Cuisinart DCC-2200 Brew Central 14-Cup Coffeemaker

I LOVED my new coffee maker. It does drip a bit when the carafe is removed during the brewing, but not a big deal. Today, though, at 10 months old, it caught on fire! Thankfully, my husband and I were sitting right there, at the table, enjoying a cup of coffee and heard an unfamiliar noise. The leftover coffee was boiling, the machine was OFF, and when the machine was tipped back, I could see FLAMES inside! Took it outside and used the hose on it, so no harm done, but what IF! We are replacing it with an exact model but have learned to UNPLUG small appliances if we''re not going to be home!

UPDATE...Replaced with same model and guess what happened a year later? YEP, caught on fire AGAIN. Obviously, I''m not so stupid as to replace it with another Cuisinart.

I purchased this coffee maker after too many days of being the family''s late riser and finding the coffee pot already drained. I have been using this pot for a couple of months now, and I am more than pleased with my purchase. This pot does hold more than the standard 10or 12-cup coffeemaker, a great feature in a family of coffee-drinkers.

I had hoped to find a coffee-maker with a removable water reservoir to carry back and forth to the sink, which this model does not have, but even so, I give this model five stars for the excellent coffee it makes. While I have to lift the coffee-maker down from the shelf on which I keep it in order to fill the reservoir, its internal clock remains accurate even when unplugged for the short while it takes to fill the reservoir.

Some folks here have complained about the beep signaling that the element is being turned off. Even after several cups of coffee, my nerves aren''t so high-strung that I even give the sound a second thought. It''s quite innocuous, IMHO.

Perhaps owing to the water filter, this pot makes excellent rich-tasting coffee. It seems to brew just long enough to make perfect coffee for most folks'' tastes. For stronger coffee, I can make fewer cups and use more ground coffee. If I''m really in need of a strong cuppa, I''ll simply use my French press. I have never had the ground coffee overflow the filter doing this. Also, the heating element seems set to the perfect temperature, since I have never had a cup of coffee from this pot that tasted burnt...and on a number of mornings, I have barely gotten up in time to hear the beep signaling the end of hot coffee.

Best features of this machine--absolutely drip-free pot, unrivaled pure coffee taste, large capacity pot, variable settings for when the heating element will turn off, and an internal clock that retains settings with short interruptions of power.

Improvements that could be made--I wish it had a removable reservoir, but the one pot that I have used that had that feature made the worst coffee I''ve ever made at home, not to mention the leaky pot.

If you''re not looking for espresso, but just a clean, pure cup of good coffee...even when "Early Bird" isn''t your middle name, I think you''ve found what you''re looking for in this machine.

Buy Cuisinart DCC-2200 Brew Central 14-Cup Coffeemaker Now

After trying the 12 cup Cuisinart, a Delonghi and 2 different Krups models we have fallen in love with this one. The water level indicator may be a slight drawback but since since we fill the coffeemaker from the pot it''s no problem for us.

I absolutely love the larger capacity, we don''t make a full pot that often but when we need to it''s just right. It makes a great cup of coffee and it looks great on the counter, too.

I deducted one star for their failure to backlight the display. You''d think for a hundred bucks they would light the clock so you can actually see it. Other than that, best coffeemaker for the money out of all the brands we''ve tried.

Read Best Reviews of Cuisinart DCC-2200 Brew Central 14-Cup Coffeemaker Here

i had a cuisinart grind n''brew that died after a respectable 5 years of abuse. when looking for a replacement, i focused on similar models i liked the idea of fresh-ground beans, but as a fulltime working mom of twin, i am not going to go out of my way to get the ''perfect'' grind. coffee is critical to my brain function early in the day, but i have better things to do with my time than grind coffee beans.

which brings me to this model. i almost didn''t buy this model because of the other reviewers, so let''s address these points:

1) water guage if you can imagine looking down at a flight of stairs from the ceiling, the water guage is set up like steps with the number of cups stenciled on the treads. these ''stairs'' are WHITE, which makes great contrast with the BLACK numbers and BLACK reservoir. another reviewer said his 5''4" wife can not see into the reservoir i''m the same height and i can see into the pot just fine.

2) lid the carafe lid is not the traditional flip-top lid, it''s more like the lid of a margarine container. you have to snap it on and there it stays. it really keeps the coffee from spilling out, but worth commenting on because it''s different.

3) pot volume some reviewers commented that this is a pseudo-14cup coffee maker. to confirm this, i took out my 1-cup measuring cup and filled it 8 times to fill the carafe to the brim. in my house that''s 6 big coffee mugs of coffee, so it depends on what you want out of this machine. it''ll make a lot of coffee, but it won''t replace a 20+ cup percolator.

4) reservoir opening the reservoir opening is 4x3 inches. i dont know if that makes the opening ''small'', but it is smaller than the machine-width openings that i''m accustomed to in other drip coffee machines. i have the machine ready to go on timer the night before, so filling the machine when half-asleep is not an issue for me.

5) coffee quality this machine makes better, stronger coffee with pre-ground DD coffee than my old machine ever did with grinding it per pot. i think the showerhead design improves on how much flavor is extracted from the beans. even with the standard #4 coffee filters, i don''t find this makes ''weak'' coffee. i use the recommended 1 heaping scoop (included) of ground coffee per cup in deciding to keep the machine, and was surprised that the resulting cup of java was exactly to my liking. i prefer my coffee on the strong more like seattle-based chains but without the overcooked bitterness that can come with a ''bold'' cup. following the directions resulted in great coffee using the gold filter and the same amount of grinds.

The only gripe i have with this coffee maker is that it still does not have a thermal carafe. i like my coffee hot, but i just don''t understand why they didn''t upgrade this particular part. i mean, it''s the DCC-2200! also, the heat pad is not adjustable. while it''s not an issue for me, i don''t understand why they removed this feature that many of their lower models have.

however, these cons are not enough to take away a star. i highly recommend this coffeemaker it''s way better than my old grind n''brew and is a breeze to use and clean. and the added bonus is that it cranks out 6 10oz cups of coffee (a full pot) in about 15 minutes.

Want Cuisinart DCC-2200 Brew Central 14-Cup Coffeemaker Discount?

When my 5-year-old Cuisinart 12-cup Brew Central bit the dust last week, I was all set to order another to replace it. After twice-daily use, I figure we got between 3,000 to 3,500 pots of coffee out of this elegant workhorse and had no quarrel with it. But the 14-cup model, with its updated design features, turned out to be a better replacement still able to make those 4-cup batches for just myself or a larger-volume pot, without sacrificing flavor. In fact, using the 1-4 cup selection on a larger batch results in near-espresso quality brew, and saves on coffee beans if you can be patient enough to await the slower drip. Since Amazon offered a $25 discount on $125 purchases, I also bought the new Cuisinart oval electric skillet, and got them both for a total of $174.90 with free delivery, within five days.