Grind-and-Brew Coffee Maker

[leigh]

The protagonist in "The Cat Who . . . " series owns a coffee maker that grinds the coffee beans as part of the brewing process. Whereupon I immediately turned green . . . Now I see that the Chef's Catalog has on clearance a Cuisinart and a Melitta. Even at clearance prices, this is a pretty hefty piece of change. Does anybody own one of these critters, and if so, what's your opinion? Thanks, everybody!

 

[Zereh]

My mom has one, but I can't remember off the top of my head which brand it is. It's nice, yeah. But it's not a must-have, imo. I have a grinder. I have a Krups coffee maker with the thermal pot. And to be honest I don't like having to drag out my ginder so I usually just have the coffee shop just grind my coffee for me. =P

The thing I disliked about my Mom's the most was the thermal pot itself. It was not easy to pour the coffee; you had to tilt the pot way way over to make it work. Half of the time I ended up goobing coffee all over the counter before any made it into my cup.


Z

 

[Silversage]

I have the Cuisinart. I've had it for over a year, but wouldn't buy it again. Here are my pro's & con's.

Pro's:
It makes good coffee.

The thermal pot is great. It keeps the coffee hot all day, without scorching.

You can override the grind function and brew pre-ground coffee if you want.

It's programmable, so I wake to the smell of fresh-ground coffee

Con's:
It's a b**** to clean.

4 or 5 times I didn't get the door latch closed exactly right, and I had coffee & grounds all over the counter. :x

If you use the grinder, residue gets in the plastic door latch mechanism and causes the door to stick. I have to sometimes whap it with my fist to release the door. If you never use the grinder, this doesn't happen.

After about 6 months, the grind chamber started to stick in the pot. I can no longer remove it when the pot is hot, and only with difficulty once the pot cools. (See above - a b**** to clean.)



I keep thinking I should contact Cuisinart to complain about the design flaws.

Just my 2 cents.....

Kathy

 

[DigitalAether]

My father has a grind and brew coffeemaker, not sure of the model. He loves it and swears by it. I still stand by and swear by my french press.

 

[leigh]

Thanks, guys! I appreciate the info/feedback. I will definitely do a lot of iin-person looking and hefting before spending my money. Unless I luck out and find one for five bucks at a yard sale

DA: Showing my ignorance here: what's a french press??

 

[Audeo]

My father has a grind and brew coffeemaker, not sure of the model. He loves it and swears by it. I still stand by and swear by my french press.

Same here.

My sister has a smarty-pants model that she paid several hundred US dollars for that is sincerely neat and makes a great cup of coffee. But I enjoy a cup that slaps you in the face and says "WAKE UP!", so I prefer the simplicity of a french press.

leigh, it is merely a tall caraffe that you mix the ground coffee with water to steep, then use the built-in plunger (if you will) to strain and press the grounds to the bottom and pour out delicious coffee from the spout. Simple in form and makes the best cup around, IMO.

 

[buckytom]

we have gone thru 2 cuisinart dgb 300 grind and brew coffe makers, each retailing around $90 at the time. i've seen them recently for $40 on sale.
do not buy this model. both times, the switches/electronics failed after a little more than a year of use. also, they are a pita to clean.
since dw is the only coffee drinker in the house, i bought a seperate grinder (with removeable extra bowls so i could grind spices in it), and a regular drip coffe maker for her.

 

[DigitalAether]

DA: Showing my ignorance here: what's a french press??

http://www.ineedcoffee.com/99/05/frenchpress/

 

[Paint]

We have a Melitta Grind 'n Brew, which makes great coffee.....it's true that it's a bit of a hassle to clean (takes me about 5 minutes to rinse everything out), but contrary to what the instructions say you DON'T have to make sure the filter/grinder thingy is bone dry before you use it. It grinds just as well wet LOL! Another slight problem is that it turns itself off after just 1 hour, but you can get around this by pressing the 'Mill' button (which turns off the grinding feature), then pressing 'Start' again.....you just have to remember to do that when an hour is nearly up :roll:

Paint.

 

[CoucousDilemna]

I have to agree with the previous comments above the Cuisinart -- it is a nuisance to clean. The grinds can also wreck havoc with the door latch mechanism. I haven't had any of the other problems mentioned, but I do think that it is a poorly designed product.

Having said all that, I must say that I stick with my Cuisinart for one sole reason -- as I lie in bed on Saturday morning, slowly waking up, it is so nice to hear the beans being automatically ground downstairs in the kitchen. Coffee heaven.

 

[PolishedTopaz]

I have the cuisinart grind and brew too, pain in the tush to clean but great coffee every time. Cooks Illustrated gave it top ratings, but cited the cleaning too. Retails for 149.99 worth the money I think.

 

[LeeAnn]

I feel very out of touch, I've never even heard of a grind and brew coffee pot. I have a french press but have not used it in a while though it does make a great cup of coffee. My daily use is just with an old coffee maker, I'm sure I'm missing out on a much better cup of coffee. :-(

 

[momcooks]

I just ordered a self cleaning one from QVC. Haven't got it yet, but I will be interested to see how it works.
#K4836

http://images-p.qvc.com/is/image/k/36/k4836.001?$proddetailmain$