Coffee & Espresso Makers Tips

Cuisinart Brew Central™ DCC-1200W 12-Cup Coffee Maker Product Technical DetailsEMGDCC1200W Key FeaturesTypeCoffee MakerBuilt-in Water Fi...

Could this coffee pot BE any cooler?!! Cuisinart Brew Central DCC 1200W 12 Cup Coffee Maker When I went shopping for a new Coffee Pot, I had one thing in mind - it had to be silver. This turned out to be h...

We bought the DCC-1200 to replace a old Mr. Coffee machine and we wanted one that followed some of the “best practices” of coffee making. Given that we fill it with grounds the night before and it might sit on the heater for an hour sometimes before we serve the coffee we are probably the limiting factor as far as quality goes. We also wanted something a little more refined. The DC-1200 seemed to fit the bill with good reviews and we had $100 in mall gift certificates so we picked on up at Macy’s for $99.

It does make good coffee and it’s fairly quick so the grounds don’t have a chance to give off too much of the bitter flavor. We generally do about 6-8 cups and it seems to take less than 5 minutes.

The “gold-tone” filter seems to work for us. If you plan to buy paper filters get size #4.

I am not sure if we will buy more of the charcoal filters. They were kind of pricey if you don’t have a serious water issue.

When it comes to some of those refinements we were looking for I have to say I was rather disappointed. Here are some specifics.

- Brushed aluminum - Looks nice but shows fingerprints easily

- White plastic – Bad choice on our part. It shows everyplace that coffee touches. We keep ours quite clean but it’s unsightly if it’s not perfectly clean. Even the top of the carafe shows the brown rings. I am tempted to buy a replacement black carafe.

- Fill markers - We have a facet that pulls out and we use that to fill the coffee maker. This unit is not that easy to see in to if you plan to use a pull out facet. If you fill the carafe then you don’t really need the markers inside. The unit is also tall and it makes it harder to look inside. Cuisinart makes another coffee maker that has a float that is visible from the outside. That would be nice here.

- Clock – This is meant for setting once and never looking at again. It is a small LCD display that is impossible to read unless you really have to. We used to look at our old one to see what time it is. Not anymore.

- Mode dial – This knob has small labels and almost no way to tell which mode it’s pointing to without looking very closely. There is a thin line painted on the knob instead of a molded indicator that you could see more easily.

Even after a month of trying to like our new coffee maker I have to say that the Mr. Coffee has a much better display and controls. I would suggest that you handle the unit and try everything to see if it works for you.

Overall, I don’t think I would buy this unit again. I would have bought the model with the thermal carafe if it weren’t for the fact that coffee cools down too fast if you don’t preheat the carafe (with hot water). This is hard to do if you use the timer. I will never buy another white one.

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Cuisinart Brew Central CBC-00BKPC 12-Cup Coffee Maker Key FeaturesTypeCoffee MakerCapacity12 Cup Technical FeaturesPause-and-serveWith Pa...

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If you value style over substance… Cuisinart Brew Central DCC 1200W 12 Cup Coffee Maker I awakened two days ago and stumbled to the kitchen for my early morning infusion of coffee only to find that my l...

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