A few days after Father's Day our Black&Decker Coffee Maker that we had for only 1˝ years had decided to stop brewing coffee. My husband always gets up at 5:30 each morning, plugs in the coffee maker and then showers. When I awoke that morning I realized that I didn't smell the aroma of coffee that I usually smell every morning. When I got up I checked the coffee maker and saw that it wasn't brewing any coffee like it always did. I unplugged the plug and stuck it back in, checked to see if had water in it and then pushed in the start button. But it still wasn't brewing any coffee.

Anyway I was a little disappointed because this Black@Decker coffee maker was only 1˝ years old. This meant now I had to look for another coffee maker. In the mean time hubby was not to happy, because he had to drink instant coffee which he particularly doesn't care that much for. Luckily I had a jar of instant coffee on hand that I keep for company that prefers instant coffee over brewed coffee.

I always go to our Bon Ton store on Wednesday because thats when their sales start. So while I was there I came across this 12 Cup DeLonghi Automatic Coffee Maker # DC121. I looked at the display model and checked it all over. It looked rather nice, and being it was on sale, it did help me to make up my mind, so I decided to buy it. It was $39.99 on sale for $31.99

The color of the DeLonghi Coffee Maker is white which matches the few appliances that I already have on my counter, and goes very well with my kitchen.


Features of the Coffee Maker:

1)--Pause@Serve.

2)--Swing away basket with a Permanent washable filter.

3)--Indicator light.

4)--Non-stick warming plate.

5)--Cord storage.

6)--12 cup glass Carafe.


After I removed it from the carton, I wiped the whole outside of the machine down with a clean damp cloth.

I then washed out the filter basket and the glass carafe along with the lid in warm soapy water, rinsed and dried it. I did this just in case there may have been dust that had accumulated in the parts.


Preparing the coffee maker:

The directions recommend before you brew your first pot of coffee, to first brew cold water only without using any ground coffee, which I did. This will remove any dust that may have settled inside the coffee maker.


Brewing your first pot of Coffee:

1)--Swing the filter door outward to the left and lift out the removable filter basket located in the door.

2)--Place the desired amount of coffee in the filter and place it back into the filter basket and return the basket to the filter swivel door.

3)--Swing the door closed making sure that it is snapped into place and closed completely. If the door does not close completely, (which did happen to me the first time I tried it,) then you have to check the filter basket to see if it is properly seated. When I checked the basket I saw that the filter was not sitting in the basket the right way. After a little adjustment to the filter basket the door finally closed completely.

4)--On the top of the coffee maker is a water reservoir that has a hinged lid on it. Open the lid.

5)--Fill the carafe with cold water and fill to the bottom of the spout. This coffee maker will only work with cold water.

6)--Empty the water into the reservoir and close the hinged lid.

7)--Place the glass carafe onto the warming plate.

8)--Press the power button twice, which will turn on the "on" light, indicating that the coffee has began the brewing cycle, and your off to making a pot of brewed coffee.


Auto Pause feature: I like this feature, it allows you at anytime during the brewing cycle to remove the carafe and pour a hot cup of coffee. This will then cause the brewing cycle to stop, which means no coffee will drip from the filter basket. Once the carafe is placed back on the warming plate, the brewing cycle will then start up again.

If you do take advantage of this feature, the carafe must be replaced back onto the warming plate in less than a minute. This will prevent the brew basket from overflowing.

This Auto pause feature is great for my oldest son. He sometimes doesn't have the patience to wait for a full pot of coffee to brew.


Cleaning the coffee maker:

1)--The glass carafe and the carafe lid may be washed in warm soapy water by hand, or because it is dish washer safe it can be placed on the top rack of the dish washer.

2)--The swivel filter door can be easily removed from the heating stand and can only be washed by hand in warm soapy water, along with the permanent filter.

3)--The heating plate may be wiped with a clean damp cloth when ever necessary.


Removing Calcium Build-Up:

Calcium build-up will occur in coffee makers from time to time. This build-up is is normal and is caused by minerals that are in drinking water.

One way to tell if your coffee maker needs to be cleaned, is if you notice that the brewing of your coffee has slowed down in brewing time. A solution of two tablespoons of white vinegar in the carafe that has been filled with cold water, will decalcify your coffee maker. You simply pour the solution into the water reservoir making sure that the Coffee filter has been removed, and then allow the coffee maker to brew the vinegar solution.

When the vinegar solution has finished brewing, empty the carafe and rinse it out with clean water. Then refill the water reservoir with just cold water only and run it through the brewing cycle again. This will have rinsed out any remaining vinegar solution. My husband has always cleaned our coffee maker at least 4 or 5 times a year. Of course this will depend on the mineral content in your water, how often your coffee maker should be cleaned out.

Warranty:

The warranty on this DeLonghi Coffee Maker is good for just one year.

This DeLonghi does not come with an Automatic shut off, but that's alright, because a pot of coffee does not last very long in my house. My husband will make 2 to 3 pots of coffee in a day, and he usually shuts the coffee maker off after it has brewed anyway.


Why do we like this DeLonghi 12 cup Coffee Maker?


Although this Coffee maker does come with a permanent washable coffee filter, you can use the cone paper coffee filters #4 in this DeLonghi Coffee maker also, which I did purchase. They cost $2.69 for 100 filters. My husband prefers using the paper filters. He says the coffee tastes better with the paper filters than the permanent filter. Although I don't drink brewed coffee that much. But a few cups that I have tried from this Delonghi Coffee maker, I really couldn't see any difference in the taste after using both filters. They both tasted the same to me.

The cord storage is another feature that I like. I don't have to worry about a lot of excess cord hanging around my counter. I just tuck the cord into the storage hole, which is located in the back of the coffee maker and plug the cord in the outlet. I now have only 5 inches of cord that's really showing and resting on my counter.

I also like the easy to read water level indicator. It makes it easy to prepare up to 12 cups of brewed coffee.

So you see now why I like our new DeLonghi 12 cup Automatic Coffee Maker. Along with making a nice pot of brewed coffee, and with all of these nice features this DeLonghi 12 Cup Coffee Maker, has made my husband a very "Happy Man," and now I don't have to listen to him complain about having to drink that instant coffee any more. "Thanks DeLonghi."

Thanks for reading and Happy Brewing!

~~A Very Happy Naomi :-)












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