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Why ? - 10/2/2009 5:55:34 PM   
Aneirin


Posts: 6121
Joined: 3/18/2006
From: Tamaris
Status: offline 		I drink instant coffee mostly, it is readily available and an ease to make, but Why ?

Why does it always happen, that just before the end of the jar, the last six or seven makings, the intant coffee goes rock hard, as though it has become damp, thus making further makings impossible.

Now, I am a waste minded person, and I hate chucking stuff away, when it is not time to chuck it, coffee in the jar, though gone iffy, and unuseable,to me is waste.

There has got to be a logical explanation for what happens to my coffee, has anyone have any ideas ?


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RE: Why ? - 10/2/2009 5:58:26 PM   
DesFIP


Posts: 25191
Joined: 11/25/2007
From: Apple County NY
Status: offline 		What happens is that occasionally you go to make a second cup and your spoon is not dry. The little bit of water on the spoon is what causes the stuff on the bottom to go into a hard clump. What you can do is pour hot water into the jar, enough to dissolve it, then cold until it's strong enough, add sugar to taste and refrigerate it as iced coffee.

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RE: Why ? - 10/2/2009 6:03:36 PM   
sappatoti


Posts: 14844
Joined: 10/30/2006
From: the edge of darkness...
Status: offline 		Just a theory...

Those instant coffee particles at the bottom of the jar felt they had plenty of time before their Big Sacrifice, so they didn't worry about things and stayed happy and fluffy. However, as those particles above them were taken away to be sacrificed, those at the bottom of the jar realized they were next and thought long and hard about doing something. Hard being the key word, they created an impenetrable bond -- at least impenetrable by spoon or scoop -- so as to make a last stand, as it were.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

(Actually, I'm thinking some air moisture is getting inside the jar and as the volume of particles becomes smaller and smaller, they do more and more of the work absorbing the moisture until they more or less melt into that hardened glob at the bottom of your jar. Far more sensible an answer I think.)

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RE: Why ? - 10/2/2009 6:05:40 PM   
littlewonder


Posts: 15659
Status: offline 		spoon not being completely dry
humidity in the air
Once the seal is broken on a jar it now becomes susceptible to any particles in the air including heat and moisture.

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RE: Why ? - 10/2/2009 6:06:26 PM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		When it gets low open a new jar- add it to the new jar.

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RE: Why ? - 10/2/2009 6:17:24 PM   
MasterG2kTR


Posts: 6677
Joined: 8/7/2004
From: Wisconsin
Status: offline 		I'm not a coffee drinker, but I may have a solution to your dilemma. What DesFIP said is a possibility. But what also happens is that humidity gets in every time you open the jar. The reason it seems ok until you get near the bottom, is that the contents overcome and evenly disperse the minute amounts of moisture, which until the end is inadequate to cause the clumping. Near the end there is sufficient moisture to cause molecular binding of the elements in the jar.

When you get about halfway thru a jar, take a clean coffee filter and put one or two tablespoons of rice into it. Then tie it shut (use a twist tie or piece of string) and cut off the excess paper. Then put it in the jar and keep it there until the end. This will keep humidity from clumping the remains as it get to the bottom of the jar.

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RE: Why ? - 10/2/2009 6:20:40 PM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		hmmm..  Instant?

...gosh - it doesnt take that long to brew a pot....    I like the mocha bean coffee.   yummy!

http://www.buythecase.net/product/21234/eight_oclock_mocha_ground_coffee/?engine=googlebase


< Message edited by pahunkboy -- 10/2/2009 6:21:54 PM >

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RE: Why ? - 10/2/2009 6:49:22 PM   
Musicmystery


Posts: 30259
Joined: 3/14/2005
Status: offline 		Get a coffee maker. They're cheap, and the coffee will be much better.

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RE: Why ? - 10/2/2009 10:26:58 PM   
GreedyTop


Posts: 52100
Joined: 5/2/2007
From: Savannah, GA
Status: offline 		A.. the rice in a filter is a good idea, or (what I do with sugar) is put a cracker (I have no idea what theyre called there.. ) in.  NOn-saltine.  

I'm going with the wet spoon theory..LOL


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RE: Why ? - 10/2/2009 11:15:59 PM   
Termyn8or


Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
Status: offline 		When the coffee granules or granulettes or whatever are in the jar, not only are they  displacing the moisture ridden air. Once opened it will not be that bad for a while, but after a time there is alot more moisture ridden air in there. Addtitonally when packed in the jar the air in there is moisture controlled , for exactly that reason, that it will absorb it.

It is in very dry air when you first get it, and once you open it the process of "shelf life" comes into play. Freeze dried coffee can last for decades if unopened.

Also you can use what you see as residue, it is really the same coffee you were drinking anyway, but if it is stuck in a big blob you must make it all at once. Just pour some warm to hot water in it and it will disolve.

I have the same problem with sea salt, but a hundred times worse. Not only will this stuff clump, it actually gets wet because it absorbs moisture so efficiently. (for lack of a better word).

If not familiar with it, look up solubility. It is amazing, and also amazing to know that everything disolves into everything. Gases into solids and vice versa, but they all have their own rate. One could conclude that someday the Earth will be covered by nothing but rust. That is a theory for another day though.

For example, over here for those who drink alot there is Koolaid. flavor packets, add your own sugar and mix it up. Well this being the US and all there is a horrendous amount of sugar involved and it doesn't disolve fast enough, really they can't wait thirty seconds.

So they figured out to make the water hotter, disolve everything and THEN add the bulk of the water and ice to make it cold. It works well for the medical profession all the time. (some other time)

Actually there are different ways to make coffee. If you happen to be an old mountain boy you might just throw some in a pot of boiling water and pour it off leaving the 'silt' from the grounds. It can also be made from the roasted beans this way, eliminating grinding. But that is encompassed in something else which deals with the pioneer days and all that whatnot.

I know a guy makes tea that way to this day though. He is from WAAAAAY down south. Good tea though, I have had it. You just pour it out, and if you're lucky someone like a Wife or a slave will clean up the pot the next day. If you wish to reward, rinse it out, if you wish to punish then leave the fire on it too long. If you have no such Wife, maid, slave, whatever, I suggest you rinse it out.

T

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RE: Why ? - 10/2/2009 11:30:23 PM   
Justme696


Posts: 3236
Joined: 1/7/2008
From: Royal kingdom of the Netherlands
Status: offline 		It is dehydrated stuff...instant coffee...meaning water is taken out.
But nature loves balance and there for it will get moist in time anyway.
But is to keep it in one of those vacuum thingies where everytime the air is pressed out. ( air contains moist) 

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RE: Why ? - 10/3/2009 8:21:16 AM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		Unless you have an instant hot water tap-  then instant is not that fast...

Get yourself a 4 cup drip CONE shaped pot.   $12.     I like the cone drip as you get a better flavor.

Coffee has a rather interesting history.  I did not start drinking it till I was 25.    Each cup- could be logged as a jab against the crown...  ooopsy/  lol.

No but really dude- a small pleasure of life is a thoroughly brewed 1st cup of coffee for the day.     For just a minor effort - the reward is very nice!

Don't deny yourself this pleasure any longer!!   We love you- and we would like you to have  GREAT cup of coffee everytime!

They even make 2 and 1 cup pots.   I ALWAYS have a SPARE.  and the thrift stores sell them- so heck you can find one for $1.50.
or put an post on freecycle.   !!!


cheers!

< Message edited by pahunkboy -- 10/3/2009 8:22:24 AM >

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RE: Why ? - 10/3/2009 9:25:35 AM   
popeye1250


Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Musicmystery

Get a coffee maker. They're cheap, and the coffee will be much better.


Ditto. It tastes much better!

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RE: Why ? - 10/3/2009 9:28:23 AM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: popeye1250


quote:

ORIGINAL: Musicmystery

Get a coffee maker. They're cheap, and the coffee will be much better.


Ditto. It tastes much better!


Goooood morning Popeye!

Nice day!!!

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RE: Why ? - 10/3/2009 9:33:34 AM   
windchymes


Posts: 9410
Joined: 4/18/2005
Status: offline 		Anyone who thinks a 4-cup coffee maker makes 4 cups of coffee hasn't seen MY coffee mugs.....

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RE: Why ? - 10/3/2009 9:40:42 AM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: windchymes

Anyone who thinks a 4-cup coffee maker makes 4 cups of coffee hasn't seen MY coffee mugs.....


LOL.

I like the crups pot.  I hate the way they change the design so often.  It is hard to find the EXACT one I want- and it seems- I can best find one used- not new.

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RE: Why ? - 10/3/2009 6:30:18 PM   
Aneirin


Posts: 6121
Joined: 3/18/2006
From: Tamaris
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: popeye1250


quote:

ORIGINAL: Musicmystery

Get a coffee maker. They're cheap, and the coffee will be much better.


Ditto. It tastes much better!


Now, that is debateable, because I drink both instant, and cooked coffee, they both have their places. A.m., the first minutes of waking, it has to be instant, coffee, as I am not in a place where I can do much at that time, part from bounce of walls and flick the switch on the hot water boiler. With instant, the wake up procedure involves hot, strong and sweet coffee, usually three cups spaced over two hours by which time I say, I am awake, stabilised by caffeine. Now with the instant, I make it the Swedish way, that being two teaspoonfulls of granulated coffee, and double my normal amount of sugar, as that I found ages ago, is what I need to get over the transition between sleep and awake.

Yeah, I guess I am addicted to stuff, always have been, since crawling around the floor pre toddler, and finding half empty coffee cups on the carpet next to chairs to dip my fingers into and love the taste. Coffee, my mother did actually say was a pacifier for me as a child, I used to get it in my beaker made with milk. As any mother knows, what keeps the kid quiet cant be bad, quiet lives matter to mothers. Mind, I got brandy in my milk to make me sleep as well.


< Message edited by Aneirin -- 10/3/2009 6:35:36 PM >

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Everything we are is the result of what we have thought, the mind is everything, what we think, we become - Guatama Buddha

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RE: Why ? - 10/3/2009 6:53:34 PM   
Lucylastic


Posts: 40310
Status: offline 		Im another one who prefers instant to regular perc'd coffee.  Nescafe-gold blend, I have 2 big ones a day, with  milk and sugar only(latte style I guess) I have two machines, ones an old melita and one is a 10cup...I use them rarely (usually when I run out of instant or I have guests who look aghast at me when I do myself an instant) its personal preference and I have tried tons over the years, but Im used to instant since the time I was a sproglet.

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RE: Why ? - 10/3/2009 7:11:11 PM   
Aneirin


Posts: 6121
Joined: 3/18/2006
From: Tamaris
Status: offline 		Yes,my preference is instant, but then I buy the often cheaper intant coffee Lidl sells, it coming over from the continent, German stuff I think. The cheaper Lidl coffee far supasses the usual run of the mill British brands, including my usual if I cant get to Lidls, Nescafe blend.

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Everything we are is the result of what we have thought, the mind is everything, what we think, we become - Guatama Buddha

Conservatism is distrust of people tempered by fear - William Gladstone

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