Mr. Coffee Stainless Steel 10 Cup Programmable Coffee Maker

This coffee maker works great and if you want a nice 10 cup coffee maker with a thermal carafe I recommend it. I’ve had it for a little over 2 months.

Now, the details, for those of you who are at work, avoiding a nauseating project at the moment, and your IT department hasn’t yet blocked Amazon:

First of all I should say that I have an overriding frustration with devices designed by engineers who feel the need to add lots of bells and whistles rather than concentrating on sound, basic products that are designed to last. Ya feel me? Along those lines, I would like to mention that someone decided to build a timer into this thing that tells you how long it has been since the coffee was brewed. I can’t tell you how useless this feature is for me since I’m the one who brews the coffee 90% of the time in my household and moreover I am and adult who is aware of the passage of time. (Apparently there are some people who actually aren’t. One of them is a champion long distance runner. Who knew? I heard about it on a Ted Talk.) And even if I wasn’t aware of the passage of time, I do happen to live in a house that has clocks – one of which is conveniently located on the coffee maker itself! So there is really not a way that I am not going to know that it has been awhile since the coffee was brewed. And, since this coffee maker has a thermal carafe and therefore the coffee is not on a burner getting stewed down to burnt tasting oblivion (which of course like the rest of you is why I got the one with the thermal carafe in the first place), I am not too concerned about how long it has been since the coffee was brewed. It’s not like I’m gonna go to pour another cup of coffee, look at the timer, and exclaim to myself, “Well, crap! I was about to pour another cup of coffee but it has been 90 minutes since my coffee was brewed and that is just too long! If it had been only 60 minutes we’d be ok but 90 minutes? No way! Down the drain it goes!” Now….if the timer showed increments of hours or days, then it would be useful; I could bust out my coffee maker flow chart and make a decision whether it was time to head to the microwave, or brew another pot. So consider that, Engineer.

BUT…if the timer display alone isn’t sufficient, the machine also beeps loudly when that timer has run out – just an added safety measure I suppose. At least I assume that is what the beep is for. I have never actually run over to the coffee pot when it beeps to see if that is the case, I just know it happens. And I refuse to refer to the manual on this issue when I have many, many more important things to do such as writing reviews.

The delay timer works great and I was able to figure out how to set the clock and the delay timer just by pressing buttons (without having to, gasp, actually read any instructions) so points for that. I did notice that the clock on the coffee maker has a dimmer function, which is wonderful, but the when you turn the delay timer on, that button is super bright and totally defeats the purpose of the dimmer on the clock because when are most of us going to set the delay timer? At night of course. The coffee maker isn’t actually in my bedroom so I don’t really care. I find it funny though because if you’re going to include a dimmer on the clock, why not…..oh, nevermind.

The thing comes with optional water filters and has a cute little dial which took me a little while to figure out but after busting out the reading glasses and looking close I realized there was a letter on the dial for each month of the year so you can replace the filter at the beginning of the month. Fun, right? I bought some filters because, why not? I have been changing them monthly so far because this is all still shiny and new. At some point I am pretty sure I will look at the dial and realize it is on February and I am in July. Some other reviews have mentioned a weird taste possibly from the filter. I rinse the filter before putting it in and I brew my coffee way too strong anyway and I haven’t noticed any off flavors. And I have no problem with the placement of the filter basket on the side of the coffee maker. Adapt, people. I fill the filter basket pretty full because of aforementioned tendency to brew the coffee a little on the strong side, and it does not overflow easily, which is very helpful in my life.

Some reviews have mentioned that the carafe pours slowly because of the configuration of the lid. So, that means it takes like 10.3 seconds to fill your mug rather than 6.8 seconds? Srsly peeple, quit whining. The thing doesn’t dribble which is more important to me. And I’m right about everything.

Thanks for reading and happy brewing!

Tengo 4 meses de uso y hasta ahora es una excelente cafetera. Llegó en perfecto estado a casa, requiere filtros de papel yo uso uno de plastico de Mr. Coffee y le quedó muy bien. Cumple con su principal función de mantener el café caliente sin que se re-queme, es de bonito diseño (las visitas la aman) respecto a los comentarios que “se derrama” eso sucede cuando no la utilizan adecuadamente ya nos paso una ocasión y fue porque la persona que la cargó puso café y agua demás. Hasta ahora una muy buena adquisición.

I’ve owned one for the last 15 years, my favorite. Last around 2 years then just buy a new one. Makes coffee super fast (fast as a Bunn), the crafe keeps it warm for hours. Simple and works great, lets you know when to clean, super simple to clean as well, just fill with water and run the clean cycle. If your no frills person and just want easy in the morning, this maker is perfect.

Excelente!

I have had the normal range of cheap coffee makers, typically replaced when the glass carafe broke. Then I got a thermal maker from Black and Decker, which had numerous flaws (I wrote a less than flattering review of that one). So this time, I made the effort to read reviews. This one has lots and they are really, really helpful.

Some are glowing, and some are not, so I appreciate and respect all of the views expressed, and don’t discount anything negative people have said. My perspective is: moving from a low-end thermal maker that had all the issues this Mr. Coffee model claims to resolve, I have in the first few days of use been completely impressed.

The water reservoir on the right is easily accessible, even in a relatively tight space to the side, since it lifts straight up. The basket on the right needs about 6″ of clearance on the side to pull out. (So under a cabinet might not be a great place for it). Both are easily filled. Markings on the water reservoir are clear and legible. Several people have complained about the water cover, but it seems simple and fine to me; just resting on top. I live in an area with excellent tap water, so have not used the supplied water filter. Normal paper basket filters work fine for me; I don’t make a full pot (usually 6 “cups”), but no sign of overflowing as reported by others, even with coffee ground rather finely.

(My previous cheaper maker would often overflow and was a pain to fill and hard to read)

The coffee is hot. Perfectly hot. I like that I can rinse and empty the carafe with a swish of warm water, but even when it was cold the coffee was hot. The coffee stays hot in the carafe as promised, for hours.

(My previous maker neither of these were true, even before the gasket seal fell out)

Note that there is no heating element to keep the coffee warm, only to boil the water during the phase of making coffee. I looked at several Bunn models; they all had heaters to keep water near brewing temperature, which seems wasteful and unnecessary to me. As advertised, the coffee from this model brews very quickly.

The coffee tastes great. This was a total surprise for me. I love a great cup of coffee, and have tried many different makers, methods, beans, grinds and so on over the years, but never was able to get something I loved at home without jumping through hoops. This model has made me a few really exceptionally good pots of coffee, without me doing anything special. I think this is because the water is hot and distributed over the grounds in the filter basket evenly. Several people remarked that coffee was a little weaker; I had a different experience: same grind and amount of coffee/water as my old maker and I get much richer and more flavorful coffee. This is really what is making me smile.

The carafe seats nicely into the space for it. It feels solid and “locked in”.

(previous maker would often overflow if carafe was not seated just perfectly. Others have said this can happen with this model, but it seems far less likely to me.)

Carafe pours cleanly and at a normal rate as far as I can see. Others have said it’s slow because it’s a vacuum seal, and perhaps that’s true, but it’s not remarkable slow to my eye.

Front panel controls are nice looking and seem well constructed, as do other parts. It doesn’t feel cheap. We’ll see — I have been so sorely disappointed in so many products made these days, even high-end name brands. We bought a toaster fro Krups and the lettering wore off the knobs in a matter of months. Really? As I mentioned in my review of my old Black and Decker coffee maker, the plastic button pad peeled up and I had to stick it down again. Really? So fingers crossed, but both design and construction seem solid and durable.

After a few days, this seems like a very well made, thoughtfully designed product that does a simple job very well.