dallas moore

Cuisinart Coffee Maker (DCC-1200)

I’ve owned this coffeemaker for a couple of years and can say I’m very pleased. There are two reasons why I purchased it. First up, Alton Brown’s book Gear For Your Kitchen recommends it. When a guy devotes an entire episode of his show to just brewing a cup of coffee, I can trust his judgment. Secondly, a couple I know owns one and I thought it just looked really cool.

What else can you say about a coffee maker that just looks nice? Stainless steel appliances are the standard that everyone seems to be aspiring to when outfitting their kitchen. I can see why. It will fit in with most kitchen decor and such. Me? I just think it has enough of a retro look, has a nice boxy form, and best of all doesn’t look like a cheap piece of plastic.

When I was shopping for a coffeemaker, Cuisinart models were the rage. However, everyone was purchasing one that was more upscale than this one. Those models came with a built-in coffee grinder. Another option was a carafe to keep the coffee more uniformly warm. This coffeemaker lacks both options. So why did I buy it? Simplicity and use.

A built-in coffee grinder is just another thing to go wrong that also has to be cleaned. I don’t grind my own coffee and if I did, I would just get a separate grinder to do that function. On the carafe side of things, I just don’t make huge amounts of coffee that need to be kept thermally warm for extended periods of time. I make at most six cups and I drink them within an hour or two. Call me strange, but I also like that slightly strong last cup too … the one that has been reducing and thickening a bit. A carafe wouldn’t give me that joy.

For function, it tears down really well for cleaning. The parts of the coffee maker that actually touch the coffee can be removed quickly and rinsed or, after a couple of months use, thrown in the dishwasher for a deep clean.

The front controls are easy to operate and have a good look/feel. Though not intuitive, to brew, you flip a toggle switch toward brew. The switch doesn’t stay down, but it still feels like you’ve mechanically done something other than press a button. To cut it off, you flip the switch down. I’ve never messed with the dials except to set the internal clock and timeout function.

On the plus side, I like several of the features. Number one is that it will automatically shut off after a couple of hours. This by itself is handy, but you can also set how many hours until it cuts power to the warmer. It has an option to make sure the water is extra piping hot for small pots. Just tap the button before you start the brew cycle and your small pots of coffee will be brewed at the proper temperature. Audible alerts are useful feature too. It will beep at me when the coffee is done brewing. It will also beep when it has turned off the warmer so I can get that last cup before the pot goes cold.

On the negative side, filling it with water is a bit of a hassle. If you’re like me, you use the spray hose on your sink if you can. There is no outside indicator for water level, instead, there’s a tiered piece of plastic with even numbers of each tier. I have to look where I’m pouring the water to see when the water reaches the proper number of cups as indicated. This is fine in a well lit room and overhead lighting, but my head is usually blocking the light in my kitchen. At night or early morning, I have a little trouble seeing in there until my eyes adjust. Also, I’ve tried using the glass carafe to fill it before and when you get to that last little bit of water, the lid to the coffeemaker can get in the way. It’s a hassle, but not enough of one to worry about.

I’ve owned and used a lot of coffee makers in my life. I’m always amazed how many have a horrible design flaw that is inexcusable. They just can’t pour a cup of coffee without spilling. The carafe that comes with the Cuisinart happily pours into the cup without a drop spilled… every time. Other coffee makers seem to force me to go through a trial period where I have to figure out what coffee ratio I have to use to get a decent pot. They all come with instructions, but what they recommend has never been exactly right. There’s always some confusing staggered formula of ratios that increases/decreases exponentially per amount brewed. Provided with this coffee maker was a scoop that has a 1:1 ratio for scoop of coffee to “cup” of water filled … so simple.

I paid $100 for it when I bought it new three years ago, but I’ve seen this model for as low as $65 at a store or two. Yeah, it is a bit more expensive than that $19 bargain coffeemaker, but it looks good, works well, is easy to clean, and makes good coffee. I also have a feeling that it will still be working for at least another decade. By then, I’d have gone through a ton of those bargain models.

Needless to say, I highly recommend it!