I do not understand what has happened in the coffee maker industry. It seems as if every coffee appliance I buy fails. This one is no exception. I bought this one only because most of the reviews praised it. Now I am sure that the reviews are phony and must be posted by the manufacturer. There is no control over the time of percolation which for whatever reason has been designed to be too short. The coffee comes out weak especially if you try to make less than 12 cups, the water just doesn't make it through the strainer for less cups??? The manual suggests using 20 spoons for 12 cups of strong coffee. At this rate I will essentially be using double the coffee grinds to make the same amount of coffee as I did with a much older Faberware I had and the coffee is still weak. The new faberwares are just as bad as everything else manufactured these days. The reviews and the item description also touts that this coffee percolator has a glass knob. This is an outright lie, it is plastic!!!! I was initially pleased with the design although I feel it is made with a lighter guage metal than it should be. I would gladly pay double for this product if it worked. Don't buy it, it is another coffee maker dud!!!!!
It made great coffee right up to the day I found coffee all over the counter. The leak was tracked to the plastic bulb which broke off when I gave it a gentle twist. I contacted Cusinart Customer Service, emailed a copy of my Amazon receipt and was told they would be happy to provide a replacement lid w/bulb as soon as I could give them the serial number which I was told is on a sticker underneath the pot. Naturally, on my unit, the serial number sticker was missing. What was worse, when looking for the serial number, I found that the base had cracked and warped from the heat of brewing coffee. One more call to Cusinart Customer Service and they once again told me they would be happy to provide a replacement as soon as I provided the serial number which in this case was non-existant. Without that precious serial number Cusinart wouldn't lift a finger to help. The Amazon receipt was a worthless piece of paper when it came to dealing with Cusinart.
Due to poor Customer service at Custinart, I've decided to continue to buy from Amazon but I will no longer buy any Cusinart products.
Buy Cuisinart PRC-12 Classic 12-Cup Stainless-Steel Percolator, Black/Stainless Now
Here's my take on the whole coffee thing. If you are a coffee guru, then you are going to go through all the trouble it seems to take to make the perfect cup, and this review is a mute point, or you are going to go to Starbucks and pay for the perfect cup. Most people who make coffee at home and in the morning (time permitting) are like me.Here's my ideal coffee scenario:
I believe that buying my favorite high quality whole beans (Kenya AA), grinding them myself (coarsely, so they don't fall through the metal filter), and using the method I believe is best (the nostalgic percolator), is the perfect way to brew. It's my own preference: 1/3 nostalgia, 1/3 good beans, 1/3 convenience. They say that percolating coffee is burning beans. I and many other would disagree. I wake up grind my beans fill them and some cold tap water into the percolator. I wait 10 minutes while listening to that wonderful sound and smelling that great aroma!!! PERFECT!
For the GURUS, this may seem like heresy, but for me its the best of all worlds.
This model has, so far been great, 4 stars. The "glass knob" is plastic, whatever! Liars!. I've been brewing at the 6 cup line (water and beans) for 5 months at 4 to 5 times a week. Still hot and still consistent. It brews the same every time. This consistency over time is what I think will make or break this product. If it cools down a bit I will clean it. If it gets worse then I will be less than satisfied. If it fails before five years then I will be less than satisfied. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes to make MY AMOUNT of coffee and how black I like it. I cannot set the heat or the brew time (it's all automatic), but the coffee comes out very hot (not burned) and very dark. The only thing I can control is the amount of both water and coffee. I have learned what amounts I like. Other times may vary because of the amount of water and coffee used.
Don't go by what the instructions say go by what is best for you. The amount of coffee you get and the amount it says is one cup WILL BE DIFFERENT. Who cares. Make it the way you like it. This will take time to learn, but it will be best in the end. Every brand percolator is different, to bad you can't have a trial test before buying.
So far so good...
UPDATE...............UPDATE...................UPDATE 7/12/2010
Sometimes I like to go back and read my old reviews. To get a sense of things, and see to see if I still feel the same way about the purchases I've made. Or if the purchase turned out to be a lemon. Or just add something I missed or found new and interesting. Or edit a mistake. Whatever.
A lot of people are giving this perco. a low rating. By the way, mine still works perfectly fine after 2+ years. Still **** (Stupid plastic knob!).
You are cleaning it after every use, aren't you? If you don't like cleaning it, it will eventually go bad sooner than you think. So go back to a plastic drip machine if 100% convenience is what you want.
You are unplugging it after all of the coffee has been poured, aren't you? If you don't it will probably mess up the heating element. That's my guess.
I've noticed that when I first started using it, I would miss-align the spout tube with the heating dome located on the base. I've done this occasionally. All I got was hot, brown water. So make sure you align the spout tube properly.
I'm starting to not like the curved black base. Because, when I fill it up with water from the tap I sometimes bang it on the sink. It feels like I'm gonna knock it off if I'm not careful.
It still brews fine, maybe a little cooler then at first; but its still H. O. T. HOT.
I've noticed that darker brews (french roasts) give the best results, although bean-quality is probably more important than roast.
KEEP IT CLEAN BY WIPING IT OUT AFTER EVERY USE USING DRY PAPER TOWELS!!! IT WILL LAST FOREVER.
That's it.....I bought this to replace my ancient aluminum stovetop percolator, which did make great tasting coffee but the aluminum/alzeimer concerns worried me, plus the thing was stained and almost burnt through from heavy use. Anyway, I did a fair amount of research and this Cuisinart seemed like the best electric percolator available. I thought an electric would be easier to clean (they aren't). The main point I didn't consider is that you can't control the percolating time on these things. That's pretty much the whole point of percolating coffee; If you want stronger coffee you want to be able to percolate it for a longer time. An electric percolator shuts off automatically after it's short pre-timed brewing cycle. I tried a variety of beans and ground settings (and added more coffee to the basket to compensate), but it was still weak. The end result here is watery coffee, just slightly better then what you get from a drip machine. What's the point? I will admit that this percolator is well designed, pours nicely, has a heavy gauge basket and keeps the coffee very hot. That classic percolated taste just isn't there. If you love the rich taste of percolated coffee like I do (it's the best!), you really need a stove top model. I'm getting a Bialetti!
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After making great coffee for 5 months the Cuisinart Percolator's coffee started getting very weak. Needless to say my rating went from 5 stars to 1. I need to find a Percolator that will last!Save 50% Off
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