Mocha/Moka beastie

[DSMSMR]

OK, after transiting from the 1980's mega coffee percolator that everyone had, we progressed to a cafetiere... which is bombproof. BUT we have a campervan so I thought, hey why not one of those jobbies you see in films and abroad. So I bought one. 500ml. So last night, 2 scoops of filter coffee, tamped it down a bit. On the electric hob on full blast. It exploded everywhere.

OK, so lets start slower this time, BUT I thought, why not heat the water up with the top off, when I see bubbles, whack the coffee puck in, then screw down the top. Heat setting 4, not megadeath 9. After 5 mins a little steam from the centre spout, 5 mins more, same, so upped it to 5. More steam but thats it although I could here a slight gurgle. After another 5 mins, up to heat 6, more steam then a few spurts, carried on spurting, so I turned it down to 4, but next to nothing coming up , so back up to 6, lots of brown coffee looking bubbles and that was it until next to nothing came out, steam died down, so I figured the water was all gone.

What a bloody faff.........

Where am I going wrong. Coffee is loose not packed....plenty of water but not over the escape valve.....

[thebraketester]

Don’t tamp it. Search YouTube for some tutorials.

[TVR Sagaris]

Fill bottom tank with water up to valve as you have done.

Slot basket in and spoon in coffee until it's roughly full but don't tamp down.

Screw bowl on.

Sit on small hob ring on low heat.

Wait.

Coffee will drip out of top valve into bowl.

It is finished when you hear gurgling.

Pour into cup and enjoy.

I think you've been unnecessarily messing with the long approved formula.

[PhilAsia]

Do not tamp, just tap sides to level.

If you have a screw top Brikka, tighten the screwed top as it will explode sideways if you don't. Mine was consigned to the cupboard until I found out that I could tighten the bloody thing!!

Fill with just boiled water to just under the safety valve. (this stops the extraction from being too bitter)

Use low heat to gently build the pressure.

Take off the heat as the extraction starts to push through, and once it gets foamy plunge into cold water, or run under cold tap.

James Hoffmann, as referred to above, has a couple (one updated IIRC) tutorials on his YT channel.

I love a moka! Enjoy!

Edited by PhilAsia on Thursday 12th June 04:10

[HTP99]

Use one every morning for my morning coffee, love it and no problems at all, it has replaced my Aeropress.

Cold water in the chamber to just under the valve, scoop of coffee into the basket, couple of gentle gentle taps on the work surface to make sure it's all spread about and even.

Tightly screw the top on, place on the hob on a medium low, 3-4 minutes later when it starts to gurgle take it off the hob.....yummy.

[DSMSMR]

None of the above worked.
Water was just below the valve.
Second time around I didnt tamp the coffee down.
It just gurgled and naff all happened on a low heat.

Will give it another go tonight.

[thebraketester]

What coffee are you using. More importantly What s the grind? Edit. Just noticed “filter”. They might be too coarse.

I always fill it up with boiling water to the valve as it makes the whole thing much quicker.

[DSMSMR]

Just reg filter coffee. Thought I read it had to be coarser? Also I cant see the point when camping to boil the water then put it into the pot. Might as well use the cafetierre!

[HTP99]

DSMSMR said:

Just reg filter coffee. Thought I read it had to be coarser? Also I cant see the point when camping to boil the water then put it into the pot. Might as well use the cafetierre!

Boiling the water beforehand; I've watched many YouTube videos regarding the brewing process using a Moka pot, some say don't, some say do, some say do whatever.

[DSMSMR]

HTP99 said:

DSMSMR said:

Just reg filter coffee. Thought I read it had to be coarser? Also I cant see the point when camping to boil the water then put it into the pot. Might as well use the cafetierre!

Boiling the water beforehand; I've watched many YouTube videos regarding the brewing process using a Moka pot, some say don't, some say do, some say do whatever.

Please read above!

[HTP99]

DSMSMR said:

HTP99 said:

DSMSMR said:

Just reg filter coffee. Thought I read it had to be coarser? Also I cant see the point when camping to boil the water then put it into the pot. Might as well use the cafetierre!

Boiling the water beforehand; I've watched many YouTube videos regarding the brewing process using a Moka pot, some say don't, some say do, some say do whatever.

Please read above!

Yeah I did, just making a general observation as you said you didn't see the point in boiling before hand and others had said to boil beforehand and I was stating that it seemed to have mixed views!!

[TVR Sagaris]

There's no need to boil the water beforehand.

This seems unlikely but maybe you've bought a dud given your experience. Unless you aren't leaving it long enough - if it's a bigger one it may take longer than you expect.

[NSNO]

I've been using one of these for years. Sometimes the seals go and then you will get coffee leaking through. Also, sometimes if there is dried coffee in between the little metal thing and the seals, there will be some leakages as well. I recently bought a blender and use this to grind my beans. I fill the pot to the valve and then put the basket in. If any water comes through, I just take out the basket and shake it off, until no more water comes through. I have my heat setting on ten out of fourteen and then wait for it to boil. If you do it too high, it is a lot quicker, but has a tendency to be a bit biter. One thing though is that I've read that you are supposed to take it off the heat as soon as it starts coming up. However, I find that if I do this, then there will still be water in the bottom of the chamber. I also do tamper my coffee.

[DSMSMR]

NSNO said:

I've been using one of these for years. Sometimes the seals go and then you will get coffee leaking through. Also, sometimes if there is dried coffee in between the little metal thing and the seals, there will be some leakages as well. I recently bought a blender and use this to grind my beans. I fill the pot to the valve and then put the basket in. If any water comes through, I just take out the basket and shake it off, until no more water comes through. I have my heat setting on ten out of fourteen and then wait for it to boil. If you do it too high, it is a lot quicker, but has a tendency to be a bit biter. One thing though is that I've read that you are supposed to take it off the heat as soon as it starts coming up. However, I find that if I do this, then there will still be water in the bottom of the chamber. I also do tamper my coffee.

Nearly everything you have written doesnt apply or others above have said not to do!

[PistonBroker]

I didn't think the normal Moka pots works on electric hobs.

I have a Bialetti Venus which, as I understand it, is the only one that works on an induction hob.

We have a gas hob, but when Mrs T put my fake OG-style Bialetti through the dishwasher I dashed into my usual place and they only had the Venus in stock. So I bought that as it works on both.

Turned out to be the right decision when I took it on holiday last year and it was an induction hob there.

[NSNO]

DSMSMR said:

NSNO said:

I've been using one of these for years. Sometimes the seals go and then you will get coffee leaking through. Also, sometimes if there is dried coffee in between the little metal thing and the seals, there will be some leakages as well. I recently bought a blender and use this to grind my beans. I fill the pot to the valve and then put the basket in. If any water comes through, I just take out the basket and shake it off, until no more water comes through. I have my heat setting on ten out of fourteen and then wait for it to boil. If you do it too high, it is a lot quicker, but has a tendency to be a bit biter. One thing though is that I've read that you are supposed to take it off the heat as soon as it starts coming up. However, I find that if I do this, then there will still be water in the bottom of the chamber. I also do tamper my coffee.

Nearly everything you have written doesnt apply or others above have said not to do!

What do you mean by doesn't apply. I'm not the idiot who seems to somehow make it explode when using one. Can honestly say that has never happened in all the years that I've been using mine.

[NSNO]

PistonBroker said:

I didn't think the normal Moka pots works on electric hobs.

I have a Bialetti Venus which, as I understand it, is the only one that works on an induction hob.

We have a gas hob, but when Mrs T put my fake OG-style Bialetti through the dishwasher I dashed into my usual place and they only had the Venus in stock. So I bought that as it works on both.

Turned out to be the right decision when I took it on holiday last year and it was an induction hob there.

It doesn't, but you can buy a little plate, on which you place the Moka pot on top of. I've got an induction hob and bought one, so that I could use my pot.

[TVR Sagaris]

They also do work fine on an ordinary electric hob.

OP here's a video tutorial showing the things we've mostly been saying in the thread, using an electric hob just to confirm the point above.

[DSMSMR]

NSNO said:

PistonBroker said:

I didn't think the normal Moka pots works on electric hobs.

I have a Bialetti Venus which, as I understand it, is the only one that works on an induction hob.

We have a gas hob, but when Mrs T put my fake OG-style Bialetti through the dishwasher I dashed into my usual place and they only had the Venus in stock. So I bought that as it works on both.

Turned out to be the right decision when I took it on holiday last year and it was an induction hob there.

It doesn't, but you can buy a little plate, on which you place the Moka pot on top of. I've got an induction hob and bought one, so that I could use my pot.

yet again, you contradict what others have said....read the above and watch the video.

[DSMSMR]

TVR Sagaris said:

They also do work fine on an ordinary electric hob.

OP here's a video tutorial showing the things we've mostly been saying in the thread, using an electric hob just to confirm the point above.

TY VM . I think the problem is I am using reg filter coffee that is too finely ground...and clogs up the filter to easily causing too much pressure to build up then it spurts out.