Cuisinart DCC-1200 12-Cup Brew Central Coffeemaker, Black and Stainless Steel

I was hesitant to buy another Cuisinart coffee maker after my negative experience with a DCC-2000 that required unplugging and plugging the power cord in several times a week to reset the controller. This occurred after about a year of use, and then finally after another year it just died. But after checking out several competing brands, I decided to give the DCC 1200 a try, and so far I'm glad I did.

Quite simply, this coffee maker brews a hot, flavorful cup of coffee and looks good while doing it. It's not fancy, but it is well-built, the carafe pours without spilling, and its easy to keep clean. Time will tell if it will continue to work without the problems that I had with the DCC-2000, but for now I am pleased with my purchase.

I regret purchasing this coffee maker. I've had it for 3 months now. Between the minor and major design flaws, this is a high-maintenance appliance.

Minor design flaws:

1. When lifting the lid to fill it with water, there is so much water collected on the lid (from the previous day)that when the lid is fully upright, water drips down the back and onto the counter. The only way around this is to partially lift the lid the night before so all of the accumulated water evaporates or drains into the tank. (The lid needs to be fully upright to fill the tank)

2. It is a bit awkward filling the tank. The area to fill the tank has a small mouth, and the shape of the carafe is such that it must excessively inverted to empty it of water. I have learned that resting the spout of the carafe on the side of the coffee maker when pouring ensures that no water will spill outside the maker.

Major design flaw:

This unit has 'flooded' about 6 times in the last month, resulting in coffee on the counter and not in the carafe. I have changed the grind of the coffee from fine to a courser grind, but it still happens. I am using paper filters and this has happened with both those included with the coffee maker and those that I bought. I could be doing something wrong, but the bottom line is that I have had coffee makers for more than 20 years and this is the first time that this has ever happened.

As others have said, it would be nice if the beeping could be switched off, but it isn't all that loud.

Anyway, I'm stuck with this sucker for now.

I bought this product about a month ago and chose the Black Chrome finish. It makes a great pot of coffee and the choice of how hot to maintain your coffee is a nice option. The Black Chrome finish looks great and offers a contrast to my kitchen decor of stainless appliances. Since I unplug my coffee maker after use, the elctronic timer and clock aren't being used but are a nice feature if you want to use them. The carrafe lets you pour without drips and the coffee flows at a predictable rate so you don't end up with counter spills.
I heartily recommend the Cuisinart DCC 1200 BCH!

I searched high and low for the "perfect" coffee maker, and have concluded that it doesn't exist. However, this one gets 4 stars for almost having all the features to make it complete.

PROS:
- Fast brew
- Hot brew (very little coffee yields strong flavor, and I like my coffee like mud!
- Timer (although I rarely use it)
- Looks good (it matches the other stainless steel appliances, and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb)
- Gold tone filter (I was previously a big advocate of paper filters until this one. HOWEVER, there is often a bit of sediment in the bottom of the carafe, but not a big deal. Tell your coffee shop to grind a little coarser than paper cone and this shouldn't be an issue)

CON: (only one, but a major one!)
- THE RESERVOIR! - It's very difficult to see inside the reservoir to determine how much water is in there. Yes, you can use the carafe to measure first, but I found that pouring from the carafe into the reservoir isn't that easy and makes a mess. I have to position the coffee maker under good lighting so I can see in the dark (it's black) reservoir to see how much water is in there.

The solution (for the manufacturer) - make a clear measuring window/ tube on the outside of the carafe. I have seen this before (I think from Cuisinart themselves). It makes perfect sense.

Overall, I would recommend this coffee maker, but hope that Cuisinart fixes this one design flaw.

Handsome machine made good coffee - for five years, until a short left it worthless. So, I don't know if I recommend it: How long do you think a coffee maker should work?