Of all the times for a coffee maker to die - mine picked this week, right before my Thanksgiving dinner with 17 people. We have a great single serve coffee maker, but I rely on my traditional drip coffee maker when we have a crowd. I’m hoping I can borrow one for a couple of days because I don’t want to hastily buy something that I don’t love. My dead one is about 5 years old and I really liked it. Looking for suggestions for a replacement. Here’s what I liked about the one I had - stainless steel carafe that kept coffee hot, made 12 cups, pause feature. My last two were made by Cuisinart. I prefer to shop at Costco, amazon, target, kohls or any on-line store.
I discarded a number of drip coffee makers because they never made the coffe hot enough to begin with, some were expensive brands. I pulled out my Farberware 12 cup stainless steel electric percolater that was a shower gift! I love it. I even picked up several old models, two, 4 cup and one 2 cup, (made in USA) in thrift stores for family members. I swear by these. The coffee is piping hot and keeps just as hot while plugged in. I don’t need to give up counter space for the unit as it can be stored in a cabinet.
If you want a drip maker that makes excellent coffee, I’d recommend the Bonavita BV1800 or 1900. It’s one of only a handful of coffee makers that is [certified by the SCAA](Certified Home Brewers — Specialty Coffee Association) to brew at the right temperature (many coffee makers do not).
It is not fancy though… no auto timers or any of that stuff.
If I recall correctly, America’s Test Kitchen did a test of drip coffee makers and ranked the Bonavita very highly. I think it was their “best value” pick. That was a while ago, though.
That looks good fractalmstr, but it doesn’t satisfy two of my criterias - makes 12 cups and keeps the coffee hot. For the perfect single I have a Nespresso, which is even good for up to four people (which is what an 8 cup coffee maker really makes).
Love my Nespresso! (Except for the coffee prices)
My dishwasher died. I am having a new one installed right now and while the installer is muttering and exasperating in the kitchen, I am reading the on-line reviews for the unit we hastily picked out on Saturday. I am cooking for 20 on Thursday. I only wish it was the coffeemaker!
Depending on how much you care about the quality of your coffee, you might want to get a coffee maker that’s SCAA certified. I have a Behmore Brazen Plus and love it, but I suspect the capacity may be too small for you.
http://www.scaa.org/?page=cert2
At this time, current SCAA Certified Home Brewers are:
Technivorm Moccamaster
Bunn Phase Brew 8 Cup Coffee Brewer
Brazen Plus Customizable Temperature Control Brew System
KitchenAid Coffee Maker KCM0802
KitchenAid Pour Over Coffee Brewer (model KCM0801OB)
Bonavita Coffee Maker (model BV1900TS)
Bonavita BV1900TD 8-Cup Digital Coffee Brewer
OXO On 9-Cup Coffee Maker
OXO On 12-Cup Coffee Maker
Wilfa Precision Coffee Maker
Yeah, I love mine. I was surprised how much better the coffee tasted out of it compared to our old Cuisinart. I used to be the “do you want some coffee with your flavored creamer?” guy, but now the coffee is so tasty I just use a little half and half and a touch of sugar.
Consumer Reports rated the Mr. Coffee a best buy. I still like to grind and french press my coffee when wanting a really good cup of coffee.
Another vote for Bonavita
My husband uses the Krups 4 cup 19 or 29 dollar one I got in 1987, as a gift when I was married to my first husband. It’s sort of like a timex… Just keeps going. He likes the coffee better than from my very expensive espresso machine.
I used to love my Farberware perculators and replaced many over the years with different sizes. I think I still have a 12 cup in my cabinet and I also still have my Farberware pots and pans from my wedding now close to 40 years but when Farberware changed ownership years ago, the quality really went downhill and the percolators would not last very long… go got tired of them. I also was a big fan of my Krups drip pots, had them for many years but maybe they were discontinued or something because the last few drip ones that I have and use are Cuisinart, not as good as Krups I do also have a French press.
@ECmotherx2 , Thanks for the suggestion to look at second hand stores. I had a bag of clothes to take to the Salvation Army so when I dropped them off yesterday, I went inside to look for a coffeemaker. It would have been fun to find an old Farberware percolator, but all they had was a small Mr. Coffee. I picked it up for $5.00. That will be good enough to get me through this holiday and also to get the best deal for a good new coffee maker.
I’m drinking my first cup from Mr. Coffee right now, and hey, it’s not bad at all! Something I had forgotten that’s nice about a glass carafe (and I had forgotten about) is that you can see how much coffee is left in the pot. With the stainless steel carafe, you can’t tell how much is left and because it’s heavy to begin with, it’s hard to guess by weight. That, of course, doesn’t matter with the two of us because I only make what’s needed, but not so great with a larger group. On the flip side, I usually don’t have cup #2 for another hour and the cup left in the pot will be not nearly as good.
One suggest I make is run vinegar through the pot. Mix vinegar 50-50 with water, and run it through, then do at least one time with just water, it can make the coffee even better:).
Faberware used to be good, but they were typical of many companies, they were bought out I believe, then they went offshore to china, and their products are basically junk you find at WalMart and the like. I would love to find a good old fashioned percolator (our daily pot is a black and decker drip, which works fine), but the ones I have found out there are crap. I also would love to find a stove top percolator like the old Corningware ones (which are no longer made), best I have seen is a coleman one that gets rave reviews.
Thanks musicprnt. I have done that clean out. Just have to remember to do that second rinse!
An enthusiastic vote for the Technivorm Moccamaster. It’s great, and very fast. We drink a lot of coffee, and I don’t know what we did before this machine.
WH, I’m happy with my Mr Coffee. My Nespresso,gets used with guests and son (the one who gave it). I use K cups at work.
OP, good solution! Our Mr. Coffee is 25 or so years old, and I still use it every now and then when we have guests who want coffee. Whenever someone wants chichi coffee, I use my Nespresso.
Another vote for the Moccamaster.