Why Buy a Coffee Urn?

Brewing coffee is an American ritual.  There's something about turning on the coffee maker, smelling the coffee as it starts to brew, pouring that first cup, and taking that first sip.  But if you need coffee for more than just yourself - perhaps you have a meeting of 40 people or even more - than a coffee urn is the machine you need.  It brews massive amounts of coffee at once, and will keep it piping hot for hours on end.

This Hub will give some advice on what exactly to look for in a coffee urn.  It will give you some of the common problems that coffee urns face, and where to look for the best models available today.

A coffee urn is a large coffee maker, basically.  It's a large cylinder device that can brew a large amount of coffee at once - the smallest models brew around 10 cups or so, all the way up to 100 cups or even more.  They're usually used during banquets or meetings where large groups of people are going to want coffee all at once.  It's especially made to prevent any burning of the coffee - it keeps it warm, but indirectly, so the coffee can be brewed well in advance and still taste good when it's time to make it.

If you're looking to buy one for home purchase, chances are you'll only need one of the smaller models, which is good, because those will be the cheapest models too.  The larger, more professional models are available for purchase at reasonable rates though, so it's not difficult to get those either.

Most coffee urns today are made of stainless steel, since it's much easier to clean up than other kinds of metals, nor does it leave any metallic taste to the coffee itself.  Traditionally, coffee urns would come in other metals like silver, but nowadays, even those tend to simply be silver plated, not 100% silver.

Depending on what the event is, you may be interested in getting more stylized coffee urns also.  These are typically silver-plated models (stainless steel is just so... practical) and come with curved spouts and elaborate lids.  The pictures in this Hub will give you some ideas of what exactly is on the market today.

If you're looking for a coffee urn that's just a little different in style and design, one of the more unique models on the market is Farberware, owned by Black and Decker.  Their models are typically made out of stainless steel, but they avoid the standard cylinder shape by making the bases narrower, a little more separate from the actual coffee unit.  They typically hold anywhere from 12-36 cups of coffee, so they're good for medium sized groups of people, and they have a polish so good it's like looking in a mirror - seriously!  It looks good, and Farberware has a good reputation, having been around for many years.  This is a great place to start your coffee urn search.

Another company that makes quite a few coffee urns these days is Mr. Coffee.  These machines are a little less expensive than Farberware, though they are also very practical - that is to say, they're not as elegant or designed the way other companies like Farberware are.  At the same time, they work every bit as well, and they look professional, so it's easy to recommend them to you, especially if you are looking for a basic and simple model.

Coffee urns are coffeemakers on steroids.  If you have a large group of people, or you need to serve coffee for several hours and don't have the time to continually be brewing pots, a coffee urn is likely what you're looking for.  Stylish or practical, cheap or expensive, there's a model available that will suit you.