So you have brewed the perfect batch of coffee with your Chemex coffee maker. But, it is too much to fit in one cup. How do you keep it warm?
You might be tempted to put it on a stove. But can you?
Can a Chemex coffee maker go on a stove? Yes, you can put a Chemex on either a glass stovetop or a gas burner. To keep a Chemex warm on an electric stovetop with exposed coils, you should use a steel wire grid (sold by Chemex) to prevent fracturing of the Chemex.
This is a little known feature of the Chemex coffee maker, which can come in pretty handy if you need to keep a pot of freshly brewed Chemex coffee warm for a while.
The Chemex is made from borosilicate glass, which makes them resistant to thermal shock. This means that it can handle significant changes in temperature without shattering. It also makes them safe to put on a heat source.
You can’t just put it on any heat source, though. Depending on the type of stove or cooktop you use, you might have to take some precautions.
And let me raise another question: is putting your Chemex on a stovetop the best way to keep your coffee warm? There are several ways to keep coffee in a Chemex hot, and we will explore them below.
To keep the coffee in your Chemex warm, you can place the carafe on a stovetop. It matters what kind of stovetop you have. For some stoves, you need to take some precautions to prevent damaging your Chemex. Let’s take a look.
If you have a glass-covered electric stovetop, simply place the Chemex directly on the stovetop on low heat. If, for some reason, you want to put a Chemex without coffee in it on the stovetop, put a little liquid in first. This prevents the Chemex from overheating. If there is coffee in it, no problem, just place it over low heat.
You can also place a Chemex with coffee in it over a low flame if you have a stovetop with gas burners. My advice would be to only place it over the lowest flame on the smallest burner to prevent overheating. Again, if for some reason you need to put an empty Chemex on the burner, put in a little liquid first.
One thing to keep in mind when placing a Chemex on a gas stovetop is stability. A gas stovetop usually doesn’t have a flat surface to sit on. If your stovetop grates don’t provide a surface for the Chemex to sit on safely and securely, consider using a heat diffuser.
When keeping a Chemex warm on an electric coil stove, you’ll need to take extra precautions. To prevent the coils from directly touching, overheating, and possibly breaking your Chemex, you need to put something between the coils and the Chemex. Your best option is Chemex’s own stainless steel wire grid.
Putting your Chemex on the stove to keep the coffee warm might seem like a good idea. Just brew a big batch to keep you going all morning, right?
You have to be careful, though. Keeping the Chemex on a heat source for too long will have a negative impact on the taste of your coffee. Any direct heat source will actively heat your coffee, which leads to overcooking. Overcooked coffee becomes bitter, really quick.
So, keeping the coffee in your Chemex warm on a stovetop is fine, but only for a short time. I’d say 15 minutes is the maximum before you run the risk of overcooking.
In conclusion, while it is possible to keep coffee warm in your Chemex on just about any stovetop, there are some downsides. And there are better ways to keep Chemex coffee warm. Check out the suggestions below.
Considering
the downsides of keeping your coffee warm on a stovetop, you might be looking
for alternative ways to keep your Chemex warm. We’ve collected the 5 best ways to do this.
This is the easiest method of keeping coffee in your Chemex warm. No extra equipment is needed. Just fill your sink with 2 to 3 inches of hot tap water en place your Chemex in there. This should keep it warm for about 45 minutes.
The coffee in your Chemex cools because the surrounding air is colder than the glass. The air cools the glass, which in turn cools the coffee. Preventing the cold air from reaching the glass wall of your Chemex slows down the cooling process.
Wrapping a towel around the Chemex helps prevent cooling, a bit. It won’t do much, but it will keep your coffee warm for an extra ten minutes or so, which might be just enough.
A more effective way to insulate the Chemex is to use an especially for that purpose design accessory. On Amazon, you’ll find a couple of them. They are made from neoprene and will fit around your Chemex snugly.
Click here to check prices and availability on the Chemex cozy with the highest ratings on Amazon.
The insulation power of neoprene is much higher than a simple towel.
You can expect a lot more heat retention with these products. Especially if you combine them with our next suggestio
Heat not only dissipates because the Chemex carafe cools down. As you probably know, the temperature rises and the open top of the Chemex acts as a chimney through which heat escapes. Luckily for us, there are ways around this.
As with the cozy, lids were designed by third party manufacturers (i.e., not Chemex) to fit the Chemex coffee maker. Again, you can find some great options on Amazon. The lids you will find there are made either from wood or silicone.
Click here to check prices and availability on the Chemex lid with the highest ratings on Amazon.
One thing to be aware of is that some lids don’t close off the pouring sprout. This allows you to pour with the lid on but makes it a less effective heat retainer. The choice is yours.
Note that Chemex also makes a very nice glass lid for your Chemex.
If you are serious about heat retention combining a cozy and a lid is your best bet. The neoprene cozy will insulate the carafe, while the lid prevents heat from escaping through the top.
There is only one heat retention method that works better:
Yeah, this one is pretty obvious. A thermos is designed to keep its contents hot (or cold). Pouring the coffee you made with your Chemex in a thermos will keep it warm for a couple of hours, at least.
The best thermos bottles on the market can keep coffee hot for a day (!). That’s 24 hours! While that might not be the best thing for the taste of the coffee, you could theoretically brew your coffee before you go to bed. The next morning, you can rush to work without having to go through a coffee-making ritual.
So there you have it. One question that leads to a little guide on how to best keep your coffee warm. If you liked the article, please consider sharing it.
And please consider checking out our Chemex brew guide. You might learn a thing or two.
Caffeinated greetings,
Monsieur Coffee
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