How to Make Coffee in a Coffee Urn

Coffee urns are used to make coffee in large quantities for weddings, banquets, meetings and other big events. Using a coffee urn is different from using a regular coffee maker at home. Because of their size and intended use, coffee urns often have a high minimum volume limit for brewing. They also tend to burn or over-boil coffee if not used correctly.

Things You'll Need

• Coffee urn Paper towels Coffee filter Ground coffee

Instructions

1. Make sure the coffee urn is unplugged. If it is plugged in and warming, allow it to cool completely. Turn the coffee urn's lid until it loosens and lift it off the urn. Reach inside the urn and lift out the coffee basket and the pole it's sitting on. Throw away any coffee grounds and used filters and make sure the base of the urn is empty, clean and dry. Wipe the interior down with paper towels, if needed.

2. Determine how many cups of coffee are needed, then look at the inside of the base. There should be markings indicating the fill points for specific quantities of coffee. Fill the base of the urn with water to the desired point. Many coffee urns have a minimum brew volume (usually 20 to 25 cups) that must be fulfilled for the urn to properly function. Consult the owner's manual to make sure that minimum has been met.

3. Insert the pole into the center well of the urn, locking it into place at the base. Place the basket on top of the pole and line it with a coffee filter. Fill the basket with the necessary amount of coffee; as coffee urn function varies, consult the owner's manual to determine how much ground coffee to use. Generally speaking, if the minimum volume for the coffee urn is 25 cups, the amount of grounds required will start at 2 cups of grounds for 25 cups or coffee and increase by a cup of grounds for every additional 15 cups of coffee. For example, 40 cups of coffee would require 3 cups of grounds, and 55 cups of coffee would require 4 cups of grounds.

4. Slide the lid into the top of the coffee urn, turning it to lock it into place. Plug in the coffee urn, flip on the brew switch if necessary and allow the coffee to brew. An indicator light will either click on or off, depending on the model, when the brewing is complete.

5. Serve the coffee immediately. For best results, unplug the urn as soon as the brewing cycle is complete and remove the basket and pole as soon as it's safe to do so (they will be extremely hot, so wait at least 30 minutes). This will keep the coffee from tasting burned, bitter and over-boiled.

Tips & Warnings

• Always be very careful when using coffee urns. They get much hotter than normal coffee makers and can be a fire hazard if left plugged in and turned on for long periods of time.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish