Description
What This Cuisinart Is
This is a programmable drip coffee machine from Cuisinart with a thermal carafe rather than a glass one, listed as model DCC-1170BKNAS. The specification table lists the coffee maker type as a drip coffee machine, the special feature as programmable, the coffee input as ground and the included components as the coffeemaker, a carafe and a charcoal water filter.
The thermal carafe is the reason to choose this over a cheaper machine. Coffee held on a hot plate keeps cooking, flattening within about half an hour and taking on a burnt edge after that, while a thermal carafe simply holds it. Buyers who want a larger pot should look at the Cuisinart 14 cup programmable coffee maker, which uses a glass carafe, and those who want adjustable brewing should compare the Breville Precision Brewer.
Thermal Carafe and the 1 to 4 Cup Setting
Ten cups on a coffee machine is roughly 50 ounces, since manufacturers count a cup as about five ounces. That is around four large mugs, which suits a household of two to three comfortably and a household of four at a stretch.
The 1 to 4 cup setting described in Cuisinart’s copy addresses the standard weakness of any full size drip machine. Brewing a small quantity in a large basket leaves a shallow coffee bed that water passes through too quickly, producing a weak cup. A dedicated small batch mode adjusts the brewing for that, which turns a 10 cup machine into something usable on a weekday morning for one person. It is the same idea Ninja implements on machines such as the Ninja CRT2NJCE251RB.
Brew Pause stops flow from the basket when the carafe is lifted, so a cup can be poured mid brew. It should be a short pause, since the basket keeps filling while the carafe is away.
The Charcoal Water Filter
A charcoal water filter is included, which is a genuinely useful inclusion rather than a token one. Activated charcoal removes chlorine and some dissolved organic compounds, both of which affect taste directly. Chlorinated tap water makes noticeably worse coffee than filtered water, and this is the simplest way to address it.
What a charcoal filter does not do is remove the calcium and magnesium that form limescale, so descaling remains necessary on a schedule set by local water hardness. The filter itself is a consumable that needs replacing periodically, and a filter left in place past its life is worse than no filter at all, since it stops adsorbing and becomes somewhere for bacteria to sit.
Programming It Usefully
A 24 hour timer only helps if the machine is loaded the night before, which means ground coffee sitting in the basket overnight and water sitting in the reservoir. Neither is ideal. Coffee begins losing aroma from the moment it is ground, and eight hours in an open basket costs more than most people realize.
The practical compromise most households settle on is to fill the water at night and grind in the morning, which takes thirty seconds and preserves most of the benefit of both. Anyone determined to use the timer fully should at least grind coarser than usual, since finely ground coffee stales faster through having more surface area exposed to air. None of this is a fault in the machine, and it applies equally to every programmable brewer, but a timer is often the feature people buy for and then use in a way that undoes the point of buying good coffee.
Highlights
- Thermal carafe with no warming plate to keep cooking the coffee.
- 1 to 4 cup setting for brewing small quantities properly.
- 24 hour programmable timer for brewing ahead.
- Brew Pause for pouring before the cycle finishes.
- Charcoal water filter included for chlorine removal.
- Reusable filter listed, so paper is optional.
- Narrow at under 8 inches deep and 8.13 inches wide.
Things To Consider
The filter type field reads reusable, which suggests a permanent mesh basket rather than paper. A mesh basket removes the running cost of filters and passes coffee oils through, giving a heavier bodied cup with a little sediment, where paper traps them for a cleaner result. Most machines of this class will accept paper in the basket if that is preferred, though the listing does not confirm it. Whichever is used, the basket needs washing rather than rinsing, since coffee oils accumulate and eventually turn rancid.
The voltage field on this listing reads 1 Volts AC. That is obviously wrong, since no appliance runs on one volt, and it appears to be a truncated entry. It is safe to assume standard North American household supply for a product sold in this market, but no wattage is published either, so the circuit load cannot be assessed from this data. A drip machine draws hard while its element is on and should not share an outlet with a toaster or a microwave.
No carafe capacity appears in the specification fields, so the 10 cup figure comes from the model name and the included components list. The UPC field contains two separate codes, which usually indicates merged listings.
Thermal carafes bring their own habits. They cannot be seen into, so the remaining volume is judged by weight. They should be preheated with hot water before brewing so the first coffee in is not cooled by cold steel. And they need to be dried with the lid off between uses, or a stale coffee smell develops that transfers to the next pot. Height is the other constraint at 14.25 inches, which rules out most under cabinet positions once the lid opens.
Who Should Buy It and Who Should Skip It
This suits a household of two to four that brews once in the morning and drinks the pot over the next hour or two, and that wants the last cup to taste like the first. The 1 to 4 cup setting makes it workable for one person on a weekday, and the charcoal filter is a sensible inclusion for anyone on chlorinated water.
Skip it if you need a large pot for a group, if you want to see the level through glass, or if you want control over brew temperature and flow rate. Anyone brewing one cup at a time should look at a single cup machine such as the Technivorm Moccamaster Cup One or a pod brewer in the single-serve brewers category.
