Just bought the Farberware FCP240 - Yowza yowza!

My 8-cup Farberware version of this FCP240 gave out after about 5 years. At least I THINK it gave out. I went to plug it in, and it sparked (shorted?), and blew the fuse for that circuit. So....I didn't want to plug it in again. I don't blame the coffeepot; I have a bad habit of leaving it plugged in at the socket, unplugging it at the base of the pot, and then re-plugging it in at the base of the pot, which you are not supposed to do. I won't be doing that again!

This crisis of course happened first thing in the morning. I got dressed and sluggishly headed to 7-11 with my dog to purchase emergency coffee, since I can't function without coffee in the morning. After slurping my 7-11 coffee down, I began my quest to replace my coffeepot. I'd like another Farberware, I say to myself.

Off I go to Target, which is where I bought my 8-cup version 5 or so years ago. No, they don't carry those anymore. I head to a different Target, then to Wal-Mart, then to Best Buy. I see how far coffee makers have come, while I'm shopping. You can program this, program that, have a retro look, or super-modern look. Your carafe can be made of metal, stainless steel, plastic, or glass. Your coffee maker can have a clock, a delay, a beeper, an automatic shut-off. You can spend $25, or several hundred dollars. My head is spinning. I just want an old fashioned percolator. I found one at Target, but it was an off brand with the plastic peeling off the handle. No, I don't think so. Having to buy filters for the rest of my life to make coffee? No, I don't think so, as I recall cutting out round bits of paper towels in years past when I found myself out of filters on a Sunday morning. I begin to toy with the idea of the expensive stainless steel programmable Cuisinart, which doesn't require the purchase of filters. But I bring myself back to reality before purchasing the maker.....$100 to $150 is just TOO MUCH for a coffee maker, ya' know? I decide to continue my quest for a Farberware percolator.

I head to Foley's, and there it is, a display of Farberware coffee pot percolators. On sale, no less! There is not the 8-cup size I had, but there is the 4-cup size, which is even better for everyday use for a single person! I snap that baby up and head home. I pat myself on the back and smile smugly on the way home for having held out for what I wanted. I think back to all the Farberware stainless steel coffee pots from which I've drunk coffee since a child...the ones my mother and grandmothers had. This is it. The real thing.

I gently wash the inside and the parts to get germs and shipping glaze off. Then I make my first full pot of coffee in the new FCP240. Ahhhhh. It tastes just right. Nothin' fancy. Nothin' complicated. I don't have to read any instructions. This coffee pot does what it's supposed to do.....make coffee. And that's all. That's enough.

Should I want an auto shut-off, I have a plug-in timer for that, which I can plug the coffee pot into. And I regularly use that timer. Should I want paper filters, I can buy them, but I don't have to ... and I won't. This coffee pot has its own stainless steel combo coffee holder/filter.

The stainless steel tends to show fingerprints and won't look as great and shiny in the future as it does new (at least not with my cleaning skills). That's okay with me. I grew up around stainless steel small appliances. You clean them. You scrub them. You shine them up. And you accept that they show fingerprints and the like.

As for strength of coffee, I use the type of coffee, and the amount of grounds to regulate that. I use strong types, and add extra grounds, when I want really strong coffee, which is almost always. When I want milder coffee, I use a milder type of coffee, and/or fewer grounds.

This Farberware FCP240 perked that coffee right up, lickity-split. I made a full pot (4 average size cups - 3 of "my" size cups), and it took maybe a couple of minutes.

To clean, simply wash the removable stainless steel innards. I sometimes let them soak. I wash the inside with soap and water, then rinse with cold water thoroughly. I sponge off the outside, then wipe dry with a clean cloth. Occasionally, I wipe hard with a clean cloth just to shine it up. I have used 409 and other cleaners on the outside occasionally, but I'm not sure that that cleans or shines any better than a plain clean cloth (after sponging off grime).

This is it. This is the real thing. A coffee pot that does nothing else besides perk great coffee. You know what you're getting when you buy a Farberware stainless steel coffee pot. It's simply the best at perking. It is the same now as I remember it was when I was a kid.

And, oh yeah, Foley's also had the 12-cup Farberware percolators on sale (with a Farberware several cup coffee bean electric grinder), so I bought that both as a backup coffee pot and for when I have visitors.

PRICE: This pot is regularly $50 at a department store, but I bought it on sale for $40.