The pros:good looking machine lit display is especially nice
fairly well priced
makes good tasting coffee that is quite hot
carafe keeps coffee hotter than most similar carafes
controls easy to use
The cons:
if you prefer a paper filter (and we do) it can be hard to place it in basket such that it doesn''t fall over and make a mess with grounds all over the place and coffee not right (and basket full of messy leaking liquid)
the stop drip feature seems to work worse than most (ours doesn''t seem to stop anything)
machine is heavy hard to slide around the counter
produces a lot of steam so you really can''t have it right under a counter
We loved our old Cuisinart with thermal carafe (a style not made anymore) but this machine seems to make better, hotter coffee that stays hotter longer. When the filter flops over though (which is does sometimes despite what I think is careful positioning) it makes a terrible mess. We never had this problem with our old machine.
All in all a decent machine with a few flaws.
Inspecting the display models, I found that the construction of this Calphalon was noticeably better than the other coffee makers in its price range. Instead of plastic made to look like metal this has a real metal shell (which I''ll admit shows fingerprints readily). The hinged covers for the brewing basket and water reservoir seemed more rugged and of a higher quality than the other units on the shelves. So I brought the Calphalon home.
I think coffee maker engineers have quite a challenge making thermal carafes that keep coffee hot. My wife, who would prefer a glass carafe on a hot plate, finds the coffee temperature from the Calphalon''s thermal carafe acceptable only because I pre-warm the carafe and her coffee mug with hot water. Compared to our simple old Braun thermal carafe, this Calphalon carafe has a spring-loaded button in its lid to keep heat in once the carafe is removed from the coffee maker, and gaskets on the screw-on lid. I''m not sure this makes much real difference in the temperature but this design very nearly made me return the Calphalon to the store.
Of the first three full pots of coffee I made, two created countertop spills that rivaled that of the Exxon Valdez. After the first disaster I made sure I had the carafe top screwed on correctly, the coffee cone positioned just so, and the entire coffee maker leveled on our not very level counter. I still experienced a second disaster and as Calphalon advertises this coffee maker brews a lot of coffee in a hurry so there was quite a flood. To the reviewer who called this design "pathetic" if I''d seen your review I wouldn''t have bought this product. However, I did buy the machine and I was not ready to admit to my wife that I''d made a mistake. After experimenting I''ve convinced myself that the lid button when new is a little sticky and that making sure it moves freely will avoid flooding. This has worked uneventfully for the past few days and we''ve enjoyed our coffee.
This Calphalon is a big coffeemaker. It has a removable water reservoir, and I think that''s why it''s half again as big as my old Braun with its built-in water tank. And one more observation: the Calphalon''s "auto pause and serve valve" should be called "slows down dripping somewhat when you remove the carafe". I think I would give this machine 3 1/2 stars if I could but I''ll round up and give it four stars.
Updated October 2012: "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him."
Our Calphalon coffee maker expired today, less than a year after we bought it. After it made this morning''s coffee we detected an electrical odor and it appears that the heating element burned out. (I opened it up to conduct a post-mortem.) I see that other reviewers have reported this problem.
My wife''s reaction when I told her that the machine had died was "oh good." She was tired of wrestling with the screw-on carafe lid, having to wipe up spills whenever we poured coffee from the carafe, and the "auto pause" feature never quite working. I leapt onto Amazon and ordered a new machine from a different manufacturer.
I''ll take away two stars from the Calaphon due to its early demise and leave it with two stars since it did make pretty good coffee for almost a year.
Buy Calphalon Electric 10-Cup Quick Brew Thermal Coffeemaker Now
Have you ever read the reviews on ANY coffee maker? Check them out on any brand and you''ll find the same complaints. Most of these are user error. Let''s start with the biggie, coffee leaks all over the countertop when brewing. Older coffee makers shot the water over the grounds in the filter with a single stream of water. New units transfer the water with something resembling a shower head. If you put a paper filter in the unit and it isn''t perfectly placed, the heated water will fold the paper filter over and water will leak everywhere. You don''t need to concern yourself with this problem on this unit as it comes with a gold, metal filter. Don''t use paper filters. Besides that, the gold filter saves you money.I bought his unit because it has a metal, thermal carafe. Glass carafes break. Units with glass carafes have plate type heaters to keep the coffee warm. This causes the water in the coffee to evaporate rendering the coffee horrible in a short period of time. With the thermal carafe the coffee is kept warm for hours and you can take the carafe to the dinner table or desk in your office. The next common complaint is about the tops on all the thermal carafes. In order for the coffee to remain warm in the thermal carafe, the lid must fit securely. People are not careful in putting the lid on the carafe and strip the threads on the lid. When the threads become stripped, the lid will leak. When you screw on the lid, make sure that it screws on evenly. You won''t have any problems.
This unit brews 10 cups in about 2 minutes. It''s smokin'' fast. It also has several brewing modes, bold, 1-4 cups and a combination of both bold and 1-4 cups. When you set the timer for auto brewing, the mode you have set does not show in the display.
The unit looks great on the countertop and it''s smokin'' fast. Take my tips into consideration and you will enjoy some great coffee.
UPDATE: The coffee maker simply quit working after approximately one month. I returned it.
Read Best Reviews of Calphalon Electric 10-Cup Quick Brew Thermal Coffeemaker Here
The mechanism that is meant to seal off the pot to keep it hot does not work propoerly and coffee spills all over the counter and floor when it brews. This happened 4 out of the first 10 times I used the machine, plan to take it back immediately. As mentioned in a previous review the lid also leaks when pouring. For a fairly expensive coffee maker, this is pathetic, doesn''t even do the basics correctly. Please do not buy this product.Want Calphalon Electric 10-Cup Quick Brew Thermal Coffeemaker Discount?
I was a bit skeptical as I really liked (mostly) our old Cuisinart thermal 12-cup maker (owned two) but one day it just stopped turning on every time probably fro an overflow of coffee earlier. My wife works at Macy''s and got this one with her discount. Wasn''t sure . at first...I now like it a lot!I will echo what another poster said... most complaints on this maker are user inflicted. It does require some thought and effort. Unlike the Cuisinart which was stupid simple to use.
Pros...
Great tasting hot coffee, Very fast, Looks good, Removable Water tank, gold-tone filter.
Cons...
More daily maintenance, only 10-cup, instructions not clear. Stupid time setting no skipping fast forward etc.
Mid-pour does not not work at all.
Here are my trial and error pointers when using this particular coffee maker...
First, make sure you clean the thermal carafe out every time, to avoid forgetting and making another pot. That makes a total mess. I did this at first. Since you have an removable reservoir you may forget there is liquid already in the carafe. I did.
Second, There are three arrows on the lid.. use them! The unlabeled arrow is he "brew" arrow... the other labeled ones are "pour" and "lock". Take the time to set the proper arrow. Also be very careful when you initially screw the cap on. Line the threads up.
Third, rinse out the carbon filter in tank before you put in reservoir to get rid of a lot excess carbon. I have RO filtered water so after it wears out (3 months)I''ll probably not use their carbon filter system.
In all I like it! It has more daily maintenance time than the Cuisinart, makes much better coffee. I think if you are OK with the daily maintenance to keep this run running smooth its a great good looking choice. I does make coffee faster which is nice and the carafe opening is large enough and shallow enough that you can really clean the carafe unlike the Cuisinart which got really black really quick over time.
We are keeping the Cuisinart thermal carafe as a backup as it does a better job maintaining the temperature over many hours.. for parties etc. This one keeps coffee hot but for not the same amount of hours.
4 stars just because it isn''t perfect... I''m sure no coffee maker is "perfect". They all have pluses and minuses.
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