Good Pot of Coffee Finally

I decided to make a pot of coffee instead of just a cup, I have never been able to make really good coffee.  I had seen an episode of Alton Brown's show Good Eats where he said he put a pinch of salt on top of the coffee before brewing to take out the bitterness.  I tried it this morning and it works.  I am 59 years old and finally made a good pot of coffee.  I remember when I was a kid hearing about people doing that with a bit of crushed egg shell.  I rarely have egg shells, this was a time when people routinely cooked breakfast.  I am too paranoid about salmonella to try it anyway.

I've done that so long it's just routine now, you are right, it works! Water that is filtered with a reverse osmosis filter is the best too, not only for taste but to eliminate the hard water that can ruin coffee machines. I have a Bunn I've been using for years now because it is so quick, I highly recommend them for your coffee maker. Mine has a thermal carafe, no more burnt, strong coffee, no hot plate that you always wonder if you shut off when you leave the house. Making a pot is a lot cheaper then those individual pods! Thanks for letting others know!

Oh, I'm sure any salmonella would be killed by the boiling water! But I don't really know what eggshells are supposed to do for coffee anyway. Are they supposed to take out the bitterness too?

Yeah, my favorite creamer right now is salted caramel mocha . The salt really does take out the bitterness. If I'm out of that creamer I put a pinch of salt in the coffee.

Congrats Denice! I have never learned the knack of a really good pot of coffee. Just ask Carol (LaRussa). I made coffee one time when she was visiting here and it was terrible stuff. From then on, she always made the coffee. It didn't help matters that time either, that another GF of ours, who was also staying here that weekend, saw my salt container and put a nice heaping tablespoon of salt into her coffee! My salt container looked exactly like her sugar container and she thought it was sugar. Worse coffee ever! I still hear about that one.   One person's sugar is another person's salt. 

I have never been able to make coffee; I just don't have it in me. I've tried everything. That's why I have a Keurig. (Well that, and that I'm the only one who drinks coffee and I only drink one cup a day.)

My father made the best coffee on this planet. I don't know what he did to that coffee, but it was just wonderful stuff. I used to be able to sit down in my parents' kitchen, take a swig of coffee and say, "Oh wow, Dad, you made this!" Drove my mother crazy because I always knew. It was a little swig of heaven. And when the whole family was here for dinner, I always had Dad make the pots of coffee. I would do exactly what he did and it would never turn out the same way.

I should try your pinch of salt trick.

Winchester said:

Congrats Denice! I have never learned the knack of a really good pot of coffee. Just ask Carol (LaRussa). I made coffee one time when she was visiting here and it was terrible stuff. From then on, she always made the coffee. It didn't help matters that time either, that another GF of ours, who was also staying here that weekend, saw my salt container and put a nice heaping tablespoon of salt into her coffee! My salt container looked exactly like her sugar container and she thought it was sugar. Worse coffee ever! I still hear about that one.   One person's sugar is another person's salt. 

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I have one yucky story. Tradition in my family at my Gramdmas is tea or coffee around the table in the evening. One time my cousins, aunt & i were having tea. I took the sugar bowl and stirred my "sugar" in. The more I stirred; thicker my tea got! We figured out that Gram had mistakenly refilled the sugar bowl with the thickening powder we used in my Grandfather's liquids! It looked like tea jello!! It might not have tasted THAT bad; but it sure looked gross!! We still laugh about it; fortunately Gram doesnt remember!!

DH always makes our coffee. I do it so infrequently I've forgotten how much we typically add and made it too strong.

I watched one of the cooking contests on FOX, it was one where non-professional chefs were making food.  They were down to the last three and they made three different desserts, key lime pie, cheesecake, and boston cream pie.  One of the cooks, a man had the best looking desserts, his Boston cream pie especially looked better than the other ones.  Gordon Ramsey judged his desserts and you guessed it he had used salt instead of sugar in the Boston Cream pie.  He didn't go off on him the way he usually does probably because he wasn't a professional chef.  He just had him taste it and of course he knew then what he had done.

Denice said:

I watched one of the cooking contests on FOX, it was one where non-professional chefs were making food.  They were down to the last three and they made three different desserts, key lime pie, cheesecake, and boston cream pie.  One of the cooks, a man had the best looking desserts, his Boston cream pie especially looked better than the other ones.  Gordon Ramsey judged his desserts and you guessed it he had used salt instead of sugar in the Boston Cream pie.  He didn't go off on him the way he usually does probably because he wasn't a professional chef.  He just had him taste it and of course he knew then what he had done.

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I saw that episode! It was Masterchef. :nod:

I'm going to have to try the salt thing.

MoochNNoodles said:

I have one yucky story. Tradition in my family at my Gramdma's is tea or coffee around the table in the evening. One time my cousins, aunt & i were having tea. I took the sugar bowl and stirred my "sugar" in. The more I stirred; thicker my tea got! We figured out that Gram had mistakenly refilled the sugar bowl with the thickening powder we used in my Grandfather's liquids! It looked like tea jello!! It might not have tasted THAT bad; but it sure looked gross!! We still laugh about it; fortunately Gram doesn't remember!!

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:lol3::lol3::lol3:

I tried the pinch of salt trick, and it makes a definite difference!

I told DH about it; I need to ask if he tried it!  He always makes it before I'm awake.