Cuisinart 12 Cup Brew Central Maker Coffee Maker, Black Stainless Steel, DCC-1200BKSNAS

Scott D. GibsonUnited States

Brew Central DCC-1200, Good, Hot Coffee

First I'd like to say that these review sites really kill me. Invariably, you have to wade through countless trivial comments like, "I had to turn the spool wheel too many times before I could change the string on my string trimmer" or, here's a classic, "the stereo I bought is just too loud and I have to keep the volume at the number 5 setting all the time." (trust me, this is from an actual review). Well, you'll be happy to know that the reviews for the DCC-1200 are no different. Anywhere from "why do you have to turn the knob to brew and then flick a switch for on" to, "I can hear the plastic creaking as it heats up" (that one really makes me laugh) to, "it's just too tall and doesn't fit under my cabinets" (didn't you size it up before you bought it)? Look people, this unit makes coffee. It does it well and it does it like it's supposed to. You pour water in the top, add your favorite beans, wait a bit and, here's the kicker, coffee comes out the bottom! Holy smokes! It's got two knobs, an on and off switch and a few buttons to set things like the clock. To brew, turn the knob to brew and flick the on switch. To auto-brew, turn the knob to auto-brew and flick the on switch. To program the clock/auto on/auto off, turn the knob to clock/auto on/auto off and... press a button. Wow, this is really tough stuff. And, to make matters worse, omygosh, the LCD clock doesn't have a back light!! Armageddon here we come. You don't have enough clocks in your kitchen between the wall, the microwave, the oven, and every other stinking thing that has to tell you the time these days? The other knob adjusts the hot plate setting. Low-Med-High. Trust me, there are many complaints that the Cuisinart doesn't get their coffee hot enough. Not hot enough? How hot do you really want it? I'm sure Cuisinart wasn't thinking about their specs reaching boiling temperature when they designed this thing. Trust me folks, it's close enough. I'd say close to McDonald's scalding hot coffee but I won't even sue Cuisinart for potentially burning my crotch. As for the plastic creaking, when the temperature heats up, the plastic expands inside, what do you want anyway? Whatddya mean it's only stainless steel on the outside? I've been ripped off!!! I mean come on, if you really want a true stainless steel coffee maker, go spend the $2000 and buy professional so that you can mount it on the dash of your Beemer. Just don't waste our time with comments like this. Oh yeah and the alarm/beeping that everyone's complaining about? Well, let me just say that the "Hounds of the Baskervilles" comment is a little unjustified. I would hate to hear what this person does when their microwave goes off, or, if their telephone rings, or if one of the kids makes a noise. Folks, this is a series of 5 small beeps when the brewing cycle is near completion. Kind of a tee tee tee tee tee. So, unless you sleep with your coffee maker on your night stand, I wouldn't worry so much about this one. Condensation. I don't know one coffee maker out there that when you open the lid to dump your grounds just after the brewing is complete where some of it doesn't drip on the countertop. So, suck it up. Get your sink sponge and wipe it up. Are we that inconvenienced by this? And finally, the dreaded reservoir comment. "It's too small and I pour water all over the place." Blah blah. Pour water in, get coffee out. So far, I haven't missed the bullseye. Could I be doing something wrong here? And about those darned tank markers. Does anybody honestly use those things? Fill up the pot and pour it in. Now you know how much coffee you'll make. Huh?! The bottom line is that this is a good coffee maker. It has a self cleaning cycle to tell you when to decalcify, makes piping hot coffee but... oh no, produces condensation. It's kind of like when you heat water on the stove and it produces that steamy stuff, and it forms those... water droplets. Ah whatever. Look, if you're the type who doesn't have to have their maid do everything for them or worse flog the person who doesn't quite fold the towel right on the towel bar, go out and buy this product, you won't be disappointed.

Amazon CustomerUnited States

Excellent Coffee Maker, FAST Shipping

We purchased this coffee maker from Amazon (Ordered from Beach Camera) on March 17th with Free Standard Shipping, and we were surprised when receiving the product on March 19th -- FAST!! We were very pleased with Beach Camera for their promptness. We read the reviews and surfed the web to research the key points for selecting a coffee maker to make a great cup of coffee at home. IMHO, too many reviews blame the coffee maker for variables that are beyond the control of the coffee maker. We suggest prospective buyers for this coffee maker first read Cuisinart's suggestions in the Amazon ad for "The Perfect Cup of Coffee". We list those suggestion points below with our own commentary for each of the four basic elements discussed plus a critically important fifth element: The Quest for a Perfect Cup of Coffee It is generally agreed that there are four basic elements critical to the perfect cup "plus" our #5. All of these elements are complementary for making the perfect coffee -- i.e. if one of these elements is sufficiently inferior, it can detract from the benefit of the others. So, in the spirit of the chemistry of these five elements working together, we share with you our belief for each of the following basic elements. Element 1. Water: Coffee is 98% water. We agree. If you have lousy water, don't expect a miracle from your coffee maker. The Cuisinart DCC-1200 does include a charcoal filter as an attempt to counteract bad tasting water. Element 2. Coffee: While the bulk of the liquid is water, all of the flavor should be from the coffee. We agree. As with anything related to our sense of taste -- individual taste varies greatly, especially when it comes to coffee. So make sure you really do like the taste of the coffee you're using before blaming the flavor on the coffee maker. The Perfect Cup of Coffee Element 3. Grind: The grind of the coffee is critical for proper flavor extraction. Our experimentation permits us to agree with Cuisinart's recommendation for a medium-fine grind. If you are finding lots of grinds in your coffee, you're probably grinding the coffee much too fine. Element 4. Proportion: I think most will agree that too much or too little coffee has a consequence when it comes to flavor. Once you have selected your favorite coffee combined with the optimum grind, experiment with proportion in your quest for perfection. Element 5: Brewing Temperature (our additional basic element): Our research on the web provided a convincing argument for the role temperature plays in brewing the perfect cup of coffee. Consumer Reports had one article that summed up brewing temperature succinctly: "The best coffeemakers reach 195 degree to 205 degrees F during brewing, the temperatures required to get the best from the beans and avoid a weak or bitter brew." We found that 195 degrees seems to be a widely proposed metric for brewing temperature. Now armed with new knowledge, we researched the brewing temperature for the Cuisinart DCC-1200. Here's some of what we discovered. We found a few sites asserting 185 degrees to 195 degrees as the brewing temperature of the Cuisinart DCC-1200, though 195 seemed to be the most common assertion. We haven't found the "official" claim for brewing temperature, but so far, we're pleased with the performance of our Cuisinart DCC-1200. You may also wish to click on the link below for a fun read about a guy who performed his own temperature tests: [...] Bottom line -- we're pleased with our Cuisinart DCC-1200 purchase and overwhelmed by the speedy delivery.

MFamUnited States

Take the bad reviews with a grain of salt -updated Oct 2010

When shopping for a new brewer I read a lot of reviews & almost didn't purchase this model because of the bad reviews. I read that the casing looked cheap, the coffee didn't get hot enough, coffee was weak, the machine "creaks", the beeping is excessive, it's difficult to program, it's difficult to measure water, etc. However I also read some really good reviews & took a leap of faith & bought it. I figured worse case scenario I send it back. My husband and I drink at least one pot of coffee each day, flavor is very important & this brewer creates a very good flavor of coffee. I believe it is the internal water filter that makes the difference. Here are my thoughts on the negative reviews: *First of all, this machine is very attractive. You have the stainless look to match your appliances, without dropping $2k on a genuine all stainless machine. It is often a topic of conversation with it's unique styling. It really is a jewel among all of my other stainless & chrome treasures. Over-all with this brewer I felt as though I received much more than I paid for. It's stylish & makes a good tasting brew. *I don't understand the reviews about the temp not being hot enough - the hot plate has 3 temp settings. I keep it on high & I've scalded my tongue more than once. I could not imagine wanting my coffee any hotter! *We drink strong coffee - so if your coffee is weak I have a technique for you to try...add more coffee. We use a paper filter & have no problems. *As for the creaking, I've not heard it. (The machine makes noises typical of every coffee pot I have ever owned while brewing...percolating water, etc) *I like the beeper that lets me know my coffee is ready. Much like Pavlov's dog I now get happy & crave my coffee when I hear that wonderful little beep. I don't think it's excessive - it reminds me of our microwave timer. *The operating instructions are very simple to read & understand. The little booklet gives you detailed step-by-step instructions on setting the pot up & details on the features. My 2 year old even knows how to set it up on the auto timer & turn it on to brew. (He's our helper monkey) *I do agree that the measuring steps inside the pot are useless. They're difficult to see, but I'm o.k with that. I just use the clean pot to measure my water. I've survived many years measuring my water in this fashion without the aid of an internal measuring device on my brewer. I feel over-all that this is a sound purchase and you will get your money's worth and more. UPDATE: NOW all that being said...I did NOT edit any part of my original review but I would like to make one final comment. I purchased this coffee pot in February 2008 it is now October 2010 and yesterday morning my beloved coffee pot failed to work. It had power going to it, as the lights came on, however it did nothing else.... it didn't make any noises, didn't heat up...it just sat there mocking me as I waited longingly for my cup of brew. Do I think it should have lasted a little longer? Yes....however I will very likely purchase this coffee maker again, because despite it's short-lived existence it still made an excellent cup of coffee and looked perfect in my kitchen at an affordable price.

Elaine CorwinUnited States

Plusses and Minuses

I've had the Cuisinart DCC-1200 for about a week now. I was hesitant to spend so much on a coffee maker but I'm happy to report it's well worth it. Sure, you can get other brands of coffee makers for under $25 if economy is the most important feature, but I've had those machines and I decided that, this time, a good cup of coffee was most important for me. This unit makes the best coffee I've had in a home or office machine and better than most coffee I've had in restaurants. This coffee tastes smooooooth! I suspect the charcoal water filter is the reason for that. I also like the "shower head" design of the water spout. The water actually runs up a track onto the underside of the lid and is sprinkled over the ground coffee like a rain shower. It's an attractive unit but it also looks like a serious coffee maker. This unit is no toy. It looks and feels solid. The carafe has a good solid feel and balance. The plastic parts (like the plastic carafe lid and handle) feel like good heavyweight plastic and are well molded. It's not the lightweight crappy plastic that cracks and discolors easily in the cheap coffee makers. I like the 5 beeps when the coffee is ready. Now I can leave the kitchen and go clean or whatever and I don't have to keep running back to see if I can get a cup yet. I can hear the beeps. But if I really can't wait and want a cup in mid-brew, I can just remove the pot and pour a cup - you've got a full 30 seconds to reinsert the pot, before you risk an overflowing filter. I like the permanent gold-tone filter too. I always thought paper filters were a pain. They'd fold over sometimes and there'd be grounds in my coffee. But you can use paper filters in this machine if you want to. I just prefer the convenience of the gold-tone filter (top rack machine washable too). It has an indicator light for cleaning -- it says it's "self-cleaning" but really it's just a light telling you when you need to pour in a pot of water/vinegar and run it through to decalcify the unit. (I never thought to do that with my other units. Probably another reason my coffee wasn't as good as I wanted it to be.) The low-medium-high setting on the hot plate is pretty nice too. And the auto-shutoff feature is great. I don't have to worry about forgetting to turn the machine off. The instruction booklet is very good and very thorough. Comes with a parts reordering form too. What don't I like about this machine? It requires maintenance in that you have to change the charcoal filters. But actually I don't mind since I think they are the reason the coffee tastes so smooth, and they are very easy to change and not expensive [...] Also, the area in the top of the machine where you pour in the water is narrow but again this is just a minor inconvenience. Just have to pour a little carefully. So really it's almost all positives with a couple of very minor negatives. I highly recommend this coffee maker.