Cuisinart DCC-2000 Coffee-on-Demand 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Brushed Metal
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Cuisinart DCC-2000 Coffee-on-Demand 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Brushed Metal
Customer Review: Great coffee and great fun.
Summary: 5 Stars
I finally did it right. Wrote my review AFTER owning the machine for a month. This coffeemaker is a blast! First of all, makes terrific coffee. I am a coffee lover. I don't like to have to settle when it comes to my brew. This machine makes terrific coffee. High-temp extraction, utilizing a showerhead design wrings every good phytochemical out of your grind. Equally important, the machine is easy to use. The entire coffee/grind holding assembly lifts out for easy cleaning. Let me make clear that just because there is no carafe, doesn't mean that there is nothing to clean! This isn't magic. There are just as many parts as you would find in an ordinary coffee maker, only they are arranged differently so as to brew the coffee internally, and that's where the fun begins. I have to tell you that programming this thing to make coffee in the morning, walking into the kitchen, putting my cup under the spout and dispensing a fresh, hot perfectly brewed cup of coffee is a uniquely enjoyable experience. Makes me feel like George Jetson. The machine looks great too, if you go for the stainless/black look like I do. The only downsides I can see are 1. You need to fill the machine with another vessel of your choosing. I used to do this part of the process with my carafe. There is no carafe, so in a way, you have to improvise using your own substitute carafe. 2. Because there is no carafe, you might have issues with serving coffee to company. You either have to bring in the cups and fill them yourself, fill a third-party thermal carafe and bring it to the table, or let the company serve themselves. I go for the latter, because everyone seems to enjoy playing with the dispenser. 3. This unit keeps the coffee hot utilizing an internal hotplate. The temperature of the plate is pretty carefully regulated, but if you leave the coffee in there for more than an hour, it will develop a burnt taste. It would have been cool if they had been able to utilize an internal thermal carafe, obviating the need for the hotplate, but c'est la vie. Overall, I love this machine and would recommend it highly.Customer Review: Didn't Last Long!
Summary: 1 Stars
This coffee maker only lasted a year and half. It intermittently works for me right now. I have to unplug it overnight and then plug it back in in the morning and hope it works. Sometimes it will work right away and sometimes it will take a half hour before the coffee will start brewing. I've had to make trips to Starbucks quite a few mornings.
It has gotten a normal amount a use. I use it every morning and sometimes in the evenings and for company.
Cons:
-Water drips down the back when opened. There is a small lip in the center, top back that is meant to catch condensation, but there needs to be a lip along the entire top back.
-To fill the coffee maker with water I have to use a measuring cup with a spout so that the water doesn't spill down the side.
-Since my coffee maker is on the kitchen counter under a cupboard I have to slide it in and out when filling it with water and coffee. When I fill the reservoir all the way to the top to make 12 cups, the water spills out the hole in the top back when I push the coffee maker back under the cupboard. I use a towel to place over the hole while I'm pushing the coffee maker back in to place.
-The service area isn't tall enough to fit a "to go" coffee cup. I have to remove the drip tray to use a short "to go" cup. If I want to use a taller "to go" cup I have to remove the drip tray and move the coffee maker to the edge of the counter so that the cup can fit in the service area.
Pros:
-When it works it makes good coffee.
-I like the delay brew feature so that I can set the coffee maker to go off in the morning. But a lot of coffee makers have this feature.
-I like that I can set the coffee maker to turn off in 1-3 hours.
I would not recommend this coffe maker because for the price it should have lasted longer than one and a half years. My cheap Mr. Coffee lasted about 5 years.
Customer Review: Good Coffee but very Inconvenient
Summary: 2 Stars
We do not own the Cuisanart DCC-2000 coffeemaker, but we have used it on several occassions at resorts. We find it makes good enough coffee, but is very inconvenient to use.
First, filling with water is a nuisance, since the reservior has no measurements on it; these are on the side of the base unit and are hard to see while trying to empty water into a narrow slot in the base. I usually spill some water on the counter if I pour and try to watch the level at the same time. Second, the reservoir is heavy and "clunky" due to a water gauge mechansim built in it that clunks as you move it. And the reservoir is nearly impossible to clean well; one can only rinse it out. (I do not put it in the dishwasher since it may wreck the spigot and cause leaks.)
While the coffee is being brewed, I need to lift the lid a bit and watch that the coffee does not overflow the coffee filter. When it gets close to overflowing I turn the unit off until the level drops. If not watched, it can and has spilled coffee and grounds all over. Seems the more cups of coffee one makes (hence more grounds), the more likely it is to overflow. It is a nuisance to have to baby-sit the unit as it brews, and to me it elimnates the use of the timer to have coffee ready when you get up; you may have a mess to clean up instead.
Once the coffee is brewed, one cannot tell how much coffee is in the tank; there is a gauge on the front, but it reads too low and is quite useless. (A full 12 cup brew shows as about 3/4 full on the gauge, and it shows empty when there are still several cups left.)
Pouring coffee is easy enough, but also has issues. The pour area is not tall enough for travel mugs, and the taller the mug the less clearance to see when it is full, presenting another opportunity to spill.
In summary, between trouble filling, possible overflows while brewing, issues with pouring into mugs, and not knowing how much coffee is left, I would not buy the DCC-2000 and cannot recommend it.
Customer Review: Excellent Product - But Does Require Regular Maintenance
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great model to consider - it's a hybrid of a commercial level coffee dispenser and a consumer level plain and simple drip brewer, with Cuisinart's quality behind it. Check all the dimensions and specifics and weigh them against your needs. The dispensing area is not tall enough to take a tall commuter mug, even with the tray removed to reveal a little cut in that adds 3/4" to the zone. I like it as a home office unit because it brews quickly, I can empty it and start another pot quickly if need be and there is no spillage. The advantage on this unit over some other similar styles from other manufacturers is that you don't push your cup against something to dispense the coffee, it's up to you to depress the dispensing mechanism. An odd disadvantage is that if you have a dark colored coffee cup and are taller than oh say 5' 1" you have to lean in and look at the cup as it fills.
I bought a water pitcher from Coffee Authority in Texas which pours beautifully into the water input tank - an oval shaped thing that makes the pour-in very easy.
Here's the thing with this unit - it is WAY sensitive on the filter / de-scaling side of things. If yours "suddenly stops working" or "the light goes on but it doesn't brew", de-scale it with a vinegar/water cycle on a regular basis. And change the filter now and then. You may think the already-filtered water you're putting in is awesome and eliminates the need, but sometimes that's just not the case. I run the vinegar/water thing once a month now and it's all smooth sailing. Mine had "died" after about a year and a half and came right back to life after a maintenance session.
On a very individual note, one thing I like about this unit the most is the disappearance of spilled dried coffee dots and splashes on my counter when other people are serving themselves coffee from the dispenser. Seems even the most careful, attentive guest or home office visitor / customer can get a cuppa without leaving remnants behind.
Customer Review: Expensive for less than one year and a big mess to use
Summary: 1 Stars
This Cuisinart DCC-2000 Coffee-on-Demand coffee pot looks great but is probably the worst coffee pot I ever bought. For $80.00 I got a coffee pot that completely spills water EVERYWHERE when you fill it up, lasted only 13 months and became a fire hazard. Poor design on where to fill the tank. Not only does the water spill over the back side of the coffee maker while filling, if you don't pour in the water at just the right flow, water will overflow into a "back out drain area" that actually flows out a hole at the bottom of the coffee maker in the frond. I think the idea was the excess would be caught in the tray you see in the picture were your coffee cup sets, but more than not, too much water gets in there and it is just a mess, in addition the the water that ran down the back to begin with. Also, when you open the lid, the water from the condensation from previous brews all rolls down the lid and then down the back of the coffee maker onto the counter as well. Very messy, tried everything but was never able to make a pot of coffee without a water works mess. My mother in-law bought the same model coffee pot when I did and she experienced the same problems but hers went out after 6 months. The biggest problems I see with this, despite the above mentioned problems, is ours began to trip the breaker on the outlet, identifying it had become a fire hazard. This was more than likely due to the excessive water that runs down the back.
The coolest feature, the reason I bought it, is the ability to fill each cup of coffee without dealing with a pot, but even with this cool feature, tall cups such as the long ceramic ones from Starbucks or tall Styrofoam cups did not fit and I would have to get a smaller size mug to fill the taller one.
All in all, if you hate messes and are not fond of the idea of your house burning down, this coffee maker is not for you. I did go out and finally spent the extra money and bought a BUNN, it has been fabulous.