Coffee Maker

39 Replies

I have a boring household-appliance topic to discuss, and on such a pretty day too, oh well. My coffee-maker is gradually perishing, and I’d like to get a replacement BEFORE it suddenly stops working. The one I have is a 12-cup Black and Decker; it was a model only sold at Target. When I bought it, I was replacing my old 4-cup Mr. Coffee, which had given many years of good service but was no longer adequate for my coffee needs.

I am feeling a little irritable that the Black and Decker already needs replacement, because I see I bought it in September 2015. Two and a half years is not a long time for a $40-on-sale appliance to last. I’d had the $10-on-sale-for-$8.99 Mr. Coffee for well over a decade and it was still doing great. In fact, I wrapped it in plastic and stored it in the basement in case I want it back someday.

Here are the things that are going wrong with the current coffee maker:

1. The clock runs too fast to use, and inconsistently: I can’t use the programmable feature anymore or it’ll brew my coffee at some random time during the night.

2. This clock problem also affects the auto-shut-off: it’s supposed to stay on for 2 hours, but is more like an hour and 20 minutes.

3. The heating plate has thickly rusted, so the coffee doesn’t stay very hot anyway: I have to pour a cup and then put it in the microwave for a bit.

4. The coffee pot never brewed the coffee as hot as I’d like it to be, though that was okay before the other things went wrong.

 

Here are the things I’d like in a replacement:

1. Probably not Black and Decker? Though I’d be willing to believe this was a problem with a particular model and not with the brand overall. I see at the time of purchase I found a bunch of poor reviews, though they were about leaking and taste.

2. Programmable. I lovvvvvvve having the coffee waiting for me in the morning.

3. Brews nice and hot. I don’t want to be able to take a big sip right away and then have to put the mug in the microwave if I don’t drink the whole cupful in a few minutes.

4. Roughly 12-cup size. Not 4-cup. Not one-cup-at-a-time. I typically brew 6-8 cups per day.

5. Not expensive. I would enjoy hearing about a $300 coffee maker, but I’m not going to buy it. I’m going to buy something on sale at Target or on a nice discount at Amazon and we all know it.

6. Nothing fancy. I want the kind where I put in a filter and some coffee grounds and some water, and I press a button and it makes the coffee. Well, maybe I could be talked into something a LITTLE fancier: look how I’ve come around to the programmable feature. When I worked at a doughnut shop as a teenager, there was a coffee maker you put whole beans into, and it would grind the beans first and then brew the coffee. That would be neato, but likely takes us out of the price range.

 

 

Update 01-12-2019: I put the decision off month after month, until last night I dropped my old coffee pot’s carafe and it shattered, so now I’m using my old 4-cup maker until the new one arrives. I chose the Cuisinart DCC-3200 14-cup Programmable Coffee Maker. The other two I considered were the Hamilton Beach FlexBrew and the Mr. Coffee Optimal Brew Thermal System. I liked that I could brew a single serving or use K-Cups with the Hamilton Beach one, but in the end decided I probably WOULDN’T do that, or at least not often enough to be worth it; I’m still not sure this was the right decision. I liked that the Mr. Coffee was a Mr. Coffee, and also that it’s the same one my brother and sister-in-law have so I’d find it easy to make coffee when I’m at their house; and I know from experience that it keeps the coffee nice and hot; but I don’t like the set-up of it, and I don’t like that I can’t see into the carafe. So Cuisinart it is.

39 thoughts on “Coffee Maker”

  1. Becky (@omg_youguys)

    I have been using Cuisinart Grind & Brews for YEARS. I’m on a single-cup version now, but before that I had full-size carafes. I think they run around $100, or $120 if you get one with a thermal carafe instead of a heating plate. They’re programmable, and if you’re using pre-ground coffee you can bypass the grind step.

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  2. Beth

    We have this one. We have had it for 4 years and find it reliably programmable. We make 8 cups a day in the morning, but the feature I like is that it can also make 1 cup via a pod. I don’t do this everyday but I like the option of a cup of decaf later in the day without having to make a lot.https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hamilton-beach-flexbrew-12-cup-coffeemaker-multi/1664745.p?skuId=1664745&ref=212&loc=1&ksid=de47b44c-3af4-4cca-9d54-6d4aaf243816&ksprof_id=13&ksaffcode=pg250293&ksdevice=m&lsft=ref:212,loc:2

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  3. Nora Cain

    I had the cuisinart grind and brew for a year or so and the dealbreaker for me was the cleanup. I found that during the grinding process grounds would get everywhere (inside), and then the steam during the brew process made me feel like my filter had exploded. Not for me. I am interested to hear these recommendations because I always feel like I’m on the hunt for the same exact thing. I’m on a Mr. Coffee now but made the mistake of not getting the programmable version and I miss it. Also I like to find one that stops dripping briefly for me to steal a cup mid brew since I usually cannot wait.

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  4. Guinevere

    We have a Cuisinart Brew Central 14-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker (I think it’s the CBC-6500PC) which has all the features you mention and *also* has a dial where you can set the temperature of the hot plate to Low, Medium or High. (You also get a button to push “bold” or “regular” for the brewing process, which I am gathering has to do with the heat of the water dumped through the beans, which I could investigate for you with a thermometer.) I like hotter coffee too so I have found this to be a substantial upgrade from our previous coffee maker. It’s also BPA-free which I liked, even though the non-BPA plastic has other plastic softeners. We paid $60 and we bought it from Costco which means that if it stops working in the manner you describe we can return it for a refund for any reason.

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    2. Jen

      I have this one as well and I love it. It makes good coffee (I always press the bold option and keep the plate on medium heat) and I like the 14 cups for when I have other coffee-loving guests over. It took me a bit to adjust to the gold filter because it does leave some sediment in the bottom of the cup but I also don’t like the taste of a paper filter any longer so it’s the price I pay for a reusable filter. At any rate I was really worried about replacing my trusted old Mr coffee pot but this one ended up being great. I skipped the grinding option because it’s a bit noisy and I am usually brewing before all of my family is awake. Also the tone when the coffee is done sounds like a smoke alarm with a low battery so I also leave that off. Good luck finding one!

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    1. Megan

      I have a Hamilton beach that is very similar to this and absolutely love it. Mine is five years old and still works great.

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    2. Jill

      Yes! This! I “upgraded” to this model from a regular carafe after two of mine inexplicably broke (after having similarly owned a Mr. Coffee for a decade). I tried-and was underwhelmed by-a Keurig and then bought this Hamilton Beach after reading the Amazon reviews. You can program it (I never do b/c I never have the forethought at night) and it keeps warm for four hours before shutting itself off. It never gets burnt tasting and is really easy to clean. The only thing about it is most guests need help figuring out to pour coffee the first time, but even that usually results in them feeling dumb once they realize how it works. I highly recommend it (like, came to comment even after seeing 30+ comments on coffee makers already ahead of mine, highly recommend)

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  6. Gwen

    We have the older version of this Hamilton Beach Thermal Carafe:

    https://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-46896A-Stainless-Thermal/dp/B01CY9LRHY

    It’s probably more expensive than what I would want to pay ($50), but I’m very cheap. My husband is the coffee drinker and his old one died unexpectedly so he ordered one right away that met his needs.

    It’s programmable and the thermal carafe keeps coffee warm for a long time. He likes it, although he’s switched to tea so now it only gets occasional use.

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  7. Brenna

    I bought this one on a Black Friday deal last year. I guess I can’t really speak to it’s reliab just yet, but I looooove it. You can brew a whole pot in the carafe, or it has a single cup feature, where you can either use k-cups or regular grounds in the reusable basket. I generally only have time for 1 cup before work, so I use the single cup during the week, and then will brew a pot on weekend days.

    Hamilton Beach 49976 Flex brew 2-Way Brewer Programmable Coffee Maker, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y2WCHDV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_c8vaawJ8JyJzC

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  8. Stimey

    It bothers me greatly when I have a perfect and super cheap item that works for years and then it finally dies, because the replacement NEVER works as good as the first. I don’t know why that is.

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    1. rlbelle

      I had my great-grandmother’s old coffee maker from the 1970s and it worked for about a decade for me before finally dying for good – which means it was functional for something like 40 years. The coffee maker we replaced it with lasted for about three years.

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  9. Meowmix

    I have a Bunn. I love having hot water always available. I also use it for tea or hot chocolate or oatmeal, etc. The only negative is that I have to run vinegar through it and also run a skinny long tool through it to descale it.

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    1. BKC

      I was coming to the comments to recommend the model before yours: https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Coffee-Optimal-Coffeemaker-BVMC-PSTX91-RB/dp/B0037ZG3DS/

      My aunt gifted us our very first coffee maker with a removable water reservoir and now it’s required feature. I guess most people are just more coordinated than me, but I invariably spill water everywhere pouring it into the machine. This one gets you a full HOT pot in like 7 minutes. My only beef with the carafe style is it’s kind of heavy and I can’t see how much coffee is left, but we use it up every day so it doesn’t really matter.

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      1. CYP

        …I broke my significant other’s cell phone because he left it next to the coffee pot and I poured water on it. I maintain that he should have known better than to leave it there since it was the coffee pot HE brought to the relationship and he should have known that when you pour from the carafe to the reservoir it inevitably landed on the counter.

        (We were due for an upgrade on phones anyway.)

        I can’t speak to the current coffee pot debate, because I loves my Keurig, but I have always loved the Bunn office coffeemakers. You don’t need to sneak a cup because it’s FAST. I’d rather spend $100 and have what I want than spend less and have something inferior. Coffee = every day, so on a per-use basis, an expensive coffee maker is probably more practical than an expensive [insert rarely-used gadget].

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      2. SIL Anna

        I was going to recommend the same one as Melissa, too! I really like the removable water reservoir because then I don’t have to wash out the carafe if I want to make more in the same pot.

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  11. Jennifer

    We have a Krups that we got for a wedding gift 22 years ago. It is coffee and espresso/cappuccino but we mostly do coffee. It does not have a clock and I ca is not programmable (because OMG OLD) but I love it. Here is what I would buy if I was replacing it: https://www.target.com/p/krups-coffee-maker/-/A-52580592?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&CPNG=PLA_Appliances+Shopping&adgroup=SC_Appliances&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=m&location=9019798&gclid=CjwKCAjw7tfVBRB0EiwAiSYGMxaRIPW2N8OnMhUEbHYTCSv94X0-K32YFJCH6MklK932Ovqsdb27RRoC8BcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

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  13. Lauren

    My Cuisinart coffee maker is about as old as my kids (9-11) and significantly less messy. I don’t have the one that grinds beans, but it is programmable and it does let you choose to keep the carafe at L, M, or H temp.

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    1. Shari

      We have a cuisinart without the grinder too – going strong since we got it for our wedding 13 years ago. We were just talking about it yesterday that we would replace with the same model. Highly recommended. And get a gold filter! Saved a ton of money over the years.

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  15. Abbie

    Ours is a Capresso. It does 10 cups, is programmable, and we bought it because my husband wanted very hot coffee. It has lived up to its claim. It also keeps it hot- he sets it to brew at 6:00 and I drink the rest at 7:00 and it’s piping hot when I get it.

    This is it: https://www.google.com/search?q=Capresso+484.05+MG600+Plus+10-Cup+Programmable+Coffee+Maker+with+Glass+Carafe&sa=X&biw=375&bih=553&noj=1&tbs=vw:l,ss:44&tbm=shop&srpd=2123564339185525979&prds=epd:13887700555399799604,paur:ClkAsKraX1o8nvjhZw6jeE7HG_dS2PhRg8QbGw7bfIdAlmIklJ4ZcYzLaiCNnoy__AtKWRlt81QXRaNlqBjxvci7v8E-wJQWHLbrRHpRxoIzLH55MSRjknzHoRIZAFPVH72qvJyN4n7igY7mZHUmD3UGFLWN3g,cdl:1,cid:10490318556338679449&ved=0ahUKEwir24_g2YXaAhXqilQKHYi1DvAQgTYIhQM

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  16. Maureen

    I don’t have a recommendation for a coffee maker, because we’ve used a Keurig for years, and it sounds like that isn’t what you would want. BUT…I do have a recommendation of where to buy your coffee maker. Bed, Bath and Beyond has a wonderful return policy, that I believe is still in effect. No matter how long ago you buy something, they will replace it if it goes bad. We might spend a bit more shopping there, but like others have said, appliances just don’t last as long as they used to. When something breaks, we bring it back and exchange it for something else-no questions asked.

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  19. Misguided mommy

    I literally bought a coffee pot yesterday. I bought this one for the second time in five years. To be clear the first one would have had many years left in it, but I made a poor cleaning choice, and then rage threw away the entire coffee maker and bought a new one. It’s programmable. The clock has never changed. It says on two hours. Plus you can pick between strong brew or normal brew. It comes with a little water filter. For $30.00 the price is just right, plus I love love love the red color!

    https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mr-Coffee-Advanced-Brew-12-Cup-Programmable-Coffee-Maker-Red-BVMC-SJX36GT/17770998?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222228014489434&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=40345618352&wl4=pla-86969399676&wl5=9030897&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=17770998&wl13=&veh=sem

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    1. Misguided mommy

      Also re: cold coffee. I find, that if I’m having one of those days where maybe I need coffee for more than two hour, that after 1.5 hours I go add a half a cup of water to the machine, turn it on, and start the timer over. It injects a small enough amount of hot water to warm the coffee without watering it down, and I add two hours to my timer Before it shuts off

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  20. Jd

    I have an espresso machine, so am serious about coffee. I recommend Seattle Coffee gear as the place to look at drip coffee machine options . They carry excellent quality machines, have fair reviews and have a great policy regarding returns/service.

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  21. Katie

    I also have a Cuisinart without a grinder. I strongly recommend the stainless steel thermal carafe if you are like me and drink coffee slowly. The carafe keeps the coffee hot for hours without getting that burned taste coffee gets after sitting on a burner (mine doesn’t even have a burner and still stays hot). I also like that it doesn’t use paper filters.

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  23. Kristin H

    I am a tea person so I can’t contribute here, but if you ever want to talk microwaves, I would be ALL EARS. We bought a new one a couple years ago and somehow it has become so, so loud. I love everything about it, but it has to go because we can’t hear each other talk over it.

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  24. Amelia Cook

    We have twice in 15 years purchased the Mr. Coffee 12-cup programmable coffee maker available at Costco. What I love about it is the reusable filter (my kids keep saying that I will save the planet one day by making everything in our house reusable). The temperature is variable with a dial (ours is always turned all the way up) and if you break the glass carafe (who does that? Certainly not me…), replacements are cheap and readily available. I seem to recall it being about $50, but who knows. I often let Costco do the research on the best brand for me and I figure if they’re selling it with their generous return policy, it’s probably durable and good. So far, that bears out. Good luck!

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    1. Melissa

      I’m seconding this – we’ve done the same. It’s not expensive but it’s been reliable; the reason we had to buy the second one was that we didn’t use the coffeemaker for 2+ weeks and that caused it to start leaking upon our return. (We’re in a dry climate.) Since then I’ve filled the reservoir if we’re going away for a week, and have not had the problem again.

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  25. Mary

    I love my coffee pot! It’s a Bonavita with a thermal carafe. It’s got an extremely simple design, it brews hot, the carafe keeps the coffee got for hours and the coffee it makes is delish. It is not programmable, however, and probably more than you want to spend but I still feel compelled to share for posterity.

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  27. Farrell

    This one: Ninja Coffee Bar Brewer, Thermal Carafe (CF087) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0174FD5TQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_yuwZAbBNDRZTS
    Love it love it love it. $111 on Amazon; $152 at Target.
    However I will say that sadly things just aren’t made as nicely anymore bc I have your same exact problem- the clock will no longer set and therefore the timed brew is useless and I am NOT a patient person period, let alone in the morning before my first cup of coffee. I too purchased this model in 2015 and it is expiring. I had to make a choice though and spent my coffee maker money on Hamilton tickets. NO REGRETS.

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