Buying guide for best coffee urns
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Written by
Michael
Updated September 2025
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When you’re serving coffee to a group, a regular household coffee maker simply isn’t going to cut it. That’s where a coffee urn comes in. These large-capacity brewers are designed to handle anywhere from 20 cups to over 100 at a time, making them a must-have for weddings, conferences, graduations, office events and community gatherings. Not only do they brew big batches quickly, but they also keep the coffee hot and ready to serve for hours, ensuring everyone gets a fresh cup without constant refills.
Whether you’re a caterer, event organizer or just the go-to host for family get-togethers, a coffee urn saves time, reduces hassle and keeps the caffeine flowing. In this guide, we’ll cover what makes a good coffee urn, key features to look for and tips on finding the right model to keep your crowd satisfied. Our top pick is the SYBO Commercial-Grade Stainless Steel Percolate Coffee Maker, which can brew up to 100 cups of coffee in an hour.
Editors' Picks
Dimensions: 14.57" D x 14.57" W x 21.06" H | Capacity: 16 L (100 cups) | Special Features: Stain resistant, viewable water gauge, durable
The SYBO Commercial-Grade Stainless Steel Percolate Coffee Maker features a 100-cup capacity and durable stainless steel construction, perfect for hosting events or running a busy cafe.
Its stainless steel body is durable and dent-resistant, while the removable stainless steel filter basket means no need for paper filters. Features like the viewable water gauge, interior level markings, heavy-duty spigot and indicator lights make it simple to use, while the automatic shut-off and keep-warm function ensure coffee stays ready to serve.
It's excellent at heating and keeping coffee warm, although there are some inconsistencies in brew time and durability. Still, its sleek design and automatic shut-off make it a solid choice as far as commercial coffee makers go.
Dimensions: 15.6" W x 5.6" H | Capacity: 3 L | Special Features: 24-hour hot and 36-hour cold insulation, easy dispensing with pump, user-friendly wide mouth
The Gezoss Coffee Carafe is a versatile choice for keeping drinks hot or cold during gatherings, office use or everyday convenience. Made with 18/8 food-grade stainless steel, it’s rustproof, sturdy and designed to maintain beverage freshness.
Thanks to its vacuum insulation technology, drinks stay hot for up to 24 hours or cold for 36 hours, making it suitable for coffee, tea, cocoa or even chilled beverages. The pump-action dispenser paired with a swivel base allows easy serving from any angle without lifting, which is especially helpful for kids and seniors.
Overall, the Airpot combines style, function and reliability at a fair price, making it a solid choice if you're looking to save some money.
Dimensions: 11.5" L x 11.5" W x 18.6" H | Capacity: 42 cups | Special Features: Two-way dispensing, Ready light, cool-touch handles
The Hamilton Beach 45-Cup Coffee Urn is a nice solution for serving coffee at parties, family reunions and events.
The two-way dispensing lever makes it easy to fill either a single cup or multiple cups continuously, accommodating everything from travel mugs to disposable cups. A ready light signals when coffee is finished brewing, and the urn keeps it hot without overheating or burning.
Users appreciate its brewing time, ease of use and brushed metal finish that resists fingerprints. This is a good pick if you're looking for a dependable, budget-friendly choice for serving coffee to a crowd.
Key considerations
Size
The size of a coffee urn is measured in cups of coffee. That’s different from actual cup measurements. Most coffee cups are rated to hold about 6 ounces of fluid, not 8. So when an urn, or a regular coffee pot for that matter, specifies a certain number of cups, keep in mind that it means 6-ounce cups, not 8-ounce ones.
Power
For your safety
Water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon. An urn full of water will be very heavy and difficult to move.
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Features
Material
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Aluminum: Coffee makers intended for stovetop use are designed to be as lightweight as possible. Therefore, some of them are made from aluminum. For people with kidney problems, aluminum can leach into the coffee and cause medical issues. Luckily, very few coffee urns are made from aluminum, but there are some.
- Stainless steel: The preferred material for modern coffee urns is stainless steel. It is easier to clean and maintain than aluminum, doesn’t corrode, and doesn’t pose any known health risks.
Color
Coffee urns are mainly stainless steel with back spigots, bases, and lids. If you want any other color, you must custom order it.
Brewing speed
How fast an urn brews the coffee is dependent on the urn’s cup capacity. The larger the urn, the longer it will take to brew the coffee. Be sure to start brewing the coffee well ahead of time.
For 40 cups of coffee, plan on an hour of brewing. For 60 cups of coffee, plan on an hour and 15 minutes of brewing. For 110 cups of coffee, plan on one and a half hours of brewing.
Dispenser
Cleaning
Urns are too big to put in a dishwasher. You’ll have to clean them a different way. After each use, wash them by following the first two steps listed here. After every fifth use, add step three as well.
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Step 1: Drain the urn and fill it with warm water. Run a complete brewing cycle (without coffee grounds) then scrub the entire inside of it with a long-handled brush. Using warm water helps shorten the brewing cycle.
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Step 2: Drain the water and repeat step one.
- Step 3: Fill the urn with warm water and add coffee urn cleaning compounds or tablets. The directions will be on the package. Run a complete brewing cycle, and then scrub the urn with a long-handled brush. Empty the urn and rinse it out. Fill it with warm water and run a complete brewing cycle.
Stability
Coffee urns are full of hot coffee. If they’re rocky or unstable, you have a potentially dangerous situation on your hands. If you purchase an unstable urn, send it back and get a replacement.
Accessories
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Drip tray: Every coffee urn ever made drips now and then. You need a drip tray to put under the spigot so it won’t stain the table cloth. This value pack from Winco includes four drip trays for an appealing price.
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Carafe: A carafe that dispenses coffee and keeps it warm is a great accessory to help ease congestion around the coffee urn. Make your coffee in the urn or a small pot. Then, pour it into the carafe and set it out wherever appropriate. This stainless steel carafe from Cresimo keeps hot beverages warm for up to 12 hours.
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Coffee urn filters: You can’t make coffee without coffee filters, but be sure to buy the right size for your coffee urn. For example, this 250-pack from BUNN is for commercial-size coffee urns.
- Coffee urn cleaner: Stainless steel coffee urns need to be cleaned on a regular basis. For the best-tasting coffee, you need to use cleaners that won’t leave a residue behind. Urnex makes a lot of great products for cleaning coffee makers, including this 48-count box of cleaning packets.
Coffee urn prices
Inexpensive: The low end of the coffee urn price range runs from $35 to $60. That gets you a simple coffee urn that will make 25 to 40 cups of coffee per batch.
Midrange: From $60 to $110 is the middle range price for coffee urns. These urns have a larger capacity, from 40 to 50 cups, and a glass-tube level indicator to let know how much coffee is left inside.
Expensive: Anything over $110 is the high end of the coffee urn price range. Some of these urns have capacities of up to 100 cups, automatic brewing controls, one-handed spigots, and better quality construction.
Tips
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Never use chlorine bleach to clean a coffee urn. The chlorine in the bleach will eat the stainless steel as well as the rubber gaskets in the urn.
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Before filling the urn with water, unlock the center pole in the urn and remove it. Pour in the water then replace the center pole. You will have to turn it to lock it into place.
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The minimum amount of coffee you can make in most urns is 20 cups. If you’re making less coffee than that, use a regular coffee pot.
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You can use vinegar to clean a coffee urn, but it’s not recommended, since vinegar tends to leave an odor behind.
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Make a number of cups of coffee equal to the number of people who will attend an event, plus 25%. For example, if 40 people will be coming, you want to brew 40 cups plus 25% (10) for a total of 50 cups of coffee.
FAQ
Q. What is the difference between a percolator and a drip coffee maker?
A. In a percolator, hot water is forced up a hollow center tube. The water splashes off the lid of the coffee maker and falls back down onto the coffee grounds. A drip coffee maker forces hot water up through a tube that drips it on the coffee grounds.
Q. What is the best temperature for brewing coffee?
A. The optimal temperature for making coffee is 198ºF. If you boil the coffee (212º F), it will burn the coffee grounds and leave a bitter taste.
Q. Should I reheat cold coffee?
A. You could nuke it in the microwave, but some people feel that process leeches out any remaining taste.
