Mmmmmm … the smell of fresh brewing coffee first thing in the morning! I may not have my first cup till around mid-morning, but you’d better believe that I love to smell it brewing! However since my hubby leaves for work around 6:00 (while I’m still snoozing) and works in a restaurant (well he did when this review was posted ... but not now *sigh*) where freshly ground, freshly brewed coffee flows like an enticing stream … and I am so much not a morning person that just getting out the door with both kids at 7:30 with everything we need for the day is challenge enough … waking up to the smell of fresh brewed coffee is a rare event in my life. But you can bet that when I come crashing through the door at work – at somewhere around 8:00 (give or take a few) it’s not our secretary’s smiling face, nor my coworker’s sly glance at the clock, nor even my boss’s cheerful greeting that catches my attention … it’s the smell of the coffee from the tiny kitchenette in the back corner of our office suite. The Proctor Silex Easy Morning Coffee Maker silently delights my olfactory system and tells me that everything is going to be all right! Granted, I may not wander back to get my cup of Joe till around 9:00 or even after … but just knowing it’s there … smelling the delightful bouquet … embracing the knowledge that when I want it, I can consume the robust, slightly acidic, but lightly sweetened, full bodied mellow cup of hot aromatic nectar. Heaven!

Okay enough dramatics … I like my morning coffee … let’s move on …

I’ve long since moved on from my cute little Krups Gevalia 4-Cup Coffee Maker to a larger 12 cup coffee maker at home. But at work, I have little or no control over the whole coffee/coffee maker issue. (But believe me it is an issue … who’s contributed to the coffee fund, who hasn’t … who’s gone upstairs for bottle water lately, who hasn’t … who left sugar spilled all over the counter … who washes their cup and who rinses theirs and leaves it in the sink, whether a half pot or a whole pot should be made … and on and on and on … ) After weeks of hearing someone in our office state that we needed a new coffee maker and ours wasn’t working right (though it seemed fine to me) and having my offers to contribute my 1/4 of the cost go without recognizable response. I got fed up and just purchased a basic coffee maker and brought to work one day. I don’t even remember what the brand was, but I know it was just a basic ordinary coffee maker, it was a recognized brand name, and it wasn’t terribly expensive. Thinking I’d done a good thing and that finally we could put the annoying pettiness of needing a new coffee maker behind us I carried it into the office and sat it down on the front desk. Problem solved, right? WRONG!

Our secretary returned the coffee maker that I had purchased and returned with the Proctor Silex Easy Morning Coffee Maker … I have no idea why … I really don’t care why … but it just seemed odd to me. This one has a programmable feature, but we don’t use it. This one has an auto-off feature which is sort of useful, but is it really that important in an office that consumes the entire pot and the last drinker (usually me) turns off the pot?!?!? Oh well … whatever! I still get my one cup of morning coffee each day … I still enjoy that wonderful wafting aroma … I have yet another story to file away in my My coworkers are strange sometimes! file. (Of course they think I’m a freak … so we’re even! *lol*)

Features of the Proctor Silex Easy Morning Coffee Maker:

· 2-12 cup - these are 5 ounce ‘cups’ – we all have MUGS … which translates to me to 4 mugs=8 cups … may as well go ahead and make a full pot incase anyone wants a refill … right? Wrong! For about a week it seemed to translate to make a half a pot and whoever gets to it last is out of luck … two or three days of my making a second pot just to get my one cup and leaving the rest to be poured out seemed to have taken care of this problem.
· Programmable digital clock/timer– very nice feature, could be very useful for most people … but someone in our office insists on unplugging the coffee maker over the weekend so the clock is never right and it certainly can’t be programmed to have coffee ready the next morning.
· 2 hour automatic shutoff - another nice feature and one that would be particularly useful at home. It just isn’t really needed in the office, but at the same time it isn’t hurting anything.
· Removable brew basket with easy lift-off design - works fine, but I think I just don’t care for the swing away basket design. I grew up being used to the basket that slid in and out and to me it was just easier to empty. But I’m not usually the one to make the coffee so it really doesn’t matter … and it seems that almost all the makers are going to this design anyway so why fight it?
· Extra-large, easy-fill water reservoir with measurement marks - yep, a place to put the water to make the coffee (who would have thunk it?) But seriously … it works fine, and having the measurements is convenient if you are filling it with bottled water from a jug or pitcher and don’t want to have to measure it out in the coffee pot.
· Lighted "on" switch - uh huh … it’s ON and there’s a light on too!
· Automatic pause 'n serve - I’m never in such a hurry for the first cup that I can’t wait for it to quit dripping, but for those who are, this is a convenient feature. Just be sure not to get the very very first little bit of the pot unless you like particularly strong coffee.
· Middle-position cord - I suppose having the cord in the middle of the back of the unit allows you to place the maker in whatever position you want it on the counter, instead of having to place it to the left or the right * shrug*
· Dishwasher safe carafe - good to know … but we wash it by hand here ... of course at home I would pop it in my dishwasher in a heartbeat!
· Brew-strength selector - I’m really not sure what to think of this. There is a dial on the top that can be turned from mild to strong and anywhere in between. I just don’t get it … if I wanted weaker coffee I’d put less grounds, right? Stronger coffee, more? But maybe there’s a difference in the amount of grounds and whatever it is that this selector does. I’m guessing it holds the coffee in the basket longer, but I really don’t know. Anyway … I don’t mind that the feature is there, but we just keep it on strong and I figure anyone who is into coffee enough to want to control their brew strength will probably want something fancier than a $20 Proctor-Silex model anyway.
· Patented system reduces mineral buildup for long life, better flavor - well, our coffee tastes good … so I really have no complaints. I don’t know what the Patented system is exactly, but it seems to be doing its job as far as I can tell.
· Carries a 2-year warranty - oh yeah! And you’d better believe that we have the box in the cabinet just incase the unit konks out and has to go back. I’m sorry … but for $19 split 4 ways … if it quits working, I think I’d just as soon buy a new one as have to send this one back to the manufacturer. On the otherhand, it is nice to know that Proctor-Silex warrantees their product and will probably replace it free of charge if it dies within 2-years of purchase.

A few other specifics …

The Proctor Silex Easy Morning Coffee Maker itself is mainly white glossy plastic which wipes clean easily. The unit is approximately 6.75” w X 12” h X 13.5” d (including the handle).

The on/off/auto switch is a slider that moves fairly easily and is large enough for me, but might seem a little small to someone who appreciates larger buttons on their small appliances. The clock display is fairly small at only about 1 1/2 wide, but again, its adequate for me. The clock and program buttons are grouped together as an oval divided in thirds. Someone with large fingers or a lack of coordination, might find that they easily accidentally press the wrong button or more than one at a time. Using a pen to press the buttons will solve this problem.

The handle on the glass pot is designed in a way that has a plastic strip going down the inside of the grip, against the pot itself which can help protect your knuckles from the hot coffee. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed a problem with ‘unprotected’ knuckles on other handle designs, but I’m sure this added feature is a nice touch.

The unit is designed to use standard flat-bottomed coffee filters.

I have seen prices from $15.98 to $44 on this same coffee maker through various on-line retailers. I have no idea why the price varies so greatly or if perhaps some of the prices are in error. However, I do know that our secretary paid just under $20 for this maker at our local Wal-mart. Proctor-Silex also offers an Easy Morning model without the timer, clock and programmable feature that retails for around $10-$12 at stores such as Wal-mart and even Dollar General. Be sure to notice which model you are getting if the extra features are important to you.

Final Thoughts:

This is a very good basic coffee maker. It provides the extra benefit of being able to program and fill the maker so that you can wake up to fresh hot coffee if you wish, and it will turn itself off after 2 hours so that you don’t have to worry about that horrible burnt coffee or a cracked pot if you are prone to forgetting to turn off your coffee maker.

I’m giving the Proctor Silex Easy Morning Coffee Maker three stars … because I feel like it is an AVERAGE coffee maker. Nothing wrong with it at all, but nothing particularly impressive or fantastic about it either. Maybe it deserves 4-stars for the value if you purchase it at the lower end of its price range, but based on the mid-higher end of the range, and considering other similar makers on the market, I still think 3-stars is a fair rating. Buy this model if these are the features you want in a coffee maker … but don’t buy it if you are interested in a higher end model with more bells and whistles and more prestige appeal.

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Easy Cafe' Mocha - not as good or real as what you'll get from the gormet coffee shops ... but at $4.95 a day it may save you $25 a week!

Place 1/2 packet instant cocoa mix in large mug, fill with brewed coffee, top with a dollup of whipped cream if available (or add a fairly large amount of half 'n half or cream or milk or whatever is available if not) sprinkle a tiny dusting of cinamon on top. Add sugar if you like things really sweet, but the cocoa makes it sweet enough for me. ENJOY!


Recommended: Yes