I have a stupid coffee maker

[Nixshix]

 

I have a stupid coffee maker.

Ok, to be fair, the coffee maker isn't stupid. It's inanimate, so really, it's nothing but a coffee maker. It completes it's coffee making function to whatever coffee making standards coffee makers might be held to, should their coffee making integrity ever be questioned.

The coffee maker.. uh.. maker, is the stupid one.

The defect is not visible right away. The machine itself has a very simplistic design; one button to turn the machine on/off; The parts are easily removable and dishwasher safe; It features a clear viewing area into the water tank on the back with the standard lines to measure the volume of water in cups and the pot also has measurements marked out in "cups".

The defect lies in the fact that the smart little markings on the side of the pot meant for measurement are the same as the supposedly smart little measurements on the clear viewing window on the side of the water tank on the back of the coffee maker.

You may find yourself asking "Why is that a problem?" and it's a completely valid question.

The smart little markings on the side of the pot are smart because they tell you how much coffee you have made, or more practically, how many cups you have left before you need to make more coffee. The markings on the side of the clear viewing window on the water tank are to determine how much coffee is going to be made. When you fill the tank up to the "12 cups" line you would naturally expect to produce 12 cups of coffee. However, when the measurements on the pot and the measurements on the tank are equal you will never produce 12 cups of coffee. The water in the tank must travel through the machine, coating the insides with a thin wet layer. The filter and ground coffee will also absorb and hold water. If you prefer your coffee hot then you will also lose some water in the form of steam. In the end around 2 cups of water will be lost.

My 12 precious cups of perfectly brewed coffee is never to be and instead I have 10 cups of slightly-too-strong coffee.

I believe it's rather obvious that coffee maker markers have learned of this discrepancy in cups long ago, and have adjusted the volume of the tank by extra 2 cups in-order to correct it, since none of my previous brewing machines have ever failed me in this manner. It's just unfortunately that I had to learn their wisdom through personal experience at such a sleepy time of the day.

Some might also consider it unfortunate that my husband is so slow on the coffee pouring and was robbed, by the coffee maker, of his final dose of caffeine before he left for work.

 

 

[KristiS11384]

Sep. 24, 2009 at 2:42 PM

Do you have a ToastMaster brand machine? I only have a 4 cup pot but it does the same thing. I have learned to ignore the lines for the water and fill it up as far as it will go.