I think I'll keep it (but it died)
All I want is a good cup of coffee. When our Braun coffeemaker stopped working I went on-line to Amazon to look for a new machine with a thermal carafe. I read far too many reviews and every product seemed to have more negative reviews than I like to see. Common complaints were: coffee not hot enough, coffee maker and/or carafe spills too easily, and machine stopped working. So I had to go to a real store - several stores in fact - and see these coffeemakers for myself. I ended up with this Calphalon HE100CMT coffee maker, which at the time I bought it had only one Amazon review.
Inspecting the display models, I found that the construction of this Calphalon was noticeably better than the other coffee makers in its price range. Instead of plastic made to look like metal this has a real metal shell (which I'll admit shows fingerprints readily). The hinged covers for the brewing basket and water reservoir seemed more rugged and of a higher quality than the other units...
the pros and cons
The pros:
- good looking machine - lit display is especially nice
- fairly well priced
- makes good tasting coffee that is quite hot
- carafe keeps coffee hotter than most similar carafes
- controls easy to use
The cons:
- if you prefer a paper filter (and we do) - it can be hard to place it in basket such that it doesn't fall over and make a mess with grounds all over the place and coffee not right (and basket full of messy leaking liquid)
- the stop drip feature seems to work worse than most (ours doesn't seem to stop anything)
- machine is heavy - hard to slide around the counter
- produces a lot of steam so you really can't have it right under a counter
We loved our old Cuisinart with thermal carafe (a style not made anymore) but this machine seems to make better, hotter coffee that stays hotter longer. When the filter flops over though (which is does sometimes despite what I think is careful positioning) -...
GREAT COFFEE MAKER
Have you ever read the reviews on ANY coffee maker? Check them out on any brand and you'll find the same complaints. Most of these are user error. Let's start with the biggie, coffee leaks all over the countertop when brewing. Older coffee makers shot the water over the grounds in the filter with a single stream of water. New units transfer the water with something resembling a shower head. If you put a paper filter in the unit and it isn't perfectly placed, the heated water will fold the paper filter over and water will leak everywhere. You don't need to concern yourself with this problem on this unit as it comes with a gold, metal filter. Don't use paper filters. Besides that, the gold filter saves you money.
I bought his unit because it has a metal, thermal carafe. Glass carafes break. Units with glass carafes have plate type heaters to keep the coffee warm. This causes the water in the coffee to evaporate rendering the coffee horrible in a short period of time. With the...
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