What is this? - Help please
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What is this? - Help please
Can anyone tell me more about this item? We think it's a coffee maker of some sort?
How old do you think it is and what it might be worth?
Copper and aluminum
7.5" in height/10" in diameter
Made in Portugal
Thanks for your help!

How old do you think it is and what it might be worth?
Copper and aluminum
7.5" in height/10" in diameter
Made in Portugal
Thanks for your help!




~ An act of kindness will put a smile in your heart, and your kisser!~
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The taller piece looks like it is missing something that screws onto the top. I'm guessing a clear, hollow part that shows the coffee percolating.
A percolator consists of a pot with a small chamber at the bottom, which is placed closest to the heat source. A vertical tube leads from this chamber to the top of the percolator. Just below the upper end of this tube is a perforated chamber.
The percolator is prepared for use by placing the desired quantity of water in the pot, and a corresponding amount of a fairly coarse grind of coffee in the top chamber. It is important that the water level be below the bottom of the coffee chamber.
After the percolator is placed on the heat source (such as a range or stove), the temperature rises until the water in the bottom chamber boils. While some models may feature a one-way valve at the bottom of the tube which forces some of the boiling water up the tube, most operate on the simple principle of rising bubbles forcing liquid up the tube. The hot water is distributed at the top over the perforated lid of the coffee chamber. This water then seeps through the coffee grounds and leaves the coffee chamber through the bottom, dropping back into the lower half of the pot. The rest of the colder water at the bottom is meanwhile also forced up the tube, causing this whole cycle to repeat continually.
As the brew continually drips through the grounds, the overall temperature of the liquid approaches boiling point, at which stage the "perking" action (the characteristic spurting sound the pot makes) stops, and the coffee is ready for drinking. In a manual percolator it is important to remove or reduce the heat at this point, as most coffee-drinkers agree that it should never be allowed to boil; an adage to this effect states, "Coffee boiled is coffee spoiled". Brewed coffee left on high heat for too long will also acquire a bitter taste.
Some coffee percolators have an integral electric heating element, and should obviously never be used on a stove. Most of these automatically reduce the heat at the end of the brewing phase, keeping the coffee at drinking temperature but not boiling.
A percolator consists of a pot with a small chamber at the bottom, which is placed closest to the heat source. A vertical tube leads from this chamber to the top of the percolator. Just below the upper end of this tube is a perforated chamber.
The percolator is prepared for use by placing the desired quantity of water in the pot, and a corresponding amount of a fairly coarse grind of coffee in the top chamber. It is important that the water level be below the bottom of the coffee chamber.
After the percolator is placed on the heat source (such as a range or stove), the temperature rises until the water in the bottom chamber boils. While some models may feature a one-way valve at the bottom of the tube which forces some of the boiling water up the tube, most operate on the simple principle of rising bubbles forcing liquid up the tube. The hot water is distributed at the top over the perforated lid of the coffee chamber. This water then seeps through the coffee grounds and leaves the coffee chamber through the bottom, dropping back into the lower half of the pot. The rest of the colder water at the bottom is meanwhile also forced up the tube, causing this whole cycle to repeat continually.
As the brew continually drips through the grounds, the overall temperature of the liquid approaches boiling point, at which stage the "perking" action (the characteristic spurting sound the pot makes) stops, and the coffee is ready for drinking. In a manual percolator it is important to remove or reduce the heat at this point, as most coffee-drinkers agree that it should never be allowed to boil; an adage to this effect states, "Coffee boiled is coffee spoiled". Brewed coffee left on high heat for too long will also acquire a bitter taste.
Some coffee percolators have an integral electric heating element, and should obviously never be used on a stove. Most of these automatically reduce the heat at the end of the brewing phase, keeping the coffee at drinking temperature but not boiling.
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gardengirl wrote:It's not a percolator.
Here's one on Ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Copper-3c-E ... dZViewItem
Gotcha

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Thanks so much!
I wondered if it was missing a top piece as well.
I checked Ebay, but hadn't looked for "Espresso", so came up empty.
Doubt it's very "valuable" but still wonder what it might be worth. It looks quite a bit older than the one on Ebay.
I wondered if it was missing a top piece as well.
I checked Ebay, but hadn't looked for "Espresso", so came up empty.
Doubt it's very "valuable" but still wonder what it might be worth. It looks quite a bit older than the one on Ebay.
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gardengirl wrote:The top is probably just missing a small knob, something to hold onto when you try to take the lid off.
lol, I tried to type that in my last post. Then the keyboard started typing in Egyptian again. Love the new puter, it`s fast and shiny, but it`s doing some wierd chit every now and then.
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I just took a look at one of your posts onestop67, you are having the same problem I get once in a while (new computer too). Figured out I'm hitting two keys at once and it switches over to a french keyboard and I end up having to shut down and restart again. I'm trying to figure out which keys I'm hitting so I can switch back. What a nuisance for sure.
Truths can be backed up by facts - do you have any?
Fancy this, Fancy that and by the way, T*t for Tat
Fancy this, Fancy that and by the way, T*t for Tat
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