Fussy Lid, but the Best Coffee Maker Ever!, April 23, 2005Reviewer: R. Wilner (Metro Detroit)
I wish Amazon had 1/2 stars, because I would have given 4 1/2. I almost gave it a 5 star rating, but the lid may bug some people. I will admit that the lid MUST be placed in a perfect position, but how to do it is no mystery. Clearly etched in the top of the lid are the words "Open" "Close" and "Pour." If you put the lid on so that the word "Pour" is directly over the spout, it''s no problem. When you go to screw on the lid, just make sure that the word "Pour" starts out over the spout and when it''s closed, it will end up there. No big deal. My guess is, the people who have given negative reviews about the lid were impatient with it.
My reason for buying this coffee-maker was the 12-OUNCE thermal carafe. This was one of the only coffee-makers I saw with a 12oz carafe as opposed to an 8 or 10 ounce. This was a huge selling point for me. As someone who nurses a whole pot a coffee a day, I also was attracted to the fact that I read it keeps coffee hot for so long.
I have had the coffee-maker for over a month now, and I am NOT disappointed! I have not had one single overflow incident and I have had no problems. I suspect that those with overflow problems overfilled the reservoir or didn''t pay attention to how they put the lid on.
One thing I must share with those of you considering this coffee-maker. One day I made a pot of coffee and I forgot about it. The next day, approximately 36 hours later, I remembered I had made coffee the previous day, so I figured I''d pour a cup and microwave it. Microwaving was unnecessary. The coffee came out STEAMING hot. As if I had just made it! I''m sure the more coffee that is in it the hotter it will keep but this was over a day later!
I HIGHLY recommend this product!
PROS
-No heating mechanism. No burnt tasting coffee!
-Once coffee is brewed, the coffee-maker shuts off.
-Coffee stays warm for much longer than the description states
-The carafe stays cool on the outside. I make a pot and just bring it into the living room with me, or to my desk.
-Very aesthetically pleasing design. Looks great in my kitchen.
-A full 12 cup coffee-maker. A rare thing amoung thermal carafe coffee-makers
-LED Clock/Programmable Timer. Auto Seal. Brew Pause Feature. Automatic Shutoff. Available in different colors
-The water level indicator is easy to see
-The beep letting you know the coffee is done is loud (I like that)
CONS
-You do need to pay attention to how to put the lid on, but it isn''t exactly rocket science.
-The digital clock area is tiny. But read the directions and using the timer is a breeze.
-The stainless steel fingerprints easily, but that''s not unusual in a stainless steel appliance.
-The beep letting you know the coffee is done is loud (Some may not like that)
Sure enough, the pot was defective in a couple of ways.
1. The instruction booklet says to _fill_ the carafe and pour it into the reservoir. The carafe holds twelve cups and the reservoir holds the same before the small hole in back below the hinge dumps any excess on your counter, so in theory it''s impossible to over fill. So far, so good but the guy at Cuisinart who designed this pot apparently skipped his junior high science class the day they described how water expands when it is heated.
Twelve cups of cold tap water expands to about twelve and a half cups when it is raised to boiling. So, if you fill the reservoir according to instructions and heat the water, the carafe will overflow onto your counter every single time. Only fill it to the top of the stainless part.
2. There''s another reason that it randomly barfs hot coffee all over your counter that is not related to the problem related above. I spent a few hours testing my pot with just water (no coffee) to figure out what was going on. It worked perfectly twice, and put hot water on the counter about a dozen times, starting anywhere from when the carafe was half full to almost full. Suddenly the water would stop running into the carafe as though it was plugged up and start spilling over the side. I took the (patent pending!) lid completely apart to see if something might be getting jammed. It''s pretty clever there are two plastic and one metal ball to act as valves to let the coffee in and out while blocking steam and heat from escaping. Everything''s a pretty loose fit and not likely to jam but I finally found the problem (with mine, at least).
When you fill a container with water, you must let the air out as you do it, so there is also a small vent passage without any ball valves that goes from the inside of the lid to the threaded area on the side of the lid that''s near the carafe handle when the lid is properly tightened. The vent is quite small and exits the lid in a strange way to create a sort of labyrinth to reduce the amount of heat loss. I blew it out with some compressed air and saw something that was plugging it fly out, likely some plastic that fallen in during manufacturing. The vent also seemed somewhat obstructed where it ended, so I cleaned it up a bit with an Xacto knife.
The coffee maker now works perfectly apparently the vent was not always letting air escape quickly enough to let the coffee flow in.
I''m also going to put a few small self-adhesive cork glides from the hardware store under the carafe to boost it up a little and make sure the valve in the bottom of the filter stays open properly, as it seems a little dicey.
All in all, I like the pot, but for $80, I shouldn''t have to do Cuisinart''s quality control for them. The problems that so many people are complaining about were easy to recreate and repair it''s really inexcusable that Cuisinart hasn''t taken care of them by now.
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Folks, Let me tell you.... I read all the reviews on this coffee maker before my wife and I decided that; Oh, come on! They must be goofy. How hard can it be to set this coffee pot up correctly to work without spillage; we bought it anyway.It worked for a week or so and then dumped the coffee all over the counter and on the kitchen floor.
"I must have done something wrong", said the lady of the house. Ok, I''ll try it, said the man of the house.
It worked... See, all you have to do is.. place the carafe in correctly. Well, I did it for three days and again all over the floor.
I called the company and a sweetie pie with the "Have a nice day" mentality helped me to calm down and told me that perhaps the cover was defective. They will send me another if I would return mine.
Wife said no.... order a whole carafe so we will have two when we get company. So 50 dollars later, I have two carafes.
Wonderful! Now either one will dump the coffee onto the counter after a week or ten days of lulling me into a state of confidence by working fine for 10 days.
We have a great deal of patience, and we also feel that we are smart enough to find the problem. So we stuck with it trying different filter baskets, and soaking the lids before using...
It was many months now, and it decided to dump this morning; all over the counter; all over the floor; grinds and coffee.
The carafe was half filled indicating that it did start out ok and I didn''t misalign anything; but with a mind of its own, it decided that it hated us again today.
So folks, we got two green garbage bags, one inside the other, and dumped that 99.00 + 50.00 more coffee pot in the trash.
It isn''t worth the aggravation.
I tried to find a website for their corporate office, but they haven''t the guts to show any, so this is the only place I could tell you our story.
I kid you not. We should have believed all the negatives in this product review section.
I would have loved to return it to Amazon, but after so much elapsed time, it would not have been fair.
Thank you for listening.
Fred Auerbach
email: fred.auerbach@gmail.com
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I''ve owned two of these machines. Here are the details:First, the carafe is great. I''ve come home after a 10 hour day to find the morning coffee still warm enough and very drinkable. The cap alignment is a bit awkward, but it keeps the coffee hot and fresh. I now have two of them and have used them for this year''s Christmas/New Years gatherings. They kept regular and decaf coffee hot and fresh throughout the evening. I used my replacement "Barista Aroma Grande" machine to brew the coffee then put it into the superior Cuisinart carafes. That is why I gave the product one star.
The downsides include almost everything else:
As a previous reviewer noted, if the carafe is not seated properly, you wake up to a puddle of coffee on your kitchen counter and floor. This happened to me twice.
Consequently, if any of that puddle seeps into the machine from underneath or drips into it from the LED display window, the machine is kaput. This is why out first machine failed.
The water reservoir requires filling the machine from the top. My replacement has a separate container that is easier to manipulate. It is a much neater way to fill the machine.
The red indicator ball on the side of the Cuisinart machine stopped working.
The second machine just stopped working. Like another reviewer noted, when you hit the "on" button, the machine beeped after a minute or so without producing any coffee. This was not a result from an overflow condition, nor a result of a user error it just stopped working.
Bottom line: look elsewhere for a reliable machine.
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I have had this coffee maker for about 3 weeks now. I read all these reviews before I purchased, and almost didn''t because of some of them, so I thought I''d let you know how it worked out for me since you are probably having the same concerns.The short version: I am very pleased with this coffee maker and am happy I purchased it. There are a couple of minor concerns, but with a bit of knowledge you can safely purchase this coffee maker.
Pros:
Very solid construction and carafe. Good overall look and feel.
The carafe keeps coffee hot all day. A huge plus. I only get carafe style (no warmer) coffee makers, and this is one of the best I''ve used.
Simple and easy programmable auto-brew functionality.
The fill container has a very easy to read measuring line, making filling it to a desired level very easy and convenient. A bonus I didn''t know I was missing until I got this machine.
Cons:
Pretty slow brewing. Takes 15-20 minutes to brew a full pot.
Does not come with the filter basket. Make sure you purchase one when you order. It is well worth it, and way better than paper filters.
It is a slow pourer. You may think "well come on, how much of a hurry are you in?" But when you fill travel size mugs, you really notice how slow it is. It is not a deal breaker, just letting you know.
The big one: SPILLAGE! Yes, this happened, but it can be avoided.
The Spillage: I''d read all about the complaints "It overflowed all over my counter", "made a huge mess", "worst coffee maker ever", and so I was concerned. At first some people were chalking it up to not putting the lid of the carafe on properly. While this is slightly trickier than it could be, it is still very obvious if you have it threaded wrong and is not the problem. However, I did experience the spill-over, huge mess, grinds and coffee all over my kitchen. But I investigated this thoroughly and found out the problem was due to the very finely ground coffee. When ground to almost a powder texture, the coffee passes through the filter and into the carafe''s unique brew-top lid. This lid has a separate compartment with a ball inside that allows it to brew through, and not spill when pouring. However, that area filled with the fine grounds and created a solid barrier that didn''t allow coffee to go into the carafe anymore.
IMPORTANT: DO NOT OVER GRIND YOUR BEANS. This brewer seems to brew it at above normal strength anyway, so you do not need to grind your beans too much. Most pre-ground coffees are fine; it''s just the custom grinders who can overdo it. Be careful, and you won''t have this problem.
So, I set my timer up for 30 minutes before I need it, don''t over-grind, and am very happy with this coffee maker. Hope this helps!
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