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O'Quin Zone Discussions
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How do YOU rate My-Kap? |
5 - Outstanding |
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87% |
[ 7 ] |
4 - Above Average |
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12% |
[ 1 ] |
3 - Average |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
2 - Below Average |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
1 - Poor |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
0 - Pitiful... Run FAR Away! |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
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Total Votes : 8 |
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Author |
Message |
Lou Beginner
Joined: 01 Dec 2006 Posts: 14 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 3:17 pm Post subject: Keurig and My-Kap |
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Andrea and I got each other a Keurig coffee-maker for Christmas.
We Love it! It makes GREAT coffee, one cup at a time, in less than a minute. We waste very little coffee now, too. There ARE a couple of drawbacks, though. The first is the expense - the best price I've found for the K-Cups is when you buy 80 of 'em at Sams club, and they're still about $.35 a cup. Not bad, when compared to Starbucks, but, when compared to buying coffee by the pound, and brewing a pot at a time, it's relatively expensive. And, each time you brew a cup, there's that little plastic K-Cup going into the landfill. Plus, I have a grinder, and like to grind coffee a little at a time - just enough for a couple of days. And, you can't do that (easily) with the Keurig, up until now - you're limited to the varieties that are available for Keurig...
Now, the Keurig we bought came with a K-Cup that you can use with your own coffee, but, it's pretty cumbersome to use, and it's just as awkard to go back to the regular K-Cups. However, I just found a solution - an online company sells a cap that you use with your previously used K-Cups - Essentially, it let's you 'reload' those once-used K-Cups with fresh coffee.
It's called My-Kap, and it's very easy to use. You take one of your K-Cups, after you're made coffee, remove the foil seal, and discard the grounds. You have two choices at this time. You can usually rinse out/re-use the existing filter (up to a dozen times,) or you can discard the filter as well, and cut/fold a new filter from standard coffee filters (the #4 cone shaped filters.) Refill the filter, insert the My-Kap lid, drop the re-loaded K-Cup into your Keurig (just remember to rotate the K-Cup so as to use the same bottom hole as before) and brew yourself a great cup of coffee. (You can buy pre-cut filters on-line as well.)
My-Kap makes using the Keurig coffee maker almost as inexpensive as Mr. Coffee, and it's very easy to use. Plus, re-using that plastic cup a dozen or more times, means a lot less plastic going into the land fill... The other advantage of this system is that you can adjust the amount of coffee in your cup to fit YOUR tastes.
Gotta give My-Kap two thumbs up!
I've included a Poll for My-Kap: If you've tried it, post your rating, also. Would love to get YOUR feedback.
Also, if you decide to try the My-Kaps, refer to my email address, (l_ou_@_oqu_in.co_m, without the underscores) and I could get a couple of freebies sent my way... really, whether you mention my email address or not, these Kaps, coupled with using the Melitta #1 filters (ref below) is painless, flexible, and almost as easy as using new k-cups each time. I can highly recommend them.
http://www.My-Kap.com/index.php?referrer=lou@oquin.com _________________ Lou |
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loquin Site Admin
Joined: 31 Dec 1969 Posts: 76
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:25 am Post subject: Follow-up |
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When using the My-Kap, the two options are to
- Rinse and re-use the existing filter, or,
- Remove the existing filter, and fold your own, fresh filter, each time you brew.
What I've found (after some experimentation) is ...
The major difference in the result is in the possible strength of the resulting coffee. Re-using the existing filter gives you more room in the K-Cup for the ground coffee, and as a result, you can end up with a stronger cup of coffee. Which I like. Others (My wife, for instance) don't like their coffee with quite as much body, and tends to like the coffee made with option 2 better than re-using the existing filter. (Of course, you can also use less coffee when reusing the filter.)
Now, I have had some difficulties with leakage when I fold new filters - The 'seam' just always seemed to open up on me. However, I wanted to pass on a few things that I've done that really seem to help.
First, after folding the filter paper, use a spoon, and press down along the fold with it. This will form a nice, crisp fold that tends to 'lock' a little better. However, it still leaked. So, what I tried next, was a paper-lock 'stapler' (it cuts a little slot and a slit in the paper, and folds the end of the cut slot through the slit. Now, while this works fairly nicely in writing paper, it doesn't cut the filter paper well at all, so this attempt was a dud. I kept looking at how the funnel-type filters are pressed together at the edge, and thought there MUST be some tool for this... (and, there is, but, it costs thousands of dollars!) But, working with leather as I do, it occurred to me that you might be able to get an similar result if you used a leather overstitcher An overstitcher, (link below,) is a hand tool with a small, gear-like spinner wheel at the end. You roll the little wheel along leather, and it dimples the leather, marking it where you'll punch holes for even stitches. Taking my overstitcher, I rolled it back and forth over the seam area of the folded filter cone (Which was on a dense plastic cutting board,) THEN, folded the seam over and slid the spoon over the fold. Whoo-Hoo! No leakage!
When I pulled the old filter out, it did come apart, then. I'm going to continue to experiment with the overstitcher, (trying different backing board materials - I believe that something with a little more 'give' to it may result in a better 'seal' between the two pieces of paper...
As I get more information, I'll continue to post it here.
Note: If you want to try an overstitcher yourself, check out ebay first - you can find new ones there, including shipping, for about $15. I would go for the one with the most stitches per inch (7,) if possible.
Overstitcher:
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/home/department/Tools/8079-298.aspx?feature=Product_257 _________________ "Lisa, in this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!" - Homer Simpson, to daughter Lisa, on discovering that she has built a perpetual motion device. |
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loquin Site Admin
Joined: 31 Dec 1969 Posts: 76
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Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 11:26 pm Post subject: Another follow-up |
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I located a box of Melitta No. 1 filters. These are the small, cone filters, used in individual cup coffee makers. Most stores don't seem to carry them - you need to stay on the look-out.
It's REALLY easy to use these filters with the My-Kap: I've attached a photo of the No. 1 filters; you just need to make three folds (as shown by the blue lines on the photo that I added.) The first and second folds are to opposite sides of the filter; the third fold doesn't matter to which side, but, you should have it face away from the hole in the bottom of the K-Kap (so as to make sure it won't possibly 'settle' and cover the hole.) After the third fold, the bottom of the filter should be a little narrower than the bottom of the K-Cup
After you add the coffee and insert the My-Kap, trim the excess paper with a pair of scissors, and you're good to go.
Melitta No. 1 Filters:
Filter with Folds 'Marked':
Scan of Filter, folded:
_________________ "Lisa, in this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!" - Homer Simpson, to daughter Lisa, on discovering that she has built a perpetual motion device. |
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