# Coffee maker question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-maker-question/642462>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 29, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-maker-question/642462 "2012-11-29T14:16:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\
**Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-maker-question/642462/1 "2012-11-29T14:16:51Z")

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Coffee makers are pretty simple machines- the water comes up from the reservoir and runs through the basket, then into the pot. What’s it do differently when you (in the case of Mr. Coffee) push the “strong” button? IOW, how does it make the coffee stronger?

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**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\
**Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-maker-question/642462/2 "2012-11-29T14:19:00Z")

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WAG, I think it runs the water through the basket twice.

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**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\
**Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-maker-question/642462/3 "2012-11-29T14:46:54Z")

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I believe in most cases the maker pulses the water going into the basket so that it runs through more slowly and extracts more flavor. My coffee maker doesn’t have a “strong” button, but does have a “1-3 cup” button which I think serves the same purpose. When I use that function you can hear it pump some water in and pause for a few seconds before pumping more water in.

Maybe some fancy machine might be able to do multiple passes through the grounds, but the vast majority that I have seen dispense directly from the basket into the pot, making automatic recycling through the basket impossible.