Cuisinart Brew Central DCC-1200 12-Cups Coffee Maker

My second Krups coffee maker in a row quit suddenly and it was time to look for a new coffee maker. I read the reviews on ePinions of course and I narrowed down my choices accordingly. I was very close to purchasing the new Kitchenaid but steered away from it mainly because of the flat bottomed filter basket. I found that the cone filters allow much better extraction so less coffee is needed to provide the desired strength. The Cuisinart DCC-1200 Coffee Maker had good reviews and only a few things that people didn't like about them. I found one on sale on the Marshall Field's web site for only $79.95. I printed it off and brought it in to the local store and they matched the price. They had been normally selling it in the store for $119.95!

I had read that one of the complaints was that there is no measuring scale in the water tank. The engineers at Cuisinart must read ePinions because they now have a graduated scale inside the tank. With the top opened up for pouring the water in you can see white plastic numbers on miniature stair steps. The top one being "12" and corresponding to the maximum number of cups that can be brewed at one time.

One reviewer had mentioned how easily water or coffee can be poured from the carafe. This is actually only true if the top is snapped in place. It doesn't pour worth a darn with the top off. But, you can just tip it on over and make it pour with the top on and the design of it keeps the stream nicely shaped. No splattering or slopping around with this one!

The gold plated reusable filter that comes with the coffee maker is handy if I run out of paper filters. But, I find that with the finer grinding I like to do, the screen lets too much of the particulate matter get through. This causes a murky look to the coffee and forms sediment in the bottom of the cup. I prefer the paper filters much more. I had to get used to turning the filter 90 degrees from how they are used in the Krups. The bottom seam points away from you with the Cuisinart.

The controls are easy to use. Setting the clock and automatic shutoff time is very easy. The two rotating knobs make it that way. The hot plate is even adjustable to three temperature setting. I keep mine on the low setting and it stays almost hotter than I need it.

If I had a complaint about this coffee maker it would be the design of the mechanism for shutting off the flow of the drip while brewing when the murky is removed. There is a small rounded projection under the brew basket that allows coffee to flow when the carafe on the hot plate and stop the flow if the carafe is removed. The piece of the lid on the carafe is supposed to push up on the rounded projection is also rounded. It looks basically like a hemisphere or half of a ball. Unless the carafe is centered and sitting absolutely flat on the hot plate the water and coffee grounds will overflow the filter basket making a mess. (Pay attention to this Cuisinart engineers!) I found this out the very first time that I used the coffee maker. I learn fast so it hasn't been a big problem since then. But it's something that could easily be remedied by redesigning the carafe.

I like the coffee maker, I like the styling with the black plastic and brushed stainless steel, I like the coffee the Cuisinart DCC-1200 Coffee Maker makes. I say buy one!