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Commercial coffee machines brew quickly to shorten the wait time for users, such as convenience-store or doughnut-shop customers, employees of a business, or attendees of an event such as a convention, a meeting or a Sunday school class. Commercial coffeemakers brew one or more pots of coffee at a time and have multiple warming plates to satisfy the demand by multiple users in busy stores or large offices. Essentially all types of commercial coffee machines use the same basic principles to make your morning java.

Turn the tank heater switch to the “On” position. Depending on the make and model of coffee machine, yours may or may not have a tank heater switch. This switch turns the heater on in the water reservoir.

Turn the master “On/Off” switch to the “On” position. A red light will illuminate showing there is power to the machine. Models without individual tank heaters use the master switch to turn on the burners and tanks at one time.

Grasp the filter basket handle and pull it out of the machine. Either put a pre-packaged coffee pod in the basket or place a coffee filter and fresh, dry coffee grounds in the basket and gently shake the basket side-to-side to level the fresh grounds. Push the basket back into place in the coffee machine.

Place the appropriate container underneath the filter basket. Some commercial models use coffee pots or carafes that simply sit on the warming plate under the filter basket. Other models use large thermos bottles without warming burners. Remove the lid from a large thermos bottle and center it under the filter basket.

Fill the water measuring pitcher with cold water. Commercial coffee makers include a measuring pitcher for pouring the water into the appliance. Open the lid above the coffee filter and pour the water into the tank. Coffee will start brewing using the hot water in the reservoir; the water you just poured in refills the reservoir and gets hot for the next pot of coffee. Be aware, some models of commercial coffee makers attach to the water lines in a building to refill the reservoir automatically after each pot of coffee is made.

Repeat this procedure for dual brewing stations with two pots to make the second pot of coffee at the same time.

Place a pot on the warmer to keep it warm, if the coffee maker is the type with warmer plates, and turn it on while making a second pot if the coffee maker has a single brew station.

Screw the lids on thermos-type containers in a clockwise direction after brewing is complete to keep the contents warm.