Coffee Urn
Coffee urns and commercial percolators enable you to brew or house hot coffee or tea, equipping your establishment to offer steaming hot product to patrons. More
Brewer coffee urns are equipped with heated tanks that are designed to brew large amounts of coffee, ensuring product stays piping hot.
Tea brewer urns feature large tanks that are capable of brewing gallons of tea, and they are equipped with spigots for dispensing.
Common Questions About Coffee Urns
What are the different types of commercial coffee urns and percolators?
The various available commercial coffee urns and percolators include brewer coffee urns, dispenser coffee urns, and tea brewer urns. Featuring a heated tank to ensure product remains hot, a brewer coffee urn can brew large amounts of coffee. Because it is equipped with an insulated body, a dispenser coffee urn can hold already-brewed coffee at temperature so it is hot when served. A tea brewer urn is made specifically for brewing tea, using a water tank to produce product and spigots to dispense the product.
Do I need a low-, medium-, or high-volume coffee urn?
When choosing a coffee urn, figure out how much volume output – that is, how much product – you need. Most low-volume coffee urns can brew (100) 5-ounce cups of coffee and hold as much as 3 gallons of product. Their small and often portable designs support their use at hotel breakfast stations, offices, and catered events. Medium-volume coffee urns are designed for casual eateries, cafeterias, and convenience stores. The largest of these units can hold 6 gallons of hot beverage while producing as much as 30 gallons per hour. High-volume urns are designed for back-of-house use and are typically plumbed directly into your water supply for automatic filling. These large coffee percolators are able to produce 50 gallons of product hourly. High-volume coffee urns are best suited for businesses that have a high coffee demand, such as coffee shops or cafés.
What are the different heating methods available?
Most portable, low-volume units are heated by chafing fuel, which comes in a small container that sits underneath the unit. This fuel is safe for use indoors and may or may not come with a wick attached to the container. Other low-volume units are heated thermally, so they are equipped with an insulated body to keep product warm. Units that are heated thermally require no external heat source, saving money on utilities. However, most commercial coffee urns are heated electrically, which means they must be plugged into an electrical outlet. Low-, medium-, and high-volume units can be heated with natural gas, but these units have a longer recovery time than electric units.
What is percolation?
Percolation is a method of brewing coffee. Commercial percolators continuously cycle near-boiling water to extract oil from the coffee grounds. This water is run over the grounds repeatedly until it is boiling and ready for dispensing. During the process, the grounds are exposed to temperatures that are higher than other methods can achieve while pre-brewed coffee also circulates through the grounds, producing an appealing aroma and a strong, rich product.