There’s also only one reservoir for water, which I suspect would need to be filled up more often than the Cuisinart, given that both brew options draw from it. Once your coffee is ready, you can adjust the temperature of Hamilton Beach the hot plate to keep the carafe warm. Here at Coffeeness, we aren’t huge fans of keeping the heat on the carafe; it tends to scorch the coffee. Of course, this model also can take paper filters if you prefer those.
At first glance, it seems to be a pretty well-rounded machine in terms of features, too. Let’s continue this Cuisinart Coffee center review by breaking them down. Most coffeemakers don’t get up to full temperature in the first portion of their brew, and therefore they make a weak cup if brewing less than a full batch.
The single serve brewer has three cup sizes to choose from. There’s a setting for 6 ounces , 8 ounces , and 10 ounces . Cuisinart got it right to promote the environmentally friendly alternative to the single cup pod by including a reusable filter cup with each new machine. There are two water reservoirs, and the controls are straightforward.
The DCC-3400 also features a “shower head” to provide full coverage of piping hot water to all of the coffee grounds, allowing for even extraction of all of the flavor compounds. Lesser models often just have a single orifice to supply the Cuisinart Coffee hot water to the brew basket. Cuisinart’s latest coffee maker is the Burr Grind & Brew, 10 cup Coffeemaker. It has a built-in burr grinder and a self-cleaning feature. So you automate your entire brewing process from grinding to rinsing.
Coffee machines can be bulky and heavy, so you’ll probably want to consider your kitchen and look at each model’s dimensions. All in all, this is our pick for the best Cuisinart coffee maker of 2021. I’m obsessed with smart home tech and channel my obsession into new stories for Consumer Reports.
All parts of the filter and the carafe can be washed on the top rack of your dishwasher, for fuss-free cleaning. However, washing by hand isn’t too tricky either, with most coffee residue washing away with a quick rinse. On the other hand, you can brew up to a 12 ounce cup on the single serve side of the Keurig Duo, something the Cuisinart can’t do. There are separate controls for each brewer type, so you don’t need to switch functions like some other dual brew systems out there. This brewer is designed to make a great tasting cup of joe without having to be a certified barista with years of experience “dialing in” a proper extraction. If these features are important to you, you may want to take a look at our reviews of the Behmor Brazen and the Bonavita BV1900TS.
Overall, the Cuisinart DCC 3200 is a perfect all-rounder for XL batch brewing. When it comes to brewers, few make them consistently as well as Cuisinart. If calcium deposits build up faster, the Clean light will illuminate, indicating the coffeemaker should be descaled. She spends most of her time searching for the best prices Hamilton Beach on top consumer tech, but has also written about everything from flower delivery to mattresses. Happiest with a DualSense controller in her hand, she’s also contributed to GamesRadar and T3 and specializes in gaming hardware and computing. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.