Customer Reviews

Kalorik CCG-24104 Magic Bean 1350-Watt Programmable 10-Cup Automatic Drip Coffeemaker with Burr Grinder

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

 

 

OK, here's the deal. After reading the reviews of this coffee maker, I was leery of purchasing it, but since I was able to get it for just under one hundred dollars, I thought I'd take a chance.

First off, some of the issues mentioned in the poor reviews of this coffee maker are just plain wrong. Most of the 'flaws' are user error, but in fairness to the other reviews, the instruction manual included with this coffee maker is a joke, so I can see why people would be confused by some of the features. For example, the review saying the timer feature will not grind and brew, just brew, is wrong. Mine grinds and brews perfectly using the timer feature, or when making coffee manually, however, due to a defect mine didn't work correctly out of the box. I'll go into this in more detail later in my review...

Another review mentions disliking how hard it is to measure how much water to put into the coffee maker. If used correctly, you shouldn't have to measure the water at all. If you just fill the water chamber up, it will automatically use the correct amount of water depending on how many cups of coffee you decide to make. In my case, I usually brew 4 cups, so I only have to fill the water chamber up every third time I make coffee. Same with the bean grinder. Just fill it up, and it'll grind the correct amount of beans depending on how many cups of coffee you are making.

One reviewer mentions no matter how they set the grinder (fine or course) it makes grinds that look like they were "smashed with a hammer". I'm thinking you don't have your grinder locked in place right. The removable portion of the grinder should lock in place after you put it in the grinder chamber by turning it clockwise until it locks. Once locked into place, you cannot remove it by pulling it up and out without unlocking it by turning it counter clockwise first. If you can simply remove it by lifting it out without having to turn it counter clockwise first, you do not have it locked into place correctly. Until I figured this out, I also got inconsistent grinds, and my grinder chute would clog frequently. Once I locked it into place, I've never had a problem with either inconsistent grinds or the grinder chute clogging. Again, not so much a flaw of the coffee maker, but a flaw in the user manual as it doesn't even mention removing / replacing the grinder at all...

Yes, the grinder chute is kinda a pain as it IS too far back, and yes it does drop grinds on the warming plate, but for people having trouble with it clogging, I think maybe they are using it wrong. Don't try to clean it out after each time you make coffee. I just let mine build up some grinds in the chute. The grinding action should force grinds into the brew basket each time you make coffee - if the grinder is locked into place correctly... I only had trouble with "brown colored water" the first time I made coffee. After that, the grinding action has forced any remaining grounds into the brew basket each time I make coffee.


One review also mentions that their grinder does not work at all anymore. You may be having the same issue I had when I first got my unit. The lid for the bean hopper must be closed all the way for it to allow the grinder to work. The issue I had was even though the hopper lid was closed all the way, the safety switch that allows the grinder to function was not working correctly. I discovered that I had to slightly press down on the hopper lid for the safety switch to function correctly. I was able to fix mine using some 'home engineering', but a low tech solution would be to just place something on top of the hopper lid. Before 'fixing' mine, I used a small Tupperware container of sweetener to weigh it down enough for the safety switch to operate correctly. Since I don't know if this issue is isolated to me, or more wide spread, I take 1/2 star off my review for the problem.

Bottom line, if this machine worked as advertised out of the box, I would give it five stars, but since it doesn't I rate it as follows: Sarting with a possible 5 stars, I remove stars for the following:

Hopper lid issue - minus 1/2 star
Poor instruction manual - minus 1/2 star
Having to 'figure out' some of the issues with this machine due to poor instruction manual - minus 1/2 star
Grinder chute issue - minus 1/2 star

Overall - 3 stars

I'd like to give it a higher rating because for me anyway, it makes a great cup of coffee and has some nice advanced features, but due to the above issues, three stars is all I can give it. Too bad because it could easily be a 4 or 5 star coffee maker with just a little more effort from Kalorik...

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Edit 8/11/10: Changed my review to 5 stars. My original review still stands - I think this is a 3 star coffee maker, but I'm trying to offset the 1 star reviews people left here about problems with various sellers and not the coffee maker itself. PLEASE people, don't review the sellers here - Amazon has a place to review sellers, see http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=537806.

This is suposed to be a PRODUCT review, not a seller review.... Thank you.

I bought this coffee maker because I was replacing a combination grinder/coffee maker that was difficult to clean and I wanted a similar product with easier maintenance. This coffee maker, no matter how I adjusted the grind and the number of cups, never ground enough coffee for anything other than colored water; I discovered that the chute which was supposed to carry the ground coffee to the basket for brewing was clogging up immediately, leaving a nearly empty brewing basket. In addition, each time you take the pot from the warming plate to fill your cup, the plate turns off; if you fail to push the button to turn the warming plate back on, the coffee will be cold (in spite of the thermal pot) when you want another cup. This item is far too expensive for what it delivers. I ended up buying a separate grinder. The item does have pretty blue lights, though.

I bought this model for my wife for Christmas, what a mistake. I wanted a coffee maker that would grind the beans and make the coffee before we woke up. The grinder has a difficult time grinding anything (no matter where you set the "coarse/fine" setting) and large chunks of barely ground beans end up in the filter. That is if they get there at all as the shute from the grinder to the filter clogged every time we used it, even after it was cleaned thoroughly it would clog immediately the next time we used it. The pot and filter holder have what I'm sure is supposed to be an elegant design to get the water dripping from the machine into the pot,...but what you actually get is either a slow leak of very weak coffee from the bottom of the carafe holder or a waterfall onto your counter top of steaming hot water as the filter chamber overflows due to a poor engineering design that only sometimes allows for the water to drain into the pot properly.

I worked with this product for several hours trying different things to get it to work. The rudimentary manual it came with was so no help and the manufacturer's website was equally void of any remedies, solutions or trouble shooting help.

This product's bulkiness and cheap looking display (not like the picture at all) add to the extreme disappointment you'll experience with it's shoddy performance.
Save yourself a headache and avoid this product.

This product is very simple and I don't mean simple easy to use. I mean simple stupid. I don't feel like this product was ever tested for use. Here are a few examples.

Pros:
1. professional grinding and brewing options, they work well and perform correctly.

Cons:
1. clock light super dim. Other button's lights are super bright (lights up your kitchen at night with an eerie blue blinding light that doesn't even blind you with the time.)

2. Grinder chute too far back. it gets grounds on the edge of the filter causing grinds to fall into the pot. and causing you to have to clean the filter holder and the pot more thoroughly.

3. Grinder chute not steep enough and material not slick enough. This causes grinds to stay in the chute and they typically become dislodged when you take out the filter to clean up. Which results in grinds falling onto the heating pad and is probably the most difficult thing to clean on this thing.

4. Programming of the pot is very odd. Most cheap makers have a very easy way to turn on the timer and set for the next day. This guy makes you hold down a button which sets the auto on permanently on. Ok so whats the problem? ...You have to prep the maker every night for it to make in the morning. It does not automatically grind on the timer, only brews. So if you forget to prep it will try to brew; water, grinds or not.

Closing. The price is too high for such an unrefined product.

This coffee maker makes superb coffee. It makes it super fast, has a great grinder, truly automatic (grinds and brews on timer or on the spot), looks great, and is super solid.
However, there are some design flaws that should be mentioned, although they are really not deal-breakers.
-The anti-drip valve on the filter holder doesn't work correctly. It has a small spring that is designed to shut the valve and keep coffee in the filter from dripping when the carafe is removed. The srping is too tight keeping the valve shut most of the time and causing spills. Simple fix, take the valve screw off, remove the spring, and problem is solved. Though the valve doesn't work as well anymore, you just have to wait until coffee is done brewing to remove the carafe, big deal.
-Grinder should be locked into place. I can tell lots of people here are not doing that.
-Grind adjustment know doesn't fit very well. Just remove it and slot it, goes on fine after that.

Once these small problems are addressed, it works beautifully. It truly is a great piece of machinery that makes fantastic coffee. It does however need a better manual so that it can help people understand it better.

I have had many coffee pots over the years while looking for the perfect cup of home brewed coffee. This coffee pot by Kalorik which I thought was going to be the ultimate one is by far the worst coffee pot I have ever used. Only once did it operate properly and that was because I kept making pot after pot not wanting the machine master me. It is true that it makes colored water time after time, that the grinding is inconsistant, that the coffee? is often just luke warm, that the pot is impossible to drain completely (contrary to the gentleman who said it didn't matter because you rinse it. It does matter because delicious coffee needs a really clean start.) The machine is messy in that unused grounds fall from the shute onto the warming plate (which by the way does not warm) and makes a mess each and every time. All I can say is OMG do not buy it. I purchased mine elsewhere and they don't have a review place for it which tells you something as you can review all of their products. I paid less that half for it which is some consolation. They said only 5 per person allowed. I should have known. I have never written a review before but given the horror stories about refunds and returns I think everyone should be aware.

My wife and I are coffee snobs. I bought this coffee maker for her birthday, replacing a worn-out, but well-loved and high maintenance machine from another manufacturer. She was thrilled.

Then, we tried to use it.

The hopper is poorly designed, and the beans don't automatically slide into the grinder. That means that you can't set it to automatically grind and brew, which is the reason I bought this machine in the first place.

There are almost no directions on how to use the machine, how to put it together, and nothing available online.

It made good coffee for about a month, but now the grinder has stopped working.

On the plus side, it is much easier to clean than other grind-and-brew machines we've owned.

However, I do not recommend that you buy this coffee maker.

Great coffee maker!! I was skeptical at first when I saw this maker. However all the features this machine contains kept me coming back. I read all the reviews I could find; even one on consumer reports website. What I quickly noticed was that every thing seemed to come down to simple improper installation in many cases.
Now I'm the last person who likes to read instructions but in this case I highly recommend it. They are not the most detailed but provide enough detail to understand your coffee maker and recommended care.
I have used it daily and sometimes multiple times a day. I've not encountered one hiccup. This may be because I took great care in initial intallation which mainly consisted of correct intallation of the grinder mechanism. It makes coffee fast, hot and even can be set on a timer.
Now I have one grip and its minor. The coffee maker has a visible clock like many appliances. It is set for military time and steam seems to be able to seep into the clock face obscuring the time. This really being only an issue if it's your only kitchen clock.
Pros: Great coffee maker and should be priced higher!
Cons: Honestly none. I purchased this for a lot less than here. Now I wish I purchased two.

I bought this coffee maker to replace a Cuisinart grind and brew model that I had for many years. It worked well but I wanted to upgrade to a burr coffee grinder so I thought I would give the Kalorik a try. I was quite pleased with everything about my new coffee maker but one morning after about 5 weeks of great coffee it just stopped brewing. Everything else still worked perfect, grinder, LCD display, it just would not brew. I contacted Kalorik and about a week later they acknowledged my e-mail and offered to provide a return authorization number to send in back for repair (which was good) but I didn't want to wait for who knows how long to work through that process. I have since given up and have gone back to a $25 Mr. Coffee and a stand alone bean grinder and low and behold the coffee is great.

I have owned this coffee maker for around 18 months. I classify myself as a coffee snob. I roast my own beans and regularly make coffee using several different machines with different brewing techniques.

I'll start by saying I paid $100 for this maker through Woot!, not the $250 it sells for now. Overall, I would rate this at 65 out of 100. For $100 I would recommend this machine, if you can live with its flaws. At $250, I would suggest looking for a better machine at a better price.

First the good details:

1. The built-in grinder does a better job with large or oily beans than a stand-alone Solis grinder that cost more than this coffee maker. You do have to carefully adjust the fineness setting to get a good brew and not clog the permanent filter.

2. The coffee tastes great and the permanent filter does a decent job of keeping the grounds out of the pot.

3. The maker will beep to tell you the coffee is ready

4. The pot pours coffee without spilling. This feature is obviously missing from many coffee makers on the market.

Now the not so good details:

1. The setting for brew strength will not grind enough beans for a 10-cup pot. When brewing 10-cups, I have to press the grind button twice to make sure all of the beans are used. I make a 7-cup pot every morning and with the machine set to 10-cups and the brew strength at the strongest setting, I still have to press the button twice. This renders the automatic scheduling feature unusable.

2. The water level gauge is on the back of the machine which makes filling to the proper level difficult. A large measuring cup is needed to get the right amount into the reservoir.

3. Ground coffee is left in the chute between the grinder and the brew-basket. This means the first pot of coffee is always weak and the next pot of coffee always starts with the ground coffee from the previous pot. Not a problem if you drink the same coffee every day, but if you switch beans often, the first pot ends up a blend of the previous beans and the new. The chute is impossible to clean out without getting ground coffee all over the place.

4. Some of the grounds left in the chute always spill onto the burner when the pot and grind basket are removed for cleaning. They invariably end up burning if not cleaned up after every pot.

5. The steel pot has a plastic spout around the top that prevents all of the coffee from being poured. After cleaning, a couple of ounces of water can remain in the pot and will affect the coffee taste if not shaken out and dried with a paper towel

6. Over time the brew cycle seems to have gotten longer. After cleaning with a descaler, the time has not improved. This could be signs of an impending failure

7. The coffee ready beep stopped working after almost 18-months, which is both good and bad. Good, because once it started beeping it did not stop until the pot was removed from the burner. Bad because it is difficult to tell when the brew cycle has ended. The machine seems to pump water in small "batches" and it takes several cycles to brew even 7-cups. You could easily assume the pot is finished during the slight pause between cycles.

I am living with this coffee maker as one of three I use on a regular basis. I have learned to deal with the limitations and problems, for some this will be a frustrating machine.