Cuisinart Brew Central 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker

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1. Wingman Wayne Verified Buyer – 8 April 2024

   The unit itself is a beautiful matt black that fits with any kitchen’s decor. It’s a very sturdy unit and just the “heft” of it pleased me. The unit comes with a few paper filters, a scoop, and one charcoal water filter. Having the filter built-in to the unit is going to be a real convenience. The manufacturer recommends replacing the filter every 60 days, so you’re going to want to lay in a supply, but fortunately these are easily obtained directly from Cuisinart and they may be available from coffeemakers.us.com, but I haven’t been able to find them. The paper filters are actually optional, due to the included gold-tone filter, but I’ve found it’s a lot easier to clean out the basket by just dumping out the paper filter and, as others have noted, you get a better tasting brew. If you grind your coffee, you need to be aware that any coffee maker can overflow if you grind the beans too fine – they’ll plug up the outlet, so don’t get carried away. This is coffee, not espresso. Also, I seen where others have mentioned that it’s difficult to measure how much water is in the brewer and all I can think of is that normally you have an external water level somewhere that you can see and people are used to those. The Brew Central has a stepped-measure in the machine that I find easier to use. It’s hard to describe, so I’ll post a picture of when I get a chance. But the reason I like it is that while your pouring the water in, your looking right at the level and not testing your eye-hand coordination by pouring water while your looking someplace else. All-in-all, very pleased with the Brew Central. The coffee tastes great, stays hot, and the no spill carafe is a joy. Highly recommended.

   

2. Stephanie Dionian Verified Buyer – 8 April 2024

   I got this coffee maker as a gift in the metallic pink apprx. 6 yrs. ago. I LOVED IT. It just died on me today. That said, let me give some details. I am a chronic coffee drinker. I only like brewed, not that k cup garbage, so I used the heck out of mine. Brewed 3 to 4x a day with it (not always a full pot but 4 to cups at a time usually). It has held up phenominally! It has the pour before it’s done brewing feature. It has preset timer to set up the night before & it’ll brew at the time you select for morning, or whenever. It has 2 hour auto shut off. The carafe is solid, like very solid. I’ve bumped it quite hard several times over the years and it never broke or became frail. It comes with the filter system in place & you replace the little pods every so often. I didn’t use that much after they were ready to be tossed. I just stopped “filtering” and it still, up until dying today, brewed amazing coffee everytime. The carafe lid locks into place so you don’t have to hold it while you pour. Hour and minute time set are separate so it’s easy to reset the time. It does not have the setting to know when it brewed. Not a big deal. And it’s sleek and fits nicely on the counter without looking bulky. The only con is it doesn’t have a window to show how much water you put in it. You have to look in the back to see and the numbers are staggered like stairs. But it’s relatively accurate to the numbering on carafe so it’s not too inconvenient really. Overall, this is the best coffee maker I’ve ever had! I’d buy another if it weren’t so out of my budget. But it is totally worth the money for SURE. UPDATE: my bf was able to fix the cord so it’s going strong again! 😊

   

3. owloveya Verified Buyer – 19 April 2024

   Let me get started with the first PRO of this unit – it comes in PINK! Yes, that’s why I bought it. I wanted another pink appliance, something to sparkle on my countertop if it had to be left out. I constantly get compliments on my KitchenAid Artisan Design 5-Quart Stand Mixer, Raspberry Ice and this is close enough in color to match! See the photos I’ve posted comparing the two pinks side-by-side. I was told by some it didn’t match and couldn’t find any photos of it side by side so I want to make this clear for others who might be ordering a color version. Check out the photos I posted to see comparison. Out of the box you get: the coffeemaker, carafe, and filter holder a gold tone filter several paper filters a coffee scoop one water filter owner’s manual It is packed into the box concisely without excess packaging. Here is what I like about it in simple terms: *the carafe shape doesn’t save that last bit of coffee and you don’t have to pour your coffee with the pot almost upside down when using the 1-4 cup feature (a problem with my other maker *auto-brew feature *warmer plate is temperature adjustable (low/med/high) and can be set to a timer from 1-4 hours *beep notification *entire lid opens/doesn’t have 2 separate compartments for basket/water These are some things that have been listed as cons that may affect your decision. I bought the maker knowing this and I’m happy anyway. *small pour space for water & it’s located in the back of the unit *lid is tall so maker doesn’t “fit” under cabinets with the lid open (fits just fine closed) *the coffee pot lid isn’t attached to the carafe, it lifts off *I wish it had a thermal carafe I have my maker placed on a placemat so I just slide it out and slide it back once the water is in. I am not able to pour/see the numbers with it at the back of the counter. My other Cuisinart thermal carafe fits into the maker just fine, so I can brew one pot for husband and another for me and they stay warm. My last maker had a built in grinder which I decided was more hassle than a separate grinder so I purchased a matching pink Kitchenaid coffee grinder from Target. Now I will finally be able to use a full 12-cups without brewing and re-brewing because my coffee was too weak. The maker comes with a 3 year limited warranty, and from what I understand Cuisinart usually stands behind their products. I can’t imagine not being satisfied in the long-term. Additional comments added 9/22/13: We have had a few overflow issues, but mainly when you don’t put the lid on the carafe or overfill the ground holder. It will not hold grounds for 12 cups without a little mess due to the steam pushing the coffee up around the sides of the filter. At 1/8c per cup, that adds up to 1.5 cups of grounds and logistically the filter is too small. We usually do fine with a 10 cup pot. Overall I am very happy. The coffee is consistently hot and tasty with few issues. I purchased the filters in bulk on coffeemakers.us.com so we can change them out each month for a year.

   

4. Fun Time Verified Buyer – 19 June 2024

   Got my money’s worth.

   

5. Marta Molina Verified Buyer – 9 November 2024

   Xoxo

   

6. Nicole C. Verified Buyer – 15 November 2024

   È arrivata nei tempi previsti. Peccato però con spina e voltaggio americano, inutilizzabile in Italia. Verificate prima di acquistarla. Io non avevo letto nulla in merito nella scheda di acquisto.
   

7. Nadine Rowe Verified Buyer – 12 January 2025

   Easy to clean and easy to use
   

8. Ashley P. Verified Buyer – 15 January 2025

   This was a replacement of my old cuisinart coffee maker that just broke (after about 5 years the water reservoir must have cracked at the base and it was leaking water everywhere.) Anyway, this new one looks good and functions essentially the same, with the added feature of carafe warmth (which is irrelevant to me.) I am however very disappointed in the design of the water fill lines. They are INTERNAL now and very difficult to read. I need to actually get a flashlight and look inside to see how much water I’ve poured in. I suppose I should use the carafe to add the water, but I always fill the reservoir with my water pitcher. I basically need to add a step now, be it look with a flashlight or pour from the pitcher into the carafe into the reservoir. Poor design.

   

9. lmwolfe Verified Buyer – 23 January 2025

   The best coffee pot we’ve owned through the years! Everything it says it does, it does.

   

10. Linda Verified Buyer – 15 February 2025

    Pros – looks cool, built solidly, makes a good cup of coffee, carafe does not drip. Cons – no fill indicator on machine so you have to measure water first. Instruction booklet leaves out a lot of information, could have been a lot more informative. Had hubby very confused and left me with a bunch of questions. LED clock has no light and it’s nearly impossible to see the numbers for settings without a flashlight. Machine retains condensation in carafe and top section so it’s never dried out, even with lip open. But my biggest complaint is that I am 5′ tall, and this is a tall machine. In order to lift the top to fill it and load the coffee, I have to pull the machine all the way out from under my cabinets, and my cabinets are high. You need a good 20″ of clearance to get the lid up, and you don’t want to have this coffee maker sticking way out on your countertop. In my pic, you can see how tall it is, and you can still see the condensation (which has been in there for 8 hours with the lid up and the machine off). So when I take this big carafe and pour the water in the back corner of the top, I can barely see what I am doing, even on my tip toes. If you are tall and don’t have cabinets overhead to contend with, or you don’t mind having this big appliance in the middle of your countertop so it can stay open and dry out for a few hours, you might be okay with it. But for $90, the jury is still out for me. Wish they made an 8 cup version.

    

11. Anonymous Verified Buyer – 2 March 2025

    This is a good coffee pot, I really like the umber color. The coffee tastes great. I do however agree with other reviewers about the fill tank. I’m 5’9” and I still have to kinda stand on my top toes to pour the water in, the opening to the tank is also small so you have to be careful not to spill water everywhere. Doesn’t bother me enough to return though, the other features are easy to use.

    

12. WendL Verified Buyer – 4 March 2025

    I’ve loved my Cuisinart DCC-1200BW Coffeemaker for a long, long time, through several replacement carafes in fact. It’s been a workhorse of a full pot almost every day for 10 1/2 years. When it finally stopped working, I was distraught. Not just because I needed my coffee (!!!!!!), but because I had painted the sides and part of the front to match my copper accessorized kitchen. I considered a Keurig, for a quick minute, but knew I’d miss the smell of true brewed coffee. So, I got my copper colored paint and went looking for a replacement and what did I find?! The same unit, only they painted it for me!!!!!!!!!! It’s beautiful! I made my first pot today and all is right with the world.

    

13. Paul Gizel Verified Buyer – 5 March 2025

    It’s a decent product, but the markings faded on the side of the pot and seller will not warranty after only a few short months. Always washed by hand at least once a week. No dishwasher or harsh soaps.

    

14. DMarshall Verified Buyer – 8 March 2025

    Besides looking beautiful sitting on my counter top, this coffee maker makes the best cup of coffee I’ve had in years. It brews fast and comes out much hotter than our previous Mr. Coffee brand pot. The carafe temp setting is a huge plus. Easy to use and clean. I do wish there was a back light for the clock though, and I have read complaints about it being difficult to use the interior water reservoir level indicator but I just measure by using the carafe itself, no big deal. Hoping to get several years of use with this one!

    

15. SeldomSelden Verified Buyer – 12 March 2025

    I poked around coffeemakers.us.com and read reviews on other websites before deciding to purchase the Cuisinart DCC-1200BCH Brew Central. I ordered it in October 2011 and have been using it for about two weeks now. I love it and would definitely buy it again. However, it does have a few small inconveniences. PROS: First of all, everyone in my house loves this machine and the coffee it makes. It’s well-made, it makes up to 12 cups of HOT coffee, and it comes with a three-year warranty (as a side note, the cups are 5oz cups, not 8oz cups). I like that you can adjust the heat setting for the warming plate–I leave mine on low, which is still actually quite hot! Because it makes such hot coffee, I find that I never have to use the 1-4 cup setting button (a feature which “double-heats” the water). The carafe is elegantly shaped and the lid fits on snugly so that there are no drips when I pour my coffee or when I use it to fill the reservoir. The lid doesn’t fall open or off when I pour at a steep angle like with other carafes. The included gold-tone filter is nice and seems sturdily constructed, but I use unbleached paper filters instead because I’ve read that they remove the molecules in coffee that can raise cholesterol. I had worried that the features on this machine would be difficult to use, but they’re not! The auto-on, auto-off and clock features are easy to program. Also, this is the best-looking coffee-machine I’ve ever owned. It looks great on my counter top, and the “black chrome” finish that I purchased doesn’t really smudge like a lot of stainless steel appliances do. Any finger prints that do show up, however, I can easily buff away with a soft towel. CONS (the following are only minor inconveniences; I still believe this is a quality product overall): The first 4 or 5 pots of coffee I brewed tasted strange and plastic-y, but this problem went away quickly. I would suggest running more than the suggested 1 pot of water through your machine when you first get it, and maybe even adding vinegar to one of these cleaning cycles. The LCD display is not back-lit and it is small (1cm x 3cm), making it impossible to read from more than a foot away. As other reviewers have noted, the water resevior could be wider, but if you use a steady hand you should have no problems filling it. However, part of this machine’s aesthetic appeal is how slim and tall it is, so a tiny degree of function has been sacrificed for form. I feel I should note that the brew-pause feature is not 100% drip-free. When I pull the pot during a brew cycle, one or two small drops always drip onto the warming plate but it still is better in this area than many machines I have used. The biggest con for me is that a lot of condensation collects under the lid covering the water resevior and coffee grounds recess. Thus when you lift the lid after brewing a pot of coffee, water runs off the lid and down the back of the machine where the power cord is. Fortunately, there is a small protrusion at the back of the machine so water doesn’t get into the machine’s interior. I posted pictures so you can see the amount of condensation that collects and how it runs down the machine. One reviewer said that grounds splash up onto the lid of her machine but this has not been a problem for me at all, even though I have made full 12-cup pots. In sum, I am satisfied with my purchase and enjoy drinking the coffee it makes. Quisinart could tweak a few things if they wanted to make a truly perfect machine, but they’ve done a great job with this one.

    

16. Daniel JNU Verified Buyer – 23 March 2025

    Es mi segunda cafetera Brew central, una la compre en Costa Rica y la otra en México por coffeemakers.us.com, el envio y tiempo perfecto, la cafetera es un modelo basico, sin moledoras y otras ventajas, pero que cumple y cumple bien, la primera que compre tiene mas de 9 años de uso diario y sigue como si nada, este modelo me gusto porque lo vi en la tv que usaban en la serie de Two and a Half Men, y es ahi donde descubri Cuisnart, ahora la veo que la usan en Bing Bang Theory.
    

17. :) Verified Buyer – 24 March 2025

    Love the way it looks, ease of programming, cone shaped basket for permanent gold filter that the maker comes with or can use #4 paper filer, which I love, but especially the flavor difference and temperature control! Yes, it is a slower brewing time than our previous 4 Bunn’s, but worth the wait!! We just program it for our morning coffee, so no wait, but for a bonus brew in the evening it takes about 18 minutes.

    

18. IndianaKathy Verified Buyer – 27 March 2025

    For Christmas, my husband bought me a Verismo. I have a Tassimo. He knows I like making my own lattes. My Tassimo is over 10 years old and working just fine. I thought, “I don’t need another latte machine, but it’s a gift, “Fun! I’ll try it!” Verismo leaked – a lot, took it back – got another, even exchange – Leaked – a lot. Took it back. (refund) He still wanted to buy me a nice coffee machine for Christmas. I researched this coffee machine, saw the great reviews, decided I needed a nice coffee pot to sit alongside my Tassimo latte machine. I ordered this on a Saturday afternoon, rec’d it Monday morning before 9am! Wow! Prime rocks! I have used this machine 10 times now and I’m very happy with it. I can’t believe how tall it is – I sat it next to my Tassimo which I thought was big – laughing. This is an attractive machine. It comes with the gold lifetime coffee filter which I do prefer. I haven’t had any problems with machine, I’m happy with taste of coffee, I like the temperature choices. I’ve only used the 1-4 cup setting – I can’t see it being able to hold 12 but I’ve not tried it – I’m guessing those are small cups. Found it interesting – the price difference on the Cuisinarts. Depending on color. The brushed metal and black chrome were $20 more, some of the metallics are higher. So, you want to pay attention to this. I ordered this a few days after Christmas and I see the price has went up now (2 weeks later) since ordering this so getting it during the holidays was a good idea. Update: 1/17/2013 Con: I just had someone ask me if I could think of a negative/con about this machine what would it be. So, I sit here staring at my coffee machine, chin resting on palm of hand, other hand strumming fingers lightly on the counter, hmmmmmm.. thinking….thinking….thinking I’ve Got It! I don’t like that the clock is so light. When I walk in to the room, I’d like to see the time from across the room, but it is not bright enough for me to make it out. So, I have to walk up to the machine and get real close to it in order to make out the time. It’s a keeper! Update: 10/2015 I am still using this machine several times a week along with Tassimo. I love the look of this coffee pot sitting on my counter. The Charcoal water filter and permanent gold tone filter are still just like new – I was curious how long the filter would last and I’ve not had one single problem with it. I’ve never had this machine leak – no problems with it and the temp is perfect. I love this coffee pot – it was so worth the price to me. Look at the date on when I bought this and my updates – several years in between – this is definitely worth the price

    

19. chantel courtright Verified Buyer – 7 April 2025

    Love this coffee pot. I have had it for about 4+ years now and i still love it. It does not leak, it lets me know when it needs to be cleaned and the automatic off is great.