10 Uses For Your French Press – Creative French Press Uses
Did you know that there are many uses for your French Press other than making coffee? These creative French Press uses will have your favorite coffee press working overtime for you!
Don’t you hate kitchen appliances that are only good for one thing? I definitely do. I live in an apartment with a very small kitchen, so the more ways I can use an appliance, the better!
I just recently gotten a French Press and am having so much fun with it! It makes the best cup of coffee and I feel so fancy whenever I use it. It just puts me in such a good mood!
Creative French Press Uses
I’m delighted to say that my new French Press is a great addition to my kitchen, but I got thinking about other creative ways to put it to use.
I want to share with you 10 uses for your French Press so you can also become a French-Press-advocate, too!
1. Making coffee with a French Press.
The most obvious use for a French Press is for making coffee. It’s a great alternative to a normal coffee maker because it takes up less counter space (and as you’re about to read, it has many other uses!).
The French Press is one of the easiest ways to make coffee and one of the least expensive as well. Learn the essentials: here’s how to make a pot of great French press coffee.
As you’ll discover when you use it, a French Press makes coffee by steeping the grounds in hot water, then pressing those grounds out. The plunger of the French Press catches the grounds of coffee so that they do not end up in the finished cup.
If you have used a normal coffee maker in the past, you’ll love the ease of a French Press.
The biggest advantage of a French Press is that it allows each user to make a cup of coffee according to their own individual taste. You can vary the amount of time the grounds are steeped, as well as the type and size of the grounds and the temperature of the water.
The French Press takes a tiny bit longer to make a cup of coffee, but when you taste it, you’ll be glad you spent that time! Use it the next time you have a coffee date at home.
2. Can you Make Tea in a French Press?
I love tea. Don’t get me wrong, coffee is great, but I like to start off my morning with a cup of tea before diving into coffee because I like to ease into my caffeine intake.
Loose leaf tea is so beautiful, and I have a lot of it, but I find that any time I use a tea strainer, many of the smaller leaves escape into the tea. And while I think loose leaf tea is beautiful, I don’t want to see it in my cup of tea.
The great thing about using a French Press for tea is that the mesh strainer has holes so tiny that no leaves find their way into your cup! The first thing I used my French press for was tea, and I’m thoroughly impressed.
3. French Press Cold brewed coffee.
Cold brew is a trend that I’ve noticed over the past few years that has been gaining popularity. Cold brewing coffee is when you steep coffee grounds in cold water over a long period of time (whereas brewing regular coffee uses hot water, and is a relatively quick process).
The process yields a strong, concentrated coffee, and is sometimes diluted with water before serving. There are definitely benefits cold brewing coffee rather than just putting hot coffee over ice.
While it does take more time, it yields a smoother, richer coffee. And let’s be honest, nobody likes bitter coffee when they could be having smooth, rich coffee.
4. Frothing milk is easy in a French Press.
My whole life is happier now that I know this trick for using my French Press to froth milk. I love going out to coffee shops and getting lattes and cappuccinos because of the foam on top of the drink. Now I can make that at home!
In the picture above I used almond milk and frothed to my heart’s desire! You can see at the bottom where the milk is still dark, and at the top where the milk froth is lighter.
Coffee and tea drinking has just upped its game thanks to frothing milk in my new French Press! All you have to do is pump the strainer up and down, and it froths the milk!
5. Making whipped cream.
OK. So I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never tried this one, but I did read a lot about whipping cream in a French Press.
I found this particularly useful article that you might want to check out if you want to try making whipped cream in your French Press!
6. Rinsing quinoa (and other grains) in your French Press.
This is a use I’m so excited about. I use quinoa all the time in cooking, and whenever I try to rinse it in a sieve I always lose so much down the drain. Plus it gets suck in the nooks and crannies of the sieve.
Well, struggle no more, quinoa lovers, using a French Press to strain quinoa is so simple. You can add more water to rinse it multiple times, and when you’re done just use a tiny bit of water to swirl the loose grains around and add to your pot to cook.
If there’s any grains on the French Press plunger, just dip that in the pot and they should come right off.
7. How to drain defrosted spinach.
I stumbled across someone suggesting using a French Press to drain defrosted spinach, and I think it’s a great idea.
I used frozen spinach all the time in recipes, but making sure you get all the water out of it can be a challenge. With a French Press, you can squeeze the liquid out of the spinach so the dishes you cook don’t get watery! Sounds like a win to me!
8. Using your coffee press to make infused oils and simple syrups.
I am obsessed with infused oils and simple syrups. I think the reason that I love them so much is because I really love bartending.
Mixing drinks and making something new and exciting from separate ingredients is such a creative process and having a French Press makes it so much easier.
Just add your ingredients and let them sit. When you’re done, transfer the ingredients to another container and because of the strainer, you’ll get clean liquids every time!
9. Re-hydrating dried foods.
Using a French Press is a very simple way to re-hydrate dried foods. I love buying packages of dried mushrooms for stir fries and noodle dishes because they tend to have more of a variety than just buying a package of regular mushrooms and they are also normally cheaper.
To re-hydrate foods (such as my well-loved mushrooms) just add water for the desired amount of time to the French Press and once they are re-hydrated lightly press on the mushrooms (or whatever vegetable you are re-hydrating) and drain.
The picture above is from a recipe that’s going to be on the blog soon that uses dried mushrooms, so keep your eyes peeled for that!
10. Mixing drinks in a French Press.
This one is really thinking outside the box. Most times when I want to mix drinks, I go for my cocktail shaker…but because I’m a clumsy girl, I dropped it on the floor and now the seal leaks. Oops!
Fortunately, I have a French Press now, so I don’t need to worry about that shaker anymore. Just add all your cocktail ingredients to the French press and pump the strainer up and down (similar to frothing milk, but you don’t have to do it quite as much to mix drinks).
If you like your drinks “dirty”, feel free to remove the strainer before you pour the mixture into your cup. If you like a strained drink, keep in the strainer, and you’ll have a smooth clean cocktail. I used my French Press to mix the ingredients in my homemade lemonade, pictured above.
Pin these Creative French Press Uses for later.
Would you like a reminder of these uses for your French Press? Just pin this image to one of your boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.
Do you have any tips or creative ways to use a French Press ? Please leave them in the comments, I’d love to hear more ways to use this neat kitchen tool!
Admin note: This post first appeared on the blog in October of 2015. I have updated the post to include more information on the tips, a printable card, and some extra photos.
A French Press is not just for making coffee. This handy printable list will give lots of creative ideas for using your favorite kitchen tool. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.How to Use Your French Press for More than Just Coffee
Materials
Instructions
Recommended Products
5 Comments
carol
What a lot of great uses for a French press. I would not have thought of doing many of them!
Jess
I’m glad you liked the article and found it helpful!
Jeremy
Between frothing almond milk and rinsing quinoa, you have just changed my life! Thank you!
Jess
haha yay!! I’m glad you found it useful! Frothing almond milk is definitely my favorite use I’ve found for the french press thus far. 😀
kay
I was looking to see if a coffee press could be used to store leftover oil..and I found all your uses…oh my!! fantastic ideas! absolutely love them…thx