Conair - Cuisine Grind & Brew 10-Cup Coffeemaker

I bought this coffee maker for my in-laws that wanted an all-in-one coffee grinder + brewer and wanted it cheap. There are very few options with those requirements. I found a good deal on this maker and despite reviews I read on this site about pouring difficulties and temperature issues I decided to pull the trigger. Regarding pouring difficulties: There is a dot for "Closed" and a dot for "Open" on the lid in English, French, and Spanish. When aligning the dot closed it does not pour at all and when aligning the dot open it pours without a mess. I have to assume that others' issues are user error. Regarding temperature: There is not a hot plate on this maker to keep it hot or burn your coffee. I made 6 cups of coffee and poured 4 immediately, they were plenty hot but not scalding like McDonalds or Starbucks. The other two cups were still hot enough for steam to arise when I poured it into my cup ~1 hour later. Personally I don't see the need to keep one brewing of coffee hot longer than this but maybe others do. Regarding cleaning: The blade assembly is part of the filter and is easily rinsed out but you pretty much can not scrub it with a sponge. The same goes for the carafe; the mouth of it is too narrow with the lid off to fit a hand inside. Therefore you'd have to clean both with a brush on a wand if you wanted to get a good scrub. This is the only reason that I deducted a point as I wish it were a little easier to clean. Regarding noise: The blade grinder is surprisingly quiet for a blade grinder. Mind you it's not quiet, it's about the upper range of speaking volume. Many other blade grinders that I've heard could "wake the dead" and are about screaming volume. If you aren't using the grinder it's no louder than any other drip coffee maker. TL;DR: Set realistic expectations for a cheaper all-in-one and this definitely meets them.

I bought this coffeemaker to replace the Cuisinart I'd had for many years that developed a leak in the bottom tubing. I was going to buy another Cuisinart grind 'n' brew, because it brews a great pot of coffee from fresh-ground beans (a must have in my world), and it lasted many years before ever having an issue; however, then I came across the Conair grind 'n' brew coffeemaker for half the price, and I'm not usually one to pass up on a deal. For $50, I thought it was worth a try. What I didn't know was that the design of this coffee maker is exactly the same as the old Mellita grind 'n' brew machine I had before my Cuisinart (ie. the beans are ground right inside of a wire mesh basket strainer). The grinding mechanism is just a simple blade that spins at the bottom of the basket. This results in a very uneven grind---some very coarse, some dust---which results in a pot of coffee with a lot of ground coffee sediment. Something I remember of the old Mellita, which I didn't particularly like. I prefer a paper filtered coffee over the mesh strainer, because the ground coffee sediment makes the coffee overly bitter. Plus, a paper filter makes clean-up a snap. The Conair needs to be rinsed after each use. Also, the other reviewers are right, this coffeemaker does not produce a very hot pot of coffee. I find myself pre-warming the coffee mug to help retain the heat that the coffee does have from the pot. I like creamer in my coffee, in which case, it's better to start with a hotter cup of coffee, so that the creamer doesn't cool it down too much. The heat of the coffee may not matter as much to someone who takes their coffee black. If I had it to do over, I'd spend the extra $50 and buy the Cuisinart, even tho mine developed a leak over time ... it lasted much longer than I would expect a grind 'n' brew machine to last. If memory serves, the Mellita didn't last even 2 years before the grinding mechanism broke, so I will stick with this one until it breaks, and then replace it with a Cuisinart.

Contrary to most reviews, this is actually a great coffee maker: makes good strong coffee, has easy to clean the components, and the heating coil under the pot turns off immediately--this is a good thing--you should never ever ever leave coffee on a heating coil--it totally destroys the coffee. Nuke a cup once it gets cold. The hole in the back of the water container is so you don't over-fill the pot. Every coffee maker has one. Most are just a little bit higher and smaller so the water doesn't spill out as easily. Fix: put the maker where you want it before you fill it with water, and leave it there until the coffee finishes brewing. Most coffee grind/brew machines clog up with the ground coffee and you have to go through major operations to unclog it. This happens constantly. Since there is no coffee chute in this coffee maker, that is a problem of the past. The design is great. The MASSIVE problem is the horrid coffee carafe: it's awful. And it stinks like burned coffee inside, though that's an impossibility since the heating coil is virtually non-existent. And they don't make a glass carafe to fit this coffee maker. I called (four different phone numbers) and asked, and the less-than-helpful person at Cuisinart Customer Service felt he needed to explain to me over and over again how a thermos works. My blood pressure is still racing. My fix: use the 12-cup glass carafe from your Cuisinart grind/brew machine--you might have to give it a little extra nudge to fit, but it does fit. The Cuisinart grind/brew makes coffee about the same strength as dirty dishwater--I have bought it twice and thrown both in the trash. My only regret: I didn't save both glass carafes.

First off, I the price was a positive at $19.99 but all the negatives strongly outweighed the price. I used it for about a week thinking I could overlook and get used to its idiosyncrasies. In the end I returned it and purchased another brand/model. For anyone willing to spend more, I very highly recommend the Cuisinart DTC-975BKN Thermal 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker (currently $85 online). I've been waiting to write this review as this was an unbelievably poor product. While the idea of grinding beans to brew a truly fresh pot of coffee is a neat idea, I never used it. The problem with this if not grinding your coffee: every time you brew a pot, you must make sure to hit the off button for the grinder or it will chew up the paper filter. It does have a washable filter but I like disposable ones, though it seemed to be a non-standard size. Also it had a cover (presumably to keep the coffee in while grinding?) on top of the filter which had to be removed every time coffee is put in. Minor, but still it became an annoying, unnecessary added step in making a pot of coffee. The temperature of the coffee immediately after brewing isn't hot. It may be tolerable for some, but I personally like a steaming cup. The carafe is supposed to keep the coffee "hot" without a hot plate but unfortunately it was luke warm within an hour or so; requiring microwaving each cup at that point. The carafe itself required the top be turned to allow pouring - I may be wrong, but I had to unscrew it completely (maybe only halfway would've worked). It was completely inconvenient and yet another design flaw. As for the Cuisinart I bought afterwards, the coffee is steaming hot to start. I've found it hot enough to drink w/o microwaving even after sitting for 6 hours. It makes up to 12 cups which is even better and it takes the size 4 cone filters (just make sure it's in all the way or it can get kinked when closing the holder). Again I highly recommend this as an alternative...granted I've only had it two weeks but so far I'm very impressed. Of course my opinion could be skewed some due to my experience with this model (Conair Cuisinart Grind and Brew 10 cup).

Let me start out by saying that this coffeemaker (I will take the liberty of calling it that) looks nice in the kitchen and the grinder is very quiet. That is about as far as I can go with compliments. To get a good cup, coffee should be brewed within a couple degrees of 200. This machine gets nowhere close to that. I can place my finger in the first cup of coffee immediately after the coffeemaker completes the pot so the first cup is probably closer to 100 degrees than 200. I know that some of this is due to cooling from the metal pot but I can tell by the taste of the coffee that it does not brew hot enough. Some suggest warming the pot and true, that would at least result in a first cup temperature that I would not want to gulp from the pot. However, that defeats the purpose of having this grind and brew. If I have to go through that every morning, why not use a quality grinder and coffeemaker. If I can't use the timer to have coffee ready when I get up, this pot is pretty useless. Fortunately I bought the pot on an online President's Day special for $22.50. I wish I had purchased it from Best Buy where I could easily return this dud. It will be a cheap lesson to remind me "If a deal seems to good to be true, ........................"

I bought this coffee maker on sale for a steal. Even though there were some poor reviews, I decided to take the risk. The two recurring complaints are a leaky carafe, and lukewarm temp. I assure you, I've not had either issue. 1) Leaky Carafe: I tested this as soon as I opened the box. Even at an extreme and unnatural COMPLETELY UPSIDE DOWN position, the carafe did not leak. It came out of the spout as it's supposed to. 2) Temperature not hot enough: I suppose if you're someone that nurses a coffee pot all day, you may need to heat it up. However, for a cup to drink immediately this was not a problem. Any coffee aficionado will tell you that grounds can scorch if water is too hot leaving a burnt taste. A few scoops of Peets beans in this machine made a very smooth cup. I found the temperature just right for immediate drinking. A thermal travel mug would help insulate any escaping heat if you plan to let it sit. 3) The grinder is consistent and thorough in small amounts (I haven't tested more than 4 cups), and it doesn't seem to overheat the beans or alter their flavor. 4) Clean up of the filter is a thorough rinse with some hot water. It took me about 2-3 minutes to remove all of the grounds. Easy Peasy! Overall, definitely happy with this purchase, and I've already recommended to others - especially when on sale!

The initial online description of this product was attractive. However, on pickup and set-up, several drawbacks became apparent. To brew coffee, you must turn off the grind button EVERY time. The button should be a turn on feature for only when needing to grind beans. Also the grinding blades are in the middle of the filter. It would have been nice to have the grinder be in a separate portion to feed into the filter-I owned a Cuisinart in the past which had this feature. This is inconvenient as all the parts have to be taken out to clean the re-usable filter. It would also be nice to have the ability to utilize paper filters, but the built in grinder makes this impossible. Every night requires a clean-up of the 3 internal parts, including washing the used grounds down the drain. The coffee maker is usable, but has some design flaws. I would go for a higher price point with better design elements.

Looking at the previous reviews I was skeptical about this product but like everything I plan to buy I read the product description and it clearly says that the coffee maker includes a Thermal Carafe which is basically a thermos and not a glass pot with a warmer plate, I bought it took it home used the grinder and brewed what turned out to be a great tasting cup of coffee, keeping in mind the other reviews concerning the coffee didn't stay hot after brewing I put the carafe back in the coffee maker and waited for two hours before pouring another cup which was still hot but not as hot as it was when first brewed, on the other hand with no warmer plate this product is actually safer because you don't have to worry about forgetting to turn it off, I took a chance on this coffee maker and I wasn't disappointed.