Percolator Use pre 1940's

• The first key to any good coffee is fresh ground coffee. Try to buy whole bean coffee in the roast you like and only grind what you need for a pot. If you do not want to bother with that, grind no more than a weeks worth and store in a tight sealed container away from light.
• Percolator coffee needs a coarse grind to operate correctly. If your grinder does not have a perk setting, grind enough whole bean for 9 cups no more than 6 seconds.
• If you must buy pre-ground coffee buy the coarsest you can find but you may have to use a paper filter in the basket. These filters are made by Melitta and others and found at the grocery coffee aisle.
• Ground coffee from the market will only be fresh about two weeks at best. Oxygen is the culprit. The more surface area exposed the faster the degradation. It oxidizes the oils and turns them rancid thereby losing the flavor. Whole beans last much longer because the surface area exposed is about 200 times less than ground coffee. It still must be kept away from light and air.

Prepare the pot:

• Fill the pot with COLD water to whatever level you need, Note: All measures for coffee and tea are 6 oz. cups. Mugs are 8 oz. so 9 cups will yield 6+ mugs, 12 cups yields 9 mugs.
• Place the stem and basket assembly into the pot making sure the pump is firmly seated into the heating well.
• Add ground coffee into the basket to the level corresponding to the water. If using a filter and can’t see the marks, use one heaping tablespoon of coffee for each 6 oz. cup of water. See guide.
• Place the basket lid in place (if one provided, many do not and use pot lid to confine grounds) and place the lid on the pot making sure it is evenly seated.
• Note: If the basket does not have a perforated cap the lid will fit very tight. Some lids need placed and then turned to hold in place. Coffee grounds float so this is important.
•  Note: strong brews out at about 205ºF and mild brews out at about 193ºF. McDonalds’s coffee is brewed at 205ºF. Espresso is brewed at 210ºF.
• Plug the pot in and watch it work! It will NOT shut off automatically when the brew obtains the correct temperature.  Pull the plug from the outlet, not the pot.  NOTE:  When the perk starts “popping” every 1/4 second, allow this to happen for about 1 minute then pour a little out to see if you like the flavor. If not strong enough, allow another 30 seconds to 1 minute and keep this up until it hits the flavor you want. If you keep track of the time you can use a timer the next time.
•  NO warming element. It will stay above 180ºF for about 20 minutes after unplugging. It is best if coffee is drunk within 20 minutes of brewing. It develops acids with prolonged heat which make it bitter.
• Never leave the pot plugged in after brewing.
• Thermostat controlled pots will shut off automatically and have warmer devices to keep it hot. These are generally post 1936 except a few rare pots made from 1929 to 1936 that had Westinghouse patented thermostats.

The fuse: Many if not all the non thermostat controlled pots have fuses of some type. This is to protect you and the pot if the pot pulls an overload or has a short. Many pots had extra fuses under the bottom or in the case of Farber, they had a wheel fuse system. You just turn the wheel to a new fusable link. 

Amount of coffee to use:

Everyone has an opinion about what they like but for percolated coffee the guide below is good and you can easily adjust.