Cuisinart DGB-600BC Grind & Brew

Ye gads. I forgot all about the fierce partisanship amongst purchasers that this wee little machine invokes. Last year, I dutifully combed through all of the reviews and was almost pursuaded to look to another machine. Thank the stars I was not. Like many, I was won over by the lure of (1)the thermal carafe, (2) the auto grind&brew feature, and (3) the shininess. I also trusted the Cuisinart name and had been previously pleased with the Brew Central. I noted, however, that many writers were highly displeased with (4) the noise and (5) the mess. So, after a year, here are my experiences:

(1) The thermal carafe rocks out loud. Yes, pre-heating the carafe seems to keep the coffee hotter for longer, but on the crazy work-mornings that I use the auto-grind&brew function, I do not pre-heat and find no need to, as I am out of the house at light speed. Note that the coffee is still scaldingly hot. People seem irritated/perplexed at the slowness with which coffee is dispensed from the carafe, as well as the steep pouring angles necessitated by the carafe. I am not at all disturbed by either; however, a relative in need of immediate coffee discovered that one can get faster pouring by just removing the lid. Which defeats the awesome vacuum-packed thermal hotness, but seems a likely remedy for those with a fundamental aversion to slow pours. As far as weird geometry issues, I have nothing to offer.

(2) The auto grind&brew is very convenient. It has always worked flawlessly for me and really amazes and pleases guests who may rise before residents.

(3) It is damn shiny.

(NB: I have a lot of stainless in the kitchen and, through trial and error, have found that the Method stainless steel cleaner keeps it all damn shiny and keeps me from going stark raving from the constant buffing and rubbing).

(4) The noise? Really not that unusual for a coffee bean grinder. I did not notice that it was any louder than other grinders. If the "grind" portion of the auto grind&brew is waking one too early, I would imagine that one could either pregrind or use ground beans and just skip the "grind" function. While it is intriguing to imaging a space age machine with stealth grind mode, I would urge potential buyers to neither expect silence nor let lack of silence keep you from buying this machine.

(5) The ire over the mess was what nearly kept me from purchasing this maker. And I completely forgot about the issue until just now when I re-read some of the reviews. I guess that I don''t understand what "mess" they mean. There are seven parts to this thing that I clean: carafe/lid, filter/basket/lid, and grinder base/lid. I rinse the carafe and filter with hot water and clean the rest with hot soapy water. It all takes approximately 2.5 minutes. I never have to clean the rest of the machine. I usually tilt the top-loader lid open to let condensation out after brewing is done. I occasionally wipe the inside of the machine down with a damp cloth. I have replaced the water filter a couple of times. But altogether, clean-up is not that big of a deal. Maybe others are not getting a tight enough seal on the the grinder parts?

SUMMARY: I have had this machine for over a year and have never had a single problem with it. It makes delicious, hot coffee. I was almost deterred by the problems that others have had with it, but am glad that I opted to take my chances. I gave it four, rather than five stars because so many people have had problems with it. Even though I have not experienced these problems, the negative feedback must nonetheless be taken into consideration.

cheers!

~currer bell

previous was the typical old plastic type with glass carafe

Good Points:

much considerable improvement in coffee taste now

the thermal carafe with autoseal until poured keeps coffee hot and no stale or burnt taste, it is double lined with stainless steel

auto shutoff of heating element immediately after brewing prevents burning of coffee and electricity bills

the 1-4 cup extra heat excellent idea

the built-in grinding process

choice of using paper filter or gold filter basket

beeping tells you when coffee is ready

does not have that ugly water level marker, it has a built-in marker where you pour water, a 3-D step ladder sort of speak

does not expell any heat or humidity from unit, well sealed

nice design and looks

Bad Points:

cannot tell amount coffee left in carafe

pours out slowly from carafe

carafe autoseal feature requires you to pour at a steeper angle to get faster flow output which still isn''t fast enough for me

grinder howls for about 30 seconds when running, it does not adjust grind-time for amount of coffee beans inside, it defaults to a 10 cup grind, solving this would require some clever engineering idea

I find I have to clean more than my old machine, I clean the grinder and lid, basket and basket lid, ... the grinder does create a lot fine coffee dust which does get packed into every nook and cranny

Buy Cuisinart DGB-600BC Grind & Brew Now

We have had our new Cuisinart DGB-600BC Grind and Brew, Thermal coffee maker for a week now. We had ordered it online before we saw these reviews and based on the poor reviews of others almost cancelled our order, but decided to give it a try anyway. Well, so far we are not disapointed at all.

Ours was on backorder and perhaps some improvements have been made.

Using the gold filter basket along with a paper filter and a full grinder of normal bean coffee, it makes a very good and strong coffee.

As far as the complaints about cleaning...the only thing different than a normal coffee maker is that you must take out the grinding mechanism and rinse and towel dry after every use. It slips out easily and we just rinse under hot water for about 30 seconds and then dry with a paper towel (there are only two parts to the grinder). Does not take more than a minute or two and you can proceed to make another pot of cofee right away.

The coffee is very hot in the thermal carafe and seems to stay that way for hours. It is a little difficult to pour out the last few ounces of coffee as the pour spout is set in from the side of the carafe.

The stainless model is not really stainless, but is simulated (plastic) stainless. This was somewhat of a disappointment as I don''t know how well the finish will hold up over time.

Another concern is that the opening and closing latches and hinges seem a little flimsy and poorly designed. Sometimes hard to open or close.

In closing, where performance counts a great cup of coffee this coffee maker produces the results we were looking for in a sharp looking package.

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Normally, Cuisinart is synonymous with quality. And I love my Cuisinart food processor. Love the small food processor, too. But their grind-and-brew coffee makers are poorly-made plastic junk. I had the original one...everything with two plastic connectors now has only one, and I was always careful with it...I now have to balance the lid on the carafe, have to hold the top lid closed with clamps I''ve attached or the thing won''t brew...

So when I saw the new model, I thought, "Great! They must have fixed it!" Just got it yesterday, and I''m already disappointed. The first thing you''ll notice is that the nice shiny metal is only real on the carafe. The rest is just a cheap faceplate over flimsy plastic on weak hinges and thin components. I can almost feel it wanting to break every time I fill it. The first model had to be completely dried out after every use because the steam backs up through the grinding components, leaving a trail of coffee-bean-coagulated-sweat all through the device. I''d hoped they''d have put some sort of steam backflow prevention mechanism in the new model...they did not. Still have to dry out the whole works after every use. Even the compartment where only dry beans were placed.

With the thermal carafe version, the resting plate at the bottom does not heat, it only holds the carafe. I assume the glass version does act as a heating plate...So this morning, when I came to get my coffee, I thought perhaps I''d set the timer wrong. I didn''t see the little light glowing to tell me that the thermal plate was working. I had done it right, however; it just relies on the insulating properties of the thermal carafe to keep the coffee warm. Truth be told, I prefer that to burnt coffee...but that''s the only good part of this device.

I think, for my next grind-and-brew, I''ll shell out the extra bucks for the Capresso.

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I was a skeptic after reading all the negative reviews, and even encountered a disgruntled elderly woman at the store who told me how much she despised this machine, but something in my gut said I should buy it and I did. I''ve had this coffeemaker for three months now and it''s become one of my most loved possessions, right up there with my handsfree wireless and my favorite pens.

It is important to note that it takes a few brews to get to know your new coffeemaker. I too had the leak experience upon first brew, but I realized that I was obviously overfilling the water tank, despite what the level said. It''s also taken some trial and error to get the right ratio of coffee to water, but one must understand that this is a factor of personal taste and shouldn''t be dictated by some recipe. Yes, it takes a little extra effort to clean. But I''ve noticed that most nice things do take that extra effort to manage and maintain, and I don''t mind getting my hands a smidge dirty in exchange for the result!

It does pour slower than the regular carafe. But that''s a bit picky, don''t you think? Seven seconds to fill your cup. What do you want, three seconds? What so great about that other four seconds? Is it life or death? If it is, you probably shouldn''t be kicking back with a cup of coffee at the moment anyway. Plus, this is no regular carafe! I park this thing right next to me at the computer and don''t have to travel back and forth to the kitchen to get more coffee that''s well worth the four seconds I''d save in the kitchen with my old coffeemaker.

It grinds loud? Of course it grinds loud. It''s grinding. Just the nature of the word "grind" leads one to attach a certain amount of noise to the action in my mind. The process is swifter than my previous grind n'' brew and actually a bit quieter not that I mind the grind sound. I''ve come to appreciate it in a way.

I''m not one to usually write a review, but it seemed that others picked at this product and I felt compelled to share my thoughts on what I consider to be a fantastic addition to the kitchen. By one if you''re on the fence. I''ll be enjoying my french roast while you think about it.