Cuisinart DCC-450BK 4-Cup Coffeemaker with Stainless-Steel Carafe, Black
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Cuisinart DCC-450BK 4-Cup Coffeemaker with Stainless-Steel Carafe, Black
Customer Review: A decent coffee maker
Summary: 4 Stars
As a student, my coffee pot is my life-blood. I adore this little guy. I've had it for about a year with no technical problems. I will agree with the other reviewers that the caraffe will dribble if you don't pour quickly, and it does not stay hot long after the auto shut-off. However, this is rarely a problem for me as I am hardly ever still around 30 minutes later (must be nice!). My coffee is perfect every time, the machine is easy to clean, and it's compact and fairly stylish.
One other warning: it has a feature where you can pour a cup before it is finished brewing (the filter basket blocks the drip if you remove the caraffe), but I would not recommend doing this. When coffee brews, it does not brew at the same strength for the entire brewing cycle. The water that first goes through the coffee grounds encounter more resistance, thus spending more time going through, thus making the beginning of the pot a lot stronger than the the last of it. You really need to let the whole pot (or however many cups you are making) finish brewing before drinking the coffee. This, too, is not something I've had much problem with, as the brew cycle is really fast - 5 minutes for 2 cups. Anyway, just a little coffee tip.
Customer Review: A good effort, could be better
Summary: 3 Stars
I was looking for a small coffee maker for decaf in the evenings. Cone filter design was preferable, and the stainless steel carafe was intriguing. I'm not the greatest coffee critic, but I do like my Starbucks ground at the store. After several months of use, I can say that the brew temperature is fine, and coffee tastes fine. The design of the lid, however, needs improvement: condensation from the brewing process creates a lot of water, so if you're removing the used coffee, lifting the lid lets water fall on to the counter. No big deal, really, but I don't have this problem with my 10-cup Braun. The most annoying and show stopper thing for me is the pouring. Yes, the pouring. I must be doing something wrong, but I have yet to be able to pour out of this carafe without spilling most of it. I've tried it with the carafe lid on and off--no success. I've simply resigned myself to pouring over the sink and getting about one and a half cups of coffee out of it. Honestly, I can't tell much difference between a steel carafe and a glass one. Plus, I drink coffee more slowly, so the 30-minute shut-off doesn't work well for me. I'm now looking at a Zojirushi Zutto 5-cup maker instead.Customer Review: Just OK at best
Summary: 4 Stars
Update: I had rated this 4 stars, but after living with it for some time now, I have to lower it to 2 (even though Amazon won't let me change my actual starred rating), mainly because of the poorly designed spout on the carafe. You cannot pour coffee without it running down the side of the carafe from the spout. I have to pour every cup over the trash can to catch the runs. Nothing I can do will help stop the dripping. Additionally, I have become really annoyed with the 30 minute auto-off. Just doesn't make sense. I'm getting rid of this one and looking for another.
Makes good coffee and is fairly easy to use. 2 minor complaints--the on/off switch is too hard to push, not from a strength point, but in relation to the weight of the coffeemaker-you have to brace it with your other hand or against a wall to push it or you just push the whole coffeemaker away from you. And the auto-off of only 30 minutes is a joke. If I have to leave my office between cups I invariably come back to cold coffee, which is very irritating. But I'm learning to work around it and live with it. Turning it off then back on seems to reset it for another 30 minutes.
Customer Review: Perfect for Travel!
Summary: 4 Stars
I did a LOT of searching for a good, compact coffee maker to take with me when I travel (because I just don't trust those coffee makers in the hotels :P) so I could have good coffee in my room. I have a carafe on my big, nice maker at home so I wanted one for the travel maker; and obviously it should be compact for packing and not cost over $40. This little guy fit all these requirements and worked just fine during the test run. It makes 2 full mugs of coffee, but that is enough for my boyfriend and I and the brew cycle is really short so if we want more, that's easy to do while working on the first cup!
As mentioned previously, I have experience with carafe brewers and to answer some comments on leakage, they do have a tendancy to leak IF you don't position the carafe under the drip spout properly. It just takes a slight bit of finesse to find the sweet spot; but I think it's worth it for a nice HOT cup of not-burned coffee. **a tip for people like me who like slightly stronger coffee: I recommend buying the permanent filter (again, better for travel too) because you get the oils in the beans for a fuller flavor without a weird paper taste.
Customer Review: Cuisinart cut too many corners
Summary: 2 Stars
I am not a coffee snob, so I was satisfied with the taste of the coffee from this coffee maker. The flaws are entirely in its design. Apparently, stainless steel and plastic just don't mix -- or at least not the type that Cuisinart chose to use. At first I thought this was a great unit for my apartment, but after a couple of months, problems.
First, it's supposed to stop brewing when you pull the carafe out from under the filter, but mine dripped quite a lot while I was pouring. (I later learned that the manual recommends against using this feature! So why put it in?) Second, the plastic cover to the carafe starts to warp over time, and it's hard to avoid getting a steam burn while pouring because of the way the lid is positioned.
But the real problem came when it started dripping all over my counter every time I poured -- apparently, the seal between metal and plastic rim gradually melts through, allowing the coffee to leak through. The rim and handle finally just broke away today when I gave it a little tug. They could have put a lot more thought into this unit, but seems like they really cut corners on this one.