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reusable coffee filters  

post #1 of 14
2/19/06 at 2:12pm
Thread Starter 
we've been doing really well with not bringing paper products into the house... and we were wondering about our coffee filters. as is, we compost the filter/grinds and have been happy w/that... but wondered about getting a reusable one. are they difficult to dump & clean? does the coffee taste good after repeat use?
post #2 of 14
2/19/06 at 2:38pm
I have a gold coffee filter - once its done I just dump the grinds and rinse with warm water. Sadly, my DH insists that its awful, because leaves "residue" in the bottom of the pot. (really just a little bit of dusty coffee bean that was ground too small, which doesn't bother me one bit, as that last 1/4 cup or so normally gets dumped anyhow) So when he makes coffee - he uses paper. But thats only on weekends, and during the week I use only my gold filter. I've had my filter for years - at least 6, no bad flavor, no issues that I have with it.
post #3 of 14
2/19/06 at 4:40pm
We use a permanent coffee filter and DH loves it. He's a bit of a coffee snob so this is the only way to go for him! It's very easy to clean. We just hold it over the garbage disposal and use the hose that is attached to your sink. No mess, and pop it back in.
post #4 of 14
2/19/06 at 10:49pm
We use a plastic one with mesh fabric like bottom and it works great. I dump it over the garbage disposal and rinse it. It also goes through the dw very well.
post #5 of 14
2/20/06 at 11:54am
Thread Starter 
MrsChicopea~ what is your filter made of? I'm a bit of a coffee snob, too .

ItyBity~I had thought about the fine grinds slipping through, but figured that wouldn't happend w/one of those muslin filters.. but worried that the muslin would retain flavors. Hmmmmm.

Abbieandlady~ do you get fine grinds in your coffee w/yours?
post #6 of 14
2/20/06 at 12:20pm
We have a gold filter too. It is a very fine mesh. We dump the grinds out into the compost bucket, and rinse the filter out. Every once in a while I run it through the dishwasher. We never get grinds in the coffee pot unless some of the grinds get knocked out somehow. We have had the filter for... oh gosh, 8 years? A long time! We certainly got our moneys worth out of it I never notice a funny taste from it or anything, and we really like our coffee!
post #7 of 14
2/21/06 at 11:34am
We have a mesh one also, have had it for years and I've never noticed any grounds with it.
post #8 of 14
2/22/06 at 12:30am
My coffee maker came with a reusable filter. My main advice would be to wait until the grounds are a little more dry before dumping. It helps with cleanup. I then rinse with water boiled in the tea kettle. No soap or anything. Once in a while I will run water and vinegar through it for a more thorough cleaning.
post #9 of 14
2/22/06 at 12:34am
Our coffee pot came with a resuable filter as well.

This is what we have:

http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp...entPage=family

Quite expensive, but it was a gift.
post #10 of 14
2/22/06 at 5:25am
Yeah, I didn't like that the reusable mesh left fine residue at the bottom. I heard somewhere that they didn't filter out chemicals? I would try the washable cotton kind. I only use an espresso machine so I don't use filters anyway.
post #11 of 14
2/22/06 at 12:14pm
We've had the same gold filter for 7 years and it's great! Easy to wash, no aftertaste, no need to replace it. It cost us $35 and so far that's $5 per year. We expect it to last long into the future. In fact we're on our second coffeemaker since then but are using the same filter.
post #12 of 14
2/23/06 at 11:29pm
Love my reusable filter. Someone suggested letting the grinds not be sopping when you dump them, but I have much better luck when they are. If I wait too long, I get residue in the filter that I have to scrub off.

On the other hand: If you're composting your grounds and use unbleached paper filters, you could just toss those in with the compost.
post #13 of 14
2/24/06 at 8:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by abbieandlady
We use a plastic one with mesh fabric like bottom and it works great. I dump it over the garbage disposal and rinse it. It also goes through the dw very well.

We have the same thing. It works great! I don't think we get any grounds at all.

on getting to no paper. We are down to dh's tp for poo. I bought a 12 pack in december. Still plenty of tp. Talk about a money saver and environment saver!
post #14 of 14
2/24/06 at 1:43pm
We use a washable cotton filter and it makes GREAT coffee It does not leave any of that fine grit like the gold filter did. I also heard that the gold filters don't filter out the bitter oils---so you get a different flavor. I was worried about the cloth filter not working like paper---as I am very particular about my coffee flavor---but no problems---and no more waste
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