Customer Reviews

Hamilton Beach 43253 Ensemble 12-Cup Coffeemaker with Glass Carafe, Red

5 star:		(114)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

We had no need for a new coffee pot. The free one from Gevelia was working just fine. However, on a recent trip to K-mart we caught this one on sale for just under 40 bucks, and it's RED! We've slowly been building up a counter top of red kitchen appliances, so the coffee maker fits right in!

Easy to clean! The mouth of the pitcher is as wide as the base, so it's easy to get your hand inside to clean it out unlike some. Few buttons, so it's easy to program too. Very light weight, so it's also easy to move the maker around if needed. No complaints about speed either. I never feel like I'm waiting on it to finish. One small complaint, but it's nothing major...there is no room for going over the 12 cup limit. It will overflow! Some makers have a little room for you to overfill, but not this one! No biggie, just don't overfill!

I also like the wide karaff on this one. A lot of pitchers have a weird karaff that always causes you to spill a few drops when pouring that first cup. Not this one! Clean up of the coffee ground chamber is easy too. I suggest investing in one of those permanent copper reusable filters. They work really well with this one. I have yet to end up with grounds in the coffee.

Had an old Braun that kept clogging up and leaking water all over the counter. Had sticker shock when I started to shop online and other places for a replacement. Something relatively simple with a decent capacity as one cup of hot coffee for me equals about four cups as measured on the carafe. It brews quick and is pretty painless to use. It can use a permanent filter(not included) or paper filters and I've used both. If you want a stronger cup of coffee then you need to add more coffee grounds or use a stronger blend. The brew cycle is not adjustable for strength. It's solid, well built, and the glass carafe feels easier to handle than the typical glass pot. Easy to Clean. A Good Basic Design.

Looks great and is very well designed, functionally. Don't let the low price fool you. I was surprised at the overall quality compared to others I have owned (I go through at least 1 coffee maker every year).
All the essential features and Brews fast too!

Keep making these, I will buy another when this one is done.

After having other coffeemakers that are hard to clean, slow, unnecessarily complicated, we finally have one that we hope never dies. It's sleek, easy, makes great coffee and at a much faster pace than our previous machine (that died at two years-old!! ARGHHH!). Granted, it doesn't grind the beans for you, but as anyone who has used the Cuisinart Grind & Brew, or something similar, those combos result in a steamy wet mess to clean up every time you brew. Too much moisture from brewing gets into the grinder portion. Also, since the grinding basket has to be dry when you use it, if you forget to clean it out right after use (like you're late for work and the pot is low priority!) and discover your lapse the next day--too late to grind then. So, we have a separate grinder now, and love our Hamilton Beach. Besides, look at it. It's just plain cool!

Sipping Happily in MO

Good value purchase. It makes good coffee and looks nice.
The water filter installation is confusing. The instructions do not make it clear that the filter comes in one piece and has to be separated, by the user, into two pieces; the cover assembly head must be popped (I used a stiff butter knife)out of the base piece. It is nested backwards into the base and seems to be permanently fixed that way. It has to be removed, and the filter placed inside, and the cover head (reversed now) snapped back onto the base. That first step is left out of the "Optional Feature (on selected models) - Water Filter".

yes it does have a short cord; yes it utilizes extra counter space; yes the water arm has to be moved before filling it with coffee; and yes, it is a 12 cup pot with no extra BUT, this hamilton beach is the BEST auto-coffeemaker i have ever owned -- going back 40 years and many different brands and models.

it's fast, programmable, pretty and makes great coffee. who could ask for more?

2/2/11 - UPDATE - having this wonderful coffeemaker since 10/07, i have only two words to say: TRULY WONDERFUL!!

My wife is an avid coffee drinker. About 2 years ago, we set out to get her a new one. I had no idea of the poor quality coffee makers out there. We bought a Kitchenaid thinking it was a reliable brand. Nope. Worst product in any category I've ever bought. That thing would just erupt water and coffee all over the cabinet at completely random times. We got replacement units from Kichenaid 4 times...and they all had the same issue. Enough about that. Long story short...we went through one model / brand after another. Finally, we did some research on Amazon, found this one to have decent reviews and bought it.

I have nothing good to say about it, but I also have nothing bad to say. It makes coffee. Not great coffee, but not bad coffee. And it doesn't spill water or coffee all over the place!

There's bound to be better coffee makers out there...there has to be! This is the one we ended up with though..and it's much better than some made by much better brands like Kitchenaid and Cusinart.

Delivery was speedy- Coffee maker is just perfect-easy to operate -easy to clean -easy to add water and coffee - color- red excellent - flavor just right - only negative thing is pot turns off in 2 hours so you have to check and turn on if pot is still in use .

After looking at about 30 different coffee makers, I bought this one sight unseen, solely based on the reviews here at Amazon (I was not able to find this model at any local store) and the fact that all those that I looked at (in person) appeared to be junk. All the five star Amazon reviews paid off and I am overall 100% happy with this coffee maker. I never had a timer before and thought this was something I would not use but, to my surprise, I love it. Also the 2-hour shut off is a super nice feature. The price is right. And lastly, it makes great coffee (after about the fourth pot - and I started grinding the coffee a little finer...I drink very strong coffee).

This replaces a simple "on-off" Braun (which made the best coffee ever) that I had for 12 years. I was not able to find another Braun that I liked even though there are several available here.

A few minor oddities that may make the rating more like a 4+ or 5-

1) The grounds basket does not sit flat on the countertop. I found that a little odd when filling it with grounds - a tiny sliver of plastic designed into the bottom of the basket would have alleviated this oddity.

2) Second, the inside of the coffee maker's lid seems to gather, and hold, an excessive amount of condensation after brewing, which was still there the next day. If you live in a super humid climate, this may be an issue. There is a plastic guide on the inside of the lid that directs the condensation back into the water reservoir, but it only works so-so. The carafe also held a moderate amount of condensation after washing and placing back on the hot plate.

3) When removing/replacing the grounds basket and/or pouring in the water, you must swivel the water spray nozzle back and forth. No big deal, I've just never seen/noticed this before.

4) The no-drip carafe works great - it is a tiny bit difficult for me to get the last half ounce or so of water out of the carafe while pouring it into the coffee maker.

5) It only comes in red. However, during the period 1/1/06 to 2/28/07, a portion of each sale was donated by Hamilton Beach to the American Heart Association Go Red for Women campaign.

PS: Replacement Carafe. I knew it would be a matter of time before I broke the carafe on this and wondered how hard it would be to find a replacement (it happened 12/2008). It turned out I couldn't find the exact replacement and they appear to be discontinued. BUT, the Cuisinart DCC-1200PRC works perfectly fine, even though nobody will tell you that and it doesn't come in red. I "eyeballed" it and thought it would work so I tried it. It is a teeny tiny bit smaller than the original carafe and works perfectly.

We've been brewing coffee every morning over the past month with this Hamilton Beach 43253. Our experiments with it have paid off. Brewing from two cups at one time, all the way up to twelve cups, while varying the amount of ground coffee, this coffee maker made the best coffee every time for us. It's the best coffeemaker we've ever owned over the past thirty (30) years. And...it's modern attractive, aerodynamic and easy to clean. Thank you Hamilton Beach.