Have you ever experienced putting a prepared Moka pot on the electric stove to make coffee, but it never heats up successfully? If this has happened to you, don't worry, I'm in the same boat as you. And, I've summarized which Moka pots can be used on an electric stove, as well as some safety issues to keep in mind.
Moka pots are a cost-effective alternative to espresso, and not only can we enjoy espresso at home, but we can take it with us on trips together! In this post, I'll also share with you more tips on buying them and how to use them safely.
Read on to learn more.
Can You Use A Moka Pot On An Electric Stove?
Can all Moka pots be used on an electric stove? The answer is simple: yes, but also no.
Before you want to get a clear answer, I need you to think about two questions:
1. What is the material of the lower pot of your moka pot?
2. What type of electric stove do you have?
So before you answer these two questions, I can't give you a clear answer, so let's continue to read on, you will get the answer you want.
Types of electric stoves
There are five main types of electric stoves: coil, induction, infrared, ceramic, and glass stoves
Coil
The coil electric stove is one of the most popular stoves in the market for its low cost and ease of use.- Principle: The heat is transferred from the stove to the food by heating a metal coil.
- Pros: Very efficient, can heat up quickly, good price
- Cons: Coils tend to clump together over long periods and are more difficult to clean.
Induction
Heats cookware using a magnetic field.- Principle: Induction heats food through a magnetic field. Heats metal cookware such as stainless steel pots or pans.
- Pros: You can adjust the cooking temperature according to actual needs, respond quickly to temperature changes, and have safety features, and cooking mode selection, while most induction cooktops are glass cooktops, so cleaning is easy.
- Cons: If the bottom of the pot is not cleaned or stained with something, it will lead to uneven heating. The surface of the induction cooktop just after use is very hot and needs to be cooled for a while before continuing to clean.
Infrared
A type of stove that uses infrared radiation to cook food.- Principle: When an electric current passes through the heating wire of a heating tube made of a special material, the tube radiates infrared rays of a certain wavelength, and when the infrared rays are absorbed by an object, the object is heated.
- Pros: Its principle means that infrared stoves can be used without the need for special cooking utensils.
- Cons: Maybe it is a little expensive.
Ceramic
- Principle: A ceramic plate is heated by a resistance wire, which transfers heat to the stove.
- Pros: The design is usually compact and lightweight, making it suitable for small apartments or camping. The temperature range is wider.
- Cons: At the same time, because of the wide temperature area, results in easy burns, when using the safety and reading the instructions carefully.
Glass
- Principle: A stove that uses electricity to generate heat, usually made of tempered glass, which is more resistant to high temperatures.
- Pros: Very easy to clean, more energy efficient when used because of the high-temperature resistance of tempered glass, and more stylish design.
- Cons: When cleaning, you need to make sure the surface temperature has cooled, otherwise it is easy to burn.
What is the Material of the Moka pot?
Moka pots are generally made of aluminum, but also stainless steel + aluminum, or the upper and lower pots are made of stainless steel.
What's the difference?
The aluminum Moka pots- Pros: lightweight, high thermal conductivity, faster extraction.
- Cons: Aluminum metal is prone to rust, and you should pay attention to moisture when maintaining it. Can only be heated by an open flame or electric pottery stove. The resistance of aluminum is too small and the electromagnetic induction is very weak resulting in the inability to use induction heating.
- Pros: easy to clean, not easy to rust, more convenient maintenance, can be put into the dishwasher to clean, not pick heating method.
- Cons: The price is slightly higher, the process is more difficult than aluminum, and the variety is less than aluminum.
How to Use A Moka Pot on An Electric Stove?
Once we know the difference between electric stoves and the properties of the material used in Moka pots, let's see how to use a Moka pot on an electric stove. Here are the steps you need to follow.
1. Heat the electric stove to the desired temperature
If you already have experience using an electric stove, you will know that it is much more convenient to heat it in advance, after all, the heating time of an electric stove is longer than that of a gas stove, and it is better to heat it in advance to avoid the coffee to be too extracted.
2. Moka pot add coffee powder, warm water
Add the coffee powder into the powder slot, about 9 minutes full, and tap the edge to make the coffee powder flat. At the same time, add warm water to the lower pot. The purpose of warm water is to speed up the boiling time. If cold water is added, we will need longer to heat it, while the heating time of an electric stove is already longer than that of a gas stove.
3. Put the moka pot on the electric stove and heat it on medium heat
Use medium heat at first to help the coffee to be extracted evenly, when you hear the hissing sound, turn the fire to low heat, and the coffee liquid will slowly flow out.
4. Turn off the heat when the sound starts to get louder
From the sound of hissing to the sound of boing, it may only take a few seconds, so we need to keep an eye on the changes in the coffee liquid. After turning off the heat, you need to remove the moka pot and let it continue to extract at the residual temperature, while also avoiding over-extraction of coffee. At this point, the aromatic coffee has been made.
Which Brewing Method is Best for Moka Pots
If I had to choose the best heating method for a moka pot, I would still choose a gas stove.
Why?
First, let's review the principle of the moka pot: by heating the water in the lower pot into steam, using the pressure of the steam to push the water up into the duct into the powder tank and extract the coffee liquid, and then continue to push it up through the duct to the upper pot to polymerize the outflow.
In short, it requires enough pressure and the right extraction time to make coffee.
There is a key point here: enough pressure and the right amount of time.
If we use an open flame for heating, the flame can be efficiently concentrated at the bottom and the water temperature can be accelerated so that the extraction of the coffee liquid can begin in a reasonable amount of time.
Thinking about it differently, if we use induction heating, the bottom of the moka pot can be heated evenly, but because the heating area becomes larger, it takes longer to boil, and if you are used to using cold water at this time, it takes longer to heat the extraction, and the final brewed coffee will taste disappointing to you.
You can also try to experiment, the normal time we brew moka pot coffee is 5~7 minutes, if your time is longer, see if the heating link consumes more time, if so, it is recommended to adjust the water temperature or heating tools.
Tips on Using a Moka Pot Effectively
Choosing the right coffee beans
Everyone likes different coffee tastes, you can choose coffee beans according to your preference.
If you are into the full-bodied and aromatic taste, you can choose medium-roasted and dark-roasted coffee beans.
If a relatively balanced and refreshing taste is most desired, you can choose lightly roasted, medium to lightly roasted coffee beans.
There are many good choices for blended or single beans, and shopping around more shopping sites and experimenting more is a prerequisite for making a pot of your favorite moka pot coffee.
Filling water
What is the difference between filling a moka pot with hot water and filling it with cold water?
The theory is to fill it with hot water and then directly fire it to let the water boil again, to reduce the heating time as much as possible, and also reduce the time for the coffee powder to be heated, and extract the coffee in a short time.
But to boil a pot of boiling water, and then pour it into the moka pot to boil once is not very inconvenient? So usually we would just fill it with cold water and put it on the stove to boil.
But there is a problem with cold water: if the stove does not have enough firepower, the water will take too long to boil, and if the moka pot is made of metal with very good thermal conductivity, it will cause the top end of the pot to overheat.
What is the problem with overheating? The coffee is pressed out and then boiled twice in the top end of the pot, seriously damaging the flavor of the coffee and usually causing it to be too bitter.
My suggestions are.A large capacity moka pot (for 6 people) for hot water.
Directly filled with hot water in winter or cold environments.
Hot water in case of insufficient stove fire (small gas stove, outdoor stove, low power induction stove).
Small capacity (3 servings) moka pots for cold water.
Cold water can be filled in case of a sufficient stove fire.
Ceramic or glass moka pots can be filled with cold water.
Moka pots Ratio
Each moka pot has a fixed-capacity of powder tank. When you use it, you only need to fill up the tank.
All said, there is no such thing as a powder-to-water ratio in a moka pot.
When adding the coffee powder, you can shake the powder slot properly to make the coffee powder evenly distributed, and then gently smooth it out after filling it, do not press the powder, this can reduce the bitterness caused by uneven extraction of Yin coffee.
The biggest advantage of the moka pot is the convenience of making a cup of espresso, no need to tangle with the powder-to-water ratio.
Cleaning
Cleaning a moka pot is easy, just take the parts apart, wash each part with water, wipe it clean with a rag and keep it ventilated.
It should be noted that aluminum moka pots are not dishwasher safe. The detergent of the machine will easily react with the moka pot chemically, resulting in the surface coating of the pot being washed off and the acid resistance decreasing, making it easier for the moka pot to "blacken".
Of course, if you are using a stainless steel moka pot, it is okay to put it in the dishwasher.
