Can You Use Paper Towels as Coffee Filters

Paper towels are a cheap substitute for coffee filters, but they have a few shortcomings that deter some from doing so. You can create an improvised coffee filter that perfectly fits your pour-over by folding the paper towel for coffee filter use into a little pouch.

You shouldn’t use bleached or chemically treated paper towels in your coffee maker since those chemicals can leech into your coffee cup. This is the biggest barrier to utilising paper towels as coffee filters.

But there are also plain, unbleached paper towels, which are frequently more reasonably priced and environmentally friendly.

Ingredients of Paper towels

Your cup of coffee no longer contains cafetol, a coffee oil that has been associated with elevated cholesterol levels. Because of this, medical specialists think paper coffee filters are healthier than metal ones.

Cotton filters, which are far more expensive than paper filters, never allow you to taste the flavour of your brew. The focus is on the flavour of the beans. A better balanced brew is produced as cotton catches more bean oils than a French press but less than paper.

Create a conical shape by folding one piece of paper towel in half and then lifting the sides slightly.
Add 2 teaspoons of medium-fine ground coffee to the homemade coffee filter in the pour-over maker.
Bring water to a boil and pour as usual, taking care not to overfill the improvised pour-over coffee filter.

Pros of paper towels

The majority of coffee grounds are filtered out by tightly woven fibres; they are inexpensive; they are simple to use; and they probably already exist in your kitchen.

Cons of paper towels

It might contain bleach and other chemicals; it might crumble or break under the force of hot water; it might taste acidic and “papery”.

Do the paper towels include bleach?

The first thing that comes to mind when the idea of replacing filters with paper towels is the chemicals used in bleaching paper towels. Bleaching paper is undoubtedly a problem because it might cause undesired chemicals to leak into your cup.

The health concerns are minimal (unless you make it a practise to use tissue paper every day), and the contaminants are often not serious.

Do the paper towels include bleach?

Water works as an extracting agent for any industrial chemical utilised in the manufacturing process when you pour hot water over the grounds that have been placed inside the paper towel.

Since chlorine is used to bleach most paper towels, the chlorinated dioxins that are present in the product could be harmful to your health.

How Can A Paper Towel Be Used As A Temporary Coffee Filter?

On a chilly winter morning, running through coffee filters could seem like a major concern. You most definitely don’t want to leave the house without a meal to satisfy your grumbling stomach. Paper towels can save the day in this situation.

Step 1, always use an full-sized towel and spread it out flat over a table to create a temporary coffee filter.
Step 2: Now divide the paper towel in half vertically.
Step 3: Fold the newspaper towel once more into a second half
Step 4: Take your folded towel and fold the open ends together to form a pocket. Place the coffee grounds inside the pocket to keep them in the filter cup.
Step 5: Insert the pocket with your preferred coffee grinds.
6. Fold the outermost edges in so that the pot lid completely closes.
Step 7: Continue to carefully pour hot water into the filtering cup while allowing the coffee to drop into the pot.

The paper towels—are they recycled?

Let’s not overlook the fact that paper towels were not intended to be used as coffee filters. It is intended for wiping, but if you desperately need coffee and the box is empty, you can use it as a temporary paper filter. Each person does.

The paper does, however, come into contact with impurities throughout the manufacturing process. These pollutants, such as fillers, strengthening agents, and colours, have infrequently undergone toxicity testing.

Conclusion

You may use your former college roommate’s technique to get your morning dose when you run out of coffee filters. You might be doubting your actions as you place the paper towel in the filter cup. What about the substances found in paper towels? Does this approach pose a risk to your health?

Paper towels and your coffee filter have a lot in common. There aren’t many distinctions between the two save thickness and absorption capacity. If you believed that just wood pulp was used to make paper, you would be wrong.