In times when you cannot use your electric coffee maker, alternative coffee-making methods come in handy.
This also applies if you don’t want to spend money on getting a coffee maker at all.
It is a well-known fact that coffee brewing was already popular before the discovery of electricity.
As early as the 15th century, people were brewing coffee.
If they could brew excellent coffee without any electricity, so can you.
In the absence of a machine, you can make coffee through several methods. However, in this article, we will be focusing on making coffee with a stove.
How to Make Coffee on the Stove
When making coffee on a stove, there are various methods you can use. Let’s take a look at some of them below:
The Cowboy Method
The cowboy method is a straightforward method of making coffee on the stove.
To execute the cowboy method, you need a stove, a saucepan or pot, and any coffee of your choosing.
To make this coffee, you start by heating water in your saucepan and allow it to come to a boil.
Unlike when you use a coffee maker, this method requires you to use more water.
Once the water is hot enough, you can now add your coffee to it.
The typical water to coffee ratio for this method is 8 ounces to two tablespoons. Depending on your type of coffee, this measurement can vary.
With the coffee added, you can now stir slowly. This allows the coffee to circulate well in the pan.
Leave the saucepan open and let the mixture boil for about two minutes.
Once boiling is complete, remove the pan from the stove and let the mixture sit for a few minutes. This allows the undissolved grounds of coffee to settle at the bottom of the pan.
When serving the coffee, ensure the coffee grounds remain inside the pot. Using a ladle to scoop the coffee is the best way of ensuring this.
Moka Pot or Stove Pot
The Moka pot is a coffee maker made in Italy, and it shares some resemblance with a kettle.
The Moka pot can make coffee at a higher temperature and pressure when compared to your regular coffee makers.
The coffee output of a Moka is almost similar to that gotten from an espresso machine.
This pot has three parts, and using it is quite easy. Before making your coffee, you first have to disassemble the pot.
The next step is to put water in the bottom compartment, ensuring the water reaches just below the valve.
Place your coffee in the middle compartment with the strainer and reassemble. Then place the pot on the stove with low heat and keep the lid closed.
While it is boiling, you will hear a series of bubbling sounds. This tells you the coffee is getting pushed to the top compartment of the pot.
You can now take the pot off the stove and leave it to sit for a few minutes.
The Turkish Method Using an Ibrik (Cezve)
This method of making coffee is common in Middle Eastern countries. It is also similar to the cowboy method, with some little differences.
The coffee is made using a cezve or an ibrik. The ibrik is a pot with a long handle built from brass or copper.
If you do not have an ibrik, a stainless steel pot will do. To make coffee using this method, finely ground coffee is required.
When using this method, you begin by putting water into the cezve. Ensure you put enough water depending on the amount of coffee you want to make.
Add some sugar to taste and stir to blend.
Once it is boiled, remove the ibrik from the stove and add the amount of coffee desired. Put the ibrik back on the stove and let the coffee boil.
After the first boil, remove the cezve from the stove, discard the accumulated foam and stir well.
With this method, you boil the coffee twice while ensuring the cezve is carefully removed from the stove between each boil.
You can choose to either discard or keep the foam before you stir the coffee.
Before serving your coffee, allow the undissolved powder to settle. Adding cold water to the pot after the boiling can help to speed up this process.
Coffee to Water Ratio
When making your coffee, it is important to note that the ratio of water to coffee used in the process will affect the final flavor.
When you use too little ground coffee or too much water, the coffee beans are over-extracted, and you may end up with a bland coffee.
On the other hand, if it is made with little water and too much coffee, your coffee will taste bitter.
So, to get the perfect brew, you need to mix the coffee and water in the right proportions. The table below highlights the coffee to water ratio for brewing your coffee:
| Coffee beans in Oz. | Coffee beans in Grams | Tbsp. Ground Coffee | Water (oz.) |
| 0.38 | 10.6 | 2 | 6 |
| 0.75 | 21.3 | 4 | 12 |
| 1.13 | 31.5 | 6 | 18 |
| 1.5 | 42.5 | 8 | 24 |
| 1.88 | 55.2 | 10 | 30 |
| 2.25 | 63.8 | 12 | 36 |
The above measurement is often referred to as the golden ratio.
They are relatively standard and can be used with a variety of brewing methods. If you use the French press method or the stove method, the measurements remain the same.
The only difference with these methods is the brew time and grind setting and brew time.
Using measurements for coffee and water when you make your coffee can help ensure that your coffee is consistently high-quality.
Do You Need a Filter?
A filter would come in handy when you are trying to keep undissolved grounds out of your coffee. But is a filter necessary?
You do not necessarily need a filter, especially with the Cowboy and Turkish method. But you might end up with coffee grains floating on your brew.
If you feel you need to use a filter and don’t have one, there are few substitutes you can use. These substitutes include the following:
- Empty tea bag
- Fine mesh sieve
- Napkin
- Pair of tights or stockings
- Cheesecloth
Final Thoughts
All is not lost if you don’t have a coffee machine. As long as you have a stove, you can make all the coffee you need.
Coffee making basically involves boiling water and adding it to the coffee; this is absolutely possible with a stove.
Resources
- https://chicagofrenchpress.com/pages/coffee-to-water-ratio-table
- https://driftaway.coffee/ratio/
- https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Coffee-on-a-Stove#/Image:Make-Coffee-on-a-Stove-Step-14-Version-3.jpg
- https://ilcappuccinoexpress.com/how-to-make-coffee-on-the-stove/
- https://unionroasted.com/blogs/brewing-guides/stovetop-moka-pot
- https://www.illy.com/en-us/coffee/coffee-preparation/how-to-make-turkish-coffee
- https://www.kitchensanity.com/coffee/how-to-make-coffee-on-the-stove/