Customer Reviews

Farberware FCM12SS 12-Cup Coffeemaker, Stainless/Black

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Like everyone else, I found the absurdly tiny opening for the water is a royal pain, & certainly drags the rating for this way down. After setting it up, impressed with the features, & price, I couldn't even see where the water should go, and looked to the instructions, which weren't much help. I finally realized, that despite a huge lid, which is only for the filter, the opening for filling was a tiny, narrow slit towards the rear of the unit. This is way too small, and not only must you be a great aim, but it's quite awkward maneuvering the carafe to enable it to fully empty!

I truly cannot believe that someone, or ones, were paid to "design" this model! What were they thinking???

Oh, well, this is the third coffeemaker I've bought recently, the first two were even even worse, so I'm still undecided if I'll return this, or just live with having to be ultra-precise when filling it.....

I chose this coffee maker after a lengthy quest. I dislike a lot of coffee makers currently on the market, but this one is alright.

These are its strengths:
--tough carafe, thick glass, 12 cup size
--well made carafe lid prevents steam burn during pour and stays on pot
--fits size 4 cone filters, not annoying flat bottom filters
--attractive stainless steel finish
--under $40

These are its weaknesses, all minor except for the last:
--small water reservoir opening causes overspill when filling tank; so maker must be low so you can see into it, and away from items that might be damaged by water
--filter basket must be firmly seated or tank lid won't close
--tank lid must close firmly or coffee won't brew
--lifting tank lid in mid-brew to add coffee or water will power off maker, surely a safety feature, but easy to overlook when you haven't had any coffee!
--carafe markings appear to be different from the (ridiculous but familiar) 6 oz cup standard: in my book, one six-ounce cup of coffee requires two tablespoons of ground coffee. I filled the carafe to the 12 cup line and then measured the contents in a Pyrex fluid measure. Twelve cups in this carafe = 60 ounces, so these are 5 ounce cups of coffee. Adjust your own coffee recipe accordingly.

All in all a good value and I'm pretty happy with it now that I know its quirks.

Poor design for a few reasons, to wit:
1. Very small area in which to fill the reservior. it is almost unavoidable to spill either into the coffee grounds (no particular harm) or on the counter (more harm).
2. The glass decanter almost always drips, even when pouring slowly. I requested a replacement decanter from the manufacturer thinking that perhaps this was a manufacturing defect, but it was only marginally better in this regard. Also, due to design of the decanter lid, one has to remember to apply pressure to it to keep it from flopping open when filling the reservoir.
3. It makes quite a racket when it brews (and since the brewing time is rather lengthy, you will be listening to it for some time). This bothers my wife more than it does me.
4. When you raise the reservoir lid to replace the filter and refill the reservoir, condensed water from the last brewing cycles drips all over the counter unless one is very careful to open slowly, with a slight shaking motion to drip the water into the filter. And even then, a residual still makes its way to the counter. Again, bugs the wife more than it does me.

Update>>After using this for about 2.5 years, I'm giving an upgrade from 2 stars to 3. It is still am little slow and noisy during the brew cycle, and one does need to engage in offsetting behavior (i.e., pour slowly) when filling the reservoir and pouring coffee from the decanter, but the unit does fulfill the prime directive of reliably making coffee.

The "well" where you pour the water in is too small, making a puddle everytime I fill it. I makes great coffee though.

First...my wife and I read all the reviews of this coffee maker prior to our purchase. Seemed like we were takeing a chance based on the reviews. We based our purchase on the fantastic price for this item. What we discovered after the first pot of coffee was made, was a great product. The only thing I see to me as a problen is when the lid is opened some drips of water run down the back of the pot. The statements made about the small opening to fill the water is not a problem at all to us. We use the sprayer from our sink and it works great. Otherwise we found this to be a great purchase compared to prices we found elseware. Makes a great cup of coffee.

I just got this coffee maker and am sending it right back!!! The opening to pour water into is tiny so the water ends up all over the counter. When pouring your coffee it also ends up all over the counter. A little side note... I also didn't like that the clock did not light up.

I found this coffee maker to be worth the money. I drink a lot of coffee and have been through more hi priced one's than you can imagine.
This has give me the best coffee. I recommend it to any one.

Have had this coffee maker for about a month now. Have no problems with it. The Part you dump the water in is no problem for us, we use the faucet sprayer. Makes a good cup of coffee. I like the 2 hour auto shut-off, and the feature to make the coffee stronger, although choosing that does take a lot longer to brew. The clock is fine, no it doesnt light up, but that is no problem, i have plenty of other clocks to look at if it is dark. It calls for cone filters, but we just use the regular filters, never have any overflows or grounds in the coffee. So this is a nice stylish coffee maker for the price.

I am in the market AGAIN for a new coffee maker, this is my 4th in the last 2 years, this one did great for the first 3 months, now it leaks all over the counter for no apparent reason.
The space for adding water is TINY ! ! !
I make sure and put exactly 12 cups of water in machine, 3 end up all over my counters at 6 am and the rest is in the pot of not overly hot coffee.
Would NOT recommend this maker to anyone, EVER.

This is an awesome machine that makes great coffee. After reading the reviews i was skeptical but decided to try it out anyway and I am glad I did. The reviewers complain about the littlest things - it's absurd! The bottom line is that this machine is stury, durable, has a sleek design and makes one hell of a cup of coffee. I highly recommend it to everyone.