It's all about the carafe! Our model doesn't even have one though. It just has a thermal basin or whatever built in.

We like it that way expect for when you want to make to go cups. Then you have to use a regular coffee cup multiples times to fill a bigger to go cup.

First world problems.

 

^^ Does the thermal basin of you model have a hot plate?

 

IT has like a rubber plate on the bottom. But once it's done brewing I turn the unit off. The coffee stays hot for a couple hours after that.

 

Update: Bought a new coffee maker.

After much review, research, etc and so on, I decided on the Breville YouBrew BDC600XL.
It's quite a machine. Burr Grinder, brews extremely hot, brews quickly, tons of settings for strength and flavor of coffee, no hot plate, carafe or brew one cup at a time.




It came down to the Breville versus the Technivorm-Moccamaster & Bonavita.

I reviewed & researched, and when it came down to it, pros and cons on all sides, there was not one machine that did it all well, each had its plus and minus, but the Breville was the clear winner for me.

It won out over its rivals in blind taste tests, and it has more bells and whistles than the other two (which is something I use as I like to have my coffee ready before I wake up).

So far it works quite well, the coffee is crazy hot, and tastes like the coffee you would get from a very fine restaurant or coffee house. My old cuisinart can't hold a candle to this, not by a long shot. The machine is simple to use and intuitive.

Some online reviews say the coffee is not hot enough....they must have had defective units, because the coffee is scalding hot.

Some online reviews say the grinder is crazy loud....they must not grind their own coffee, as this built in grinder is by far quieter than my stand alone grinder.

All in all so far for the past few days, I love the machine and highly recommend it.
The price is steep, (but I was able to get it for a tad over $200 bucks...a helluva deal), but you do get what you pay for.

I can only hope it lasts for a while

 

After 5 years or so (can't remember) the Cuisinart Grind and Brew DGB-700BC died. The heating element fried, smelled like burned plastic and won't heat water.

I love this coffee machine. It's short notice but we added it to the wedding registry in case anyone in our families is looking for a last minute gift, but will simply re-buy it if we don't get it.

Thank goodness I saved my old Braun drip maker. Used the spice grinder to grind up some coffee beans last night and had coffee this AM. Otherwise, it would be a 4oz mug from the nespresso pixie...

 

Just called cuisinart, not under warranty anymore...

 

Did you ever clean the element?

 

Uh, how the heck do you do that? They use hex and post screws to seal the thing up... Not user serviceable.

I called up BB+B to try to find out WHEN I purchased it to see if the Amex warranty extension would help out and the guy at BB+B said "bring it back, we will send you a new one even without the receipt."

Yup,

dropped it off at the store and they are shipping a replacement. Free.

I am impressed.

 

Ours, which is the same just not a grind-n-brew, always gets a white film on the element. Which is probably just water getting nuked over and over again. I scrub that shit off now and then. We also do two brews of white vinegar every other week to keep it clean overall.

That's awesome you got it replaced though!

 

Being a "try to fix it but probably make it worse" kind of guy, I looked to see where the element was and how to access it to confirm that it was the culprit and could find no way to access the innards of the machine. Do you get to it to scrub it via the water fill area?

I use only bottled water in my machine because the tap water here tastes like the pipe it comes out of and is super hard, so I only do the vinegar treatment every 6 months or so. I also never changed the little charcoal filter since I was using filtered water. Not sure I even had it in there.

 

I guess it's possible being a GnB you don't have that access.

Sucks about your tap water.... Lol

And the charcoal helps and can be had for cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...offee%20filter

 

So vinegar is the way to go? I use the crap that came with the machine which is stupid expensive.

 

I have heard the vinegar brew once a month also, rarely actually do it though...

 

You can also use a solution of lemon juice mixed with water-- it works well to remove calcium deposits from hot water dispensers.
Lemon juice is more pleasant to work with than vinegar.

 

Sounds good.

 

The lemon juice works but not like vinegar. Honestly, you brew once with vinegar and once with plain water. No trace left behind.

Not sure how "pleasant" it needs to be. I'd rather pour vinegar than squeeze lemons. Lol

 

I'm going to give it a shot in the espresso machine. The descale solution gets expensive.