Customer Reviews

Cuisinart PRC-12 Classic 12-Cup Stainless-Steel Percolator, Black/Stainless

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(40)

 

 

I do not understand what has happened in the coffee maker industry. It seems as if every coffee appliance I buy fails. This one is no exception. I bought this one only because most of the reviews praised it. Now I am sure that the reviews are phony and must be posted by the manufacturer. There is no control over the time of percolation which for whatever reason has been designed to be too short. The coffee comes out weak especially if you try to make less than 12 cups, the water just doesn't make it through the strainer for less cups??? The manual suggests using 20 spoons for 12 cups of strong coffee. At this rate I will essentially be using double the coffee grinds to make the same amount of coffee as I did with a much older Faberware I had and the coffee is still weak. The new faberwares are just as bad as everything else manufactured these days. The reviews and the item description also touts that this coffee percolator has a glass knob. This is an outright lie, it is plastic!!!! I was initially pleased with the design although I feel it is made with a lighter guage metal than it should be. I would gladly pay double for this product if it worked. Don't buy it, it is another coffee maker dud!!!!!

I had written a glowing review for the PRC-12 Percolator because it produced a great cup of coffee and heavenly aroma. Now, months later, this product resides in a local landfill and I won't buy another Cusinart product ever again.

It made great coffee right up to the day I found coffee all over the counter. The leak was tracked to the plastic bulb which broke off when I gave it a gentle twist. I contacted Cusinart Customer Service, emailed a copy of my Amazon receipt and was told they would be happy to provide a replacement lid w/bulb as soon as I could give them the serial number which I was told is on a sticker underneath the pot. Naturally, on my unit, the serial number sticker was missing. What was worse, when looking for the serial number, I found that the base had cracked and warped from the heat of brewing coffee. One more call to Cusinart Customer Service and they once again told me they would be happy to provide a replacement as soon as I provided the serial number which in this case was non-existant. Without that precious serial number Cusinart wouldn't lift a finger to help. The Amazon receipt was a worthless piece of paper when it came to dealing with Cusinart.

Due to poor Customer service at Custinart, I've decided to continue to buy from Amazon but I will no longer buy any Cusinart products.

Here's my take on the whole coffee thing. If you are a coffee guru, then you are going to go through all the trouble it seems to take to make the perfect cup, and this review is a mute point, or you are going to go to Starbucks and pay for the perfect cup. Most people who make coffee at home and in the morning (time permitting) are like me.

Here's my ideal coffee scenario:

I believe that buying my favorite high quality whole beans (Kenya AA), grinding them myself (coarsely, so they don't fall through the metal filter), and using the method I believe is best (the nostalgic percolator), is the perfect way to brew. It's my own preference: 1/3 nostalgia, 1/3 good beans, 1/3 convenience. They say that percolating coffee is burning beans. I and many other would disagree. I wake up grind my beans fill them and some cold tap water into the percolator. I wait 10 minutes while listening to that wonderful sound and smelling that great aroma!!! PERFECT!

For the GURUS, this may seem like heresy, but for me its the best of all worlds.

This model has, so far been great, 4 stars. The "glass knob" is plastic, whatever! Liars!. I've been brewing at the 6 cup line (water and beans) for 5 months at 4 to 5 times a week. Still hot and still consistent. It brews the same every time. This consistency over time is what I think will make or break this product. If it cools down a bit I will clean it. If it gets worse then I will be less than satisfied. If it fails before five years then I will be less than satisfied. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes to make MY AMOUNT of coffee and how black I like it. I cannot set the heat or the brew time (it's all automatic), but the coffee comes out very hot (not burned) and very dark. The only thing I can control is the amount of both water and coffee. I have learned what amounts I like. Other times may vary because of the amount of water and coffee used.

Don't go by what the instructions say - go by what is best for you. The amount of coffee you get and the amount it says is one cup WILL BE DIFFERENT. Who cares. Make it the way you like it. This will take time to learn, but it will be best in the end. Every brand percolator is different, to bad you can't have a trial test before buying.

So far so good...

UPDATE...............UPDATE...................UPDATE 7/12/2010

Sometimes I like to go back and read my old reviews. To get a sense of things, and see to see if I still feel the same way about the purchases I've made. Or if the purchase turned out to be a lemon. Or just add something I missed or found new and interesting. Or edit a mistake. Whatever.

A lot of people are giving this perco. a low rating. By the way, mine still works perfectly fine after 2+ years. Still **** (Stupid plastic knob!).

You are cleaning it after every use, aren't you? If you don't like cleaning it, it will eventually go bad sooner than you think. So go back to a plastic drip machine if 100% convenience is what you want.

You are unplugging it after all of the coffee has been poured, aren't you? If you don't it will probably mess up the heating element. That's my guess.

I've noticed that when I first started using it, I would miss-align the spout tube with the heating dome located on the base. I've done this occasionally. All I got was hot, brown water. So make sure you align the spout tube properly.

I'm starting to not like the curved black base. Because, when I fill it up with water from the tap I sometimes bang it on the sink. It feels like I'm gonna knock it off if I'm not careful.

It still brews fine, maybe a little cooler then at first; but its still H. O. T. HOT.

I've noticed that darker brews (french roasts) give the best results, although bean-quality is probably more important than roast.

KEEP IT CLEAN BY WIPING IT OUT AFTER EVERY USE USING DRY PAPER TOWELS!!! IT WILL LAST FOREVER.

That's it.....

I bought this to replace my ancient aluminum stovetop percolator, which did make great tasting coffee - but the aluminum/alzeimer concerns worried me, plus the thing was stained and almost burnt through from heavy use. Anyway, I did a fair amount of research and this Cuisinart seemed like the best electric percolator available. I thought an electric would be easier to clean (they aren't). The main point I didn't consider is that you can't control the percolating time on these things. That's pretty much the whole point of percolating coffee; If you want stronger coffee you want to be able to percolate it for a longer time. An electric percolator shuts off automatically after it's short pre-timed brewing cycle. I tried a variety of beans and ground settings (and added more coffee to the basket to compensate), but it was still weak. The end result here is watery coffee, just slightly better then what you get from a drip machine. What's the point? I will admit that this percolator is well designed, pours nicely, has a heavy gauge basket and keeps the coffee very hot. That classic percolated taste just isn't there. If you love the rich taste of percolated coffee like I do (it's the best!), you really need a stove top model. I'm getting a Bialetti!

After making great coffee for 5 months the Cuisinart Percolator's coffee started getting very weak. Needless to say my rating went from 5 stars to 1. I need to find a Percolator that will last!

the manufacturer did me a favor by producing a really cheezy percolator. it only lasted 4 months at 1 cycle per day. the last 2 cups were undrinkable because of the amount of grounds in it though i used the coursest grind i could get AND a filter paper.

is there no pride in making a quality product that lasts anymore??

5/6/10 update - the replacement just gave up the ghost.
con-air had sent me the replacement for the original for a $10 handling free and i had to pay $7 to send the defunct one back.
now i'm back in the same boat with 1.5 years left on my 'warrantee'. at least they are nice on the phone,and they did waive the $10 handling fee this time, but frankly, i'm getting tired of dealing with a poorly built percolator.

my research tells me most percolators are being made by 1 company, so you can bet they are all cheezy.

think i am going to try a french press as all you need is a water heater. wait - all a percolator is is a water heater. nevermind, think i'll just go suck on a tea bag.

update 2/27/11
well, 2 months ago, the bottom fell off the pot, so i figured 'what the heck, i'll fix it myself' so i voided the 'warantee' and retapped the screwholes and i was back in business.
haha
this morning the pot came up lame - no noise, no hot water, no nuttin'.
that tea bag is looking better every minute.

I bought the .Cuisinart PRC-12 Classic 12-Cup Stainless-Steel Percolator about a year ago today. I did my research and read through the reviews. I note that now there are considerably more negative reviews than when I purchased the product, indicative that there are issues with quality control. My experience mirrors that of others. After all the glowing reviews of how this coffee pot had lasted for 10 years, or more in some case, I thought this might be a product that would last awhile. Alas, my experience with this product was just like other reviews and indicates there is a problem with the material used in the percolator.

The inferior plastic top wore out first. Although it appears to be glass it is some sort of acrylic that heat breaks down and it turns brittle. Had they made the lid to accept replaceable glass bulbs it would have been smart, but they wanted to gouge the customer out of $10 + shipping (current price) each time their inferior product breaks.

I replaced the bulb (meaning I had to buy a new lid) after about 10 months, which appears to be longer than many. I thought I might buy a couple to have one on hand for when the replacement broke so I could save on shipping charges for the 2nd, but I'm glad I didn't order it now. 2 months after replacing the top the pot was picked up to rinse out and the whole bottom dropped away. In the diagram you see the black bottom? Well that is a plastic bottom that is connected to the metal pot by screws. It turns out this plastic is also susceptible to heat that makes it brittle. Who'd have ever thought that you would need to design a percolator that can stand up to heat? Certainly not Cuisinart, evidently.

So the bottom line is the product does not hold up and is therefore not worth the money. I'm going to try the Presto now, wish me luck! By the way, the coffee perked in about 5 minutes and was always good; that is why it got 2 stars instead of one. Unfortunately, you can't make coffee in a broken machine. Skip this one unless you have money to throw away on spare parts only to have to replace the whole unit soon anyway.Cuisinart PRC-12 Classic 12-Cup Stainless-Steel Percolator

The coffee maker worked for a full 2 months, and that just ceased working! We're not even sure it's worth returning, repairing, and going through the trouble of purchasing coffee-to-go in the meantime. I will rethink purchasing electronics online in the future because there's no one to go to when the product fails.

Cofffee makers either work, or they don't. This one does. It's easy to use (for a percolator) and it's easy to clean. The only drawback ... there's an ever-so-light taste of aluminum in the coffee for the first five potsful ... but that diminishes over time (this wouldn't happen with a stainless steel coffeemaker).

Today I am on amazon to buy an old fashioned stove top percolator. I have purchased 2 DeLongi, 1 hamilton beach and 1 other one, all electric. I do not believe one of them have lasted a full year. I have spend WAY over $200.00 to get my perfectly perked cup of coffee, they are all great for a while. Even when you clean them every other week as the instructions state (with white vinegar), still does not make them last. I do not believe they are for daily use. So...I am going to save a lot of money and buy the stove top type. We can put a man on the moon, but we can't make an electric percolator that functions properly. The downfall of stove top is I cannot put it on the electric timer to have the coffee done when I get up, but oh well, flavor is more important.