Cuisinart DGB-550BK Grind & Brew Automatic Coffeemaker, 12 Cup, Black

I’ve had this coffee maker for a couple of years now and there are pluses and minuses. I’m comparing this product to the Cappresso machine with a built in grinder that I had for over 12 years and just loved. When it died, I knew i wanted another coffee maker with a built in grinder. I read several reviews indicating that the later model Cappressos weren’t as good as they used to be. Plus this Cuisinart was rated very highly, so I thought I’d try it.First, the pluses.1. It makes excellent tasting coffee.2. It seems to be well made and very durable.Now, the minuses.1. The grinder is LOUD. It’s basically obnoxious. And it goes for a full 30 seconds, which can feel like an eternity. Don’t plan on getting up before the rest of your household and starting a pot of coffee unnoticed. It will wake up even the heaviest of sleepers. Plus it’s a blade grinder, which is not as good as the burr grinder in the Cappressos.2. The cleaning process is a nightmare. There are 5 different pieces that MUST be cleaned each time. The steam from the brewing process gets into the grinder, which becomes caked with soggy coffee grounds. You can’t brew another pot until you’ cleaned the entire grinder and basket from the last batch.3. There’s an odd feature that if, during the process of wiping it down, you accidentally hit the start button and you have the grinder and filter pieces out of the machine, it starts beeping at you and nothing will get it to stop until you put all five pieces back in. You can’t turn it off or reset it. It will temporarily stop beeping if you unplug it, but starts again the second you plug it back in. So irritating.4. You have to measure out the beans for each pot. I know it seems like a tiny nit to pick, but the Cappresso allows you to dump the beans into a holding container and then automatically measures out the correct amount of beans for the number of cups you indicate, and you can probably brew 2-4 pots before you need to refill. And you don’t need to take apart and clean the grinder after each use.5. You have to make sure the basket handle faces the front of the machine or you will end up with leaking and overflowing problems.6. It seems very well made and durable, which is a shame for me, because I can’t wait until this one dies so I can go back to a Cappresso.

I bought this machine 2 weeks ago and I am super pleased with it so far. I feel like I should be paid by someone to review grind and brew coffee machines because I have owned so many of them over the past 3 or 4 years. And I have gotten to know them well through trial, error, and breakage. Of course I am not being paid for this review, but I am giving one because I think I can help someone else who’e in the same boat. Earlier this year I purchased and reviewed a Krups grind and brew (the newest model) which I liked very much but it died after about 8 months. It did not do well with oily beans and I constantly had to clean it. It also was not great at regulating the strength of the coffee, which has been pretty consistently a factor on all the machines I’ve owned, including several Cuisinarts. Other machines I’ve had and reviewed in this category besides past Cuisinarts include Breville, Capresso, Kenmore, and Gourmia. This Cuisinart comes with an auto clean feature and is one reason I was willing to spend more money for it. It has a large air tight hopper which is very convenient. I love that it’s 12 cups and not 10, which almost all others are, because I do have company regularly and want to be able to make large quantities. I also greatly appreciate that you can set the hot plate to 4 hours so if I make a large pot I can sip it all morning at the proper temperature without microwaving. I don’t know why anyone would buy the thermal carafe over the glass one with hot plate because I have yet to use a thermal carafe that keeps coffee hot even a half hour after brewing. This machine really seems to adjust the grinder properly to set the strength of coffee. It is easy to use. It has the newest technology to optimize the grounds. It is a bit slow, but reasonable for good coffee. The loudness is no different than other machines. Everything fits well together and operates properly. The carafe is easy to pour from. Previously I was not impressed with the Cuisinart design of their older grind and brews, but I am so grateful to have found this machine and highly recommend it!UPDATE 12/15/18: After 2 months I am still impressed and in love with this machine. It never clogs – even with oily beans. This is a first from all those other grind and brews I have owned. It offers a variety of ways to control strength and taste, which I love. It has a large pot that can keep hot for up to 4 hours, which I also love – and it was easy to program (electronics are not my strong suit). It is relatively quiet and brews at a normal speed. It is large but fits under my cabinets on a moveable tray without issue. No complaints at all on this machine, and I am a critical type. I really don’t understand the critical reviews at all on this product and seems like user error issues. I have no problems with it working properly, no overflows, and flavor of coffee is awesome. Who cares that you can’t program it with ground coffee? It’s a GRIND AND BREW machine!