Cuisinart Brew Central 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker

Nice unit, brews super hot and pretty easy to use and set up. Good easy directions and well packaged. Brews a great cup of coffee. Always buy the cheap coffee makers, glad I stepped it up for this one.

This coffee maker replaces the same model that I purchased and used daily for over 24 years! I'm sure of the date (2001) because we had just moved when I got it. I even checked my memory by calling Cuisinart, and they said this model came out in 2000. I think I got it because Consumer Reports recommended it. Anyway after it died, I started looking for a replacement that addressed the only thing I don't like about it - no outside water gauge. After trying and returning a different brand, I'm back to this one: Pros - (1) makes good coffee; (2) adjustable temp heater plate - I use cream so want my coffee piping hot; (3) 1-4 cup setting... again to have hot enough coffee; (4) programmable (5) great carafe -- doesn't spill when pouring, and the lid can come all the way off, not just hinged. It's on there securely which it has to be for spill free pouring, but it's not hard to pop off when you want to clean the pot. And sturdy!! Can't tell you how many times I've accidentally smacked it against a granite countertop without breaking it in all those years. Not recommending, just sayin'! (6) Cord length = 26.5". Short enough so it tucks behind the machine and isn't annoyingly all over your countertop, and long enough that you can pull the coffee maker out free from under your upper cabinets when brewing, so steam doesn't hit them. Cons: (1) In 25 years, why oh why hasn't Cuisinart put a water gauge on the outside for those times you need to remember how much you put in? This was the main annoyance that had me looking elsewhere. The one inside is virtually impossible to read unless you have in 12 cups. It's a ridiculous water gauge. (2) The "done" beeps are louder than on my old one. I noticed the first day, and haven't noticed it since. I guess I don't find it as horrific as some other reviewers have mentioned, but it was fine at the volume it used to be. Unless your situation is sensitive, the volume is likely not a deal breaker. Pro or Con? Depends on your point of view: The clock window is tiny and not backlit. I personally don't want one more electronic thing with a bright display on it in my kitchen and I don't use it as a kitchen clock so I couldn't care less. However if you change programmable settings often or otherwise need to read the clock, you'll need good lighting and good eyes. I've read the reviews of others who got lemons that didn't last -- if this one lasts even half as long as my first one I'll be happy. If not, I'll update my review... p.s.: Have not had a problem with the water height marks wearing off the carafe because I never put in the dishwasher, which will eventually take marks like that off anything. Given the lack of an exterior water reservoir guide, that may be important to your choice.

I've had the Cuisinart DCC-1200 for about a week now. I was hesitant to spend so much on a coffee maker but I'm happy to report it's well worth it. Sure, you can get other brands of coffee makers for under $25 if economy is the most important feature, but I've had those machines and I decided that, this time, a good cup of coffee was most important for me. This unit makes the best coffee I've had in a home or office machine and better than most coffee I've had in restaurants. This coffee tastes smooooooth! I suspect the charcoal water filter is the reason for that. I also like the "shower head" design of the water spout. The water actually runs up a track onto the underside of the lid and is sprinkled over the ground coffee like a rain shower. It's an attractive unit but it also looks like a serious coffee maker. This unit is no toy. It looks and feels solid. The carafe has a good solid feel and balance. The plastic parts (like the plastic carafe lid and handle) feel like good heavyweight plastic and are well molded. It's not the lightweight crappy plastic that cracks and discolors easily in the cheap coffee makers. I like the 5 beeps when the coffee is ready. Now I can leave the kitchen and go clean or whatever and I don't have to keep running back to see if I can get a cup yet. I can hear the beeps. But if I really can't wait and want a cup in mid-brew, I can just remove the pot and pour a cup - you've got a full 30 seconds to reinsert the pot, before you risk an overflowing filter. I like the permanent gold-tone filter too. I always thought paper filters were a pain. They'd fold over sometimes and there'd be grounds in my coffee. But you can use paper filters in this machine if you want to. I just prefer the convenience of the gold-tone filter (top rack machine washable too). It has an indicator light for cleaning -- it says it's "self-cleaning" but really it's just a light telling you when you need to pour in a pot of water/vinegar and run it through to decalcify the unit. (I never thought to do that with my other units. Probably another reason my coffee wasn't as good as I wanted it to be.) The low-medium-high setting on the hot plate is pretty nice too. And the auto-shutoff feature is great. I don't have to worry about forgetting to turn the machine off. The instruction booklet is very good and very thorough. Comes with a parts reordering form too. What don't I like about this machine? It requires maintenance in that you have to change the charcoal filters. But actually I don't mind since I think they are the reason the coffee tastes so smooth, and they are very easy to change and not expensive [...] Also, the area in the top of the machine where you pour in the water is narrow but again this is just a minor inconvenience. Just have to pour a little carefully. So really it's almost all positives with a couple of very minor negatives. I highly recommend this coffee maker.

First I'd like to say that these review sites really kill me. Invariably, you have to wade through countless trivial comments like, "I had to turn the spool wheel too many times before I could change the string on my string trimmer" or, here's a classic, "the stereo I bought is just too loud and I have to keep the volume at the number 5 setting all the time." (trust me, this is from an actual review). Well, you'll be happy to know that the reviews for the DCC-1200 are no different. Anywhere from "why do you have to turn the knob to brew and then flick a switch for on" to, "I can hear the plastic creaking as it heats up" (that one really makes me laugh) to, "it's just too tall and doesn't fit under my cabinets" (didn't you size it up before you bought it)? Look people, this unit makes coffee. It does it well and it does it like it's supposed to. You pour water in the top, add your favorite beans, wait a bit and, here's the kicker, coffee comes out the bottom! Holy smokes! It's got two knobs, an on and off switch and a few buttons to set things like the clock. To brew, turn the knob to brew and flick the on switch. To auto-brew, turn the knob to auto-brew and flick the on switch. To program the clock/auto on/auto off, turn the knob to clock/auto on/auto off and... press a button. Wow, this is really tough stuff. And, to make matters worse, omygosh, the LCD clock doesn't have a back light!! Armageddon here we come. You don't have enough clocks in your kitchen between the wall, the microwave, the oven, and every other stinking thing that has to tell you the time these days? The other knob adjusts the hot plate setting. Low-Med-High. Trust me, there are many complaints that the Cuisinart doesn't get their coffee hot enough. Not hot enough? How hot do you really want it? I'm sure Cuisinart wasn't thinking about their specs reaching boiling temperature when they designed this thing. Trust me folks, it's close enough. I'd say close to McDonald's scalding hot coffee but I won't even sue Cuisinart for potentially burning my crotch. As for the plastic creaking, when the temperature heats up, the plastic expands inside, what do you want anyway? Whatddya mean it's only stainless steel on the outside? I've been ripped off!!! I mean come on, if you really want a true stainless steel coffee maker, go spend the $2000 and buy professional so that you can mount it on the dash of your Beemer. Just don't waste our time with comments like this. Oh yeah and the alarm/beeping that everyone's complaining about? Well, let me just say that the "Hounds of the Baskervilles" comment is a little unjustified. I would hate to hear what this person does when their microwave goes off, or, if their telephone rings, or if one of the kids makes a noise. Folks, this is a series of 5 small beeps when the brewing cycle is near completion. Kind of a tee tee tee tee tee. So, unless you sleep with your coffee maker on your night stand, I wouldn't worry so much about this one. Condensation. I don't know one coffee maker out there that when you open the lid to dump your grounds just after the brewing is complete where some of it doesn't drip on the countertop. So, suck it up. Get your sink sponge and wipe it up. Are we that inconvenienced by this? And finally, the dreaded reservoir comment. "It's too small and I pour water all over the place." Blah blah. Pour water in, get coffee out. So far, I haven't missed the bullseye. Could I be doing something wrong here? And about those darned tank markers. Does anybody honestly use those things? Fill up the pot and pour it in. Now you know how much coffee you'll make. Huh?! The bottom line is that this is a good coffee maker. It has a self cleaning cycle to tell you when to decalcify, makes piping hot coffee but... oh no, produces condensation. It's kind of like when you heat water on the stove and it produces that steamy stuff, and it forms those... water droplets. Ah whatever. Look, if you're the type who doesn't have to have their maid do everything for them or worse flog the person who doesn't quite fold the towel right on the towel bar, go out and buy this product, you won't be disappointed.

This is my 3rd Cuisinart Coffee Maker of generally the same style/model. When I need a replacement, I buy the same type so that I have spare carafes, lids, filter baskets, etc. Plus, I can use the same style filers that I have on hand (#4 Cone) These are generally good coffee makers, and I get about 6-7 years out of these before they fail. The failure is typically the thermal cutoff. This could be repaired but after 6+ years of nearly continuous daily use, it’s just not worth fixing. Per the manual, I clean them with vinegar and water as needed. The capacity is about perfect for two people and batches of 8-10 “cups” per day. The “cup” designation is a bit misleading because the average American coffee MUG is about 2 cups worth of coffee per the marking of the carafe. If you figure two people drinking 2 full mugs of coffee per day, you are already at the 8 “cup” mark on the carafe. The unit will make up to 12 “cups” (about 6 regular mugs) per cycle. Pros: makes great coffee, the Sneak-a-cup feature is nice. There is a clock timer function that will start the coffee maker at a designated time if you want that. The unit will shut itself off if you forget to turn it off. The controls are very straight forward and easy to use. The carafe, carafe lid and filter basket are easy to clean. Cons: With daily use and decent maintenance, the life span is about 6-7 years. The water reservoir is a bit tricky to fill but not horrible – you will develop a technique.

I have a lot of Cuisnart products and this is the best coffee maker to have. The setting instructions are easy to follow. Filling the machine is easy and not messy at all. I had a 14 cup for many years and have cut down a bit so the 12 cup is perfect. You can control the heat level which is a huge benefit where we like it very hot and the machine will stay hot for up to 4 hours. I highly recommend this machine, especially after ordering 2 others and retured both of them.

This unit rocks!!! I bought it after visiting a friend who had purchased their unit over two years ago and it was still making piping hot coffee for them. I rarely give anything 5 stars as it has to be near perfect for me to do so, but this unit deserves everyone of those 5 stars. I bought this product in replacement of a Sboly unit that couldn't make a hot cup of coffee to save it's life. This unit not only makes a piping hot cup of coffee but also has a dial you can set to low, medium, high that controls the warming plate after the coffee is brewed to keep the coffee hot! I have mine set to medium and even after adding a fair bit of cream to my coffee it is still piping hot. Because this unit is able to brew hot, the flavors in my gourmet coffee are wonderfully realized! The coffee maker also has a great safety feature in that you can program it to turn off at 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 hours after it brews. You will never get in your car, get to work and wonder "Did I turn off the coffee maker???" ever again. Love that feature! The 12 cup volume is great. Large enough for a couple of cups to start your day for several adults. There is also a very intelligent feature that allows 2-4 cups to be made at piping hot water temps. This might seem like "Big woop?!?!" but most coffee makers do not properly heat the water with smaller volumes of water. This unit "double heats" the smaller volume of water to brew smaller batches. The unit also looks nice. I am into retro looking things and I like the little toggle switch one needs to flip up to initiate a brew cycle and the dials used to program the unit. Nice combination of stainless steel and durable black plastic housing gives it an eye-catching appearance. The unit also has the ability to filter the water with replaceable carbon-based filters. I use water that has been already filtered so this is less important to me, but if your using tap water then this is a nice feature to rid your tap water of nasty tasting chemicals before the brew process. This unit also allows foe use of paper filers or it comes with a nice gold-tone permanent filter. Another feature I truly appreciate is the small footprint. We have a small kitchen and this fits perfectly under cabinets and doesn't take up a ton of space like a lot of other high-end coffeemakers that are ridiculously overpriced. The one and only thing I would change on this coffee maker is the LCD Digital clock window is small. I would have made the clock window slightly larger especially given my aging eyes. But this is a minor issue at best. I HIGHLY recommend this coffee maker!!!

The first Cuisinart coffee maker I had was a yard sale find. I used it for years without any problems, but it finally needed to go. So I bought another one just like it. Have used it now for probably 2 years and am very happy with it. It's simple to use, very durable, doesn't take a long time to brew, and makes enough coffee for a group of women on a weekly basis! I am very happy with this coffee maker.