(Not really sure if this post was ever published. It popped up in my "Drafts" folder after I made the transition to the "new" blog platform)
No day would get off on a good hoof it didn’t include a cup of coffee. And Cowboy Coffee just makes it that much better.
Now you can scour the internet for recipes on cowboy coffee and the list will be long to be sure. But this is the way we make it and have had great success with it. Truth be told, it is a process designed with a campfire in mind. But, we've run into many instances where a campfire is either forbidden, or sometimes just not all that practical. Good news? This method works great on any stove.
Here’s what you’ll need to make a great cup of cowboy coffee:
1-Coffee Pot- Porcelain-coated. It’s just a pot with a handle, lid, and a spout. If you pick one of these up at your local tag sales, be mindful as they can develop pin-holes as they age. We don’t want a leaky coffee pot!
2-A fine strainer. No fancy filters here. Just something fine enough to get the worst grounds out of it when you pour. I bought a small strainer years ago to strain freshly squeezed lemon juice. It works for coffee perfectly. Now I know some of you will tell me that you read somewhere that a splash of cold water helps settle the grounds at the end of the brewing. Well, it never worked for us, so I think you should have a strainer on hand anyway. We use it every day and it works great.
3-Mixing spoon. You’ll need to stir the coffee twice, metal or wood, as long as it will reach.
4-Coffee. We use Folgers, but just about an brand will due. A drip grind works well.
5-Creamer? We us condensed milk. It usually comes in a can and is fairly shelf stable. We also use a dry creamer as well but use what you like.
6-Measuring Spoon- Tablespoon, or better yet, 2-Tablespoon measuring spoon.
Process. So if you want to see how it's made, you can check out our video here. Or, just read about it below.
The basic recipe-Makes 4 "Monday Morning" Cups.
5 cups cold water in pot.
6 Tablespoons coffee set aside.
Heat water in pot until rolling boil. Turn off heat (don't move pot off burner).
Stir in coffee and start timer.
After 2 minutes, give coffee another stir.
After 2minutes, strain coffee off into warmed cups. (Well, I say warmed because we have a habit of warming our cups on the stove as the water boils. See the photo above and you'll see one of the cups snuggled behind the pot.)
Normally, I flick the grounds out of the strainer between cups. Easy to do when your outdoors.
If you have extra, pour off into a small thermos or container that you can re-heat later. (You don't want the coffee sitting around in the pot amongst all those grounds.)
Thats pretty much it! Enjoy!
Confused? Watch the Video.