Cuisinart DGB-475 Grind & Brew 10-Cup Automatic Coffeemakers

I went ahead and purchased this product after a lot of research and despite what some of the negative reviewers say. I've had built-in grind coffee machines for awhile, and I can honestly say this little machine produces some of the best tasting coffee there is! The cleanup is easier than my old GE machine (with grinder). No, it's not as easy as a normal coffee maker without the grinder, but then you don't get the freshly ground coffee either.

You're going to have to decide what is right for you. I program mine the night before and wake up to fresh coffee in the morning. The grinder is noisy, but is still quieter than my old machine. After I pour my thermos, it takes me all of three minutes to disassemble and rinse the parts out with hot water, leaving them to drip dry in the sink for when I get home. About once every couple weeks, I hand wash the parts.

I use the thing every week, 5 days a week. It's awesome. I've had no trouble with it. You just have to know that you're getting a grind-and-brew, not just some regular coffee maker. If you're looking for quality coffee, then this is your ticket.

UPDATE 9/30/11: After 2 years of owning this machine and using it regularly, it is still going strong! Even though I said I hand-washed the parts once a week, I got lazy and started using the dishwasher. I put the plastic bits on the top shelf and only the carafe on the bottom shelf. It works great in the dishwasher, and I have had NO damage to the unit. Again, this is a great machine. It's still making fantastic coffee with no problems.

I've used this coffee maker for about a week now. Overall, I do recommend it. This is the first coffee maker I've used that grinds the beans, definitely a very nice feature. It makes very good coffee, probably the best coffee of any coffee maker I've ever owned (which is more than a few). And the coffee still tastes quite good after two hours on the burner. I like that you can disable the grinder and just use ground coffee if you want.

It does have a few quirks worth mentioning. First, the grinder gets wet from steam every time you use the maker, whether you grind beans or not. It is very important that the grinder and basket cover are dry before grinding the beans; otherwise the grounds stick to them and you end up with weak coffee. So you must remove the grinder and basket and let them thoroughly air dry before you can actually use it. Safety features in the maker don't allow you to brew coffee unless the grinder is in place, so don't think that's your way out. You just need to plan ahead.

Second, while it is nice to have a charcoal water filter as part of the coffee maker, I was a little put off that they charge about $5 a piece for replacement filters($10 for a 2-pack). They say the filters last for 60 brews. Not quite as bad as ink for the printer, but you get the picture.

Third, if you use the grinder, you have 5 pieces to clean after every use, 2-piece grinder, 2-piece basket, and the carafe.

Overall, I give it 4-1/2 out of 5. The coffee it makes is top notch, well worth the extra cleaning time, but planning ahead is essential.

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This coffee maker makes great tasting coffee faster than my Melitta grind and brew coffee maker. The bean grinder motor sounds more powerful and grinds beans much faster and quieter. However, the bean basket itself is very small. I guess I must like my coffee stronger since I use a separate coffee bean grinder when making more than six cups of coffee. The charcoal water filter does seem to improve the taste of coffee. I agree with some other reviewers who complain that cleaning the unit (especially the inside) requires some extra effort. Finally, I like the size and overall shape of this coffee maker. This product is close to perfect.

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We live in the country and this coffeemaker has been such a wonderful addition to our kitchen. The water filter has made such a difference to the taste of the coffee, we were so suprised. The automatic turn off feature is also a favorite of mine. Several times we have left with the coffeemaker still on and now we don't have that worry.

There are so many great features on this machine, like the rest of our cuisinart products this one makes life more enjoyable!!

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We received this coffeemaker as a gift. While all the features make it seem like it'd be a wonderful maker, it's really not. It's a pain to clean, but the bigger problem is that the basket pops out quite often and makes a HUGE mess all over the counter and inside the coffeemaker (spilling the grinds inside). It's such a pain and I dread making coffee in the AM because of it. I hate to give it away since I don't want to burdeon anyone else wit hit.

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Mr.Coffee Holder for Filter Basket

Junk cannot even begin to describe this product! I should have known but the price was too good to pass up, so I ordered 2, to justify paying $10 for shipping. When I opened the package, the clip had come off the handles and the cup feels like a thick plastic rather than the original metal that came with the machine. Not to mention the part was clearly not made for my machine, so now I can't use it even if I wanted to. Bottom line, don't cheap out!

does not fit my machine it sounded like it would in the the way they wrote about in when selling it on your site

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KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixers

My wedding gift mixer (a Sunbeam Mixmaster) turned 33 a week before Christmas, and my husband thought it was time for me to have a new one. He gifted me on Christmas with the KitchenAid 5 Qt. Artisan in white. I love this mixer and leave it out on my counter, something I never did with the Mixmaster. I recently purchased the citrus juicer attachment from Amazon and am very pleased with it as well. I have not read all 109 previous reviews on this site, but I have read a few that were disgruntled because their Artisans did not mix well. I initially had the same problem with the beater/bowl clearance. It is very simple to remedy. There is a beater adjustment screw on the mixer and the manual describes how to make the adjustments. I got even better instructions by calling customer support at KitchenAid. The technician told me to drop a dime into the empty bowl, turn the mixer on (about setting 2) using the flat beater, and it should move the dime 1/4" to 1/2" each time it rotates around the bowl. This is the right clearance for the beater to mix everything at the bottom of the bowl, but not low enough to cause wear on the beater from constant friction with the bottom of the bowl during usage. I tweaked the screw setting 1/4 turn each time until I got that dime moving. At this setting, I can now beat a single egg white to stiff peaks in the 5 qt. bowl. That's impressive.

This mixer is as sturdy as a tank, and you can hear the quality as it mixes. Although I had previously purchased a KitchenAid mixer for my daughter as a gift, I would never have splurged on one for myself. I am so happy my husband thought I was worth it!

This KitchenAid mixer is an excellent investment! I just love mine! The dough hook attachment is the greatest invention ever. No more kneading! I used this wonderful machine to make 4 pounds of Pizza Geina dough without breaking a sweat. Add your ingredients, turn it on and it does the rest! It has a very powerful motor and every part of this mixer is excellent quality and well made. It is simple to lock in the mixing bowl and it is also a breeze to clean. The different attachments are very easy to attach and remove. It would be impossible not to love it! Did I mention how easy the clean up is? I love it so much I bought the KitchenAid quilted cover for it. Once you use this mixer you will never want to use anything else! The Best!!!

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I have celiac disease, which is essentially an allergy to wheat protein, and I've been GF for 5 years now. (Why does that sound like I'm at an AA meeting?) When I first started baking all my own breads, cakes, etc., from scratch, the books said that I needed a bread machine. I bought one and it didn't work so well with the GF "funny flours." A book finally told me to forget about the machine, buy a stand mixer and use the oven. Brilliant!

I bought my Kitchenaid and haven't looked back. I use this thing at least twice a week, sometimes every day. I don't know how I lived without it. My mom just bought one after she saw me calmly measuring stuff and dumping it in while the mixer mixed all by it itself. (She's been suffering with a handheld all these years.) Stand mixers also mix more thoroughly than handhelds. They also can mix chocolate chip cookie dough all the way to the end of the flour additions.

I've had my Kitchenaid for about 5 years now, though 3 moves, and it's still as sturdy and reliable as the day I bought it. The paint is still perfect. Not a scratch. Certainly not a chip. It's beautiful and lustrous. I have Onyx Black. While I like the look of the Onyx a lot, it's obvious if there's a little flour dusting the top of it. This makes it convenient to clean, but if you don't use it very often but do want it out, you might want to choose a lighter color that won't show dust.

Caveat: It's heavy. B/c I use mine so much, I display it on my counter, drag it forward, use it, wipe it off with a damp rag, and push it back. (And wash the bowl, of course.) But it's worth it's weight in gold. They are a lovely appliance. Not like a frumpy toaster.

Also, a previous review somewhere said that it left dry ingredients in the bottom of the bowl and didn't incorporate them. There's an adjustment screw that you have to fine-tune before you use it. Instructions are in the booklet. I adjusted mine before I used it for the first time (I compulsively read instructions,) and never had that problem.

Buy yourself a proper mixer. You'll be so glad you did.

TK Kenyon

Author of Rabid: A Novel and Callous: A Novel

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In short, don't be. Most of the relatively small percentage of negative reviews on this mixer fall into one of three explainable categories, so if you're considering it, follow along:

The most worrisome category of complaints about this mixer involves a very small number of stories about the food-grade grease that lubricates the internal bearings leaking out of the mixer and into the food-bowl. Although reported in only a tiny percentage of reviews, this was probably the one complaint that worried me the most, simply because if true, let's just say it: it's disgusting.

The first thing to keep in mind in evaluating this complaint is that EVERY electric mixer requires lubricated bearings. Changing models or brands won't change that, and although there may be design differences that make the possibility somewhat different across various models, it's just going to always be there to some degree on every mixer. It's pointless to waste time, in other words, worrying about something that is going to be a possibility on ANYTHING you can possibly buy. So that's the first category.

The second category category of complaints has to do with the mixer dying somehow, either arriving dead or dying quickly. It seems a lot of these complaints are dated from 2007-2009, so maybe there really *was* something going on, but those seem to have tapered off. For the rest, I can only say that speed matters: 2=LOW for dough, 4=MED for batter, and 6=HIGH for creaming. Speeds 8 and 10 are ONLY for whipping air into cream or egg whites with the wire whisk. Anything faster than 2 for kneading dough and you're literally playing with fire.

I can say this with the authority that only comes from wrecking a lot of motors. The quickest way to burn out an appliance is to exceed the available power with the requested load, so the number one way to kill a mixer is to simply add a large quantity of sticky dough and then crank up the dough hook while saying "if 2 is good, then 4 is better and 10 is best." Turning up the speed increases the load, leaving the motor with no reserve capacity as the dough gets tougher. The result is easy to predict.

The second way to kill an electric motor, surprisingly (and you won't be warned about this one by the manual) is to use it with an extension cord, especially a light-duty one. This is the appliance equivalent of running a race while breathing through a straw. You don't run your stove that way, you don't run your refrigerator that way, and you shouldn't run your mixer that way, either. Even WITH the recommended amount of dough, and AT the recommended speed (2), you can still kill it this way. (Please see the comments on this review if you're interested in more discussion on this).

Anyone who is unaware of either of these points will naturally and understandably blame the mixer when it starts smoking and burns out. I'm certainly not saying one of these types of abuse explains every single case of mixer failure--there have to be SOME manufacturing defects--but I'd be willing to bet one of these two things explains 8 out of 10 of them. If you really do need a mixer for large quantities of dough every day, then please invest in a commercial-grade mixer like a twoto four-thousand dollar Hobart mixer, where the designers KNOW the duty-requirements you have in mind. You shouldn't try to haul two tons of rock with a half-ton pickup truck all day and expect it to last, nor should you make the equivalent mistake with a mixer.

The remaining category of complaints seems to be some version of the beaters hitting the bowl. This is a simple adjustment that has been covered elsewhere, but if you missed it, all you need to do is place a dime in the bowl and use the adjustment screw (in the crook of the tip-up hinge) to lower or raise the flat beater until it moves the dime just 1/4 to 1/2 inch on each sweep. This is only end-user adjustment you'll ever need to make, and it likely solves the entirety of the remaining category of complaints I read about.

I decided to take a chance on this mixer despite the negative reviews, after thinking it through in this way, and I'm very happy with it so far (and wow, is it ever better than the old Sunbeam stand mixer I had for ages!) If it ever quits or I change my mind about it, I'll let you know; otherwise, the deal on Amazon is as good as you'll find. (UPDATE: That last comment was made back when this mixer was selling for $229, but the price has risen dramatically since then. The rest of my review still stands...)

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First, the mixer works great. Everything most home-bakers could ever want. But I strongly suggest you select a smooth finish. I got the Krinkle Gray. (Don't know if thats still available.) It looks very 'professional', but it's hard to keep clean. After the first batch of bread dough, the mixer was nearly white, and it took some serious scrubbing to get the flour off the textured surface.

As to the mechanics of the mixer itself, very few complaints. The tilt-head makes it possible to remove the bowl without dismantling the beater (unlike the lift-bowl models). I mainly use the dough hook, and have found that the motor tends to bog down just a bit on extremely heavy doughs. But as I always do the final kneading by hand anyway, its not a major issue; just a little more hand work.

If I ever buy another stand mixer, it will definately be a KitchenAid. Thing is, this mixer will probably outlast me by decades.

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Urnex Cafiza Espresso Machine Cleaner Tablets, Blister Pack (32, 2g tablets)

It took me many years to discover this product. I use it exclusively now and no problems with my two machines. The price is the best part.

My Jura Capresso, Impressa F7 machine (as well as their other machines) calls for very expensive Jura cleaning tablets. I got tired of buying their expensive tablets and tried these instead. They work just as well and appear to be the exact same thing. Compare the price but when I bought them they were a fraction of the Jura tablets. The Jura machines are expensive and need to be kept in good working order. We have had ours for over 2 years and I have used these tablets for the past year. We love the coffee from our machine.

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The manufacturer says to use vinegar, however, I asked Starbucks what they use and they recommended tablets. Let me say this product is a miracle! Easy to use, cleans the machine thoroughly and is so fantastic I wish I would have found it earlier. Highly recommend!

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Gotta love the price. Simple to use (just add water), creates a soapy solution with all the cleaning ingredients. Ran this through my aging Nespresso machine and it worked like a charm, pushing out dirty water at first and clear water after.

Remember to run clean water through your machine to flush this. As a precaution, I also ran a couple of cycles in the morning before my 1st brew.

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They are what I have used exclusively since buying our Breville Barista Express and they work just like the name brand ones and I believe they Re exactly the same thing. Why pay more?

Still haven't used all of the 32 Tab package that we purchased even though we clean the machine regularly and brew drinks with it 365 days a year. Good purchase all around!

La Cafetiere TQ080200 Thermique 35 fl oz Coffee Press, Stainless Steel

After weeks of searching for a stainless steel coffee press and reading every review submitted--I really appreciate product reviews: good and bad--I finally found a press that I thought would work...and it does! In fact, it makes an excellent pot of coffee. It is also very beautiful. It looks like a silver coffee pot you might find on the room-service tray at a 4-star hotel: classic art deco design. The generous spout allows you to pour the coffee without dripping and the large handle makes it easy to hold securely. The pot is polished stainless steel, made in China by a British firm with, obviously, very exacting standards; there are no flaws, dents, or unfinished surfaces. It has a smooth and seamless appearing surface throughout: inside and outside and it can sit proudly on any tray or table.

Following my accident with my glass Bodum press (it exploded and I received 1st and 2nd degree burns), I was a little leery about pressing down on the plunger when I made my first pot. No need to worry; it slid down like a dream: smoothly and easily. So easily that I thought it might not have captured all the coffee grounds. (The one drawback in using a metal pot is not being able to see the grounds being pressed.) No need to worry, as I discovered when I cleaned the pot, all the grounds had been captured by the stainless, mesh filter and there was little if any water with the grounds in the bottom of the pot. By the way, this press must be hand washed and dried: it cannot be put into a dishwasher.

The only feature that did not seem to "work" for me was the keep-warm feature. I did not make a full pot (which probably contributed to the cooling down of the brew); but, I did make enough for two mugs of coffee--about 20 oz.--and I drank the second cup within ten minutes. The second cup was not as hot as the first one. I did rinse the pot with very hot tap water before putting the ground coffee into the pot and I placed it on a hot pad so my tiled counter would not cool the pot. However, this pot is double-walled and the air pocket is what "keeps the coffee warm"; it is not a thermos pot. The pot is hefty; but, not as heavy as it would be if it was a thermos or glass-insulated pot. Not having the glass insulation might be a good thing: nothing to break should I drop it; therefore, it should last a very long time. I think the warming aspect would be better triggered if one was making a full pot and using--as the instruction booklet suggests--water "just off the boil." That is, the water for this coffee press should be boiled; it will cool down when it hits the pot and the heat is absorbed by the air pocket.

Oh, yes, the coffee from this elegant press--it was the best! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this great press to anyone. Yes, it is a little more expensive than the glass presses; but, I don't have to worry about it exploding or breaking.

July Update: I have made many full pots of coffee since my initial review and I can safely say that my coffee did stay very warm; that is, very drinkable--for up to 2 hours--and the pot stayed cool to the touch. I did use water just off the boil; I think that certainly helped. I really do like this coffee press!

After trying out (and reviewing) several other stainless steel coffee presses, I guess I'm keeping this one. It's all metal, (unlike the awful new Bodums that use a plastic frame for the screen) solid enough, and does the job for less than half the price of some of the other presses. It's pleasing to the eye, from a distance at least.

Is it well made? No, not really. The brazing that connects the handle with the pot is sloppy, the join is cut at an uneven angle and bent, and the metal of the pot is rippled and distorted at the handle join. The polish job is very rough. It's obvious that this thing was put together in a Chinese sweatshop without a lot of pride in craftsmanship. I find it absurd to compare this cheap, tinny pot to a real handcrafted silver serving vessel. It's like people have lost all understanding of quality... Don't kid yourself; this is a low-quality item that will do the job, period. And considering that the Frieling press, while more substantial, also suffered from low quality metalworking, I'll stick with this one and save a couple bucks. The strainer on this pot is a cheap imitation of the Bodum piece with a looser, thinner screen, but thankfully shares the same thread size, so a real (old-school) Bodum 3-piece stainless screen can be screwed on in place of the stock one.

On the positive side, the spout works very well and does not drip, unlike some others. You can rotate the lid and it will cover the opening, presumably keeping your beverage hotter even longer. The handle sits nicely in the hand, and the pot balances and pours well. Although not a vacuum thermos, the double wall design does keep your coffee hotter longer than a single-wall.

So, although not of the quality I'd like, (which apparently does not exist anywhere, at any price) I will be keeping this one, although I am sure every time I see that wonky handle join, I'll cringe a little. Those less fastidious about metalworking will probably like this pot just fine, and I will give it my qualified recommendation as being the best option on Amazon at the moment, for the price, IMO. Good luck!

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While this product does hold up to its claims of keeping coffee hot, it has poor seams several places throughout the stainless where there are pin holes allowing liquid to get trapped between the stainless thermal layers. For sanitary reasons, I am not using and have ordered a competitor's stainless french press as a replacement. Very unhappy with my purchase.

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All metal filter...no plastic or rubber. I preheated the thing with hot tap water, then made my coffee using fresh ground coffee from a burr mill. Kept the level 1 inch below the spout as instructed. Let it sit for 4 minutes with the lid on and filter up, then pressed it. Poured coffee. Taste was acceptable, similar to Bodum glass carafe.

Twisted the lid closed again to hold in heat. Angled the filter a little to keep the lid sealed better...it isn't a very tight fit, but the angle sealed in the steam acceptably well.

One timed hour later, spun the lid to the pour position and filled another mug. Perfectly hot, even after adding cream. Room temperature was 73 degrees F. Coffee bitterness after grounds stomped to the bottom did not noticeably increase after the one hour.

You'll get at least one hot hour from this maker. That's plenty.

The lid has a hole in the top and bottom for the filter rod to pass through. In theory, you could get gunk in this space, and find it hard to get out. I say poo on that. Flush with hot tap water, hold it upside down, and work the filter rod...the water comes out fine, as would any grinds that get up there if you get carried away with your filter plunging.

Stays hot, makes good coffee, all metal. Go get one and be happy you aren't breaking glass carafes when your guests come over. If you're a glass carafe aficionado, then keep this one in the cupboard for a backup.

If you like my review, send me one million dollars and I'll send you a thank-you card.

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I spent a good while seeking a replacement solution for the last french press when the press itself had broken. I was determined to find another press that was klutz-proof (so not glass), was not plastic, operated with easy pressure, poured cleanly and easily, and made enough coffee for at least two large cups in the morning (cuz some mornings are just rough like that or I'm fortunate enough to have good company to share with). Sounds impossible, right? Until you look at the product I'm reviewing and notice it satisfies all of those parameters!

What makes me even more giddy about investing in this particular press is that the construction is S-O-L-I-D. The metal has heft to it it is at least 18/8 stainless, but unmarked and the handle and the spout are very artfully, cleanly welded onto the body, and chased back to smooth, as you would expect of a piece of jewelry. And the double walled feature of this product doesn't stop at the pitcher; even the lid is an enclosed air pocket, making not only for better warmth retention, but also a more pleasant cleanup experience. Can you imagine having permanent dampness caught in the thickness of the lid? Doubtless infuriating.

Total bonus that it's damn pretty and I want to leave it out in view. The only disparaging things I have to say about it are that it's not dishwasher-safe (which is understandable), and not USA designed & manufactured (...which is sadly expected: UK-designed, Chinese-manufactured).

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