Thursday, May 23, 2013

Waiter, Waiter, Percolator..... I Love Coffee, I Love Tea, I Love Corningware and It Loves Me

If you have followed any of my Coffee Talk posts over on Culinary Alchemy, you are probably aware of my distaste for percolated coffee.  Even though it's not my "cup of tea", as it were, I still feel that all implements of coffee brewage should be treated with love and respect.  Thus, you can imagine my distress when I found this at the Salvation Army.....

A Corningware 10-cup Electromatic Percolator (most of which were recalled due to an epoxy problem that allowed the pyroceramic pot to separate from the upper portion that the handle is attached to) Even if it's too dangerous to use, it's still a great collector piece.

Oh, it looks all clean and wonderful on the outside, even the heating element and the basket were in pristine condition; however, I was deeply horrified by the internal condition of the pot.... Especially since Corningware is so easy to clean.  This poor percolator had obviously suffered some serious abuse and neglect... Years of it, apparently.

I felt it was my solemn duty to adopt it and give it a loving home.  (and, more than likely, several years of therapy)

It was a great struggle, but after a scrubbing with soap and water, a second scrubbing with Weiman's Glass Cooktop Cleaner......

2 brew cycles with bleach water,

1 cycle of distilled Vinegar, 2 brew cycle with "Awesome"........



and finally...  and 2 brew cycles with Oxyclean... (1/4 cup, 10 cups water and let it perk without the lid on so I could keep the foam in check) This was the final result on the inside (oh, and I ran distilled vinegar through it again, after the Oxyclean).....

As good as new, or so I thought.  I noticed that there was something dripping down the side from under the "Oh, So Sleek and Retro" chrome trim.

This made me curious... So I unscrewed the handle and unclipped the trim.... THIS is what I found underneath.....

I almost lost my lunch.  BLECH!!!!!  Now this is not all the previous owners fault.  It is a P23-P Electromatic Percolator, which put's it somewhere in the early to mid 60's, so it IS fairly old (like 40-50 years old) and what was underneath the chrome trim wasn't coffee, it was years and years of accumulated kitchen grease.  So, unless the previous owner had torn the whole thing apart, they would not have known that the build up was there.

Needless to say, it is now immaculately clean,

and the whole thing is put back together.... 

Maybe I should start a non-profit organization dedicated to Corningware Rescue......

Where is your Corningware??  (Mine is safely tucked into bed)  ;)
~~

38 comments:

  1. Love all of these new posts and the pictures!!! I have the same pot, but without the plug. I use it to store iced coffee in the fridge :)

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  2. That is an EXCELLENT idea! And it would prevent the epoxy from disintegrating with repeated heating. :)

    I am still attempting to make coffee with it. Just for fun... mind you. I move it to a thermal carafe after it's done so as to not put too much repeated stress on the handle.

    So far I have managed to make coffee flavored water, and mud. There has got to be a happy medium in there somewhere... LOL

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    1. I know this is n old post, hopefully you have mastered it by now! Lol i use 2 tablespoons per 2 cups on the inside marks. I also do not use a filter because I think the coffee oils give it more flavor! Dunkin Donuts is great.

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  3. Just a quick suggestion on cleaning. Bon Ami powder works wonders at removing coffee/tea stains, whether on Corning Ware or anything else. Just dump some (a lot in this case!) in the pot/cup to be cleaned and then pour over some steaming hot water. let sit until the water has cooled enough to stick your hands in and scrub and then scrub gently with a non-scratch pad. Repeat if necessary, though I've never had to do this.

    Now I know that pot was truly covered in coffee stains but still wanted to put it out there.

    I'm a bit late with this comment but just stumbled across it now :) Great blog!

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  4. just discovered your blog today. Love it!! these are great items and it is nice to see how to care for or restore them.

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  5. You really restored it to its former glory. That is the way my husbands grandfathers cup looked, he would not allow his cup to be washed, said it would ruin the taste of his coffee! Now that he is gone I guess I can confess to washing it before I knew the rules, as I pulled it out of the dish water to rinse it I heard a collective gasp from family members. I guess it is a good thing he wasn't there to see what I had done.

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  7. Can that process get rid of a basement smell?

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  8. Honestly, the Corningware Pyroceramic material should not absorb any odors. So if there is a "basement" smell, it's more than likely coming from the plastic parts. THAT, I can only suggest soaking in a baking soda solution. That being said, while I realize that the heating element is submersible, I do not know how much of the plastic is safely allowed to get wet. The lid, I am assuming would be OK, but the part that connects to the cord, I am not so sure about.

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  9. I am wondering where I can possibly get a cord for the 10 cup that is pictured above. I located this one in perfect condition but does not have the cord. Any suggestions?

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    1. This particular model is the P-23-EP which uses a standard appliance cord (unlike the later models which had proprietary cords) So any ACE hardware store should have a compatible cord.

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  10. I have recently stumbled onto one exactly like the above . Do you have a suggestion on where to obtain a cord for it?

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  11. There are so many "Oxy Clean" products on the market these days. Can you clarify which one you used?

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    1. I used the Oxy Clean powder that you use in the Washing Machine. :)

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  12. I found one of these (stovetop, though) at a resale store. I was pretty excited as it is in pristine condition. When I put it on the stove top and tried to make coffee with it though it never actually perculated. The water came to a boil but never came up through the stem. Any idea what I might be doing wrong? patriciacmcbride@yahoo.com

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    Replies
    1. The pump stem may be clogged and preventing the water from perking through it.

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  13. Thank you so much for posting this. I bought a 6 cup Blue Cornflower teapot at a thrift store that looked in relatively good shape. I did not realize how stained it was inside. I tried everything from soap, baking soda, BKF, Weisman Cooktop cleaner, Vinegar, etc. The OxiClean did the trick. Boiled the water with the OxiClean in it, cut the heat and let it sit overnight. It was pristine when I checked this morning. Not a sign of any of those nasty stains.

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    1. is this cleaning method, oxiclean, etc - just so the pot can be used for decorative purposes?
      can you it be used to make drinkable coffee after using Oxiclean in it?

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    2. It's will still be useable... Just wash with soap and water after treating with oxyclean.

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  14. Thank you so much! I wanted to use a 6 cup stove top too and has the same stains. So handy for power outages if you have a gas stove. It can still be ignited with a long lighter in case of power outage. Can't do that with all our cup makers!

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  15. How did you get the handle and trim off?

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    1. I removed the screw in the handle... That is only possible with the P-23-EP model. All subsequent models (P-6-EP, P-206-EP, P-406-EP, P-80-EP, P-280-EP, P-480-EP and E-1210) have a prefabricated handle assembly and cannot be removed without damaging the percolator.

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  16. Thank you fot this informative site as a beginner corningware collector. I got a used 6 cup percolater in a similar condition as yours above. So I am struggling to remove coffee stain inseide a pot. I would like to try your way so what does "brew cycles" mean? Thank you again.

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    1. It simply means that you plug in the element and let it percolate.

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  17. I have a 9 cup blue cornflower stovetop (61-66 vintage), found at a thrift store too. It has the same look inside, real bad! I am going to try the Oxy clean tomorrow, thanks for the tip! I had to get it because my mom had one back in the sixties, got my first taste of coffee from that old pot. I remember watching the coffee bubble in the glass in the lid, so cool.

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  18. Where can I get Corning ware electronic perculator in India and price In Indian rupees.

    Thanks and regards
    Bhama Madhavan

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    Replies
    1. Sadly, Corning discontinued manufacturing the Electromatic Percolator in 1979. The only way to find one would be on eBay from someone willing to ship internationally.

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    2. You also might be able to find one on Facebook Marketplace.... Catching one on eBay might be a little trickier to do since they occasionally go on a deletion spree because of the recall.

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  19. You can remove the trim on these to clean it better

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  20. Hi!
    Thanks for the tips. I had once equally dirty and first used a dishsoap/baking soda cycle and let it sit overnight. It helped a little, finding your post and using oxyclean was amazing!

    Now just a little discolored over the water line and a bit around the bottom.
    Before the oxyclean I also tried a magic eraser - it worked great on the metal parts and some stains on the outside. It helped a bit on the inside but not good enough.

    Most importantly - Did you ever make a good coffee?!?! Any tips there?

    Thank you!!

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  21. I can't use them if they look unused, I don't want to be it's 1st user

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  22. **** There is an easy way to get rid of the stains instantly! Just get a bottle of Liquid Plumber Maintenance about $1.35 a bottle. pour in about a few tablespoons into the coffee pot switch it around and watch the stains go away, Wash real well and use! You are welcome!

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  23. I use mine everyday I actually had 2 p-23-ep pots so I took the handle & melted the epoxy so I could remove the spout & put it on my p-80 floral bouquet so I can use it if I want to

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  24. I have my mom's 9 cup cornflower stove top percolator. She used to use Dip-it coffee stain remover to clean it, but since I can't find it anywhere, I'm going to try your cleaning suggestions. The aroma of freshly perked coffee from this pot can't be beat. Wouldn't trade it.

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  25. I found a six cup teapot at a thrift store that looked terrible. Lots of built up kitchen grease and yuck. It cleaned up nicely with baking soda and a nylon scrubber. My problem is a weird smell and taste when I boil water for tea. The inside of the pot looks brand new. Maybe it's the plastic lid? Any suggestions, please?

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  26. Have a question found my percolator at good will its the E1210 model and someone was nice and sent me a cord for free. How do I know if the pit works. It has the light on the top . Does it light up when it's done. I'm new to this and want to make sure it works. Thank you

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