Coffee urns are best suited for offices, family parties, catered events, meetings and any other occasion where a larger supply of hot, freshly brewed coffee is needed. These are basically large percolators; where water is added to the base then the reusable metal filter basket is installed and filled with medium-coarse ground coffee. As the water heats it rises through a tube, showers the ground coffee and then drips back into the base. This brewing process is repeated until the desired coffee strength is reached then the urn continues to keep the coffee warm for serving. Typically, these appliances are capable of making from 30 to 100 cups of coffee, depending on the size of the urn.
Nowadays, a new trend has begun. Instead of purchasing a coffee urn, you can get rented coffee carafes from companies like Starbucks®, for banquets. These come fully filled with different types of coffee, a supply of paper cups and all the necessary accoutrements to coffee like creamer, half and half and a variety of sweeteners. If you do not use a coffee urn frequently, then the rentals of filled carafes may be a great way to go.
Features to be kept in mind while purchasing a coffee urn:
- Check for an on and off switch on the front of the coffee urn. Some do not have switches at all and the urn itself is so large that getting to the outlet, when it is full of water, can be daunting.
- Come anywhere from 30 cups to 65 cups. The more coffee you make, the long time it takes.
- Coffee urns still require the same amount of coffee. If you are using the small office coffee or restaurant coffee packages ensure you throw in one extra packet. The coffee grounds do not always saturate evenly.
- Difficult to clean and will not fit in an average sink to rinse out. If you have a hose it may be better to spray the heck out of it.
- Always put the lid on, most machines will not work without the lid.
- Always brew your coffee about ½ an hour before you would like to serve it. It takes a long time and doing it too far ahead of time will burn it and make it taste awful.
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