Best deal 🎉 Cuisinart DGB-550BKP1 Automatic Coffeemaker Grind & Brew, 12-Cup Glass, Black ✔️

3 reviews for Best deal 🎉 Cuisinart DGB-550BKP1 Automatic Coffeemaker Grind & Brew, 12-Cup Glass, Black ✔️

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   RockyTech – October 10, 2020

   This review is for the 10-cup DGB-850 with Thermal Carafe (stainless steel).After using this coffee maker for over 10 weeks, we are quite happy with it overall (after learning a few lessons). Perhaps this is an updated version of the model, but we have not had any of the issues some reviews mention, like problems cleaning the grinder burrs. In fact, this version does not even have user-access to the grinder parts, based on the videos and descriptions from others with problems. This model advertises that the grinder assembly auto-rinses all the grinds from the grinder – there is no disassembly to get to the grinder itself, and it appears to work fine without access. All we do to clean it after each use is rinse out the permanent filter itself (or toss the paper filter), and wipe moisture from the holder and the housing above the coffee carafe platform.PROS:* Coffee tastes very good – grind/strength controls allows pretty good control over desired taste, by adjusting the amount of water used with each grind range (see my grind testing chart image, and table below). My wife likes coffee a bit weaker, so we use 7-8 cups of water with a 6-cup Grind, for instance, adjusting Strength as needed for the exact amount of water used.* With the thermal carafe, the heating plate below the carafe warms the stainless steel carafe as the coffee is brewed, so there is no need to pre-heat a cold carafe (which we had to do with our previous coffee maker). Works well – the heater is turned off automatically after the coffee is brewed, so it does not over-heat the coffee. The thermal carafe keeps the coffee pretty warm for an hour or two.* At least so far, we have not had any issues with cleaning the grinder burrs – easy clean-up.* We really like the ability to use either the permanent filter basket, or a paper filter. With a septic system, we cannot rinse grounds down the drain, and it is sometimes a pain to dump grounds outside in bad weather (so the paper filter is handy in heavy snow). We did not have this option with our old blade-grinder coffee maker.CONS (Lessons Learned):* Pouring water into the reservoir is a pain with the coffee maker under a cabinet. You need access to the back of the coffee maker to pour from a bit behind, since pouring from the front can let water spill out the overflow slots at the back of the reservoir.* As some reviews mention, pouring from the carafe can be a bit tricky with the lid on, if you are not careful. A full pot pours fine, but steeper angles of pour as the carafe gets emptier can make a mess. I remove the lid for pouring as the pot gets emptier.* To get just the right coffee strength for your personal tastes, it helps to understand exactly how the coffee maker adjusts the grind for the settings (Grind and Strength). I could not find this information in the manual or any on-line reference. See my “Strength Notes” below – between knowing what each combination does, and adjusting the amount of water for each setting, you can get pretty much just what you want, without wasting coffee.STRENGTH NOTES:At first, we found it a bit limiting to have fixed settings for only 4, 6, 8 & 10 cups of coffee. And I could not find any good description anywhere about exactly what the Grind control and the Strength control do – does one adjust the fineness of the grinding mechanism, and the other the amount of coffee beans ground (based on the amount of time the grinder runs)? If so, which controls which? All the manual really says is “The burr grinder will grind the correct amount of beans, and automatically adjust the coffee/water ratio for low cup settings.”So, I started experimenting with different settings to see what each does, based on the weight of the ground coffee put into the filter. I weighed the grounds after brewing each pot at different setting combinations, letting them drain quite a while first (wet grounds, but well drained). The chart in the image attached to this review (also shown in the table below) shows my results – not every setting available, but enough to figure out what is happening, I believe. From visual comparisons, I could not see any apparent differences in the coarseness of the grounds themselves with any combination, so I assume that the grinder does not change the coarseness/fineness of the grind itself, only the amount of beans ground, for both the strength and grind (# of cups) settings. But with the information in the chart, and by adjusting the amount of water you put in the reservoir for each brew, you can get pretty close to the strength you want. Ground Coffee Weights, Cuisinart DGB-850 Coffeemaker GRIND STRENGTH GRAMS (avg.) ============================= 4 Cups Extra Bold 75 6 Cups Regular 91 6 Cups Bold 102 6 Cups Extra Bold 120 8 Cups Bold 122 8 Cups Extra Bold 140So, for example, we brew a slightly weaker-than-recommended pot by setting the Grind (# of cups) to 6 cups, adding either 7 or 8 cups of water to the reservoir, and setting the Strength as a kind of fine-tuning adjustment to get just the strength we want for that batch (my wife likes it a bit weaker, I like it a bit stronger – we alternate!).Hopefully this will help you fine-tune your perfect cup of coffee. Happy brewing!

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Amazon Customer – November 3, 2022

   Headline here is that this is the best coffeemaker available for this price point. You get scheduled brewing and grinding, an excellent built-in filter, and pretty much all in the smallest space possible for this kind of product. We’ve owned a couple other coffeemakers with built-in grinders (including a GEVI we bought on Amazon that was awful) and this is easily the best considering the price.Pros:- Cheap- Extremely easy to use- Scheduled brewing and grinding- Quality built-in filter (don’t need to use a paper filter)- Coffeepot retains heat well even when the hot plate is off- Charcoal filter for water container is a plus- Considerate in terms of space usage; quite small considering all the featuresCons:- There is one con due to a design flaw. Likely due to space constraints, there isn’t a place for steam to escape between the brewer/filter and the grinder. Since the grinder itself is sealed, all the steam collects in the grinder, and then as it cools becomes standing water. This means that you have to fully wipe down and dry the grinder assembly every time you use the coffeemaker. Not a huge deal because the grinder is easily removed but if you want something a bit more hands-off you’ll probably need to look at more expensive (and larger) modelsIn short, if you want a coffeemaker with a built-in grinder for <$300, even with the design flaw in mind this is about as good as it gets.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Tempting Reviews – November 26, 2022

   EDIT November 29th 2022One feedback point. The unit does not give you a warning if the water reservoir is empty when you go to brew. A small thing but important.I also determined that the ratio for 12-oz cups is basically half of what you choose. So if you choose a 4-cup, you’ll get 2 full cups at the most, 6-cup will get you 3 full cups, etc. That should help people properly measure whatever.I’ve used up the rest of the Dunkin beans, so now I’m back to my regular brand which is a darker roast. This is where I’ll play with different strength settings to see how it influences the flavor (the coffee in question is from Java Planet and has generally been perfectly smooth with the previous model. This model seems to be more “bold” generally, so I’ll try a few different settings to see what that experience is.)—-ORIGINAL REVIEW—–I owned the DGB-650 for many years. Loved it so much that I actually set it up in hotels where I was temporarily staying rather than use their coffee. But it started having problems and it was time for an upgrade.This unit, although I just got it, already has some significant improvements.- Being able to simply store beans in the top hopper is good if you mostly brew the same coffee every day (until you run out). For me, it allowed me to just dump the remainder of some beans I had in a sealed container waiting for another brand to run out.I can see it being a pain if you’re the kind who likes something different every now and then. The other models that make you fill in each brew are probably better suited for you.- The carafe is significantly improved even though it’s not metal. I think the metal carafe is frankly overrated; the glass carafe keeps coffee even hotter than the metal one did. One thing to note though: it pours REALLY easily. The 650 didn’t, so I’ve already had a situation of slightly spill/overpour because I wasn’t ready for how easy it comes out. This isn’t a bad thing, just letting you know to pour slowly. Also, the top is much easier to remove. If I had to call out one thing, and it’s not the carafe’s fault just physics, it’s the condensation.- It’s strongly recommended you use paper filters rather than the basket they give you unless you don’t care about leftover grounds in your coffee (Ugh…). The ones they give you are garbage though; look for Melita or other similar brands here on Amazon, bamboo filter types, Kroger has them too. You’ll know them because they’re cone shaped with a flat bottom and (often) brown. I recommend size 4 for this unit – they will seem oversized, but that’s on purpose. I’ve used these for years.When this unit sprays the grounds down into the basket, they will make a TERRIBLE mess inside. If your filter is just sitting in the cup, grounds will get down underneath it and make their way into the coffee. What you want is a filter that completely envelops the cup and has extra hanging over the edge, so that everything gets caught.So far – and it’s early – my only negative is that I’m not sold on the # of cups that it’s giving. 4 is the lowest number I believe, and you’re not getting 4 cups of a regular mug. Maybe 4 cups of a really tiny mug. 3 cups at the most based on what I see is the most logical mug size out there, which is 12oz.