Thermador : BICM24CS 24 Built-in Fully Automated Coffee Machine - Brushed Stainless Steel

As someone who has owned the Miele coffeemaker, this thermador BICM24cs 24 is way better due to its straightforward design, and ease of use. I will note that the only negative is that it is a bigger unit than the miele, but if you have the space, you will enjoy the Thermador. I would have given it 5 stars but as we just got it, I do not want to jinx myself. However, I am very happy with this coffeemaker so far.

Mr. Coffee LMX27 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Stainless Steel

We got old together. The only way that perk'er aged were dings I careless made.

I'm a coffee addict, so that's alota cups. I depended on the caffeine and good

flavor Mr. Coffee contributed to.

Meanwhile, I aged human-fashion. A few weeks ago I dropped my brew master, Mr. C, cracking the unit, breaking the carafe. Of course, I came back for more of the same.

This new and improved both graphically (my original Mr. C was a burnt-umber reddish color, for one thing) and in performance. Features are basically the same, but are upgraded in our techno-advancing times.

The flavor seems better; I used a coffee brand I favor; it tasted better; think 'flavor+') The perking process seemed not as loud, but still a pleasant wake-up

gurgle. I didn't have the urge to see if it was faster. Seemed fast, though.

Oh, to amplify the flavor verdict: Even with my diminishing 72-year-old taste buds,

the flavor seems richer; the aroma even better. I'm kinda glad I dropped my 'old'

Mr. Coffee Maker. Oh, and they didn't leap the price up, if I recall correctly.

What's the old adage?' If it ain't broke, don't fix it'? I'll add,

'If it ain't broke, make it better". Mr. Coffee did; I'm a happy

caffeine slurp'er again. Whew! Sure missed the tasty caffeine.

Until last year, I've always had great experiences with Mr. Coffee products. When I needed to replace an older coffee maker in May 2011, I naturally had my sights set on that brand because of those good experiences. I purchased the Mr. Coffee BVMC-SJX33GT 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Chrome and regretted it from the first use. That unit overflowed nearly every time I tried to use it especially if the water filter was in place. I got rid of it and bought a cheap, no-frills Sunbeam model that didn't have all the features the Mr. Coffee model did, but had the distinct advantage of never overflowing.

I was so disgusted with the Mr. Coffee BVMC-SJX33GT 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Chrome, I swore I would never buy Mr. Coffee again.

When I was given the opportunity to review the Mr. Coffee LMX27 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Stainless Steel, I thought this might be a good way to give Mr. Coffee another chance.

Unlike that dud Mr. Coffee unit I purchased in 2011, this model works beautifully. It hasn't overflowed yet, the features all work as they should, and the coffee tastes great.

This coffee pot has some pretty standard features that you might take for granted, but would sorely miss if they weren't there: automatic 2-hour shut-off, brewing pause & serve, and timed brewing. All of these features work very well. I think most coffee drinkers are used to these features, but I'll give a quick run-down of them.

The coffee maker will keep the pot warm for 2 hours and then automatically shut off if you haven't manually turned it off by then, allowing some peace of mind if you worry you've left it on after leaving the house.

The brewing pause and server is an extremely important to those in a hurry for a cup of coffee and for those of us who are just in a hurry. With this feature you can remove the pot from the burner and pour a cup even while it is still brewing. As soon as the pot has left the burner, brewing will pause until you replace the pot. I've used a couple of pots that didn't do very well with this feature if you poured a cup before the pot was at least 75% full, the coffee tasted terrible. With this maker, the coffee tastes the same whether it has brewed 2 cups or a full 12 cups.

The timed brewing works nicely for those of us who are always in a rush in the morning. You can set the coffee up the night before, and set the timer for the time you want brewing to begin. If you have set the clock on the maker correctly, brewing will start automatically at the time you've set. What a wonderful thing to wake to the aroma of fresh coffee...

In addition to those standard features, it also boasts a water filter, a special cleaning cycle, and a brew strength selector.

The water filter in this particular model seems to work fine. Unlike my other Mr. Coffee unit, this one doesn't overflow with the filter in. I haven't noticed any improvement in the taste of my coffee when I use the filter and when I don't, but perhaps there is a more dramatic difference in areas that have more chlorine in their water. The nice thing is that you can run the coffee maker without the filter if you decide you don't need it. If you do like the water filter, you can find replacement filters at most local stores and also here at Amazon's site. Mr. Coffee recommends changing the filter every month, and the ring that holds the filter has a handy dandy little dial so that you can turn it to the current month to keep track of when you last changed it. All you have to do is remember to set that dial to the right month when you change the filter (MR. COFFEE? Water Filter Replacement 6pk).

The special cleaning cycle seems to work fine. I always just ran some white vinegar and water through a few regular brew cycles with my old coffee pots. The cleaning cycle seems to remove a few steps but otherwise works similarly to my old methods. You can use either Mr. Coffee Coffeemaker Cleaner: 2 Packets or you can use white vinegar.

The brew strength selector defaults to a normal strength, but you can set it to strong if you prefer your coffee stronger, which I do. The brew strength can be set on normal brewing or timed (delayed) brewing and the setting seems to persist once you set it until you change it back to normal. I honestly can't really tell a difference in the strength of the coffee no matter which brew strength I've set it on. I don't know if that has something to do with the coffee I use or not, but I use Folgers 100% Colombian Ground Coffee, Distinctively Rich, Medium Dark Roast which is already pretty strong.

One of the nicest things about this coffee maker is that the carafe pours without excess dripping. I have a habit of pouring my coffee over the sink anyway in case it spills, but it is nice that this one doesn't drip when you pour it.

I can't stand the paper filters, and I use the Mr. Coffee GTF2-1 Basket-Style Gold Tone Permanent Filter I bought a year ago and it works very well in this model.

I would definitely recommend this coffee maker and it has certainly gone a long way towards restoring my broken faith in the Mr. Coffee brand.

Buy Mr. Coffee LMX27 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Stainless Steel Now

I purchased this coffeemaker about three months ago. It worked fine except for one key issue. It only makes lukewarm coffee. Thinking that it might need time to break in (for whatever reason), we continued using it for a month. It NEVER MADE A HOT CUP OF COFFEE. We had to microwave each cup before drinking it. So, I notified the manufacturer, and they very promptly me a new one. Their customer service was superior. However, we have been using the new one for a month, and it simply does not produce hot coffee. Since I have tried two brand new ones of this model and had the exact same results, I have to believe that the design is poor. This one is headed for Goodwill, and I hope whoever buys it doesn't mind lukewarm coffee. I would throw it away, but I hate to fill up the landfill. Maybe someone will enjoy it.

Read Best Reviews of Mr. Coffee LMX27 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Stainless Steel Here

The Mr. Coffee LMX27 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker is a good choice for a standard, drip coffeemaker. Coffee making is relatively fast and very quiet, and while it does have some potentially useful features like brew delay, self-cleaning, brew strength and the fresh brew timer (lets you know just how old the coffee is...no more thinking it's "fresh"...three hours after the fact), it's otherwise a very straightforward coffee maker. The inclusion of the charcoal filter is nice and was shared by our previous Mr. Coffee coffeemaker (buy the replacements online to save a few bucks). Although it's a bit of a pain, the fact that our water smells heavily of chlorine makes it very nearly a must in our situation. It's supposed to take out as much as 97% of the chlorine out. That's probably inflated, but it does seem to make a difference.

This is a fairly tall unit, so if you keep it under a cabinet, you'll need to pull it out a bit to pour your water. The backlit LCD clock is rather bright (no way to adjust this, as far as I can tell), but I actually like that (less fumbling through the dark in an undercaffeinated state). As far as looks go, it's pretty sharp with its stainless steel accents and "stretched" (taller) profile. It makes a decent cup of coffee too. You could do worse than the LMX27.

Want Mr. Coffee LMX27 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Stainless Steel Discount?

After trying three different coffeemakers one Cuisinart, and another Mr. Coffee model (CJX-21CP), I finally found one that made a great, SMOOTH tasting cup of coffee. This model has a shower head for dispensing the water on the water filtration disk,a water reservoir with a window, delay brew time, brew strength option (strong or regular), cleaning cycle, and Fresh Brew Timer feature that lets you know how long ago the coffee was brewed. All things considered, the most important thing is that the coffee is smooth and not bitter! Love this model!

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Jura-Capresso 13204 Impressa E9 Automatic Coffee and Espresso Center

I've had this coffee maker for almost one month now and I absolutely love it. My parents have owned the same machine for years and it's still going strong. The only difference that I could decipher between the E8 and the E9 is that the E9 is painted silver instead of black. Amazon was selling them for the same price, and silver fit better with the rest of my kitchen accessories, so I opted for this model.

The question of whether or not to buy such an expensive machine came down to a number of factors for me: 1) quality of coffee, 2) ease of use, 3) durability & build quality.

As far as quality of coffee goes, I find what this machine produces to be wonderful. I use dark roast Starbucks beans and I've had no issues. I read that the Starbucks beans can be a little too oily and cause jams; I've had no such issues, at least so far. The manual recommends "airing out" the beans for a few hours before putting them in the machine, so I do this.

Ease of use is wonderful. It even comes with a DVD just in case you find reading too laborious. I opted for the DVD and it taught me everything I needed to know to get this thing up and running, and properly maintained.

Build quality & durability remain to be seen, though I know 3 people who have owned these machines without major issues. The most regular complaint of the Jura-Capresso line, at least in my experience reading reviews, is that the service people are very unfriendly. I wonder if this is a function of the ego of the average purchaser of a $1,000 coffee maker, or if the support people truly are a cantankerous bunch. I'll probably find out one way or the other, but snippiness on the phone isn't enough to deter me, if in fact that is the case. I love this machine too much. RECOMMENDED!

We we wondering if we had gone overboard spending about $1,000 on a coffee machine but after 200 cups we are sure we did the right thing. The machine has had a lot of use over the past few weeks with family and friends visiting. The comments have been uniformly outstanding.

The machine is idiot-proof and the result is great.

I figure I will pay for it in 5 years with reduced spending in Starbucks :)

Buy Jura-Capresso 13204 Impressa E9 Automatic Coffee and Espresso Center Now

I have been using the Jura Capresso for the past 3 years. The coffee has decent crema, but I am not happy with it's inability to make a very strong espresso. Setting the cup size is supposed to accomplish this, but the cup size is variable even when a single setting is maintained.

My bigest gripe is that 2 years ago the machine malfunctioned and again this year. There is a flat fee of $275 to fix it including mailing (find your own box) which I find extremely excessive for a delicate machine that seems to break down every 2 years. The customer service person did confirm that this happens to a number of customers, but it is not excessive in the company's point of view. Also the turn around time to fix the machine is 3 weeks.

I will switch to another product the next time it breaks down.

Read Best Reviews of Jura-Capresso 13204 Impressa E9 Automatic Coffee and Espresso Center Here

Just got this yesterday, so these are initial impressions. So far I'm very happy with this though. After just a few tries I've got pretty good espresso coming out, using a bean that probably isn't ideal. The frother seems plenty powerful too it took about 150 seconds to steam 8-10 oz of milk, but it only takes about 45 seconds to steam 2-3 oz of milk right in the cappuccino cup, as they show in the instructional video.

I will agree with another poster that the frother doesn't seem ideal for producing micro-foam, although I read at CoffeeGeek that it can be done with some practice. It satisfies me at this point though, and I'd be willing to work with it to see what more it can do.

The ease of use is the best part. I've had the traditional burr grinder/semi-automatic machine combination, and it was just too much work to be worth using as much as I'd like. This reduces an espresso to a few button pushes, and a cappuccino to not much more. Cleanup is great too a wipedown of the frother, run some water through the frother, and let the machine rinse itself out. Now the problem will be not drinking espresso all the time.

Durability is my only potential concern, but from what I've been able to find out on the web, this brand should be about as good as I can get in the home market. Hopefully it lives up to that.

I didn't give 5 stars only because it's a bit noisier than I'd like. The grinder is pretty quiet, but the pump is louder than other machines I've used. It's hardly a problem, but if that sort of thing matters to you, it's there. For me, I'm very happy with the machine so far and expect to be for quite a while.

UPDATE July 6, 2009:

We've used this pretty heavily since buying it, and I only like it better. The cleaning tablets seem to do a good job of removing any gunk that might build up inside. It still is working flawlessly. Keeping it clean is easy too the trays all slide out from the front and can be quickly washed and reinstalled. I've looked inside, and don't see any coffee grounds, so I think it's staying clean inside.

The ground coffee hopper is really handy too, when we have guests and they want a flavored coffee instead of the standard beans. We can entertain a pretty good crowd with this machine.

I'm very satisfied with this, and will get another Jura-Capresso when this one has brewed its last.

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I used to work in a kitchen store that had one of these coffee centers on demo, and that's how I got hooked on the Jura machines. I bought one for home use, and while yes, they are expensive,if you drink as much coffee as I do the per-cup price goes down quickly. Even using bottled water (my local water is 15 grains of hardness) and organic beans, my per-cup cost for espresso drinks is now about 25 cents.

Re the comments on coffee strength: I'd have to say that I don't think other reviewers read the instructions thoroughly. The built-in grinder has adjustable coarseness settings and each cup of coffee can be made in either mild, regular, or strong, which corresponds to how much coffee goes into the shot. I have had no problems with this, although when switching types of coffee (light to dark roast, say) one may have to play around with the settings a bit to get it perfect. That said, there's a lot of settings to play with on this machine.

The frothing/hot water functions have given me no problems, either. The hot water comes out at about 170 F on my machine, so it's not perfect for some types of loose tea but works well for instant oatmeal. :) I would definitely buy another, and my only regret is that I didn't buy one sooner.

Chef's Choice 6800001 Cordless Electric Glass Kettle

After reading every single review and practically poking my eyes out....I decided on this one, in part because it has a glass pouring spout, glass interior and hidden heating element. No plastic touches the boiling water...only the condensation on the plastic lid. It's slim pickens out there these days. My 16-yr-old Russell Hobbs kettle suddenly bit the dust. It was a real RH (before the company was sold off) and it had the heating element inside the stainless steel kettle. Over 16 yrs, we went from a family of 6, hardcore tea drinkers....down to just the two of us. To go from that old RH to this glass one was a leap of faith. I initially am not disappointed. I boiled an initial pot of water & dumped it. Then I washed the interior out with soap & water before boiling two more kettles to spill out. It was easy to get my hand inside to clean it. It took 7 minutes to bring ice cold tap water to a rolling boil at the maximum fill line. I enjoyed a pot of tea without any strange smells or tastes. It poured nicely into my teapot without any spills from the spout. It looks nice on my counter top and takes up less space than my old kettle. It's not too heavy nor is it cumbersome in any way. I can't live without the speed and convenience of an electric kettle and this one makes me super happy. I'm like "so modern" now! The only downside was that Amazon did not have this kettle in stock so I made the purchase from a vendor and had to pay a shipping charge (I'm a Prime gal). The vendor did pack well and I received it within 2 days anyway, so other than having to pay for shipping, it was still a seamless purchase. I will certainly update my review if I encounter any trouble with it because I am a militant tea addict. You're welcome.

I just received this today, so only time will tell. I read a LOT of reviews before making this purchase and so far I am happy that it has none of the short-comings I've read about other kettles. My primary requirement was that the kettle not be plastic. I've read about many of the "stainless steel" models rusting over time or having plastic liners or other plastic parts. This glass kettle solves most of those issues. The only plastic inside the kettle is the bottom of the lid and a small frame that holds the metal debris screen in the spout.

Starts bubbling within 30 seconds on being turned on and brings 30 oz of cold tap water to a rolling boil in just over 2 minutes. Boils the 50 oz. maximum volume of cold tap water in about 5 minutes. Pours beautifully. No spills or slop. Well balanced. Easy to read volume gauge. When the lid release button is pushed, the lid locks in the open position making filling easy. The lid also 'locks' shut.

The cord isn't actually retractable, but can be shortened or coiled up under the base. The only feature this kettle lacks that some avid tea drinkers might like is a temperature control. The only feature this kettle lacks that I would like is an audible signal that the unit has turned off.

So far, so good as I attempt to eliminate plastics from all of my utensils, food storage and processing. I'm very much hoping this product endures well.

Buy Chef's Choice 6800001 Cordless Electric Glass Kettle Now

I bought this as a replacement for a Breville Kettle.

[Good]

Glass design: really like being able to see what I'm boiling even if it is just plain water. I also really like the fact that glass doesn't rust, nor does it contain horrible, unhealthy chemicals that plastics tend to leech when they are heated.

The spout doesn't drip.

[Bad]

Overfilling is very easy (and makes this not so safe): At most match the 2nd highest mark for water. The highest mark will result in an overfill. What happens when you overfill and boil water? Well water will start coming out of the unit's glass and seep into the part where the glass and metal meet, meaning that water will get inside the unit. In other words this is a potential hazard. I never had to think about stuff like this with the competing metal electric kettles. (It is fine when you get into the habit of filling it just fine.) This design needs work. I'm willing to pay more money to get a better design. Chef's Choice, just please don't cheapen your products.

Capacity: Does not heat as much water as competing metal kettles.

Must hand dry: Like all electric kettles I've seen so far (even the Breville's), you have to dry the metal plate after use. Why? Because eventually it will rust. I found this out the hard way with past competing products. The reason? Well no matter how you tip the kettle, not all the water is going to leave the metal plate. This is easier to do with the glass container, since you can actually see the metal portions unlike the all metal kettles. In Chef's Choice defense, this is a problem that all products in this class (that I've used) suffer from.

Plastic: While it is nice that there's less direct contact with plastic and the heated water, it's still there on top as the lid as well as the filter. I would pay more to have no plastic in contact with the liquid being boiled. Having plastic in contact with the heated water negates the health benefit of the inertness of glass.

On / Off Switch feels like it's easy to break. I think Breville's switch design is better.

[Misc]

The price is fair.

The automatic off function works.

[Verdict]

I still haven't seen a perfect electric kettle. This may not be the one, but it's comparable to competing products. It's not bad.

Read Best Reviews of Chef's Choice 6800001 Cordless Electric Glass Kettle Here

We really like the electric glass kettle. It brings water to a boil quickly and then shuts off right away. It also shuts off when I lift it off its base. Very efficient. It is somewhat larger than my need but overall I would purchase it again.

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After owning several Capresso H2O Plus electric kettles and having them all fail shortly after the warranty expired, it was time for a change. The Chef's Choice kettle has all the features that I grew to love in the Capresso. They include:

a fast boil of 8 minutes for a full kettle, way faster then my stovetop. I even use the boiled kettle water to pour into a small sauce pot for cooking on the stovetop. A nice time saver.

an all glass carafe, no plastic contacts the boiling water except for the small frame that holds the mesh screen at the spout. It's entertaining to view the water reach a boil.

an illuminated on switch that shuts off when the water has reached a full boil.

this kettle retains the temperature of hot water better then the Capresso. It maybe because the Chef's Choice has a larger boiling plate at the bottom of the kettle which is great.

the kettle has a nice brushed stainless steel trim around the outside. It fits in well with the rest of the kitchen.

initially the pot felt awkward to pickup and pour, but that's because this kettle has more heft then the Capresso. Now that I've used it everyday it feels and pours just fine, like anything new you have to adjust to the change.

lastly it looks great! Lets just hope it gives years of service. I hope this was helpful.

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