What I hate about the internet when looking up "why's & wherefores"

In their attempt to climb to the top of a pile when regurgitating other peoples (mostly uncredited) techniques there is little else of value within…

I this instance I wanted to understand cold brew coffee / sous vide cold brew…

So why is it 2 hours? why 65.5 odd c / 150 F …what happens for longer duration holding the same temperature, is 2 hours “minimum” does it improve by doubling the time …what?? nothing.

Where I did find an alternative version it mentioned that “someone” (presumably a body / group? recommended 80c …so I looked up who the heck “CREA” were & lots of groups using that lettering group-set …so none the wiser.

Bearing in mind the Acidity thing is also contentious (does it have more, less, the same) it plunges me deeper into the rabbit hole when looking for less acidic, more flavour, steeping time, storage degradation etc.

Does anyone have a good primary (non regurgitated) source of info that covers the subject with clarity?

I don’t care of it takes more than 2 hours, just want a better base brew to play around with before messing around with it for the wife to take to work (rather than buying plastic bottles of pseudo-coffee flavoured crud)

See if this addresses your questions

About the only place I didn’t look (oddly enough) …Thanks!

The comments section is useful (will go through it again tomorrow) have just filtered & gained 1.5 litres which are in glass flip top bottles, waiting for a modicum of cooling to take place before I fridge it.

(2 litre parfait jar used & filled to the neck, will grab some condensed milk & other bits & pieces tomorrow, must remember to get the dulce du leche out & try that too…
Thanks John :+1:
:hand_with_index_finger_and_thumb_crossed:

In the end I “cooked it” for 6 hours basically because I was doing other things I hashed it not completely submerged as I used my regular instantpot inner (6 litre version) stuck my 2 litre parfait jar in there, & let it percolate, with a few measurements taken to ensure what was out of the water was as near temp as what was submerged, …also insulated it with a handful of tea-towels.

Used a polyprop funnel & regular coffee filter (2 total) to dispense the coffee (took about 5 minutes) into 2x 750 ceramic / rubber bottle closers (grolsch type for my fellow europeans) :smile: overnight chill at 3c in the fridge.

In some “how to’s” you might see them bag & squeeze grounds…
Based on what I was able to easily pour (very little spillage) 2 litres = 1560ml finished product.
I left the dregs in the closed parfait jar overnight, there was no running liquid when I shook it up next day… so question is what additional mess would I have made for very little extra return “wringing out” !? …which is why I simply composted the grounds.

This morning after a few cups of tea, I took the chilled cold brew & made a basic “pyrex measuring glass” of 300ml cold brew, added some monin chocolate hazelnut sauce & a splash of cold full fat (blue top) milk, …it was fine for me, but not for my wife, so added 1 tsp of granuated white sugar per 100ml of coffee …wife still said “too bitter” (I am a no sugar coffee drinker on a normal day)

looked in the cupboard for condensed milk & evaporated milk to make a milk syrup starting as a 1/1 ration …but was out …so will pick up supplies & sample latterly…

What I can tell you by comparison is this…

I have a particularly sensitive stomach (debilitating food poisoning in 95) when I make real filter coffee / espresso it is normally very harsh & gut issues a severe weather warning.

I got none of this with the sample made & drunk, nothing, hours down the line, no problem, so there clearly is something in the cold brewing + cold storage acidity compared to my melitta thermal pot (unheated) coffee maker. ,but what that is I cannot truly say.

Coffee used was a bog standard costco kirkland colombian tin of pre ground (our from new grinder died during 1st use, I have yet to repair it having got a refund from amazon, it is a notorious button pressure connection problem resolved with hot glue) so have been buying costco when passing…
Kirkland = good enough as a “to hand” main ingredient that would otherwise go to waste 9no food snobbery / waste here.

1 tamped cup of coffee (used my rice cup for measurement) 2 litres freshly run uk tap water.
I agitated the mix a total of 3 times…
(upon adding to water, it was pressed lightly to start taking up the water, thereafter every 90 ish minutes I stirred it with a long desert spoon) …when i “deemed” it ready I lifted it from the water & filtered it immediately into the clean bottles (to the brim) allowed it to cool on the work surface for an hour before refrigeration (just in case it created a temperature shock to the glass bottles)

Hopefully my daughter will stop buying starbucks when she tries this & understands hw much further her student budget can go when she tries this, it’s liquid laziness to assemble & store in basic form whether you sous vide it or not.

recommend you use a plastic funnel, my coffee makers assembly doesn’t let me pour it “open” …I didn’t check that out beforehand …so recommend you do just in case.

Today I am doing a re-run same jar, amount …etc, but avoiding the Anova to check out my InstantPot’s non circulation sous vide (after the cr@p chat with @anovaculinary 's chat staffer “Gladys” (who went dark when it all got a bit to hard for her) :nauseated_face: :-1 in case Anova screw themselves into the ground via non performance & electrolux decide to shut them down (it could happen) …& they aren’t the only choice of fish in the pond (& need to realise that)

So have been playing with milk syrups this morning & intending to compare brews, as well as make a “Milo” based malt chocolate coffee as well as become more familiar with the use of condensed milk & bubble type tea / coffee (whilst the larder is full) I have noticed the temp for the instantpot is not as consistent as the anova, but it’s not meat & it is meant to be low temperature “cook” after all, I haven’t used a probe merely been using a thermal dot for surface pot water, glass (minimal reflectivity due to dark coffee within & surface temp within the jar, …judging by how fast I’ve gone through the first bottle it offers me the opportunity potentially to get several lots done at once without resorting to busting out the coleman xtreme cooler.

Doubtless that cooler will be used at some point but not just yet, I only have a litre of condensed milk left to play with :rofl:

And the instantpot water can be used as the weekly refresher for the anova tonight.

The really bad thing, we have no ice cubes, I invested in cooling blocks for the ice coolers & typically use them to fast cool anova cooks.

I really need to resolve that, especially as the neighbour with the ice machine is away on holiday

So we tried the mocha even velvetised it (hotel chocolat real chocolate pieces hot chocolate maker) …nah, just go for the basic cold brew with milk & chilled condensed milk to your liking for sweetness & mouthfeel, more than good enough.

So final post with a summary of TIME & temperature…

Would recommend you don’t fiddle with the temperature, (65.5c) EVEN IF your coffee container is 1/3 out of the water, let it heat up, take a few internal & external temp readings when you stir grounds in with a stainless steel chopstick… the temperature differential will likely be 5c …so put your coffee in the sous vide container from the word go to acclimatise.

Side note: If using a laser dot temp reader, remember it measures the surface of the class not the liquid inside, OR if you open the jar, red dot point at the top …you are measuring the top temp not throughout the jar, it is a guide only :face_with_monocle:

Basically, if making batch (why wouldn’t you)!? the 2 hour time needs consideration due to inserting a big old jar of COLD, fresh poured water (2 litres is more than the atypical capacity of a UK / EU kettle) into a pre-heated bath so maybe allow 1 hour warm up time +2 hrs brew time, up to you, but something to consider if honing timing versus elusive flavours !?? (not enough for me to concern myself with as it has always been smooth & non acidic / lacking in harsh notes commonly associated with hot coffee as the familial comparison.

Secondly, (& bear in mind I used the same proportions & same coffee type each time,… there was negligible difference in taste of the milk & creamed up cold brew product be it 2 hours cooking time or through to 12 (overnight) so don’t leave sleep too much the basic results were nigh on the same (save some time & electrical energy)

Lastly, again I tried giving a full to the brim stopper cap bottle 24 hrs rest time in the fridge to reduce harsh edges … I didn’t need to whether it was taken once filtered & briefly chilled, or rested sealed for 24 hours, no discernible difference in flavour, acidity etc…

So make of that what you will, my coffee was Colombian Costco Kirkland, pre-ground, cannister that I suddenly remembered had been open for months (really)

Every coffee has different signature notes, & flavour decay potential, so don’t crucify me if you find different, I used the same measurements be it coffee, water, container, condensed milk, evaporated milk, semi skimmed, full fat milk pouring cream, …you get the point.

2 hours will suffice, thereafter if you get caught up in other work, it is going into flavour stasis for at least 12 hours.

If you wish to emulate store bought cold brew then you need either the following…

A dollop or more of whipping cream (if to be drunk on the spot) this is on top of whichever milk you use as standard…

Or for longer term storage in a well chilled fridge (I use a sigg dual wall copper lined flask …lid pref yours of course, several available) & the mix of semi skimmed, condensed, & evap milk, …the condensed gives it “mouth feel” thickness & sweetness associated with a pay through the nose shop bought) …likely you can miss out the evap, but NOT the condensed, it is what makes it familial after all.

Please, don’t be lazy, pour your condensed milk into a sealed non metallic container to keep it in tip top condition, it will add significant cost to the make up of a couple of litres but likely a standard can will suffice just about for the amount I made each time, 397g of carnation or whatever brand sells cheapest if you don’t make it yourself that is :wink:

Brands like carnation do caramel cans too, this is NOT a substitute for condensed milk, in fact it doesn’t work very well in anything other than a pour over visual enhancement, due to its gloopiness compared to the stir-ability of condensed milk, & a lot of that caramel flavour is lost to the coffee, so if slurped off the top / edge of the glass, fine, but wasted as a condensed milk replacement I promise you (& considerably more expensive to produce / buy)

Fin

Update, because i’m still playing around with coldbrew following the basic recipe & times i’ve used with the same quantities…
Let’s talk about lifespan which is cited depending on where you read it to be between 7 & 14 days before it is no good, well actually, that seems to be a bit of a rinse & repeat blogger myth maybe.

I have a 6+ week old glass bottle of my last brew (with a wire flip stopper limiting spoilage potentially)
I opened it after week 4 & have been having a small tumbler to taste it with milk no sugar straight from the fridge. so far it shows very little loss, so little that i’m having a hard time pinning degradation within (admittedly today was only 40 mins after teeth brushing & mouthwash, so maybe I ought re-do todays tasting.

But considering the hyperbole out there surrounding it (which admittedly this is only one variety, not a delicate one either, there may be differences across the board, i’d be irrational if I thought onefits all, however it is a good sign for the future & shows up that internet chinese whispers may be just BS.

“This” coffee is still good enough to drink without effort to prove a point (ie enjoyable) WAY BEYOND the much touted timespans cited by others.

Selective storage seems to trump those dishing out the blog recipes where reality is concerned.
If it go’s bad before I finish the bottle, & I remember, I will update the thread again for a proper conclusion.

NB bottles are an old school clear glass lemonade bottle in this instance, I have many brown hue glass bottles of this type from aldi & lidl, cheaper to buy with decent beer in them than without, the bottle has been put straight back in the fridge after pouring (logically) but kept in a mostly dark fridge, bottle colour isn’t a factor within degradation it seems.

Having a heavy cold (reduced appetite & loss of taste) i’ve called time on the degradation of sv brew coffee in a well sealed bottle, but hopefully proved the point, i’m down to nigh on dregs in the test bottle now which just prior to influenza ripping through the home here the last sample was also fine for consumption another week in.

Don’t trust your much repeated, spammed to hell internet recipe blogger, a clear case of if the lie is repeated enough times it becomes fact to the lay person.

This is true of many reviewer sites as well. Non facts are repeated by these reviewers and those seeking information are misled. I think they have bots writing a lot of the reviews. I saw one on a motorcycle site the other day where a possibly bot written article contradicted virtually everything an earlier reporter had written. Disturbing part is that it could get people killed in the case of a motorcycle.