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    Coffee filter sanity check: is this a good idea?

    I found a website that will sell me a 9 inch by 1,000 meter roll of filter paper. Doing the math I can spend $100 on this and have enough coffee filters to last me the next ten years easily by just cutting a square off and folding it into a cone. The roll appears to fit in a 9 inch cube; about the size of a large stock pot maybe. I cannot find anything saying how much it weighs but I expect it to be considerable, even very thin paper isn't light.

    Has anyone done something like this before? Are there drawbacks I may not be considering? If it matters, I'm using a pour-over coffee maker and have found that a 9 inch basket filter is about the right size but still needs some folding to fit the cone.

    Coffee filter sanity check: is this a good idea?
    byu/win_awards inFrugal



    Posted by win_awards

    15 Comments

    1. jonsonmac on

      I just buy a big stack of coffee filters from Sam’s Club for less than $5. I fold them to fit in my pour-over cup.

    2. chain_letter on

      The paper will degrade

      Considee coffeemaking methods that don’t use paper filters.

      Vietnamese phin, Turkish coffee pot, cowboy coffee, moka pot, espresso machine, French press

    3. FrequentDonut8821 on

      That your coffee pot might break before then and you’ll need a different size? Idk, the filters I buy are about 1-2 cents each. And after a recent move, I am not going to buy as much in bulk if it’s not saving a ton of money—-

      Maybe your cone filters are expensive?? Won’t grounds slip out of rolled paper since it isn’t crimped like a regular cone filters?

    4. Hot_Equivalent_8707 on

      Just get a reusable one. Fine mesh wire.  You’ll cut back on trash as well. Win win 

    5. mambotomato on

      The inconvenience of having to store a giant roll of paper in your house outweighs the price of coffee filters (which is very low).

      You don’t have that many cabinets in your home. Anything you put into one is an opportunity cost. You can calculate how much you are paying in rent per cabinet, if you like.

      (It is likely that it’s actually just a roll of cheap paper towel for a public restroom dispenser and not very good for filtering coffee, anyway. That’s the kind of paper that is commonly sold in 1000m rolls for cheap, not coffee filter material.)

    7. NotherOneRedditor on

      I discovered coffee socks during a coffee tour in Nicaragua. I prefer a French press at home, but the coffee sock is amazing for travel. I’m sure it would work for your needs since it’s basically a pour over method.

    8. Lawl_MuadDib on

      It depends on the mesh size. If you’re buying from a lab supply store, you may be using filter paper that’s so fine that it’s meant to trap filter media. If that’s the case, that type of filter paper is designed to hold a small, stagnant sample as it slowly drips over the course of a long period of time. If you’re looking for something that has “run this media (water+coffee grounds) instantaneously with little residence time in the filter basket,” you gotta make sure the mesh matches. Also, you’ll definitely want to follow a simple Lab SOP for folding/fitting the paper into your basket!

    9. Ok_Reindeer504 on

      What if you quit drinking coffee? What if the paper goes moldy?

      I think there’s value in buying ahead but also not too far ahead.

    12. umpfke on

      100 recycled brown paper filters for 80 eurocents is fine for me. Not an issue here.

      Edit: shrinkflated to 85 🙁

      Still ok.

    13. IamNotYourBF on

      At 1¢ to 2¢ per filter, is the time spent cutting them worth it? Coffee filters are such a low margin product. Industrialization has cut the production costs to the point that you could never complete with homemade.

      If you put the $100 into a savings account earning 3.5%, you’ll earn $3.50. that should cover most of your coffee filters for the year and you’ll still have money in the bank.

      I would focus your cost savings elsewhere.

    14. Any-Tennis4658 on

      Coffee filters are like one dollar for 100 at Walmart.

      You will LOSE money buying the big roll.

      Buy 100 for a dollar and INVEST the rest into sp500. You will make MORE on the principal than the dollar that you spent on the 100.

      Or get a metal mesh one and never buy filters again. But I like filtered coffee so I use filters.

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