Cuisinart Classic 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker

My purchase of the Cuisinart 1120BK 12 cup coffeemaker with glass carafe was made as a replacement for my Cuisinart 1100BK (which is still working and able to brew a great cup of coffee). The 1120BK has some noticeable improvements over the 1100BK, most significantly for me is the lighted clock display. The clock display on the 1100BK was an unlighted LCD and very difficult to see. While the control buttons on the 1120BK have the same functionality as those on the 1100BK, they are laid out better and are easier to use. I haven’t been able to discern any improvement in the taste of the brewed coffee over the previous model (both excellent) as a result of the larger spray pattern on the inside top of the coffeemaker. Pouring fresh water into the machine can result in water going where you don’t want it to go as one reviewer complained if you don’t exercise some care. Trying to perform this function too quickly is usually the reason for a spillage problem. I do not use the supplied water filter since I only use filtered water in my 1120BK. Thus far, the unit is working well and brewing good tasting coffee. The clock is accurate and my programming for the brewing process to begin at 6:00 a.m. every day has been flawless. I only brew six cups which takes the unit about 7 minutes to complete. I haven’t found the 5 beeps signaling the end of the brewing process to be excessively loud as some have complained. I do prefer the green and red operating lights used on the 1100BK over the bright white light on the 1120BK. While handling the removable black filter basket and the lid of the glass carafe, I sense that they are made of a lighter gauge of plastic than those of the 1100BK model giving the impression of a diminished build quality. Perhaps the whole machine is made of a lighter gauge of plastic, but if it is, it doesn’t seem to have any detrimental effect on the coffee brewing process or functionality of the unit. I have noticed that coffee stains have not begun accumulating on the filter basket and the carafe lid. This coffee stain buildup was a significant problem with the previous model, the 1100BK. The filter basket on the 1120BK does need to be pressed down after being fitted with a paper filter or the gold tone permanent filter and snapped into place. Otherwise the top lid will not properly close. This extra step was not necessary on the 1100BK where the filter basket did not need to be snapped into place for the top lid to close properly The small protrusions on the back of the removable carafe lid are helpful for removing the lid for carafe cleaning. Over time, the paint on the warming pad of my previous model, the 1100BK, wore off and began to show signs of discoloration which may have been rust. I’m hopeful that the warming pad on the 1120BK will be more durable and not suffer that same fate — time will tell. Also, all of the coffee in the 12 cup glass carafe can be completely poured out. I believe that the inability to pour all of the coffee out of the carafe only occurs for those who have a different model of coffeemaker that utilizes a metal thermal carafe. Overall, after just a couple months of use, I’m pleased with my purchase. I had requested the free Amazon packaging (and always will going forward); my coffeemaker came through shipping via the USPS in perfect condition. Another thought for those who have suffered catastrophic failures with their 1120BK coffeemakers, if those failures occurred within three years of your date of purchase, Cuisinart warrants this product for three years. So, kwitchurbellyakin.

This is not my first purchase of this model and I love it. I'm a snowbird, so I need two of everything that matters. What you'll love about a thermal pot and coffee maker: There is NO heating element under the pot. That means that your coffee doesn't burn after hours of sitting there. It tastes the same at noon as it did at 8:00am. The thermal pot is very nearly perfect. Why not exactly perfect? It will not be quite as hot at noon as it was at 8:00am, but far, far from room temperature. I sometimes nuke my last cup for one minute. It's hot enough, but it loses heat once I add cold cream. If you want the unit to last forever, used filtered water. One of my houses is in Oregon and I am on well there. The minerals play havoc with my coffee maker and I have to brew vinegar thru it frequently. With this new pot I'm buying, I will only use filered water. I will keep my old coffee maker as a back up, as it still works fine.

I have had this for about a month now. Pros: brews good coffee in a very reasonable amount of time; easy to operate; carafe does a good job of keeping the coffee warm; filter basket is easy to remove and clean; there is a special setting for small amounts (1-4 cups). Cons: the carafe design is beyond stupid, you literally have to hold it completely upside down to pour coffee out (and shake it to empty it completely even with the lid off). It is therefore also impossible to use the carafe for pouring the water into the coffeemaker. I like my coffee mouth-burning hot but the coffee it makes is not super hot and the problem is worse when brewing smaller amounts. Rinsing the carafe with hot water before starting the coffeemaker helps a lot. It comes with a small water filter, which broke apart as I tried to assemble it. I just threw it away, the coffeemaker works fine without it and it did not affect my rating of the product. IMHO the complaints about brewing noise are exaggerated and the beeper sound is not objectionable. The filter basket design is a bit odd, it has a plunger at the bottom. After reading other reviews I decided not to remove that for cleaning so I haven't issues with reassembling it. Overall I am pretty satisfied with it, but I believe that the cons could pretty easily be engineered away - are you listening, Cuisinart?

I hate writing a bad review but in this case I feel I must. I don't want others to have the same experience I have had with this coffee maker. We had a Cuisinart DTC-975BKN Programmable Automatic Brew-and-Serve 12-Cup Thermal Coffeemaker for two years and we loved it. Unfortunately one day it just quit working. When I tried to buy a replacement I found that it was now "unavailable". While the Cuisinart DCC-1170BK has less capacity it still appeared to be an acceptable replacement. I was wrong in that assumption. The electronics on this model are easier to use and the display is MUCH brighter. If you can get it out of the pot it also makes a good cup of coffee. That is all the good I can say about this model. Filling this thing with water is the first challenge. The area you have available to add water to the maker is a small triangular spot in the back right side. It sits just under the sprayer lid and next to the cone you place the coffee into. It is a hard target to hit without getting something wet that you don't want wet. If you fill the pot with water and then attempt to pour that into the coffee maker you will find that you can only empty about 2/3 of the pot. The inside if the pot has a shoulder that allows the lid to be smaller. This prevents you from emptying the pot unless you almost completely invert it. You can't do that because the sprayer lid is in the way. So, to fill it, you add as much water as you can then go back from the pot and refill it again. Now you can continue to add water to the fill line. After that you must dump the remaining half-pot of water in the sink. It is also VERY easy to overfill the maker's tank because it sits in front of the fill gauge (they could have put it on the other side but they didn't). You can't see it while filling because the pot is in the way. The overflow hole on the back sits just above the Full marker on the gauge. There is VERY little room for error even though you can't watch the gauge as you are filling because of its location. If you don't stop in time it will overflow onto your counter. You also have to be very careful when moving the coffee maker once it is full of water or you will again get your counter wet because of this. That same issue with the pot design causes it to make a coffee mess when you try to fill a cup. To get the last of the coffee out of the pot it has to be inverted until it is almost upside down. At that point it is pouring coffee everywhere but in the cup. I'm VERY disappointed with Cuisinart releasing something with this many design flaws. They have done so much better in the past.

I was looking specifically for a white coffee maker. I ordered four different ones. I returned the others bc they were made cheaply and one had a black cord. My kitchen is white. I wanted white which they don't make much anymore. We had a black Krups which is an excellent brand. However, this one is far superior and I will tell you why. #1 It has a 1 - 4 cup setting. This made my coffee taste so much better because I make four cups for myself. I didn't expect this to be that big of a deal but it is! I can use less coffee and it tastes far superior. #2 It has a warmer setting that you can adjust to how long you want the warmer to stay on. Our other coffee makers stay on for two hours or don't turn off automatically at all. This one allows you to set the time you want it to turn off. 30 mins or however many hours you want it to stay on. #3 The design is clean and straightforward. The components are simple to use and you don't have to read a manual just to use it. Very user-friendly and easy to use. #4 The temperature of the coffee is perfect if you want to add a little cream. It is still nice and warm. The other coffee maker wasn't the best temperature after brewing or staying warm. Overall I give this 5 stars because I ordered four different brands and this one was easily the best and even better than the one we had. My coffee actually tastes so much better in this machine. I highly recommend this product. You won't be disappointed! It is aesthetically / functionally a great coffee maker and very reasonably priced!

I purchased this to replace previous similar Cuisinart coffee maker. I have all white appliances and wanted one that did not have the stainless steel accents. This has a sleek appearance and does not take up much counter space. It functions the same as previous versions. The exception is that the top is flat and their are more holes for the water to dispense into the coffee filter area. I'm not sure if that matters with regard to flavor etc. However, I would suggest not to overfill the filter as these holes wet the filter more fully than previous versions and the coffee grounds can leak out into the pot if this is the case. The clock and easy controls are adequate. This is a great choice if you want a simple coffeemaker without a bunch of bells and whistles. One other thing...I notice that when the coffeemaker "beeps" that the coffee is ready, often it still needs a bit more time to fully fill the carafe. If you take the carafe out too soon, it can drip on to the heating element which over time wears the finish off the element. If you have a previous version of this Cuisinart 12 cup coffeemaker, the previous carafe will fit this one too. Having an extra carafe just in case.....as replacements are expensive. Coffee taste is good and there was only a faint odor upon receiving it. The odor was gone after initial brewing cycles with plain water as directed in the instructions.

We are using this at the office for our decaf crowd. It's a great quality machine and I expect it to last many years, being used 2-3 times per week. The thermal carafe keeps coffee warm a long time (I'm one of those who will drink older coffee but I don't usually like to rewarm it). The hot pad does not keep the carafe warm or have a reheat feature, to my knowledge. Something cool I just discovered is that the plastic filter holder is exactly the same and interchangeable with our other Cuisinart (which is a 14 cup), so that's a big bonus (oh, the times we had when we got them switched with the older, non-Cuisinart machine - somehow, one of us would invariably manage to get those filter holders in there and the only way we knew it was wrong was when groundsy coffee came pouring out from all the wrong places - fun times, but never again!) My only complaint about this machine is that the carafe won't give up the last 3+ tablespoons (or more?) of liquid without tipping it from a normal 45 degree to beyond 90, completely upside down, and then some... and then there's splatter... if you know what I mean. When filling the machine and using the carafe to pour the water in, you have to have clearance to maneuver above and beside the machine, because, like most coffee makers, that water pour-in entry area is always too small for the coffee pitcher spout. Perhaps coffee makers should come with a houseplant watering pitcher attachment or a funnel. Why is this so? I don't know. I don't design them. (If only designers would listen to consumers, but that would be too weird. What do we know?) We have it sitting next to our other Cuisinart and we have to scoot them apart to pour the water in and have a paper towel handy for the spills on the counter. Another way of getting the water out of the carafe is to unscrew the lid and pry it off with your fingers from the pour spout. (Not very hygienic, but by that point, you'd best just wash the thing, anyway.) Still, there is a curve inside the carafe that prevents the liquid coming out easily - perhaps a straw for us hardcore ones who are bound and determined to get the last drop and NOT make another pot? This machine could be annoying to some, but we will live with it. Not worth sending back, and we like the brand, but, hey - Cuisinart - do your designers actually ever try using the machines they design? Am I doing it wrong? Do they secretly use a funnel and a straw?? Because those were not included. We paid $99 for the name, now make it worth our while next time. You have 1-2 years till our other machine quits. Thank you! ;-)

I love this coffee maker! It is simple to use without a lot of extraneous features but does all the necessary stuff. It makes great coffee and can be programmed to have your coffee ready before you get up in the morning. It is easy to set the time on the clock as and to program it to come on as desired. The insulated carafe keeps the coffee warm for hours. It makes 10 cups which is a good amount for my husband and I each morning. The gold filter is easy to use and clean and eliminates the need for paper filters. It has a water filter which I find unnecessary because we filter our water before putting it in the coffee maker. One of the complaints is that it is hard to fill the reservoir with the carafe. This is true and you have to take off the pour top to get out the last bit of coffee or water. I have found it easier to use a pitcher to fill the coffee maker to the desired amount using the cup markings on the machine to gauge the correct amount. I highly recommend this product.