Essential Appliance for the staff of an Equipment Rental Facility

[Leo_Gnardo]

You have any of these bags?
nosaj

Naah, none of those, although I appreciate the vendor's humor! FWIW I do have a small stash of the now outlawed single use bags. They make excellent trash bin liners for my kitchen. I'll be in a pickle when I finally do run out. Maybe have to import some from Kall-i-FOR-nya (Gov. Schwarzenegger's pronunciation always amused me.) And another FWIW, it's March 1 that the statewide ban starts in NY.

Couple of years ago, one grocery chain (Hannaford) did a solid favor for their customers - gave away a nice canvas reusable bag if you bought some item that was on special. In my case it was chicken. No big deal, but that bag is still in use now and must have eliminated a couple hundred plastic bags from the waste stream by now. Currently they have similar bags but charge $5 for one, OW! If you want to get (sort of) gratis canvas bags, another way is to contribute to your local public radio station. That one has become a long running meme over the last 30 years.

[Greg_L]

If I'm going to make coffee, I'll just make a pot. I never drink just one cup anyway. Phhooey on those "one cuppers".

Right? I don't really drink coffee because I love the taste. I drink it for the legal speed rush. One cup of coffee is for little old ladies. My "one cup" is actually like four cups, and I fill it two or three times.

[Chuck H]

On the subject of redundant packaging, and somewhat more related to the forums genre I've asked Mouser several times to omit as much of their secondary packaging as practical. They never have. Every time I get a $70 to $100 order of ten of this and six of that it looks like a plastic bag factory blew up in my shop.

Regarding getting a decent cup O. I've been through a lot of incarnations of the counter top coffee shuffle...

My favorite cup of coffee was the machine that grinds the coffee beans and then brews them fresh for each pot. But that ones a mess because you do have to load and reload, brush some surfaces clean for new operation, etc. and ground coffee would eventually get all over the place unless you clean the coffee station with every pot. Plus the standard kitchen models really don't last long enough from an economical standpoint (the grinders wear out prematurely, insufficient metal).

For awhile we just ground out own beans fresh for each pot and used the regular, decent quality Krups or Bunn machine. Same trouble with the ground beans mess. Plus the extra time and trouble before you had your first cup of coffee!

Did the Keurig thing on the wife's whimsy. I didn't like it for the same reasons as Randall. Plus the added expense and limitations of "coffee pod" availability.

The machine we have now is pretty nifty. It keeps a store of hot water. When you pour in your water and drop the lid it dispenses the already hot water and adds your new water to be heated for the next pot. It's FAST!!! Coffee is brewed in about a minute. What's best about this is coffee likes to be brewed at about this speed for best flavor. Makers that sputter the water out as it heats create a longer brewing process and extract some of the yuckier alkaloids. Ok, but, it takes a lot of energy to keep a small tub of water hot all day and night. The wife likes it though so that's what we do.

I, personally, have never had a problem with the slightly slower brew from regular coffee makers. That said, it's actually hard to do better for value than the plain ol Mr. Coffee machines. I've seen them last as long ot longer than much more expensive machines many times. And considering that all the non heated counter top machines brew by the same process, what's the advantage to the more expensive machines? This said, I can still get behind buying quality if you're pushing it to the max. Like a Bunn machine that borders on "industrial kitchen" status and is going to literally last a lifetime with parts available for servicing. Or if one just wants an appliance made anywhere other than China so the overseas manufacturing machine isn't being fed.

All this for your consideration. But the one thing the wife and I picked up that I consider a real must have is a valved coffee canister. I don't know if ours is THIS one, but it looks just the same and I'm sure all of the brands use the same valve method.

https://www.amazon.com/Canister-Airt...a-850317427918

It actually does keep coffee fresher than just keeping it in the bag or original can It's supposed to be better than a clamp lid jar because of the valve system. I believe it. The large opening also makes it easier to stay tidy when scooping from the canister to the coffee basket. Now I can buy decent quality ground beans AND have a fresher cup of coffee too. Grinding fresh is still better, but this canister is VERY practical and effective if you're not going to fuss with that.

JM2C on an over thought subject