There are various stove top devices that can brew coffee: Turkish Ibrik (cezve), the stove top percolator, and the stove top espresso maker or moka pot.
The Turkish ibrik uses medium roasted but extremely fine grounded coffee. For the coffee preparation it is recommended to ad the powder coffee two minutes after placing the ibrik filled with water over the heat source. You can raise the heat and adjust it so the content riches the boiling temperature in about 2 minutes. When the coffee starts boiling and raises close to the rim, remove it from the heat for 20 secconds. Repeat this procedure for 2 minutes. The whole process should last around 7 minutes. The coffee is then allowed to settle for several minutes, as you don't want to allow grounds in your cup. A special quality of Turkish coffee is that you can enrich its flavour with various pices. The spices should be added together with the coffee powder.
About the percolator please see the dedicated section.
The Stove Top Espresso Maker
The stove top espresso maker components:
- the bottom part
- the filter basket
- the rubber ring
- the upper part where the brewed coffee climbs
- the lid
- the plastic handle
The moka pot is also called 'the poor man's espresso maker'. It is a device that brews a very good, thick, flavoured and strong coffee, but is not able to deliver the delicious crema that defines the real espresso. It consists of two parts connected one to another through a thread sistem. The bottom chamber is to place the fresh, pure and cold water. Above the bottom chamber comes a filter basket, which you fill with grounded coffee. To tighten the two parts together, the upper chamber is endowed with a rubber ring. The heated water percolates the coffee and goes up in the upper chamber through a small pipe. The brewing process takes about 5 minutes at a medium flame (that's recommended).
The most common and at the same time less expensive moka pots are the aluminium ones. But there are manufacturers that provide stainess steel mokas.
For brewing in the moka pot you need finely ground coffee. After usage, you can wash thoroughly the moka pot with plain water only (this appears to be quite a tradition in italian homes), but using dish wash soap is no mistake either.