Black & Decker TCM830 10-Cup Thermal Stainless-Steel Coffeemaker
by Black & Decker
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Our Price: $67.62
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Category: Kitchen
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Product Summary
Manufacturer: Black & DeckerBrand: Black & Decker
Release Date: 2004-12-01
Model: TCM830
Color: Black/stainless
Product features:
- 10-cup stainless steel thermal carafe
- Thermal carafe keeps coffee hot and tastefully fresh for hours
- Programmable digital clock with auto off and touch pad controls
- Water window and removable brew basket
- Water reservoir easily detaches for filling convenience
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Black & Decker TCM830 10-Cup Thermal Stainless-Steel Coffeemaker
Customer Review: Makes good coffee, thermal carafe keeps coffee hot.
Summary: 4 Stars
I been using this TCM830 coffee maker since early September and I'm happy with it. It brews a full pot of coffee to my liking in nine to ten minutes and keeps it hot for two or three hours with little fuss. The ten cup machine holds 50 onces of coffee, ten "regulation" 5 ounce cups, or just over six 8 ounce mugs to most of us.
I like the lift-out brew basket and the removable water reservoir. I fill the water reservoir in the sink and drop it into the coffee maker without having to pour any water and possibly spilling onto the coffee maker. There is a D shaped overflow hole in the reservoir to prevent over filling the reservoir, it's right next to the reservoir handle. Water can drip from this hole if you tilt the reservoir or slosh the water as you carry it. If you carry the reservoir with your left hand and cover the D hole with your left index finger there's no drips.
The cone shaped brew basket uses a #4 cone filter. I also tried using the old style 8 to 12 cup flat bottomed filters by forming them to fit the brew basket and they work fine too. I use two rounded 1/8 cup measures of coffee to make a ten cup pot to my liking.
The thermal carafe if basically an oversized stainless steel thermos bottle, with a handle and a pour spout. The metal bottom and metal sides stay cold, the plastic top gets slightly warm, that's where most of the heat from the coffee is lost. Coffee can be poured from the carafe by turning the lid about 1/2 turn until the arrow on the lid lines up with the spout. There's a spring loaded "poppet" valve in the carafe lid that lets the coffee drip into the carafe during brewing. This valve closes when the carafe is removed from the machine to seal the carafe and reduce the heat loss. The coffee stays hot longer if the carafe is removed as soon as the brewing is finished. The opening in the top of the carafe is about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, so a bottle brush is needed to clean the carafe.
The carafe lid screws into the carafe and seals it like a thermos bottle stopper. The lid can be tricky to start in its threads. There is only one spot when lid drops squarely into its threads and it's easy to tighten the lid every time from that spot. The spot is where the pour arrow on the lid is pointing about 1/3 turn to the right (clockwise) from the spout. I marked this spot with a silver magic marker line at 4 o'clock from the spout, and haven't had any problems inserting the lid since then. I'm surprized Black and Decker doesn't mark this spot to begin with.
The carafe is a little tricky to put into the machine until you get used to it. There is some drag on the carafe as it goes into place. The poppet valve on the carafe's lid drags against and pushes up on a second "no drip" poppet valve on the bottom of the brew basket to open both valves for brewing. The carafe is easier to insert when you use two hands, one to hold the carafe and one to keep the machine from sliding. It also helps if your put the water in the machine to give it more weight before you put the carafe in. It's also easier to insert the carafe if you depress the poppet on the carafe lid with your index finger as you start it into the machine. The carafe drops slightly over a raised boss to hold it in the correct place under the brew basket. Another Amazon.com reviewer said the carafe is easiest to insert and to verify it's in the right position with the handle straight out over the digital display, that helps for me too.
You can extend the time that the coffee stays hot in the carafe by pre-heating the inside of the carafe with hot water, the same as you would with a thermos bottle. Since most of the coffee's heat is lost through the plastic top of the carafe, I've found that if I lay a wide flat one cup plastic measuring cup upside down over the top of the carafe, like the cup on the top of a thermos bottle, and lay a hand towel over that I double the length of time the coffee stays hot as I gradually drink it, out to mid-afternoon.
Overall this is a good coffee maker with some great features: thermal carafe; removable water reservoir and lift-out brew basket, and some quirks: tricky carafe lid and carafe drags when inserting it into the machine. The quirks are no problem for me once I learned how to deal with them. I bought this coffee maker a Lowes hardware for about $50 and I'm happy with it. A good metal thermal carafe alone can cost around half the price of this coffee maker.
Description of Black & Decker TCM830 10-Cup Thermal Stainless-Steel Coffeemaker
Balck & Decker's 10 cup Stainless Steel Thermal Coffee Maker has that smooth sleak look that become very popular in homes across the country. The advantage of Thermal Coffee Makers is that you do not have to re-heat your coffee or leave your coffee over a heating element which causes the flavor to be comprimised. Simply brew and trust that each cup will have the same great flavor every cup.Drip Coffee Machines
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