Cuisinart Stainless Steel 12-Cup Thermal Coffee Maker

We already had one of these coffee makers. It was quite old and eventually did not work properly any more.
We wanted another one so purchased the same one from Amazon. Amazon had the best price and the coffee maker works beautifully. We really like the metal carafe as the coffee stays hot longer and does not get bitter the way it does in a glass carafe.

Particularly like the carafe. It keeps coffee warm all day without using any energy, and it pours without dripping. The machine is not small, but it is well designed and takes up the minimum of countertop space it needs to. Operating is intuitive and quick. One warning-don’t overfill when adding water. It will leak the excess onto the counter.

I have used this model for 2 weeks now. It makes good coffee, it looks nice, and it is easy to program.

1. I did read reviews for it before I purchased it. The 1 feature mentioned often in the reviews was about the length of the electric cord. It IS very short. Plan on having it Right At the Outlet. Cuisinart should spend a dime more and lengthen the cord.

2. It is nice to have options for filtering coffee. A gold filter is included. I could not tell that the gold filter did a better job than the paper filter. It is a mess to clean up. And, to me, it doesn’t make the coffee taste better. The paper filter works best for me.

3. I did not see anything in the reviews I read about filling the water reservoir. The insulated carafe must be turned upside down, All the Way Upside Down, to empty out all of the liquid. This is not user friendly for filling the reservoir. If you put in the coffee filter and coffee and Then add the water, you will have a wet filter of coffee. Depending on how much water you spill into it, you could have a coffee drip started. So don’t use the coffee carafe. Find a proper sized pitcher and fill the water reservoir first. Then add the filter with coffee.

4. I have not cleaned it yet, just rinsing between uses. So no review on the cleaning aspect.

5. I do like this coffee maker. I must say it makes good coffee. The water temperature is not so hot it makes the coffee bitter; it’s not so cool it doesn’t steep it properly. The carafe keeps the coffee nice and hot over 2 hours. I never have any left past that time.

Update: The first one I bought lasted about 19 months. The price has increased almost 50% since I bought that one. When it died I tried a few other models that are less expensive. After a day or a week I returned those and ultimately bought another one of these. I’ve had my second one about 11 months now. I will likely never buy anything else. Best coffee I’ve ever been able to make at home. It used to be if you bought something from Cuisinart you could expect to still have it in five years. I wish that was still the case, but if I’m being completely honest I would buy a new one of these every year if I have to.

I looked at every model of thermal carafe coffee maker and read a lot of reviews before choosing this one.

This is, by far, the hottest coffee I have ever gotten from a home coffee maker. For me, this is a huge selling point.
The thermal carafe keeps the coffee hot enough to enjoy without microwaving for at least 4 hours. Even after 6 or 7 hours the coffee is still warm and tasty. Because it does not use a warming plate to keep the coffee hot, the last drop of coffee tastes as good as the first. I will never go back to a glass caraf. I like the flavor of my coffee better than I have with any other coffee maker I’ve ever owned.
The carafe is large. It holds almost 2 liters if you fill it to the 12 cup mark.
The pour spout is designed specifically so It doesn’t dribble all over the place when I pour.
It makes the coffee pretty quickly. Speed depends on the settings you use and, obviously, how much coffee you’re making. A full pot without the bold setting is read in about 11 or 12 minutes.
It is completely programmable so you can setup the coffee to be ready at whatever time you’d like. It also has a “1-4” button for if you’re making 1 to 4 cups of coffee, and a “bold” button if you like stronger coffee. Those two buttons have a similar function. They slow the water flow over the grinds so you get the full flavor in a small pot, or a bolder flavor in any pot.
A note about pouring because I’ve seen some reviewers that didn’t like how the pot pours. I don’t use the pot to fill the reservoir with water. I did that the first time and it pours way too slowly. That was aggravating. That may be why others complained. So I use a plastic pitcher for filling the reservoir. It appears that the top to the pot is designed to control the flow rate when pouring. I see this as a positive. When I’m filling my coffee cup I’m never wishing it would pour faster. I’m just glad coffee isn’t getting all over the counter, the floor, or me.

I noticed some reviewers said the buttons stopped working after a few months or a year. I will say that it doesn’t take much force at all to get a response from whatever button you push. Because of those reviews I make a point of not using much force when I hit “Brew” or whatever button I’m pushing. If you poke them hard over and over, I could see them not working anymore after awhile.

This coffee maker looks nice in my kitchen. If you have stainless steel appliances it will match. It takes up a very reasonable amount of space on my counter. The measurement lines are on the right side in the middle; however you can pour the water into the reservoir from either side. The reservoir is the whole back of the unit and is accepts water on either the left of the right side.

The filter basket is cone shaped. It comes with a gold screen reusable filter insert. I still use a paper filter in that as well because I don’t like any sediment in my coffee. The paper cone filters cost a little more than standard filters but not so much that it is deal-breaker for me. A few extra dollars every 3 or 4 months.

You have the option to use a charcoal water filter, but if you never use one it doesn’t change how to unit performs. The charcoal filter’s purpose is to filter things like the chloriine flavor out of your water. I use it.

Some reviewers complained that the instructions are lacking in detail. Maybe the manufacturer has updated them since then. For the most part the setup is all pretty logical. The one thing I found difficult to figure out and not explained in the instructions was getting the charcoal filter into the filter holder. Turns out it is apparently so easy it looks hard. I included a few pics. On the stem portion of the charcoal filter holder is the word “open” with an arrow pointing downward. Right below that on the base is a little notch that sticks up. Just gently pull on the little notch and the front of the base flips open. The back left corner of the water reservoir has a slot cutout in the bottom to hold the base of the charcoal water filter setup. You just gently set it down in there. You don’t have to force it. And it stays in place. The last pic is of the cutout in the bottom of the water reservoir. Other than that setup was really easy. The filter basket only fits in one way. It’s a no-brainer to see where the water goes. The instructions tell you how to use all the buttons and features.

There is a ready tone that beeps 5 times when the coffee is finished brewing. It’s pretty loud. If you don’t like that, you just press the “Tone” button near the clock face and the ready tone is off.

It comes with one charcoal water filter, several cone shaped paper coffee filters, and a coffee scoop. Amazon sells the charcoal filters and the paper cone filters for very reasonable prices.

I’ve been using this coffee maker since the day after Christmas 2019 and I have no complaints. I will update this review if anything changes. I’ve had a Bunn, and several models of Hamilton Beach over the course of 20 years. So far, this is the best coffee maker I’ve ever owned.