Customer Reviews

Cuisinart DGB-550BK Grind-and-Brew 12-Cup Automatic Coffeemaker, Black/Brushed Metal

5 star:		(139)
4 star:		(74)
3 star:		(34)
2 star:		(45)
1 star:		(69)

 

 

I did alot of research before purchasing this coffee machine. Read so many reviews and finally decided to do it. I am so pleased with this product. I realize some people feel it is too noisy (when it grinds the coffee beans, JUST before brewing) and I can say it is noisy. (My own individual grinder was pretty noisy too) So for me to be able to wake up to freshly ground and brewed coffee it worth it. My machine goes off at 5:50am and I do not even hear it.I get up around 6am and have great coffee.I choose to clean it when I am done and head out to work at 6:50am. When I get home all the parts are dry and I simply set it all up for the next day. I do have a suggestion, do not buy the coffee maker paired with the goldtoned filter as advertised on Amazon. It is the wrong filter for that machine. The machine comes with it's own goldtoned filter basket. All in all this is a great coffee maker.

I purchased this coffee maker in August of 2005 from a local retailer, and it has performed flawlessly until today (Dec. 30, 2007). I clean the machine every weekend, since we have highly calcified water where I live. Today, it would not heat the water enough to cause the dripping cycle to operate and some water leaked out of the bottom of the machine onto my countertop.

I called the customer service folks (keep those owner's manuals and purchase receipts) and was pleased to learn that this coffee maker has a three-year warranty. They are sending a replacement coffee maker immediately at no cost to me! All I have to do is send the defective one back to them when the new one arrives(about a $10 cost to me).

I was very pleased with the treatment I received from the service rep on the phone. I have nothing but praise for Cusinart products (I have a blender and a food processor too), and now I can vouch that they stand behind their merchandise, even after 2+ years of use.

Incidentally, the coffe maker grinds coffee and brews it better than any machine I have ever owned. It is a bit noisy when the grinder kicks on, but we've grown accustomed to its 30-second whine. The machine requires careful, daily cleaning and might be too high-maintenance for some folks; but if you like great coffee, fresh-ground and steaming hot at wakeup every day, this machine will not disappoint.

Highly recommended.

I just purchased this coffee maker to replace my Cuisinart Coffee on Demand. This is the second coffee maker like this that I have owned and I am glad that I have come home. When my coffee on demand went out, I purchased another brand coffee maker and returned it within 3 days.

My husband and I consider ourselves coffee snobs and about a year ago began purchasing our coffee whole bean solely and thought it would be a great "ease" in our morning coffee routine to own this machine again.

I have read reviews about the difficulty of cleaning and noise of the grinder. It is actually really easy. After I grind and brew a pot of deliciously strong, rich, hot coffee; I open the lid and take out the grinder rinse it off with hot water and set it on a towel. I then take out the gold tone filter, empty the grounds, rinse it and set it on the towel. Then I remove the filter basket and lid and rinse them and set them on the towel. I leave the top lid open to dry out the inside and by the time I am ready to brew another pot of coffee all parts and inside of the machine are dry and ready to go. All together it takes me less than minutes to clean it. And then when all the parts are ready for a deep clean, I through all parts, including the carafe and lid, into the dishwasher. Piece of cake.

All in all this is the most incredible coffee maker that I have ever owned and the easiet to use and I don't have to worry now about replacing my worn out bean grinder, my coffee maker doesn it for me.

And a note about the grinder basket. I have read reviews that have said that it doesn't hold enough beans for a full 12 cups and then it can't be adjusted for the 1-4 cup feature. The grinder holds just as many beans as what I used in my counter top grinder for 12 cups. And if you only want to brew 1-4 cups of coffee, only put in enough beans for 1-4 cups. The grinder will still run for the 30 seconds that it is set for the 12 cups but it works well and you don't even realize it's doing it.

I would highly recommend anyone who loves to brew whole bean coffee, whether occasionally or everyday, to buy this machine. You don't have to always brew whole beans it this machine, you can turn off the grinder and place pre-ground coffee right into the filter. Also a piece of cake.

I would also recommend that you try the gold tone filter that comes with it. It mixes the oil from the whole bean in with the coffee and gives such a boost in the coffees smoothness and flavor.

I received the coffee maker as a gift. Although the coffee is great, the cleanup and maintenance offset any advantages of using the grinder. The problem is that excessive condensation accumulates in the grinder during the brewing cycle, leaving a wet and sticky mess because of the residual coffee grounds in the grinder.

Although its a messy cleanup, this is a bearable problem if you don't plan on making another pot prior to an overnight air dry of the grinder. However, if you do attempt to make another pot, then the residual moisture creates even greater problems because you cannot sufficiently dry the grinder to prevent an even greater quantity of coffee grounds from sticking in it during the next brewing cycle.

I suppose that you could use a hair dryer to thoroughly dry the grinder, but that's more trouble than its worth. Consequently, I have gone back to using a separate grinder, thereby avoiding the messy cleanup and maintenance problems.

In short, the cleanup is much easier if you use a separate grinder. I thus use this coffee maker with the grind feature turned off. However, this nullifies one of its major selling points. Thus, I would not recommend this product.

I love this coffee maker. We have have been looking for the perfect coffee maker for a long time. We have tried a french press, the senseo and various other coffee machines. None were good enough resulting in expensive daily trips to Latte Land. This machine has changed everything.

I almost bought it in March then decided not too because of the "messy clean up" reviews. What a shame I didn't get it then. It makes fantastic coffee. Just tastes great - and my husband is very selective about the perfect cup. It is an amazingly easy clean up. I just rinse the grinder and dry it with a paper towel. It takes two seconds. It is as easy as changing the filter paper.

Fantastic machine, easy clean up, fast to grind and then brew. (It is quite loud though)

I agree with the other reviewers that you can make a good cup of coffee with this machine. But if you like strong coffee, the grinder won't hold enough beans to do 12 cups. Daily clean up is required as noted by other reviewers, but it's really a 1-minute chore.
What I think needs to be added to the previous reviews:
1. This unit can be used for ground coffee; just place it in the filter compartment and turn the grinder off before turning the machine on (really). What you need to know is that the design REQUIRES that the grinder be installed in this situation... the unit will NOT turn on with the grinder removed (this feels like a "feature" added by a lawyer....) so the grinder gets steamy and wet even when you use ground coffee! Dumb .
2. The thermal carafe design really is a good idea. Other coffee makers rely on hot plate "warmers" to keep coffee warm for a few hours. This makes coffee bitter. Far better to have a carafe that keeps coffee warm through the use of insulation rather than a hot plate. So if you tend to brew a pot then drink it throughout the morning the carafe is a real plus.
3. Unless you use ground coffee or buy a second grinder as one reviewer did, this is a poor choice for making several pots in a row, due to the fact that it is hard to dry off the interior and the grinder just doesn't work right if not clean and dry.

I actually enjoyed this machine when we first got it, even though it was a pain to clean. The real problem came when it just stopped working after a minute or two of brewing, we had to turn the machine on and off several times just to get a pot of coffee. It was pretty useless, and it was about a year after buying it. I tried to call customer service on multiple occasions, I never was able to talk to anyone, and left several messages that were never returned. I finally threw the piece of garbage out. My mother in law also had similar problems with the machine not working anymore after a couple of months, and was also unable to reach customer service.

We have owned this coffee grinder / pot for three years, and my husband just broke the carafe. Dang! I went online to Amazon to look for a replacement carafe, but when we bought it, it was only a 10 cup pot. So, we will be calling Cuisinart due to the review of the first reviewer -- that their customer service is so great.

This is by far the best we've ever owned. It's worked tirelessly for these three years (through the three-year warranty) and shows no sign of letting up. So much so that it just doesn't pay to buy another if it has life left in it, and it's still going strong. Yes, the grinder is loud, but we use it as our alarm in the morning. You can always grind it the night before and then set the coffee pot to bypass Grind and go straight to brew either when you program it the night before, or when you turn it on in the morning.

The coffee is consistently good, and the coffeemaker looks gorgeous in the kitchen.

Our temporary fix for the broken carafe is to grind the coffee in this maker and pour the grounds into a newer coffee brewer that my husband got as a gift (from ME as we had to live apart for a while, and I took the better one with me!). That should speak for itself!

My Cuisnart Grind and Brew imploded this morning! This is the tenth time it has happened with this machine and this is my third machine I've tried. There is a problem with the grind mechanism of this machine. This morning the grinder started to grind, but the basket popped out of the machine and proceed to spill a water/coffee mix all over my counter. Coffee grounds were every where. I have had this same problem with this same model two times before. I sent it back to Cuisnart, who promptly, replaced the machine both times. However, today I'm done. There is nothing worse than having to clean up a coffee mess before fighting rush hour traffic. I'm done with this model and I'm done with Cuisnart.

I have had two of the Automatic Grind & Brew coffee makers and do not recommend purchasing them.

The first one worked for about a year (I don't even use it heavily -- only make coffee 2-3 times a week) and then developed an issue where the grinder basket could not be pulled out of its place with any amount of force. It is necessary to remove the grinder basket after making coffee to clean it so mold doesn't grow there. After it became clear that this issue was not going to fix itself, I called Cuisinart and they kindly replaced the machine as it was under warranty.

They sent me the new model (shown in this listing), which also worked for about a year but then also developed an issue. This time, the basket where the grinds sit kept popping open during the coffee-making process. This meant that highly-concentrated coffee would drip all over my countertop, and I'd have to jump up to pop the basket back in place as quickly as possible. It even stained my wooden countertop! I patiently withstood this for a few months, and then finally called Cuisinart to get a replacement. However, they told me that even though they realize my coffee maker has a problem, they cannot replace it because the original coffeemaker (the first one that broke) was no longer under warranty.

I am a reasonable person and completely understand warranty policy, but Cuisinart should stand behind its products. They have obviously not gotten the design of the Automatic Grind & Brew right. I'll never buy another Cuisinart coffee maker again, and I recommend you look elsewhere as well.