5 Responses to Cuisinart DTC-975BKN Programmable Automatic Brew-and-Serve 12-Cup Thermal Coffeemaker, Black

1. M. Wright says:

   June 15, 2010 at 6:43 pm

   I use it to make 2 cups or full pots. I have used many different machines over 15 years of drinking coffee (and therefore making coffee) daily and have absolutely no complaints about this machine. I would like to address the complaints here for people shopping for a coffeemaker.

   RE: The reported leakage problem. This is due to OVERFILLING. The water reservoir is larger than the carafe for a reason people: Steam builds up as water is heated, if the reservoir were the exact size of the carafe… YOU finish this sentence. If you can- a) figure out in your head what happens to heated plastic without room built in to displace heat and b) either fill the machine with the actual carafe being used or something you measured out beforehand that is equal to the volume of said carafe- than you’re smart enough to own this excellent machine.

   RE: The BEEP. Yes it beeps (3 times) and yes it’s not a whisper, but it’s not the trumpet people are making it out to be. These people must have it set up in their bedrooms two feet from their head. If the machine is in your kitchen and you are nearby it’s not loud enough to wake you, it’s just loud enough to hear if you’re in the other room and can’t WAIT to get that first cup of java. It’s morning and it tells me “hey, your coffee is ready.” It’s evening and I’m chatting with friends and forget and then it tells me “hey, your coffee is ready.” People who complain about the beep would complain about getting wet in the rain or cold in the winter.

   RE: The screw cap. Yes it takes 3 revolutions to get this SCREW cap SCREWED on. And like any nut and bolt system you have to start screwing evenly in order to form a tight bond. This tight bond is what keeps your coffee hot. The carafe pours using a built-in ball-bearing that uses that wonderful thing we like to call gravity to move the ball ever so slightly away from the opening so that your HOT coffee can pour into your waiting favorite coffee cup. The stream is thin yes, again for a reason: large openings equal larger exposure to air, air that is most probably colder than you like your coffee.

   I’ve tried many others and this is my favorite. This is the coffeemaker I would give as a gift to someone who really loves their coffee.

   Now I will retire to my DTC-975BK and celebrate its excellence with an afternoon cup of French Roast.
   Rating: 5 / 5
2. Andante51 says:

   June 15, 2010 at 8:46 pm

   For about a year, I had been stopping by the coffee pot section of the stores staring at the few pathetic choices, and thankfully resisted the urge to buy the mostly stainless steel Cuisinart number that my daughter has.

   Just last week my girlfriend had been telling me how much she loved her thermal one, and it really got me thinking how awesome it would be if the coffee stayed hot, and didn’t turn funky like it always does on a burner. A day later, I was staring at this one in the store and fell in love with it.

   First of all, it was the 12 cup factor – I had only seen 10 cup thermals before and I couldn’t see the point – when I entertain, I need to have more than 10 lousy cups. It also looks super in my white/bisque kitchen, and the brushed stainless steel pot is very nice looking and heavy duty.

   I was forever standing in front of the micro reheating a cup of coffee or tea. Today was a very extreme example: I made a pot of coffee at 9:30 am before heading to church – and at 4:30 IN THE AFTERNOON, poured a cup and it was TOO HOT TO DRINK! Mind-blowing! And it tasted exactly like the first cup did in the morning.

   The whole fam likes to also likes to drink a lot of tea, especially in the evening, and it dawned on me that I could run the water through it without coffee, and wala…. hot water for tea anytime someone wants a cup… no more standing in front of the micro for 2 minutes.

   I can’t tell you how awesome this coffee maker is… and having never had one I can set up the night before is truly wonderful. I love the fact that I don’t have to open the top to pour. I will never own a coffeemaker with a hot plate again.
   Rating: 5 / 5
3. Ann Kammerer says:

   June 15, 2010 at 11:33 pm

   I LOVE this coffee maker. It is true that the coffee is hot and fresh for hours. It’s super easy to clean. Definitely one of the best purchases I made. I would highly recommend this machine for most people. Some of the issues mentioned do have some truth…but are unavoidable given the merits of the machine…

   For example, the lid does need to be put on correctly and is a little tight (but this required if the coffee is to stay hot for hours). Every once in a while I misalign it, but I think it’s obvious when this starts to happen. I could see that someone with arthritis would have a problem. This machine may not be for the very old, or those with people in the house who wouldn’t make the effot to do it right (like some teenagers?).

   Same thing with putting the brew basket in. It does have to sit fully down and can easily be put in crooked. But after you’ve used it a few times it’s obvious when it’s in properly or not. When properly placed you can remove the pot during brew without spilling a drop. Again, this machine may not be best for older people who really can’t see very well (my grandmother would have a real hard time) and for those who don’t bother to check these little things.

   I did have a problem once with the autostopper not working well and dripping when I remove the pot during brew, now I always fill the basket with water and push the button to let water come through when I wash it. Works like a champ again.

   Bottom line, for most people this coffee pot is fabulous. I may not be best for older people because it does have a few quirks.
   Rating: 5 / 5
4. Fred Auerbach says:

   June 16, 2010 at 12:05 am

   Folks, Let me tell you…. I read all the reviews on this coffee maker before my wife and I decided that; Oh, come on! They must be goofy. How hard can it be to set this coffee pot up correctly to work without spillage; we bought it anyway.
   
   It worked for a week or so and then dumped the coffee all over the counter and on the kitchen floor.
   
   “I must have done something wrong”, said the lady of the house. Ok, I’ll try it, said the man of the house.
   
   It worked… See, all you have to do is.. place the carafe in correctly. Well, I did it for three days and again all over the floor.
   
   I called the company and a sweetie pie with the “Have a nice day” mentality helped me to calm down and told me that perhaps the cover was defective. They will send me another if I would return mine.
   
   Wife said no…. order a whole carafe so we will have two when we get company. So 50 dollars later, I have two carafes.
   
   Wonderful! Now either one will dump the coffee onto the counter after a week or ten days of lulling me into a state of confidence by working fine for 10 days.
   
   We have a great deal of patience, and we also feel that we are smart enough to find the problem. So we stuck with it trying different filter baskets, and soaking the lids before using…
   
   It was many months now, and it decided to dump this morning; all over the counter; all over the floor; grinds and coffee.
   
   The carafe was half filled indicating that it did start out ok and I didn’t misalign anything; but with a mind of its own, it decided that it hated us again today.

   So folks, we got two green garbage bags, one inside the other, and dumped that 99.00 + 50.00 more coffee pot in the trash.
   
   It isn’t worth the aggravation.
   
   I tried to find a website for their corporate office, but they haven’t the guts to show any, so this is the only place I could tell you our story.
   
   I kid you not. We should have believed all the negatives in this product review section.
   
   I would have loved to return it to Amazon, but after so much elapsed time, it would not have been fair.
   
   Thank you for listening.
   
   Fred Auerbach
   
   email: fred.auerbach@gmail.com
   Rating: 1 / 5
5. Joseph W. Keyes says:

   June 16, 2010 at 1:28 am

   I’ve owned two of these machines. Here are the details:

   First, the carafe is great. I’ve come home after a 10 hour day to find the morning coffee still warm enough and very drinkable. The cap alignment is a bit awkward, but it keeps the coffee hot and fresh. I now have two of them and have used them for this year’s Christmas/New Years gatherings. They kept regular and decaf coffee hot and fresh throughout the evening. I used my replacement “Barista Aroma Grande” machine to brew the coffee then put it into the superior Cuisinart carafes. That is why I gave the product one star.

   The downsides include almost everything else:

   As a previous reviewer noted, if the carafe is not seated properly, you wake up to a puddle of coffee on your kitchen counter and floor. This happened to me twice.

   Consequently, if any of that puddle seeps into the machine from underneath or drips into it from the LED display window, the machine is kaput. This is why out first machine failed.

   The water reservoir requires filling the machine from the top. My replacement has a separate container that is easier to manipulate. It is a much neater way to fill the machine.

   The red indicator ball on the side of the Cuisinart machine stopped working.

   The second machine just stopped working. Like another reviewer noted, when you hit the “on” button, the machine beeped after a minute or so without producing any coffee. This was not a result from an overflow condition, nor a result of a user error – it just stopped working.

   Bottom line: look elsewhere for a reliable machine.
   Rating: 1 / 5