Manual vs. automatic vacuum pot coffee

[phaelon56]

It's not really a trick question (at least I don't think so). I think I know the answer but hope there's a fix. It's also worth noting that not one single geek over at Coffeegeek Forums replied with an answer when I posted. Surely there's an eGulleteer with the expertise to help me

I've been using the smaller version of the glass manual Bodum vac pot for about six months and absolutely love the results. I typically use about 40 grams of coffee to 25 ounces of water and allow the grounds to steep in the water for about 3:00 to 3:30 minutes after the water has moved north to the top of the pot. It then takes about another 00:30 to 1:00 minute for the water to return south to the serving vessel after heat is removed.

A friend just gave me a Bodum Mini-Santos electric vac pot - the orange one that's made of Lexan or some such thing. It has the same capacity as the manual pot and I use the same amount of grounds and water. The water heats up more quickly, moves north faster and then it automatically shuts off and allows the water to return south after no more than two minutes or so of steeping. The result has very consistently been slightly underextracted and weak tasting coffee. I even tried bumping up the weight of the grounds to 50 grams but with little improvement.

I love the convenience of the electric pot - I can just set it up and walk away until the coffee is done but I'm unhappy with the quality of the results. Is there a way to tweak/hack the automatic timing feature to lengthen the steeeping/brewing time? Yes I've read the directions and no mention is made of such an adjustment option.

[melkor]

Adjusting the brew times in an eSantos is a pain in the ass. The way the "timer" works is by using a thermometer in that metal disc on the bottom of the coffee pot - once the temp is above boiling it shuts off and lets the water return. The best way I've found to extend brew times is to tilt the unit using a quarter or something else as a shim under the rear edge of the bottom plate. You get a different brew time using different size shims - it's a crap way to adjust brew times, but it works.

[phaelon56]

it's a crap way to adjust brew times

In that case... perhaps I should be using Kopi Luwak "cat poop" coffee for best results? ?

[jsolomon]

You ought to be able to hack the control for the hot plate portion using a PID, but it'd be ugly. I doubt there'd be room to hide the PID in the base of that little guy.

[Apicio]

If you cannot adjust the timing of your automatic vacuum coffee pot, perhaps you can try adjusting your grind. You know, finer for slower pots and courser for the faster ones. And I assumed the biggest problem with this particular automatic vacuum pots was the "cracking" of the pot due to poor choice of material. A friend obtained (4) four new replacements for his cracked original and gave them away as presents because he did not want to use them anymore after I gave him a shiny fifty year old automatic Sunbean C30 I bought at e-bay for $10.50.