8 Best Cuisinart Coffee Makers (2023 Reviews)
If you’ve been shopping for a Cuisinart coffeemaker, you’ve probably noticed they have a massive line-up of products. And you’ve probably thought to yourself, “How can I possibly choose just the right one for me?”
Which is how you ended up here.
Well, you’ve come to the right place.
We’ve done all the research for you and nailed down the best ones on the market this year to suit any household. Read and learn more from our Cuisinart coffee maker reviews below.
At A Glance (via Amazon):
- OUR TOP CHOICE: Cuisinart CPO-850
- FOR COLD BREW LOVERS: Cuisinart DCB-10
- GREAT VALUE: Cuisinart DCC-1100
The 8 Best Cuisinart Coffee Makers in 2023
Cuisinart makes a lot of great drip coffee makers. In fact, several even made our list of the best drip coffee makers on the market. So how do you know which is the one for you? Check out this Cuisinart coffee maker reviews for 8 great choices.
1. Cuisinart CPO-850 – Best Overall
Capacity: 8 cups
- Brews with: Ground coffee
- Dimensions: 10.13 x 12.75 x 16.38 inches
- Carafe: Thermal
As the only Cuisinart coffee machine certified by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), the CPO-850 was a no-brainer for our top pick for this year.
Whatsoever, Cuisinart CPO-850 is one of the few certified coffee makers worldwide! If you didn’t know, SCA-certified home coffee makers produce exceptional coffee:
Developed by coffee science experts and professional coffee tasters, this program reviews brewers designed for in-home use to determine if they meet the rigorous requirements of brewed coffee quality as determined by the SCA.
Such rigorous requirements are perfect extraction and ideal brewing temperature (1).
The CPO-850 is a fully automatic coffee maker.
It’s basically your PERSONAL PROFESSIONAL BARISTA preparing a pour-over.
Unlike most drip electric coffee makers, it has an initial pre-wetting stage to let your ground beans bloom, and it has a custom-designed laser-etched stainless steel filter for optimal extraction (2). The result of both of these features is the most flavorful cup.
The CPO-850 is fully programmable. You can customize both the brew strength and temperature of your coffee, set it to brew and shut-off on a timer, and pause brewing when you need a quick cup. It’s even self-cleaning!
It ships with an 8-cup stainless steel thermal carafe, which keeps your coffee hot for hours with no need for a hot plate.
2. Cuisinart DCC-1200 – Runner Up
Capacity: 12 cups
- Brews with: Ground coffee
- Dimensions: 7.75 x 9 x 14 inches
- Carafe: Glass
The DCC-1200 may not have the fancy resume of the CPO-850, but we were more than impressed by the capabilities of this value-priced coffee maker for half the cost.
Cuisinart has mastered the compact design, proof of which is this small-footprint coffee maker. It has a classic look and comes in a wide variety of colors, so you’re sure to find one that suits your decor.
Even though this coffee maker is compact, it still houses a large 12-cup stainless steel carafe, which is excellent for serving a crowd. For smaller servings, a special 1-to-4-cup mode lets you brew less without sacrificing flavor.
Our favorite feature is the temperature adjustable hot plate.
Have you ever had burnt-tasting coffee that’s been sitting on a hot plate too long? Well, with this coffee machine, it won’t happen again.
Maintaining Cuisinart DCC-1200 is a piece of cake. A warning light alerts you when it’s time to descale, and a charcoal water filter is included, so you’re always operating with crystal clear water.
3. Cuisinart DCC-450 – Budget Pick
Capacity: 4 cups
- Brews with: Ground coffee beans
- Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 5.25 inches
- Carafe: Thermal
The Cuisinart DCC-450 is the perfect coffee maker for a single person, small family, or dorm room. It’s SHOCKINGLY INEXPENSIVE, but only because it’s small, not because it’s low quality.
In fact, this little stainless steel coffee maker has a lot of premium features. The real winner is the stainless steel thermal carafe with dripless spout, not usually found with cheap coffee makers. It’ll keep your coffee hot all day long, even with the machine off.
A nice perk for your energy bill!
Cuisinart DCC-450 shares other features with the more expensive drip coffee makers too. It has a brew pause feature if you can’t wait for that first cup. And it automatically shuts off after 30 minutes, another energy saver.
Its small size is an advantage in itself. It fits nearly anywhere, and it’s super quick to brew.
4. Cuisinart DGB-625BC Grind-and-Brew – Best with Grinder
Capacity: 12 cups
- Brews with: Whole beans or ground coffee
- Dimensions: 9.8 x 12 x 17.5 inches
- Carafe: Glass
We always recommend grinding your coffee beans right before brewing for the freshest and most flavorful cup of coffee, but we understand having a separate grinder isn’t always practical.
So FEAR NO MORE, because Cuisinart DGB-625BC Grind-and-Brew is a 12-cup coffee maker and grinder in one.
Like other Cuisinart coffee makers, this one allows you to program it using a large and easy-to-use control panel. You can brew on a timer, set your auto shut-off time, and pause brewing to grab a quick cup.
The design is sleek and compact, with a small footprint and modern style. The 12-cup carafe is more than enough to serve a crowd, or you can use the 1-to-4-cup mode to brew a flavorful small batch.
The built-in grinder is really what makes the DGB-625BC stand out.
Sure, you’ll pay a little more upfront, but you won’t need to buy a separate grinder, AND you’ll have more delicious coffee. Sounds like a bargain to me!
5. Cuisinart DCB-10 Cold Brew Coffee Maker – Best for Cold Brew
Capacity: 7 cups
- Brews with: Ground coffee
- Dimensions: 11.65 x 15.28 x 8.9 inches
- Carafe: Glass
There’s nothing like cold brew coffee on a hot day. The only problem? It takes so long to make that: by the time it’s ready, your hot day has become a chilly night.
Cuisinart has solved that problem!
Using innovative technology, Cuisinart DCB-10 can make a fresh batch of cold brew in as little as 25 minutes. The entire process is automated, so it couldn’t be easier. You choose between a mild, medium, or strong brew, and the futuristic-looking coffee maker will whirl and swirl and extract your coffee, no heat required.
How does it taste? Well, if the hundreds of 5-star reviews on Amazon are any indication, pretty great. We especially love the triple filtration system, which ensures your cold brew is exceptionally smooth.
The extra-sturdy glass carafe has a 7-cup capacity and can be used to store your cold brew in the fridge for up to two weeks. When it’s time to clean this Cuisinart coffee maker, the removable components are all dishwasher safe.
6. Cuisinart DCC-3200P1 – Best Programmable
Capacity: 14 cups
- Brews with: Ground coffee
- Dimensions: 7.75 x 9 x 14 inches
- Carafe: Glass
The Cuisinart DCC-3200 14-cup coffee maker is a highly programmable machine, which means you get tons of control over the brewing process. And thanks to the well-designed interface and backlit LCD screen, the programming is a piece of cake, even on hazy early mornings.
You can program the brew timer, the auto shut-off, and the brew strength. Not only that, you can adjust the temperature of the hot plate, a feature we love that’s only found on a few Cuisinart coffee makers.
No more burnt tasting or lukewarm coffee! An update to this model is the extra-hot brew temperature.
New technology ensures your coffee is piping hot without sacrificing flavor.
This coffee maker has the largest capacity than of any on this list, so it’s perfect for offices or large households. But don’t worry, it still has a low-capacity mode, allowing you to brew 4 or fewer cups with the same great flavor. Plus, it has a gold tone filter and a charcoal water filter that contribute a lot to making a great tasting cup of joe.
For more details about this excellent coffee machine, check out our in-depth review.
7. Cuisinart SS-15P1 – Best Dual Purpose
Capacity: 12 cups
- Brews with: Ground coffee or K Cups
- Dimensions: 10.13 x 10.38 x 14.25 inches
- Carafe: Glass
It’s hard to beat a two-way brewer for versatility. Are you serving a crowd? Mind you, this is a 12-cup programmable machine. Hurrying out the door solo? Pop in a K Cup, and brew a single serve. It even fits a full-size travel mug for just this scenario.
The carafe side is fully programmable, letting you set a brew timer, an auto-off timer and adjust the brewing temperature and coffee strength. The large 40-ounce water reservoir is handy for avoiding frequent refills, and it’s equipped with a charcoal water filter, so your coffee tastes its best.
We love that it comes with a refillable HomeBarista filter cup if you don’t want to use a K Cup. Sure, K Cups are convenient, but their coffee is stale, and their environmental impacts are damaging (3). With the HomeBarista filter, you can brew up a single-serve cup of 6, 8, or 10 ounces using your favorite freshly ground beans and feel good about your choices for the planet.
8. Cuisinart DCC-1100 – Best Value
Capacity: 12 cups
- Brews with: Ground coffee beans
- Dimensions: 8 x 14.17 x 8.11 inches
- Carafe: Glass
If you’re looking for a coffee maker with tons of functionality that won’t break the bank, check out the great-value-for-money Cuisinart DCC-1100. It may lack some of the expensive models’ fancier functions, but it has everything you need to make a great coffee cup at a price you can’t beat.
This 12-cup programmable coffee maker can brew for a crowd; or one exhausted and thirsty coffee lover. And like the more expensive models, it has a low capacity mode for brewing smaller quantities without sacrificing flavor.
You can program a 24-hour brew timer and the auto shut-off, and you can pause brewing to pour yourself that precious first cup. There’s even a special 60-second reset function that remembers where you were in the brewing cycle in the event of unexpected power loss.
This machine also comes with a gold tone filter and a charcoal water filter. What more can you ask for?
How to Choose the Right Cuisinart Coffee Maker For You
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Cuisinart CPO-850 |
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Cuisinart DCC-1200 |
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Cuisinart DCC-450 |
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Cuisinart DGB-625BC Grind-and-Brew |
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Cuisinart DCB-10 Cold Brew Coffee Maker |
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Cuisinart DCC-3200P1 |
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Cuisinart SS-15P1 |
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Cuisinart DCC-1100 |
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Since they’re all the same brand, coffee makers by Cuisinart have similar features, quality, and style. Choosing the right one comes down to YOUR LIFESTYLE. How much coffee do you make? How much time do you have?
This buyer’s guide will walk you through all the options when selecting among this best coffee makers list.
Fit your coffee maker to your household.
This should go without saying: buy your coffeemaker to fit your family; don’t adjust your habits to fit a new brewer.
Consider the cup capacity of the coffee maker. How many cups of coffee can it brew at a time? If you’re regularly serving large groups or drinking many cups all day, look for a coffee maker with a 10 or 12 cup carafe.
And remember that coffee companies define a cup of coffee as just 5 ounces.
Conversely, if you only need a cup or two at a time, a small coffee maker will be faster and more practical.
Most Cuisinart coffee makers actually have a small capacity mode for brewing 1 to 4 cups of coffee with no flavor loss.
But there’s no point in spending extra money for a large brewer if you’ll never use the whole thing.
You should also note the brewer’s actual physical size. If you have a large kitchen with plenty of counter and cupboard space, this probably isn’t something to worry about. But if you’re making coffee in a galley kitchen, dorm room, or office cubicle, look for a coffee machine with a small footprint.
Carafe style: glass or thermal?
Many Cuisinart coffee makers (and even their Capresso coffee maker competitors) are available with either a glass or thermal carafe as an option. Choosing between the two comes down to your priorities.
Personally, I love thermal carafes. For one thing, they’re basically indestructible, so you’ll get your money’s worth. But more importantly, this type of machine can keep your coffee hot for hours without using a hot plate. Hot plates tend to be set to quite a high temperature so that you keep a full pot of coffee warm. Over time, this inevitably leads to a burnt taste in the coffee.
Yuck.
That said, if you always drink your brewed coffee right away, as in a busy office, there are advantages to a glass carafe. They are less expensive than their stainless steel counterparts, and without the double-wall vacuum insulation, they have a larger capacity. Of course, if you break your glass carafe, your cost savings are out the window, so treat it with respect.
What do you like to brew with, ground coffee or K Cups?
Except for the Grind-and-Brew, which uses whole bean coffee, a Cuisinart coffee machine will brew with ground coffee, K Cups, or both.
Which of these you prefer to use is a matter of personal taste, but if excellent tasting coffee is your priority, opt for coffee grounds (mostly freshly ground coffee) over K Cups. K Cup coffee tends to be weak and stale tasting, an inevitable side effect of the pod coffee process.
Not only that, most K Cups aren’t recyclable and are increasingly clogging landfills. Even K Cups’ inventor questions their value when weighed against their environmental cost (4).
From a personal standpoint, it saves 20 seconds of your day. What’s that worth?
However, if convenience is your number one goal, then K Cups will be hard to beat. They’re quick and easy to use and even quicker and easier to clean up. And sometimes that’s just what you need before a long shift at the office on a cold dark morning.
The Verdict
With such a huge line-up, there’s sure to be that one Cuisinart coffee maker for you.
Suppose a great cup of coffee is your priority. In that case, our pick for the best Cuisinart coffee maker this year is the CPO-850, Cuisinart’s only model certified by the Specialty Coffee Association for its exceptional brew.
For something a little more affordable, our second choice, the DCC-1200, is a reliable coffee maker by Cuisinart that yields a tasty cup of java for half the price.
FAQs
Cuisinart coffee makers should last between 2 and 5 years, depending on the model you buy and how well it’s maintained. Maintenance is simple and includes regular cleaning and descaling, the frequency of which depends on how heavily you use your coffee maker.
You should clean your Cuisinart coffee maker regularly, with different parts needing different maintenance. It would help if you also rinsed the carafe after each use. Wash any removable parts in warm, soapy water, and wipe down the exterior weekly. Descale the coffee machine every 3 to 6 months.
More expensive models are often worth it. They tend to be made with premium materials, which means they’ll last longer, and they have better technology, which means you’ll get better-tasting coffee. However, if you have a small household, there’s no reason to pay extra for a larger coffee maker whose capacity you’ll rarely use.
References
- Specialty Coffee Association. (n.d.). SCA Certified Home Brewer Program. Retrieved from https://sca.coffee/certified-home-brewer
- McPhee, H. (2015, August 12). What’s a Coffee Bloom? Retrieved from https://fellowproducts.com/blogs/learn/what-s-a-coffee-bloom
- Brown, D. (2019, March 13). K-cups and coffee capsules: Is your quick java fix killing the environment? Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2019/03/13/heres-why-your-used-k-cups-coffee-pods-arent-usually-recycled/3067283002/
- Evans, P. (2015, March 5). K-Cup creator John Sylvan regrets inventing Keurig coffee pod system. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/k-cup-creator-john-sylvan-regrets-inventing-keurig-coffee-pod-system-1.2982660
