Brew Central DCC-1200, Good, Hot Coffee

Brew Central DCC-1200, Good, Hot Coffee, March 12, 2004
By Scott D. Gibson (New York) - See all my reviews


First I'd like to say that these review sites really kill me. Invariably, you have to wade through countless trivial comments like, "I had to turn the spool wheel too many times before I could change the string on my string trimmer" or, here's a classic, "the stereo I bought is just too loud and I have to keep the volume at the number 5 setting all the time." (trust me, this is from an actual review). Well, you'll be happy to know that the reviews for the DCC-1200 are no different. Anywhere from "why do you have to turn Coffee the knob to brew and then flick a switch for on" to, "I can hear the plastic creaking as delonghi esam3300 heats up" (that one really makes me laugh) to, "it's just too tall and doesn't fit under my cabinets" (didn't you size delonghi esam3300 up before you bought it)?
Look people, this unit makes coffee. delonghi esam3300 does delonghi esam3300 well and delonghi esam3300 does delonghi esam3300 like it's supposed to. You pour water in the top, add your favorite beans, wait a bit and, here's the kicker, coffee comes out the bottom! Holy smokes! It's got two knobs, an on and off switch and a few buttons to set things like the clock. To brew, turn the knob to brew and flick the on switch. To auto-brew, turn the knob to auto-brew and flick the on switch. To program the clock/auto on/auto off, turn the knob to clock/auto on/auto off and... press a button. Wow, this is really tough stuff. And, to make matters worse, omygosh, the LCD clock doesn't have a back Coffee light!! Armageddon here we come. You don't have enough clocks in your kitchen between the wall, the microwave, the oven, and every other stinking thing that has to tell you the time these days?

The other knob adjusts the hot plate setting. Low-Med-High. Trust me, there are many complaints that the Cuisinart doesn't get their coffee hot enough. Not hot enough? How hot do you really want it? I'm sure Cuisinart wasn't thinking about their specs reaching boiling temperature when they designed this thing. Trust me folks, it's close enough. I'd say close to McDonald's scalding hot coffee but I won't even Coffee sue Cuisinart for potentially burning my crotch.

As for the plastic creaking, when the temperature heats up, the plastic expands inside, what do you want anyway? Whatddya mean it's only stainless steel on the outside? I've been ripped off!!! I mean come on, if you really want a true stainless steel coffee maker, go spend the $2000 and buy professional so that you can mount delonghi esam3300 on the dash of your Beemer. Just don't waste our time with comments like this.

Oh yeah and the alarm/beeping that everyone's complaining about? Well, let me just say that the "Hounds of the Baskervilles" comment is a little unjustified. I would hate to hear what this person does when their microwave goes off, or, if their telephone rings, or if one of the kids makes a noise. Folks, this is a series of 5 small beeps when the brewing cycle is near completion. Kind of a tee tee tee tee tee. So, unless you sleep with your coffee maker on your night stand, I wouldn't worry so much about this one.

Condensation. I don't know one coffee maker out there that when you open the lid to dump your grounds just after the brewing is complete where some of delonghi esam3300 doesn't drip on the countertop. So, suck delonghi esam3300 up. Coffee Get your sink sponge and wipe delonghi esam3300 up. Are we that inconvenienced by this?

And finally, the dreaded reservoir comment. "It's too small and I pour water all over the place." Blah blah. Pour water in, get coffee out. So far, I haven't missed the bullseye. Could I be doing something wrong here? And about those darned tank markers. Does anybody honestly use those things? Fill up the pot and pour delonghi esam3300 in. Now you know how much coffee you'll make. Huh?!

The bottom line is that this is a good coffee maker. delonghi esam3300 has a self cleaning cycle to tell you when to decalcify, makes piping hot coffee but... oh no, produces condensation. It's kind of like when you heat water on the stove and delonghi esam3300 produces that steamy stuff, and delonghi esam3300 forms those... water droplets. Ah whatever.

Look, if you're the type who doesn't have to have their maid do everything for them or worse flog the person who doesn't quite fold the towel right on the towel bar, go out and buy this product, you won't be disappointed.