Cuisinart DCC-2200 Brew Central 14-Cup Coffeemaker
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List Price: Our Price: $65.00 You Save: $85.00 (57%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Cuisinart DCC-2200 Brew Central 14-Cup Coffeemaker
Customer Review: Great tasting coffee and enough for the whole crew...
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this coffee maker after too many days of being the family's late riser and finding the coffee pot already drained. I have been using this pot for a couple of months now, and I am more than pleased with my purchase. This pot does hold more than the standard 10- or 12-cup coffeemaker, a great feature in a family of coffee-drinkers.
I had hoped to find a coffee-maker with a removable water reservoir to carry back and forth to the sink, which this model does not have, but even so, I give this model five stars for the excellent coffee it makes. While I have to lift the coffee-maker down from the shelf on which I keep it in order to fill the reservoir, its internal clock remains accurate even when unplugged for the short while it takes to fill the reservoir.
Some folks here have complained about the beep signaling that the element is being turned off. Even after several cups of coffee, my nerves aren't so high-strung that I even give the sound a second thought. It's quite innocuous, IMHO.
Perhaps owing to the water filter, this pot makes excellent rich-tasting coffee. It seems to brew just long enough to make perfect coffee for most folks' tastes. For stronger coffee, I can make fewer cups and use more ground coffee. If I'm really in need of a strong cuppa, I'll simply use my French press. I have never had the ground coffee overflow the filter doing this. Also, the heating element seems set to the perfect temperature, since I have never had a cup of coffee from this pot that tasted burnt...and on a number of mornings, I have barely gotten up in time to hear the beep signaling the end of hot coffee.
Best features of this machine--absolutely drip-free pot, unrivaled pure coffee taste, large capacity pot, variable settings for when the heating element will turn off, and an internal clock that retains settings with short interruptions of power.
Improvements that could be made--I wish it had a removable reservoir, but the one pot that I have used that had that feature made the worst coffee I've ever made at home, not to mention the leaky pot.
If you're not looking for espresso, but just a clean, pure cup of good coffee...even when "Early Bird" isn't your middle name, I think you've found what you're looking for in this machine.
Customer Review: Cuisinart DCC-2200
Summary: 4 Stars
The peer reviews on the Cuisinart left me hesitant in buying one. There is overall agreement on the results (good coffee), but the journey there appears to be a rough one. I've had the DCC-2200 for three weeks now.
I can't find fault in the build of this coffee maker. Despite the stainless steel exterior, it is mostly plastic, but everything fits together reassuringly tightly. I think the looks are rather good - a first from a line of coffee makers that honestly look rather clunky before.
The layout for the coffee filter and the water is fine. Comments about tight access to the water reservoir are largely exaggerated. I pour lefty and have no problem. The plastic is molded such that spilt water runs into the reservoir. The filter is in the front, giving easy access to add the coffee.
I have one complaint about the setup: I hate interior water level marks. Where as some coffee makers have a transparent tube or window running up the reservoir so you can see how much water is in there, the 2200 requires you look down into the reservoir. It's an awkward arrangement on a unit that otherwise is ergonomically well thought out.
You get a timer for scheduled brewing, a self cleaning cycle, a 4 cup brewing mode, and control over how long the heating plate stays on. Brewing cycles are longish, but near silent -- so silent, in fact, that a small beep is used to announce the end of the brewing cycle. Yes, the clock is small - it's to schedule brewing, not be the main clock in the kitchen. One very nice thing about it - the clock briefly retains settings if the unit is unplugged. Very good!
Previously, I had complained about thinnish tasting coffee. A few friends dissed my choice of beans, so I switched to 2 different other beans, and yep, the full rich flavor is back. Ironically, both brands of beans are actually roasted by the same local company, but the difference in flavor is dramatic. All is forgiven, I'm very happy with the results now.
The Cusinart DCC-2200 is a well built coffee maker. I wondered if it was going to be worth the $30 premium over more basic European brands. I think it is - this unit feels very solid, and more importantly, the coffee comes out great. Recommended.
Customer Review: a serious machine for the seriously caffeinated
Summary: 5 Stars
In our home, a morning without coffee is not anything like a day without sunshine. It's more like a dark and terrifying nightmare that never ends with a soundtrack of Eagles tunes sung by the young Madonna ('You can check out anytime you want but you can never, ever leave').
Much, then, was my joy when the Good Wife determined that the semi-human gasping sounds that accompanied every morning's brew time on my old coffee maker now justified the purchase of a replacement. Having done her homework, she tracked down a Cuisinart DCC-220 Brew Central 14-Cup Coffeemaker for a song at the local Macy's.
First lesson: do not pay full price for this coffee-maker.
Second lesson: do buy this coffee-maker with confidence.
Some will appreciate the clock function, finding themselves marginally more competent at measuring out the right heap of brown gold at night-time rather than at the break of dawn. The more fastidious may enjoy the 'clean' function. The economy-minded will applaud the gold-plated filter (included) that relieves one of the trauma of discovering late on, say, a Wednesday night, that the paper filters are all gone and that one will have to be jerry-rigged with scissors and paper towel.
Me, I like the quantity of coffee this puppy puts out, the just-right flavor that results of good engineering work on the temperature variables, and the very effective carafe. The latter keeps the coffee warm for a very long time but--ingeniously--does not require twisting of a lid before pouring.
The slightly retro design strikes this reviewer as handsome without becoming quaint. Quaintness, so goes one of my core convictions, is not a matter for the kitchen.
The machine feels solid and dependable. It makes good coffee. It can be found at steep discounts to the asking price. It makes enough coffee for a serious end user or a small horde of more casual tipplers of the bean.
You won't go wrong with this one.
Customer Review: Caught on fire after several months of use
Summary: 1 Stars
We had enjoyed this coffee maker for months but this morning, as I was about to take the kids to school, I did one last sweep through the house (turning out all the lights, making sure backpacks weren't being left behind, etc.) when I heard a weird sound. I looked at my coffee pot and the coffee was in a full rolling BOIL and then smoke started billowing out the bottom (and the plastic smell was atrocious). I unplugged it, but the amount of smoke coming from the base continued to increase at an alarming rate. I removed the pot, touched the TOP of the coffee maker to see if it was too hot to handle, and since it was not yet, I grabbed it and ran out the back door.
By the time I was halfway down my deck steps, the smoke was really pouring and the machine was getting warm under my hands, so I tossed it out into the yard. When it cracked on impact, a lot of smoke came out of the bottom (under the hotplate upon which the pot sits) and when I grabbed a pot full of rain water and threw on it, a plume of steam and smoke came out. It smoldered for quite a while in my backyard. (I never saw flames but I feel that it would have caught fire within a few more minutes if not seconds.)
I am so thankful that this happened moments BEFORE I drove off. I usually leave it on for the 15 minutes it takes to run the kids to school and then come back for my second cup of coffee for the morning. My house stinks a bit now but that's such a small inconvenience... when I think of what would have happened to our pets, it scares me to death!
Customer Review: Makes good coffee - sorta
Summary: 2 Stars
I have used the Cuisinart 14 cup coffee maker daily for nearly two months now. I replaced a Braun FlavorSelect KF 187 12-Cup Coffee Maker which was an excellent machine for many years and had none of the following problems. But it finally started leaking from the bottom of the machine and the screw that holds the machine together cannot be removed with standard tools - really bad design, they don't want you to fix it.
The Cuisinart makes coffee OK but the rest of the hassles with the 14 cup machine are not worth any price. To start with, the cup measure on the pot is hard to read while filling at the faucet. And the pot spills/drips while pouring into the machine, and the cup. The machine lid does not open far enough to conveniently add water except from one small position on the right side. If you are left handed forget it. And the lid on the pot is difficult to attach. The pot is difficult to remove and replace from the machine - there is an indentation in the bottom heat plate and some type of projection in the drip system which seem to cause friction and misalignment as the pot is inserted/removed. And the machine drips on removal of the pot. Other than the above the coffee is good if you drink the entire pot within 30 min or so. The hot plate seems too hot and results in a burnt taste after 30-45 min. I definitely would not recommend the Cuisinart 14 cup machine to anyone.