in a few minutes. I am not sure how you do that if you are using a reasonable size burner, starting with cold water and giving it enough time of percolation to brew a decent cup of coffee. You can monitor the progress of the percolation via the clear nob at the top of the cap. It is not super easy to make out, but you will notice at first that the water coming up is extremely clear, basically just water. Eventually as the water filters through the basket into the grounds the water starts to resemble coffee. When mine was done, it still wasn't super dark in the cap knob. You may have to adjust the time or amount of coffee to your likely, but this is a good place to start. Do I think this is a special percolator? No, probably any percolator that works would make just as delicious a cup of coffee, but this one does work well. The price is reasonable if you consider that you will most likely never need to replace this save for some accidental damage. You could probably find better construction for a much higher price, but this seems to be adequate. Cleaning... It's pretty simply actually. But, I have noticed that I have to wipe out the basket, which I do not have to do with a french press.

I've had this little percolator since early December and LOVE it. It's true, you really can't get a better tasting cup of coffee than from a percolator (just like grandma and great-grandma used to make!). There's no burnt or bitter taste and the temp is super hot (as coffee should be)! Yes, a percolator takes a little more time and effort but the results are SO enjoyable! I take my coffee black, so I can really taste the difference since I'm not adding creamer and flavors which can help mask any bitter/burnt taste. After pouring the first cup, I transfer the coffee from the percolator into a thermal carafe for my next cup of fresh, hot coffee. Seriously, better taste than Keurig or Mr. Coffee. Years ago, I was loyal to the original Mr. Coffee style brewer but the 'warmer' cooked the coffee after that first cup. I was happy when Keurig came around because I could get a fresh cup of coffee at any time .... UNTIL .... my Keurig stopped working ... just as the warranty expired!!! Keurig customer service would not replace my unit even though they admitted to the known issue of water not pumping ??? Keurig was only interested in offering a $20 coupon to purchase another of their products. Sorry Keurig, your machines are not cheap and I've been a loyal customer for many years but no more. In fairness, this was my 3rd Keurig, previous 2 units worked fine. The 3rd unit was an upgrade to a slim version for brewing either a pod or a pot (no bells & whistles). I want a coffee appliance that will NOT fail and this percolator is IT! I percolate my coffee on an electric stove since my appliances are not gas, and the coffee is perfect if you follow the included directions. I have a whole house generator so even without a gas stove, I can make good coffee. As another reviewer suggested, I emptied my unused coffee pods into my coffee container, so no waste there. And I'm SAVING MONEY by not buying coffee pods. Suppose I should thank Keurig for not backing their product and pushing me over the edge .... otherwise, I wouldn't have this fabulous percolator!! If you're sitting on the fence, jump, and buy the percolator! The icing on the cake is the stainless steel is beautiful ... so shiny and elegant!

Perfect brew. Easy to clean. Pretty. Great quality durable material. Travels well.

Amazing 10/10!! Coffee was the hottest & most delicious coffee I’ve ever had! Great for camping! Satisfying noise.

I was lucky enough to be born in an earlier time – when things worked and lasted. Except for the Corvair and the Ford Pinto, that is. I find as I have matured into middle age that much modern “technology” such as the latest high-tech pots and pans, cookware, and coffee apparatus tend to complicate the obvious instead of improving the original. They are designed to take my money and not much else. For years, I would keep an open mind, spend a lot more money for a “better mousetrap” that overcomplicates but doesn’t do the job any better, and many times, worse than the original concept. For instance, I rediscovered cast iron cookware that my folks used when I was younger, which when treated properly, is ten times better than any Teflon non-stick gadgetry that only lasts a year or two and sends cooked chemical remnants into your body. Yes, cast iron is non-stick – the best. And it cleans up so quickly. Properly cared for (which is easy) cast iron never sticks and lasts forever and will outlast me. So when I got tired of lukewarm, luke-brewed coffee from machines that are terribly expensive and last just a couple of years, and all plastic, I again went back to my roots. I have an expensive Keurig and a $1700.00 combo expresso machine. But I can’t get a decent cup of coffee that I am fortunate enough to remember from earlier days. That is until I again went back to the basics, which has never failed me. They all have their uses and none of them are “wrong”. If I want a cup of coffee as I’m running out the door, Keurig fits the bill. I want an expresso after dinner, my Italian combo machine that cost a fortune works for me. Not judging. Have there been improvements and innovation? Certainly yes. Electric percolators of today do a much better job of regulating heat and brew time, for instance. That controls bitterness and overbrewing. But many of them don’t last longer than a couple of years. With a stove top percolator, you are in total control, you are back to basics and back to the best cup of coffee you will ever have if you like a full-flavored and slightly robust (not burnt or bitter) cup of coffee. Sadly, many people don’t know how good it can be. If you like your coffee apparatus now and what it does for you, fantastic, you are in the sweet spot, but don’t be afraid to try what has worked for decades. You might be pleasantly surprised. You may not know what you’re missing. This stove top percolator is top quality, never fails and will last for decades if cared for properly. It doesn’t take much. But if you just want to press a button and have “instant coffee”, or coffee instantly with no care or time involved, If you want a brew where the water barely touches the coffee before it touches your cup, If you want to pay a lot of money for things that never make it into your cup (k-cups, pods, filters, cleaners, etc), if you want to “clean” parts of your “apparatus” you will never see, and trust that, if you want to replace that thing every few years, if you like lots of buttons, lights, beeps, timers, scrolling LED readouts, warning after warning to clean this and replace that, If you want coffee out of a Star Trek replicator, don’t buy this. But if you just want the best cup of Joe on the planet, enjoy the brewing experience, slow it down and enjoy…this Faberware piece of simple magic can be yours, forever. Take the pace down a little bit, get the plastic and chemicals out of your life, save a whole bunch of bucks and don’t let your coffee pot order you around…and get back to basic mountain grown fresh HOT coffee, and I do mean HOT. My advice for what it’s worth, you will never go back, save a ton of money, and really, really enjoy coffee as it was meant to be. Whatever you decide, take your time to enjoy your coffee experience. You can make more money, but you can’t make more time. Enjoy what you have left. I’ve never had to replace anything on this pot, and it is certain to outlast me! So simple, so good.

Good product, working and looking great!

Bought this coffee percolator everything was fine until the knob on the lid shattered while percolating, the shop did not have a replacement knob so offered me half price refund i agreed then i went searching for a knob to fit little known to me the only place i can get them is in US which cost $6 + $50 postage absolute joke, coffee pot as been sitting in my pantry since, if you do buy one of these make sure you know where you can obtain a lid knob locally because it will shatter trust me, very disappointed customer

Fantastic pot

Es práctica y hace muy rico el café

It is excellent build and quality, really heavy and made from good material and this is when compared to many major ones i bought, the only thing is that it is huge, so you need to know this wgen you buy it, it is over 2 lt , i wish there was the same one but half size