AliventiAsylum's Full Review: Cuisinart DGB-300 10-Cup Coffee Maker
I'm a bean freak. I love coffee and I love it in whole bean form. I keep a 2 pound bag of Starbuck's coffee beans in my refrigerator. Every morning I would faithfully grind the beans and immediately deposit them in my coffeemaker for the freshest possible brew.
When my old coffeemaker began depositing the brewed coffee on the countertop for no apparent reason, I thought it might be a good idea to try something new. I'd seen the Grind & Brew models around for a while, but I hadn't priced them or put much thought into using one.
I went to a local warehouse club and happened to see the Cuisinart Automatic Grind & Brew Coffeemaker on the shelf with a price of $69.95. I debated a bit and decided to try it, figuring I would now have more room on my countertop without having to keep a separate coffee grinder and coffeemaker. When I went to the checkout, the barcode would not scan. The cashier asked for a code and the coffeemaker rang up as $39.95. Being the honest person that I am, I told him that it was the incorrect price. His response, however, was essentially that he didn't want to be bothered finding the correct price and that was what his supervisor had given him.
Why am I telling all of this? Because $39.95 is about the most I would pay for the Cuisinart Automatic Grind & Brew Coffeemaker.
SPECS:
The outside of the Cuisinart Automatic Grind & Brew Coffeemaker is sleek looking and goes well with the rest of the black appliances in my kitchen. It takes up no more room than my old coffeemaker. The top pops open (but does not come off) and contains the water reservoir, the coffee grinder, the grounds basket and covers for these items. The Cuisinart Automatic Grind & Brew Coffeemaker comes with a 10 cup glass pot.
FEATURES:
Built-In Gold Filter can eliminate the need for paper filters. If you're like me and hate grounds in your coffee, you'll still need to purchase a supply of #4 cone-style filters.
Automatic Shut-Off will turn off the coffeemaker so you don't have to worry about accidentally leaving it on all day and setting your house on fire. This ranges anywhere from immediately after the conclusion of the brew cycle to four hours.
Automatic Timer will allow you to place beans in the grinder and fill the water reservoir the night before. Set it to about ten minutes before your alarm clock, and you'll wake up to the smell of fresh-brewed coffee.
Low Cup Setting for when you are brewing a lesser amount of coffee.
Flavor Selector to change the strength of the brew. Since I use high-quality beans, I have left ours at the factory setting and just adjusted the water levels accordingly. I think it has more of an effect on lower quality beans.
Grind Shut-Off if you're ever (gasp!) Not using whole bean coffee and have no need for the grind cycle.
Brew Cycle Stop lets you grab that quick cup of coffee in the middle of the cycle if you choose. I don't use it. As soon as you pull the pot out from under the drip stream, it cuts it off. However, the water is still being poured into the basket, so don't take too long!
Coffee Temperature Monitor keeps the brewed coffee as hot (or warm) as you would like it after being brewed.
Brew Cycle Alarm lets you know when the brew cycle has been completed.
Cleaning Indicator lets you know when there is mineral build-up in the coffee maker. We live in a very hard-water area, and are used to faithfully cleaning our coffee-makers. This makes it impossible to forget.
OPERATION:
I take my beans from the refrigerator and place them in the grinder unit. If I fill it to capacity, that is the perfect cup of coffee for the 10-cup pot. Next, I place a paper filter in the gold filter basket, then place the covers on both the grinder and basket units.
The side of the coffeemaker has a clear indicator so you can easily measure the water level. There is no need to use the pot as a guide. Once filled with water the cover snaps shut. I press the start button. The beans must be ground down to a certain size before they will make it through the metal screen between the grinder and the basket. Ten minutes later I have a perfect cup of coffee.
CLEANING:
Here is where the real problems come in. Instead of simply wiping out my coffee grinder with a paper towel as I used to do, the entire grinding unit has to come apart and be cleaned. This is a major headache, especially if I don't clean it and leave it out to dry the night before.
The grinding unit gets damp from being in with the warm water. This causes the coffee grinds that don't make it through to the basket to clump up and adhere to the various parts. If it is not absolutely dry when put away or prepared for the next day's grinding, the beans and grounds get damp and not as much gets through to the basket. I have found I am wasting a good deal of coffee beans this way.
My other coffeemaker was so simple: I dumped out the grounds and gave a quick clean of the removable basket. There are three pieces here to clean: the two covers for the grinder and the basket and the basket unit itself. The grinding blade does not come apart, making the grinding section hard to clean. The metal screen generally has clumps of coffee grounds around it. The plastic piece on the cover of the basket section which goes from the grinder to the basket also gets coffee grounds stuck and it is a small opening that is a bit harder to clean.
The water reservoir is also difficult to clean. We have had beans and/or grounds accidentally get down there and it is impossible to get clean. The pot and cover do not come apart, so cleaning it in the dishwasher is impossible.
I do have to say that the Cuisinart Automatic Grind & Brew Coffeemaker makes one of the best cups of coffee I've ever had. However, at this point because of the cleaning headaches, I'd wish I'd stuck with a separate coffee grinder and coffeemaker. At $39.95 it's a steal, but get too much higher than that and you're talking a lot of aggravation for all of that money.
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