jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

My new RED Keurig arrives tomorrow. The current one has been working hard for us for over seven years, making several cups of coffee every day. It seems to be struggling now, though. It gives me half the amount I request, and I have to push the button a second time to fill my mug. It's also gotten slow and noisy.

Naturally, I did the research to find the "best" single-cup coffee maker. Some do expresso and other tricks, and there was a nice one for $400, but the Keurig is still considered a good buy when compared to the others.

If you use a machine like the Keurig, you might want to consider using your own coffee in those refillable K-cups. I figure it costs me about $0.07/cup. I'd burn more than that in gas idling in line at a drive-up coffee place. Every time I drive into town, I see a line of cars at the drive-up shop.

tcthome Loc: NJ

You try white, (I think distilled) vinegar? I run some thru my $14 about 8yr old Mr. Coffee every 3-4 months or, when it starts to slow down. Cleans the lime build-up. My neighbor had the same problem with his Keurig & I told about the vinegar. His is still working. Also I have seen online that there is a special cleaner for coffee machines but never seen it in the store.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

We replaced our old Keurig with a Keurig Duo.
It will either do pods or a pot, which is insulated.

And yes, the reusable K-cups DO save a lot of money, but you need a fine grind to have it come closer to the taste of a pod (stronger). (I did fine out that the hinge on the reusable pod has to go in the back, otherwise the pod lid doesn't lock down.)

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

RED Keurig Congratulations... keep us posted on what blend you use and the humm of your new machine. Good color choice.

Color RED! ... Jerry the new trend is white appliances on white counter tops on white cabinets. I, like you, prefer my red appliances... and even have spay paint to match if needed, "Krylon Burgundy Gloss." If I had white on white on white and 5200 K lighting, I would never find any thing in the sea of overexposure. Color combos are made to sell ... some gastly... You are old enough Jerry to recall the fad of Chartreuse Bathroom toilets and sinks with pink walls... guess it was so ugly as to prevent constipation!!
https://retrorenovation.com/2008/04/09/ontario-julias-1956-pink-black-and-chartreuse-bathroom/

"I did the research to find the "best" single-cup coffee maker." I watched a lot of you-tube on coffee makers and the joke was that the guy for his first cup uses a fluted filter and boiling water. I went thru a number of used coffee makers to give them a try... In the morning I do not want to hear buzzing pumps and gauges showing me 15 Bar of pressure has been achieved. Please just a cup of coffee with out a carnival midway.

I settled on a simple Mr Coffee Espresso. Adding a 2" chemistry filter paper to the top of the coffee compacted, tamped, with an empty spice jar does the trick. If your Keurig has a drilled hole in the surface of the coffee after brewing, then that filter paper will prevent that; the coffee will filter smoothly across the surface and thru the puck. Obviously, my education in chemistry has not gone to waste with retirement... it has made my morning coffee better.

I researched the water and there are formulations to "restore the mineral richness"... too much trouble... Osmosis machine water from the grocery store refill machine will keep your Keurig internals clean and working well for years. My Mr. Coffee is now 6 years old and never flushed with vinegar to remove minerals... there are none in the Osmosis water.

Bon appe'tit Jerry... enjoy your new brew.

BrHawkeye

My old Keurig is now my backup. I bought a Tchibo coffee maker for just under $300 a year and a half ago. It makes single cups from whole beans and it's easy to manage. It's taken a while to pick a favorite from the whole beans available -- it all depends on taste, of course -- but I finally do have a favorite so I'm content with my coffee.

FreddB Loc: PA - Delaware County

The best coffee is still made with a stovetop percolator!
But, if all you need is a single cup, pour-over is the way to go.
The problem with the K-cup (and all of the other brands, too) is the
amount of coffee in (or, missing from) the damned things. Consumer
Reports reported on this a while back. There's less than half the amount
of coffee grounds necessary for a decent cup.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Decent is relative....

Ollieboy

Percolating coffee burns it. Best method for brewing is drip as per the NY Coffee Exchange.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

To me percolating winds up boiling the coffee...

Ollieboy

Exactly. Boiling it over and over destroys the nuances in flavor.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I have a Mr. Coffee with an insulated pot. It turns on a 6:00 every morning and then turns off. The coffee will stay hot for hours.

One negative with the refillables is having to dump them and wash them. Eventually, the lids break off. I have about a dozen and a half now. I cut one down to use as a measuring cup to fill them.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Don't over pack them, the coffee grounds expand when the water goes through them. There's a fill line in some of ours. If they are dumped and rinsed just out of the machine they clean easier. Every so often we put them through the dishwasher in a basket with a lid so they don't fly all over the dishwasher.
(We have about the same number of them.)

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I filled one to the fill-line and drew a line with a Sharpie at that point. Then I dumped out the coffee and cut the cup at that line. It makes a perfect measuring cup.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

First I had one of those individual small basket types that I kept on a small table by my desk at school, coffee, tea, chocolate, instant soup for lunch etc. I even let students who brought their own instant soup etc. use it and eat lunch in my room. And I gave it to good will when I got my first K-cup machine to avoid keeping a can of coffee and box of filters in my desk. It may still be working for a living somewhere.
Then I wore out a Black and Decker K-cup machine (half the price of the Keurig) that developed leaking joints between two of the parts from heat warping due to very high use for several years. A student one day told me, "Mister, the coffee maker is peeing on the table!" They make them of better materials now. I replaced it with a Keurig. And for several years I used the "fill them yourself" cups because I was into a high-end dark roast named "Black Silk" that didn't come in K-cups, it does now, but at about $2 a cup and I found a brand of 100% Columbian medium roast I love that is only about 35 cents a cup. I also like my wife's favorite, McCafe in a K-cup.
Now I sometimes use those refillable cups and our oldest son uses them for his exotic Middle Eastern and Asian coffees and even his "fancy" English blend teas. He never drank coffee until he went in the Army, and during a tour in Iraq at the end of the war there he discovered the exotic coffees. He is still in the Reserves almost 20 years later and volunteers for short deployments all over the world just to see the world. God knows what kinds of tea and coffee he may discover that will require filling his own K-cups.
And that Keurig, I retired in June 2007 and am still using it at home. We even unscrewed the large full pot machine that came hanging under the new kitchen cabinets we bought and gave it to a friend because between the three coffee drinkers in the family, each liked a different coffee.