Cuisinart DGB-500 Grind & Brew, White

Annoying to clean, spotty operation
I've been using this coffeemaker daily for about 9 months. I'm not completely satisfied with it.

The positive: It does what it's supposed to do, most of the time.

Cons:

- It's a real pain to clean. There are six parts to clean after every pot of coffee. The worst is the two-piece grinder assembly. Due to the complete absence of venting and valving, by the end of the brew the entire grinder assembly is soaking wet from condensed water vapor. This means it is coated with a fine mud of pulverized coffee. The grinder assembly has plenty of annoying nooks and crannies; cleaning it means standing there with a few paper towels, jamming them into the crevices to get the old coffee out. After that, you have to clean the filter holder, the filter holder lid, the pot itself, and the pot lid. The pot lid is annoying, requiring two hands to remove - I usually drop it once a day or so.

- Fit and finish. Once you've passed the plastic parts...

GREAT COFFEE MAKER getting a bad rap!
We've owned this machine for about 1 1/2yrs and bought them as gifts for two couples last fall. Having run this same coffeemaker over 400+ times, I would like to rebut some of the complaints often seen here.

[Electrical problemsNone of us have ever had or heard of the hot plate problems I saw mentioned. It could have been damaged at any point of the shipping & handling process. As for the "friend" having the exact same problem, if the problem is so prevalent then why are they getting a new replacement from Quisinart?

[Cleaning] I hate to break the shocking news but..... you do have to clean your coffee maker. Yes this unit has a few extra parts. That's because it has more functions, which is the reason we bought them in the first place. Every part is removable or accessible and therefore, cleanable. One reviewer in particular complained vehemently about the cleaning and then mentioned switching to a vacuum pot which has even more parts than a grind &...

GREAT COFFEE MACHINE!! BEST COFFEE
After being a long term Krups owner (my Krups carafe broke after 12 yrs of dutiful service), I recently purchased a 12 cup Cuisinart Grind & Brew. I always thought my old 10 cup Krups made a decent cup of coffee when using freshly ground beans. I initially shopped for a replacement Krups.

To me, the newer Krups models seemed flimsier than my 12 yr old model. The round carafe seemed problematic (and i've read that it is problematic.)

So I eyed the Cuisinart. I selected this Grind and Brew model because i was tired of getting coffee grounds all over my floor every day. It was a terrific decision.

Cuisinart has made the total "set it and forget it machine." At night I put my whole beans in with water that Cuisinart kindly filters and in the morning I get a fantastic cup of coffee.

I ONLY MENTION THIS ONE POINT: The machine has a "1-4" cup setting that will make sure the coffee is HOT when making small amounts. The manual says use this feature when making 4 or less cups. I...

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