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See the 8 tests

1. In the Box
2. Specifications
3. How to Use
4. Brew Time
5. Capacity
6. Ease of Use
7. Clean Up
8. Quality

In the Box

It arrived in nice Stansport packaging.

Here is everything that came in it:

• Enamel coffee pot with the percolator inside
• 4 enamel mugs
• Instructions

Specifications

These are my own measurements:

• Height to the lid 9.5in
• Length, handle to spout 7.5in
• Lid diameter 4.5in
• Base diameter 6.5in
• Weight 21.3oz
• Mugs 4 included
  • Capacity each 12oz
  • Weight each 3.7oz
  • Diameter 3.5in
  • Height 3.25in
• Made in China

How to Use

Here is the recipe I use:

• Water per cup 6oz
• Grounds per cup 10-11g (0.35-0.39oz)
• Grind CoarseMedium roast

Then I brew it like this:

1. Pour the grounds into the filter basket.
2. Drop in the stem, filter basket and spreader, then close the lid.
3. Bring the water to a boil on medium heat. There’s no perking knob, so watch for steam out of the spout.
4. Lower the heat to medium-low and percolate for 7 minutes, then turn it off.
5. Let it sit a few minutes so the basket drains and the grounds settle.

Brew Time

There’s no perking knob here, so I timed the moment steam started coming out of the spout instead. It’s less accurate than a knob, but it was the best I could do.

Water	Time to first steam
3 cups (18oz)	4 min 30 sec
6 cups (36oz)	8 min 15 sec

Capacity

• Marketed 8 cups
• Most coffee I could brew 5 cups (30oz)36oz boiled over and put grounds in my coffee

• Least coffee I could brew 5 cups (30oz)4 cups tastes diluted even after a 10-minute perk
• Filter basket holds 71g (2.5oz) of coarse groundsI wouldn’t fill it past about 53g (1.9oz)

• Other sizes None

It is sold as an 8-cup percolator. At 36oz it boiled over. I didn’t catch it happening, but there were coffee splatters on the pot, the stove and the table.

5 cups (30oz) brewed perfectly. At 4 cups (24oz) the coffee tasted diluted even after percolating for more than 10 minutes, and at 3 cups it was water with grounds in it. My 32g (1.1oz) of grounds went barely used.

The filter basket is small too. Brewing 6 cups with 64g (2.3oz) of grounds overflowed it and put grounds in my coffee.

At 53g (1.9oz) for a 5-cup brew there was much less overflow and nothing ended up in my cup.

So this one brews 5 cups and nothing else: no more and no less. Stansport’s instructions say 4 cups is fine, but that didn’t work for me.

Ease of Use

There is no scale or cup-level marking anywhere on the pot. I can’t use the spout holes as a gauge either, because 36oz sits below them and still boiled over.

The handle is the same material as the pot, so it gets really hot after percolation and I need a cloth to hold it. The lid is very loose too, so that needs holding down while I pour.

There’s no perking knob at all, so steam out of the spout is the only signal you get. Outdoors in daylight that’s easy enough to see.

Indoors it’s much harder. There’s plenty of steam in this shot and you can barely make it out. Without a knob you also can’t see how dark your coffee is getting.

The wide base makes it stable on the stove, and a coarse grind kept all but a minimal amount of grounds out of my last cup at 5 cups.

The mug handles aren’t heat-resistant either, so they get really hot with piping hot coffee in them, and they aren’t the biggest.

Clean Up

I toss the grounds and run water through every component, and they all come apart easily for a proper wash.

Percolating plain water is the most effective way I’ve found to shift the coffee oils. There’s no information anywhere on whether it’s dishwasher safe.

Quality

• Pot, lid and handle Metal with a kiln-hardened enamel finish

• Stem, basket and spreader AluminumThey feel a bit flimsy

• Perking knob None
• Warranty None stated

The inner components don’t sit firmly inside the pot and rattle when I shake it.

The pot has a stainless-steel rim but the lid doesn’t, so after light use there’s a little rust forming. It’s minimal, but it points to durability problems, and the spout and base are going the same way. I found no chipping. The GSI Outdoors Enamelware, the other enamel pot in my test, rusted around its lid rim too, and that one had chipped straight out of the box.

I’m not a fan of the metal hinge joining the lid to the handle either. It feels flimsy and bends easily.

Worst of all, mine arrived with coffee stains already on the pot, and I’ve never been able to wash them off. Weeks of use and washing later they’re still there.

The enamel mugs are decent quality and I had no issues with them beyond the hot handles.

Pros and Cons

Now, what are the pros and cons, and would I recommend the Stansport Enamel Percolator?

It comes with 4 matching enamel mugs

Each holds 12oz filled to the brim, and having a matching set is a genuinely nice touch.

It isn’t too expensive

Especially considering the 4 mugs are part of the package.

Nothing on it can shatter

There’s no glass or plastic perking knob, which is the part most likely to break first on every other percolator I own.

It brews 5 cups and nothing else

Any more boils over and puts grounds in the coffee, and any less tastes diluted. That is extremely limited for a percolator sold as an 8-cup.

It isn’t the most user-friendly

The handle isn’t heat-resistant, there are no cup-level markings, the spout holes are useless as a gauge, and there’s no perking knob at all.

The quality is lacking

Rust is already showing on the lid rim, spout and base, and mine arrived with coffee stains that will not wash off.

Bonus: Must Read!

I measured every number on this page myself.