Coffee & Espresso Makers Tips

Poor Quality, Short Life Cuisinart DTC 975 12 Cup Coffee Maker I bought my original DTC-975 in September of 2004 when I was faced with getting up at 6:15 am to get my daughter t...

generally OK, as long as you don’t get the odd lemon Cuisinart DTC 975 12 Cup Coffee Maker Loved this coffeemaker from the moment I got it, after carefully reading as MANY reviews as a month's worth of onl...

Summary:

Carafe keeps the coffee hot for a very long time. Carafe lid design eliminates buttons and pumps to pour coffee and keeps coffee hotter. The controls are at the base so steam will not harm the electronics. Simple to operate. Does have a programmable start time.

Some facts:

12 cups is actually 8 cups (as measured by a Pyrex measuring cup)

Coffee maker stands nearly 15 3/4″ tall.

If carafe is preheated, the brewed coffee temperature in the carafe is 190 degrees.

Using 68 degree tap water, it takes about 10 minutes to complete a 12 cup brewing cycle.

14 hours after filling the carafe with boiling water, the water temperature in the carafe was 160 degrees.

There’s a small but bright red light below the ‘on’ button indicating that the brewing process is active.

This is a picture of the tiny LCD with an American dime (10 cent piece). Note that there’s no light to indicate that the ‘Auto On’ has been activated.

http://i9.tinypic.com/3ziygl2.jpg

Carafe and top (lid) are not dishwasher safe.

Pros:

Using a “gold” mesh filter, the coffee maker produces near french press taste. WARNING: Use the coarsest grind to prevent basket overflow when using the mesh filter.

The carafe does a remarkable job of maintaining the temperature. It’s the best thermos I’ve ever had.

Once the top (lid) is screwed onto the carafe, you can brew then pour coffee without any further actions whatsoever. No buttons, pumps or need to unscrew the top to pour coffee.

Unbreakable metal carafe.

No carafe warming element that might go bad. Simpler design with less potential problems.

Cons:

The buttons are not waterproof. There is a gap around each button that will allow water to pass through that could possibly ruin the electronics.

The LCD with the time and auto settings is small (tiny?) and nearly impossible to read. The LCD is about 1.25″ by 1/2″. The lettering is about 1/16″ tall. It is not illuminated. The time is reset when you lose power (no battery backup).

It beeps 5 times when the brewing cycle has completed and there is no option to modify the sound or number of beeps.

The basket can be difficult to swing open. If the basket is filled with hot water and you try for some reason to open the basket during the brewing process, all the force used to swing the basket open may cause the hot water to spill out.

There is no 1-4 cup slow drip switch.

Questionable warranty. Except for residents of California, the consumer must prepay $10.00 (check or money order) to have the product serviced while under warranty. “To facilitate the speed and accuracy of your return, please also enclose $10.00 for shipping and handling of the product…”

My conclusions

I wanted a simple, hopefully trouble-free coffee maker. I didn’t want a built-in bean grinder, water-filter or carafe heating element.

The carafe is ideal for us since I make coffee several hours before my wife wakes up. She likes fresh, hot coffee but doesn’t like making it.

I have other clocks in the kitchen so I’m not bothered by the near useless LCD. I also don’t use the programmable feature so the 1/16″ letters don’t affect me. If they had the same coffee maker without the LCD and programmable feature I would have gladly bought it.

The optional $10 “gold” filter mesh is very tight. If the coffee is not coarse enough or you’re attempting to make 12 cups of coffee, expect a mess from spillover. A slow drip feature would have prevented this problem. I’m returning the “gold” filter.

Although the carafe can keep the coffee hot for a long time, the coffee flavor deteriorates far faster than it becomes cool.

Using the same exact beans, this coffee maker made far better coffee then the coffee maker that I replaced. Ultimately, that’s all that counts.

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