Customer Reviews

Krups FME2-14 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker with Glass Carafe, Black

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Krups seems to be hit-and-miss in terms of their design these days, however after years of my family swearing by the brand, it was the first one to come to mind when replacing my rinky-dink old Mr. Coffee machine...

First, the pros:
- Fantastic coffee comes out of this little bugger so long as you keep it clean... Rinse the basket and carafe after every use, and leave the water tank lid open to let it dry out between uses.
- The 1 to 3 cup feature is definitely nice when brewing smaller batches. Not quite sure how it works (I guess it regulates the percolation process to get the most out of the grinds), but it does make a noticeable difference in small batches.
- It has a built-in water filter.
- Not a bad looking device.

Now, the cons:
- The designers of the electronics must have had their fair share of recreational drug abuse, as it is by far the most counter-intuitive button arrangement and programming process I have *EVER* encountered (and I'm a Unix admin). At long last I know how to set the clock and the wake-up setting without referring to the manual... Unfortunately, each time the power goes out, I still have to refer to the manual to figure out how to turn off the obnoxious "I'm done!" beeping alert once the brewing process is complete. It's a friggin' coffee maker, Krups! There's a very consistent amount of time that must elapse for the brewing process to complete (hell, just look and listen for continued percolation). If you need to be alerted, well, I think you have more serious issues at hand.
- The water gauge was a cool idea, but poorly implemented. After brewing a dozen or so pots of coffee you'll eventually figure out how to pour the water in to prevent bubbles from showing up in the gauge (thus completely undermining its efficacy). My trick? Pour into the back-right corner of the tank at a medium pace.
- Replacement water filters are not cheap, nor able to be found locally. This raises further concerns regarding the continued availability of said filters in the future.

All in all, there's a good chance your money could be spent better elsewhere. These gripes aside, I'm overall quite happy with it as it does actually turn on and brew when you hit the power button (thereby negating the electronics complaint). I have yet to change my filter some 300+ pots of coffee in, and it's still running strong. No leaks, no BS.

We had the metal carafe version of this for a number of years. Eventually it succumbed to our high usage.

This glass version is nicer since it has a hot plate to keep the coffee warm for hours after it is brewed.

It lets you know when it is time to clean the unit with Lime Away (CALC) is shown in the display. The unit also sports a coconut charcoal insert filter for the water reservoir to remove iron and sulfur dioxide (rotten egg smell) from well water. Since we have a water softener and a sulfur dioxide filter on our well system, this feature isn't a big deal...but still nice to have for those that may not have the best tasting water for brewing coffee.

I bought this coffee maker about 8 months ago, and had difficulty from the beginning. It was difficult to program - couldn't get the program for automatic brewing set, and then couldn't figure out how to turn it off, forcing me to unplug and cancel all programming. It leaked small amounts of water from the outset, and several times got into the clock/programming area. Recently, the water had apparently gotten into the program again, and all displays began flashing, and the coffee maker just shut down. I had a Braun Aroma Select which worked perfectly for 9 years before it finally gave out. I would never buy Krups again.