How to Use a Percolator for Making Coffee

Personally, I do not recommend you use a stove top or electric percolator. The quality of the coffee is significantly reduced when you do. But if that is what you have or if you are looking for tips on percolating coffee on a camping trip, here ya go!

Fill pot with water for the number of cups of coffee you want. Try not to over fill it as it will either boil over or seep out from the lid on an electrical percolator.

Place coffee grounds in the basket. 1 tbs per cup of water is recommended.

Fit basket into the urn and place on stovetop or plug into outlet.

(for stove percolator) Heat the water to boiling. With an electrical percolator, nothing more will need to be done as it has a constant heat source. You may however, wish to lower the heat somewhat on a stove top percolator so it will not boil over.

The boiling water will be forced up through the coffee grounds and the brewed coffee will accumulate in the pot which holds the water.

You’ll be able to see the coffee bubble up through the glass dome to see how strong (bold) it’s getting. With each perk, you’ll notice the coffee in the dome darkening.

Brewing should take about 5 minutes for a stove top percolator and about 7-10 minutes for an electrical percolator.

(Important) Remove the filter basket with the used grounds and pour. If you do not do this, you will end up with coffee grounds in your coffee cup. You may anyway depending on the grind you’ve used. The finer the grind, the more chance you’ll have for grounds to filter through the holes in the basket. Obviously, you would not want to use an espresso grind.

Bonus Tip: Stove or campfire percolators tend to leave coffee with a cloudly look. If you allow it to settle for a few minutes it will reduce if not eliminate the cloudiness.