Inverter & coffee maker

[rodjones]

Being electrically-challenged but needing a pot of coffee when in remote spots with my Hunter Compact II, I'm wondering if there's a way to use a small inverter to electrify the coffee maker long enough to brew 4 cups and then unplug? All I could find were very expensive and heavy inverters and then too low wattage ones that plug into dashboard, etc. (Hope this ain't too dumb a question; couldn't find a thread that addressed this situation exactly.)

[mszabo]

Takes a lot of watts to run a coffee pot. A large inverter and a couple of 6v batteries.
Then you will need to recharge then.
Find a percolating coffee pot.
I’ve done it your way. Doesn’t work well, good luck.

[Glenn Baglo]

I'm sure you'll hear from Jon, who successfully makes coffee and toast, using an inverter.
But, you need to do all the electrical calculations.
I bought a one-cup coffee maker from Starbucks on sale. It plugged into my 100 watt inverter, which plugged into the cigarette lighter in my company car. I made one cup of hot water to clean the appliance. Second cup of water melted the plug in the cigarette lighter.
No wonder the coffee maker was on sale. Label on it claimed 25 watts.

[DeBreez]

You need to know how much power the coffee maker draws, and then buy an inverter and cables that will handle the load, plus a little extra. The little plug-in inverters aren't sufficient.

Assuming you have a stove, you could just boil water for a french press or aeropress. We have a vintage 6-cup aluminum percolator I found at a garage sale for $3 that works great.

[Jim Bennett]

AreoPress
French Press
Pour Over
Percolator
Cowboy Coffee

Some ways to make coffee without 120V AC, and it tastes better than what most electric pots make. Most electric pots do not heat water enough to properly extract from the grounds.

Otherwise you have to have an inverter that is larger than whatever the draw of your electric coffee maker is.

[rodjones]

Thanks. A good "jolt" with guidance. Back to the old system of plain old boiling the pot!

[Alex Adams]

At home I use a French Press but when I camp the old school(no filter) percolator coffee tastes better to me!

[Byron Kinnaman]

https://www.rei.com/product/884331/g...press-30-fl-oz

This is what we use. Just heat water.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Anything that requires heating is probably not a good idea to try with 12 DC. To me that's good rule to remember.

[k0wtz]

alex how do you operate your French press?


bob

[Alex Adams]

Bob, I put 4 heaping scoops of coffee(free scoop from Gevalia). I then pour in water that has just boiled but is no longer, making sure the mixed coffee and water doesn't go beyond the level of the pour spout on the press. I then wait 11 minutes before carefully putting the plunger part in and plunging it down to the bottom. I immediately pour the coffee into a thermal carafe because if you leave it in the press for too long it starts to get bitter. My French Press is made of Borosilicate glass which is another reason I don't take it camping.

[MlDierbeck]

I went with a stovetop percolator which I now use at home also. No battery used and good, hot coffee!

[CA Douglas]

My husband and I used a french press sometime ago and then our daughter-in-law gave us a Coleman propane drip coffee maker that they inherited, but never used. We love it. No need for electricity or an inverter. Just a small tank of propane goes a long way and we get a full 8 - 10 cups of hot coffee. It's what we use all the time when we don't have power. We never go camping without it.

[Marjy]

I use a Melita filter. You can get one cup size or larger filter holder. Simple. I heat water in my tea pot pour it in the filter filled with ground coffee which sits on the cup.

[Trill136]

I use the melitta cone system.

Pre heat a thermos, make a full pot of coffee, fill the thermos with coffee, go to bed.

Coffee in the morning!

[k0wtz]

ok alex I get the picture now I don't think we got any instructions when we got our press in Italy. Now thinking I had the most fantastic loaf of raison bread ever in Italy.


oh it was so good!!


bob

[Jon Vermilye]

The lowest power 120V drip coffee maker I know of draws 500 watts while brewing. There are no plug in inverters that will deal with the 60 amps or so that the 12V input to the inverter will draw. A typical brew of 3 cups of coffee in a 5 cup Black & Decker drip coffee maker uses around 6-7 amp hours. Some other high current loads I sometimes use: Toast at around 9 amp hours & a 600 watt microwave uses 1 1/2 amp hours per minute.

It is practical with a 1000 watt+ permanently (and properly) wired inverter & a pair of 6V batteries, but, as Mike or Sara said, you do need to find away to put the amp hours back into the batteries.

[k0wtz]

I for one am enjoying these posts! Our go to coffee pot is our old perculator running off our propane stove in the camper!

of course we are boondocked at walmarts with no electricity. The old perc still makes the best coffee!

bob

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by k0wtz

alex how do you operate your French press?


bob

Remember Google is your friend. I did it for you. Results = https://ineedcoffee.com/press-pot-tutorial/

[Darwin Maring]

No on the Inverter.
Get a percolator coffee pot and do it on the propane stove.
No Stove? Purchase a small one burner camping stove and the same Percolator.
Don't want to do that? Go to a Major Truck Stop and purchase a 12VDC coffee pot.