Egg Coffee and Camp Coffee

[pierre girard]

Not sure how many tea drinkers will be interested in this, but one of the ways we make coffee is to fill a large kettle with water, crack in an egg or two and throw in a handful of coffee. Stir up the coffee and bring to a near boil. The egg collects the coffee grounds, giving you a grounds free cuppa, and also imparts a slight but wholesome flavour. I think this has Scandianvian origins.

Camp coffee: Pretty much the same, but no egg. When the coffee has cooked, take a stick that has a hot ember on the end (or a hot steel rod - if you had one handy), and plunge it into the kettle. This is supposed to settle the grounds (sometimes it works).

PG

 

[British Red]

Not sure how many tea drinkers will be interested in this, but one of the ways we make coffee is to fill a large kettle with water, crack in an egg or two and throw in a handful of coffee. Stir up the coffee and bring to a near boil. The egg collects the coffee grounds, giving you a grounds free cuppa, and also imparts a slight but wholesome flavour. I think this has Scandianvian origins.

Camp coffee: Pretty much the same, but no egg. When the coffee has cooked, take a stick that has a hot ember on the end (or a hot steel rod - if you had one handy), and plunge it into the kettle. This is supposed to settle the grounds (sometimes it works).

PG

Hiya PG,

Never tried either of those, but have done the handful of eggshell in with the grounds for many years. I have heard many reasons why people reckon it improves the flavour - some pseudo science and some possible - most BS. Works though.

The other one is of course to roast green coffee beans fresh in an iron skillet. I have a hand grinder I take to reduce the hot beans to powder. Then a slow heat...never boil...

All coffee making stories greatly received (except stuff about cowboy coffee and socks . yeuch)

Red

 

[Ketchup]

egg coffee:
Interesting, though not quite practical if you're out in the woods (carying allthose eggs around). In fact you only need the egg white. Professional cooks routinely use (beaten) egg whites to 'clear' broths and consommés.

Our traditional camp coffee recipe is:
1. boil water
2. Throw in the desired amount of ground coffee away from the fire, mix and keep hot but DO NOT BOIL AGAIN.
2. Filtre through a (clean) handkerchief, if you don' like the grounds.
(this was our daily morning ritual while touring through Lesotho and SA)
You need more coffee powder when compared to percolating

 

[Tor helge]

I`ve never heard about the eggs, but I know that earlier they used a round piece of fish skin to clear the coffee ("klareskinn" in norwegian).
I don`t think anyone use them today.

I don`t mind some coffee grounds in my mouth. Spit them out or chew them .

Ketchup.
The traditional camp coffee is the same recipe I use when brewing coffee at home.
In the woods I bring the pot to a gently "roll" after I added the coffee.

Tor

 

[Don Redondo]

The whole egg in kettle story got me reminiscing... this is slightly OT but it's also a story about how things have changed so much in just 30 years..

When I left school, I quickly dropped out of college and went to work for the estate manager on a large rural estate in my locality. You know the sort... big house, home farm, a few large efficient farms, lots of small family farms and scattered smallholdings and cottages........

Anyways, to cut a long story a little shorter, one of my main jobs was liasing with some of the older tenants, since I spoke welsh and the manager, well - did'nt [he tried poor man, he tried]. One day we went to a tiny croft at the end of the peninsula to see an old estate worker and his equally old wife about getting them an inside water supply, toilet and the like [which they were'nt particulary bothered about. it was the welfare crew who were demanding it] My role was translator, as the couple were probably the last monoglot welsh speakers, possibly in the whole of Wales [the old lady had never travelled more than 20 miles from this cottage, where she was born]

Anyway, Welsh hospitality demanded that we partake of tea and something to eat - a boiled egg and bread and butter maybe? Fine. The kettle was put on the range, and the old lady went off and came back with a couple of very fresh eggs, which she put into the now boiling kettle [along with the bits of feather etc adhering to the eggs] 'OK' I thought 'we'll get tea later'. the eggs were done and were presented to us with bread and butter [all home produced] and then without a blink the tea was made with the same water. I remember seeing a very damp feather disappear into the teapot with the water. I noticed neither of them were going to share in the meal.

To say it tasted strange was an understatement, and to this day I can't drink tea, only coffee.

 

[Ketchup]

Ketchup.
The traditional camp coffee is the same recipe I use when brewing coffee at home.
In the woods I bring the pot to a gently "roll" after I added the coffee.

Tor

Yes, many people do it this way, though generally not through a hankee. I met a family in Monmeyan (Provence) who made a whole 10 l bucket of coffee on monday, filtered an filled empty PET water bottles and then stored the coffee in the fridge for later use.
I can condone with a (quick) final boil, but very short or the coffee will turn bitter. Then again, some people like that

I percolate the old way, pouring three times through a filter over the coffee pot. I kicked out the electric percolator five years ago: back to the basics!!! I loath those dust collecting single purpose space lumbering appliances.

Oh, fish skin (or better: fish bladder, aka isinglass) will clog any grounds and other particles in the liquid. They used to clear beer this way in Germany (Renheitgebot admitted it, I understand).

 

[British Red]

Yes, many people do it this way, though generally not through a hankee. I met a family in Monmeyan (Provence) who made a whole 10 l bucket of coffee on monday, filtered an filled empty PET water bottles and then stored the coffee in the fridge for later use.
I can condone with a (quick) final boil, but very short or the coffee will turn bitter. Then again, some people like that

I percolate the old way, pouring three times through a filter over the coffee pot. I kicked out the electric percolator five years ago: back to the basics!!! I loath those dust collecting single purpose space lumbering appliances.

Oh, fish skin (or better: fish bladder, aka isinglass) will clog any grounds and other particles in the liquid. They used to clear beer this way in Germany (Renheitgebot admitted it, I understand).

Hey we still use Isinglass on beer (or at least I do)....fantastic stuff!

Red

 

[Viking]

A simple way to get rid of the coffe grounds is to pour in som e cold water and let it stand for a few minutes. The coffe grounds will then sink to the bottom and make it easy to pour up the coffe without coffe grounds. When boiling coffe you should use wjat we call "kokekaffe" coffe that is made to be boiled.

Normally I cook my coffe in one of Trangias coffe pans and mix the coffe with some cold fresh water and bring it all to a boil, pur in som e cold water and let it rest for a minute or two and then bring it to a boil again. According to an old samii man this should be done three times and if up in the fjell you should also add some salt. Finally ashould a good coffe be enjoyed in a handmade kuksa just for that good feeling.

 

[Topcat02]

Blimey, who'd have thought there would be so much interest in coffee making. I take it nobody uses instant then?

 

[JimH]

Hey we still use Isinglass on beer (or at least I do)....fantastic stuff!

Red

..Or Carragheen (Irish Moss)

Any colloidal suspension (pretty much) can be cleared with a protein fining, so the isinglass, carragheen, or egg white all do the same job, binding the small particles and causing them to precipitate out.

Err, I think. I've been an ex-biochemist for nearly 20 years

Jim.

 

[g4ghb]

Personally you can strain it or add what you want and it still tastes like scrapeings from the devils jockstrap (well to me it does )

I'm always supprised that noone has produced a 'coffee bag' - it works so well for tea!

cracking tea gromit! - can't beat a good brew! (strike one for the tea drinkers! )

 

[charley beale]

The egg coffee thing just sounds like coffee with a poached egg in it! Bit put off by the thought. Will have to try.

 

[pierre girard]

Personally you can strain it or add what you want and it still tastes like scrapeings from the devils jockstrap (well to me it does )

I'm always supprised that noone has produced a 'coffee bag' - it works so well for tea!

cracking tea gromit! - can't beat a good brew! (strike one for the tea drinkers! )

Actually, they have:

http://www.discountcoffee.com/FolgersSingles.htm

Works quite well for camping. I have, at times, made something similar for camp coffee, pouring half a cup of coffee grounds into a piece of cloth and tieing it off with thread. Once the coffee is made, I fish out the cloth coffee bag and burn it in the fire.

One more point on egg coffee. The best coffee in Duluth, MN is made at a small place on the waterfront named Lind's Cafe. They have two old, and very large, coffee grinders in the front window. Every morning, the proprieter goes to a local coffee company and buys freshly roasted coffee beans. The beans are ground up in the old coffee grinders and the coffee is made in two gallon enamel coffee pots with egg added. Last time I was there, coffee was still five cents a cup.

PG

 

[g4ghb]

Actually, they have:

http://www.discountcoffee.com/FolgersSingles.htm


PG

seems such an obvious idea - i guess instant has killed the idea though....

 

[stovie]

Okay! My mugs worth...

Bring my old trusty pot to the boil, two heaps coarse ground thrown in the top when taken off the embers. Lid on for 5 mins, pot at an angle toward the spout, and close enough to embers to keep hot, but no more rolling boil. Remove lid briefly to allow cool air to hit the surface and any grounds that are still floating (no more than 20 seconds) this is enough of a temperature drop to help settle the remaining grounds.

Same principle as throwing cold water in, but I find this just makes cold coffee .

With the pot at an angle the grounds settle in one corner and you get little disturbance.

 

[British Red]

Not sure how many tea drinkers will be interested in this, but one of the ways we make coffee is to fill a large kettle with water, crack in an egg or two and throw in a handful of coffee. Stir up the coffee and bring to a near boil. The egg collects the coffee grounds, giving you a grounds free cuppa, and also imparts a slight but wholesome flavour. I think this has Scandianvian origins.

Camp coffee: Pretty much the same, but no egg. When the coffee has cooked, take a stick that has a hot ember on the end (or a hot steel rod - if you had one handy), and plunge it into the kettle. This is supposed to settle the grounds (sometimes it works).

PG

Hang on....HANG ON!!!!

I've just realised, Pierre has a perfectly good coffee pot with a percolator attachment in the basement! And yet hes chucking burnt stick in his coffee to settle the grounds out .....

Oooh you'd better keep Wing away from this thread mate

Lol

Red

 

[Cairodel]

Blimey, who'd have thought there would be so much interest in coffee making. I take it nobody uses instant then?

And I always thought Camp Coffee came in a bottle..!!!

 

[Hoodoo]

Two words: French Press.

 

[British Red]

Two words: French Press.

One word

Cafitiere

 

[pierre girard]

Hang on....HANG ON!!!!

I've just realised, Pierre has a perfectly good coffee pot with a percolator attachment in the basement! And yet hes chucking burnt stick in his coffee to settle the grounds out .....

Oooh you'd better keep Wing away from this thread mate

Lol

Red

Red:

She doesn't drink coffee and could care less how I want to poison myself. I never use a percolater while camping - ruins the ambience (still haven't been to the post office - an all day trip - but I will get there end of this week ).

PG