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Keurig 2.0 Hack

A good cup of coffee is a must around our house, but it needs to be quick and easy. I’d love to have a Bunn Commercial Coffee Maker in the kitchen, but they take up a lot of space and you have to make an entire pot at a time. I already enjoy coffee too much to have the temptation of an entire pot of coffee sitting there at the ready. One cup at a time is enough.

We’ve had a Keurig brewer for a while (actually we’ve had many, but who’s counting). We recently moved up to a Keurig 2.0 and love it. The setting for strong coffee really seems to work and the Starbucks K-cups taste really close to what they’re really supposed to taste like. The downfall though is that we also like to use our own fresh ground coffee, whether it be a bag of Starbucks Christmas blend that Mama Cheaps got a great deal on or a nice bag of French Roast that I bought at the local bean retailer. The new Keurig 2.0 has a different basket system and all of the filters we have no longer fit. It also has a system that can read the label to “see” if you are using a Keurig branded K-cup. I refuse to toss out all of the re-usable filters we have, so I did a little tinkering and came up with a solution that allows me to convert my filters to work with the Keurig 2.0. (NOTE: I found a compatible 2.0 Reusable Filter on Amazon, but this was to use my current filters that I already own)

The old school Keurig re-usable filter does not fit, and will not work with the new model, but the smaller Eco-filters do with minor modification.

Start with a filter like this one:

The little alignment tabs for the older machine prevent it from sliding into the new K-cup holder and need to be removed. Using a sharp knife (I recommend an Exacto knife because they have strong smaller blades and offer good control. Utility knifes work, but can be a little cumbersome) remove the alignment tabs on either side.

Be sure to remove the entire tab including the flat part below the rim.

Remove the lid from a K-cup that is made for the Keurig 2.0 Brewer. You’ll know by the little coffee cup logos around the outside of the lid. This is the most difficult part. You need to remove all of the plastic from the K-cup and leave all of the foil. It may take a try or two to get this completed, but once you figure it out, it’ll get easier.

After you have the foil removed, center a quarter on the foil and cut it out. This will allow the machine to mate and seal to the filter.

Press the foil onto the filter and roll the edge where you cut out the quarter. The new brewer K-cup holder is on an angle and this will help it stay. I didn’t want to tape it to the lid because I put them in the dishwasher to clean and the foil would get destroyed. I also don’t want to heat up adhesives during brewing, just seems like a bad idea.

Place the filter in the brewer. {{BIG NOTE!!: Make sure that the original alignment marks are horizontal. The needle needs to sit in the cut out in the bottom of the filter. You will be able to tell that your placement is correct if the filter drops in all the way easily. If it is sitting up a 1/4″ or so, you probably have the needle against the mesh and will damage the filter (and possibly the machine) if you force it closed.}} Place the foil on the filter using the roll on the quarter cut out to hold the position. Close the lid and operate as you normally would. If it comes up with the “Oops – wrong type of K-cup” message, open it up and reposition the foil. It seems that the little cup logo needs to be intact and fully visible around the 6 o’clock to 9 o’clock area.

Leave a comment below and let me know how this worked for you. Did you do something to make it easier or work better? Let us know!

Enjoy the Brew!!