Customer Reviews

KitchenAid KCM534OB JavaStudio 14-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Onyx Black

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

All I can say is that this coffeemaker lives up to the fantastic reputation of KitchenAid. Works perfectly and makes the best coffee I have ever had. I have had quite a few different brands in the past and most of them high-end coffeemakers, but this one is, without a doubt, the best. The amount of coffee you can make is great, either a small amount or large amount. We have a carafe and when we entertain an extra large group of coffee drinkers we just make a pot of coffee and put it into the carafe and then make another pot and leave in on the KitchenAid and there is plenty of great coffe for everyone.

This KitchenAid was on my Christmas wish list two years ago. I loved the color, 14 cups for entertaining, and the fact that I could have my coffee upon waking up every morning. After 4-6 months, the internal computer went down. I would have kept it if it could still make coffee, minus the programmable feature, but no luck. As with most electronics, once the computer goes, the whole thing fails. After a lot of effort to track down the receipt, packing it up, etc. KitchenAid did send me a new one. Same story. After 4-6 months the problem occurred again. It must be a product defect. KitchenAid should stick to mixers.

This is a very good coffee maker. It programs easily, looks great and like most coffee makers, makes a good pot of coffee. There are however, some minor design flaws. The lid to the carafe needed to be designed with more than a single slot for the brewed coffee to flow. Either users must position the handle to face directly in front (and not to either side) or during brewing, some coffee will flow over the lid. However, if a user positions the handle directly to face forward, coffee will not flow over the lid. Reading the water level on the reservoir is difficult to use. It is not clearly marked and users must rely on the carafe or the "filter rod" to measure the water level. A clearly marked resevoir would have helped a lot. Last, the lid to the carafe is not removable and a fixed lid is cumbersome to clean. A better system would have allowed for a removable lid where users could easily place the carafe along with the separate lid into the dishwasher.

The positives do out number the negatives. The coffee maker turns off automatically after two hours and a clear display of how long the pot has been sitting is prominent. The filter basket (the basket that holds the removable coffee filter) is also removable. That makes for easy cleaning. This is a big improvement over most manufactures who attach the filter basket as one unit, to the coffee maker.

FYI, if your coffeemaker is leaking coffee on counter when brewing, be sure that your carafe is placed in the maker with the handle facing STRAIGHT OUT AND NOT TO THE SIDE. Don't know why, but this cured the leaking problem on ours and now it is fine. Hope this helps someone else as I don't know why only 1 of their reps knew this when I called about the leaking.

I got the KitchenAid JavaCenter coffee maker a few weeks ago ... in spite of the reviews I read. I have a family heritage for KitcheAid appliances ... what can I say.

One reviewer was correct with the lid opening while pouring the last few ounces of coffee, but this was not a detriment for me. I bought the maker anyway and was delighted with it; it seems to me ... from my sense anyway that I get a good full brew of coffee using *less* coffee. And, finally, I broke the original carafe and had to order a new one. Seems KitchenAid has been listening to the reviewers ... this new pot on pouring the last few ounces of coffee *stays in place*! KitchenAid appliance has been in my family for generations; I'm delighted with my new KA coffeemaker ... (and the new carafe replacement) ;-).

I only have one hand; so a simple to use coffeemaker makes the most sense to me. When adding water or coffee to this coffeemaker it stays open as long as needed. No messing with paper filters, just rinse the metal and add water and grounds. The not so simple added feature - timed warmer displays - is great, I can now tell the freshness of a particular pot of coffee.

We purchased this coffeemaker because it had a large capacity pot (we drink a LOT of coffee) and was in a red color that would match our kitchen. I was willing to pay $99 for a coffeemaker with good features, but this item isn't worth 5 cents. It is all style and no substance. A coffeemaker should do two things - brew coffee and get it in the carafe. This does neither. After two days of more coffee on the countertop than in the pot, it was boxed up and returned to the store. While I have no great love for Mr. Coffee brand, we did find a Mr. Coffee model that had the exact same features of this Kitchenaid for 1/3 the cost and we're now happily using that with no problems. Stay away from the Kitchenaid. I've given this item one star ONLY because Amazon wouldn't let me give it zero.

We love the Kitchen Aid brand and have many products from them, but this was not a good coffee maker. Being an engineer, I dug into the fatal failure of this appliance. It was designed with safety logic that is dependant on specific resistance or voltage of a thermocouple that monitors water temperature. The unit is extremely sensitive to water that is too cold coming out of the tap, which prompts the device to deliver an ERROR message that disables the unit. You must use luke warm tap water to avoid the ERROR. Eventually, the thermocouple degrades and no longer complies with the unit's computer logic, and the ERROR message is permanent and the device is no longer operational. The eventual failure, for our unit, occured after four years. Based on the other reviews, I am guessing the failure can happen much sooner.

I am sure Kitchen Aid designers implemented this logic feature for safety purposes, but did test it rigorously enough to find this failure mode. This problem has made me wary of buying future Kitchen Aid Coffee Makers. I would need to get reassurance from them that this issue no longer exists in new models. P.S. - It made good coffee, when it worked!

We loved our kitchenaid coffee maker,we had just gone through two cheap coffee makers in about 14 months.So i thought maybe if we spent more money on a brand like kitchenaid,it would last at least five years.No such luck.Error code 2 started flashing across the screen,game over,our beloved kitchenaid coffee maker worked from March 09 to Sept.10, I cant see us buying another @ $110.00,it makes me want to get a old plain stove top coffee pot.no element or commuter to break.FYI the "can opener" attachment for kitchenaid stand mixers does not work well either,save your $50.00,Could it be that company standards are to make things break just after the warranty runs out.This is not the way to customer loyalty.You need to step it up Kitchenaid.

This thing leaks, overflows coffee, and makes only B+ quality brew. The indicator light continuously says it needs to be flushed. Incredibly poorly engineered. Stay away.