BLACK+DECKER 12 Cup Thermal Programmable Coffee Maker with Brew Strength and VORTEX Technology, Black/Steel, CM2046S

We got this for the insulated carafe and that does keep the coffee warm without cooking it on a burner. But there are flaws that we have had to learn to work around:
-The backlight for the display broke after a couple weeks
-It’s difficult to fill the reservoir by pouring from the carafe: the carafe has no way to measure cups, the reservoir level is difficult to read, and the opening for the water is narrow making it easy to miss and spill.
-While pouring coffee, if you tilt the carafe too far, the hollow lid will fill up and then even when you let go of the lid lever, coffee will dribble out and spill.
-The lid of the carafe is hollow and holds water after washing so you might get dirty water in your coffee. Yuck.
-not really a design flaw but you can’t see how much coffee is left in the carafe because it’s opaque metal.

 This review is comparing the Black and Decker to a Cuisinart 12 Cup coffee maker (Maybe the DCC 1200 – looks mostly like it but a different finish/material).

I got this Black and Decker unit over cheaper options for two reasons and BOTH turned out a bit worse than I thought. At least there are some other redeeming qualities. I’ll go over it all.

Reason 1 I got this: “Washable brew basket” I thought that meant, like the Cuisinart, I never had to buy paper filters. I thought this was a reusable, washable filter. NO. WRONG. It’s just another cheap plastic bucket to put paper filters in. Exactly like what you get in the $20 coffee makers. Yes, it’s a removable and washable basket but the Cuisinart had that too AND a removable reusable filter. Now I’m back to lifting out soggy lumpy paper and carefully moving to a trash can unless I fork out an additional $10 for a third-party reusable filter. $10 isn’t terrible in and of itself, but it’s unconscionable to not include it with a $60 coffee maker. UCH.

Reason 2 I got this: Stainless steel carafe. The Cuisinart is being replaced because the glass Charif finally broke. It lasted years and years, maybe even a decade. It has been bumped against the sink during cleaning several times, and the coffee maker was used almost every day. It was sturdy glass! It just finally couldn’t take another hit after a six year old messed with it. So I thought stainless steel would be the way to go. Far more durable, looks pretty cool, and is insulated! Well… It is more durable, and does look pretty cool, and is insulated. But I immediately realize how much I loved the seeing the remaining coffee in the Cuisinart – it even had cup level markings on the side. This not only allowed me to know exactly how much coffee was left but also allowed me to know how much water I was filling it with when I was making coffee. I cannot do either with a stainless steel carafe.

Those were the two reasons I wanted to get this. But how is the rest of the coffee maker? There are positives and negatives for this as well.

It looks really cheap. Extremely cheap. It all looks and feels like cheap plastic (except for the carafe). The bottom plate to hold the carafe looks especially thin and flimsy, with micro feet underneath to support what looks like something that’d otherwise bend and snap in half under the weight of a full carafe. Nothing about this unit outside the carafe looks premium. It certainly doesn’t look like this thing cost over $60. I don’t feel comfortable putting the carafe back when I pour myself a cup of coffee because every time it looks so thin and flimsy I have to be careful.

The top of the unit gets very, very hot when brewing. On my old coffee maker, I could touch the top and it was not a problem. On the flipside, the Black and Decker has its first main benefit for me. The insulated stainless steel carafe means none of that gets hot to the touch, unlike the glass on the previous unit. And because the coffee pot relies on insulation to keep the coffee hot, there is no powered heated electric bottom to accidentally burn your hand and drain electricity after the coffee has finished brewing.

I like that the clock and overall display screen is a bit bigger. It isn’t brighter though and the actual display numbers and text are still just as dark. But at least it being a larger size makes it a bit easier to see.

The new unit has much larger buttons. I could go either way on that. Button size does not affect me. But I will say these larger buttons tend to feel cheap. You can press the button anywhere on its surface and it will work. But clearly the surface you touch is larger than the surface of the control board the button is interacting with inside. Indeed, there are areas of the button you can press that feel more “floppy“ or “mushy“, unless your finger presses directly over the part of the button that makes direct contact with its connection to the control board. My previous model had very tiny buttons, but that meant they could only ever feel one way, and it was very tactile, it had a “click“ feeling to it. And it wasn’t only buttons, it had switches which felt nice. This Black and Decker has no switches, and no button on it feels very “tactile.”

I like the “Evenstream” showerhead. It’s true that even my older coffee maker had one single spout at the center top and after every brew, there was a very specific hole through the wet pile of coffee grounds, and I always did wonder if I was getting enough flavor from all the grounds around the sides. HOWEVER, lifting the lid during a brew, it would appear to me that the hot water would dispense enough into the basket that all the coffee grounds were fully submerged in hot water. So it appeared like, at least for a portion of the brew, flavor was being extracted from all the grounds. Still, there’s no denying that at the end of the brew, and, there was a very specific dent dead center of the coffee grounds. And to be clear, not only does this Black and Decker dispense water from multiple spots up top, it also feels the basket of coffee up like a tub, all the coffee grounds get fully submerged in the hot water.

I can’t tell at the moment which keeps coffee hotter, longer. Obviously the Cuisineart isn’t insulated. But it rests on that hot plate for a while. The Black and Decker I THINK turns off a bit sooner, BUT it claims to keep the coffee hot in the pot for 2hrs. I haven’t timed it, and haven’t measured the temperature to know if there’s a difference.

Edit: After posting this review I noticed one other thing. Like all coffee makers, there is an automatic lock/seal mechanism to prevent coffee from dripping out onto the platter when you remove the coffee pot. And the coffee pot itself has its own little lock/seal that when pressed down opens it up to receive the coffee. When you pull the coffee pot out, that top seal is… MOSTLY sealed shut. video shows, if you tip the coffee pot far enough, coffee will drip out that top mechanism. But this is all to say, after leaving the coffee pot back in the coffee maker for about five hours after my brew, was warm, but not hot. I know it says in the documentation I can keep coffee hot for about two hours… But next time I am going to remove the pot completely from the coffee maker when it’s done in hopes that the top mechanism, in its locked/sealed position, will keep the coffee hotter, longer.

Bottom line: It doesn’t look and feel like a $60+ coffee maker, but the stainless steel carafe/pot helps. No reusable coffee filter – 3rd party can be bought fire about $10. You can’t see how much coffee is left or how much water you’re filling in the carafe/pot to use for a new brew until you pour into the coffee maker. It’s got a bigger but still dark display and bigger but a bit more flimsy feeling buttons compared to my Cuisineart. Still, a pot not hot to the touch and no hot bottom plate which also drains electricity is a respectable reason to chose this.

Este producto lo compre hace 3 meses y me ha funcionado bastante bien, ya que lo uso todos los días, es fácil de usar, no incluye el filtro de tela lavable, por lo que recomiendo comprarlo para evitar estar comprando filtros de papel. La cafetera incluye el contenedor tipo termo que conserva por un periodo largo de tiempo el café caliente aproximadamente por 1.5 horas. Lo recomiendo ampliamente, ya que al ser una termo el contenedor es diferente a las cafeteras tradicionales que incluyen una resistencia térmica que mantiene el contenedor de cristal caliente mientras se sirve la bebida, esta mejora beneficia en bajar el consumo de enegía electrica. Super recomendable

Early stages of a B&D coffee maker but as a Folger’s Black Silk coffee faithful it does the job well (think the secret is out on that one as out of stock at the grocery often). Agree some parts seem flimsy for the price (fascinating the $25 purchase price increase since mine) but still may prove adequate for the purpose they serve. Only time will tell. I have noted with repeated use pour spout developed leakage the seal was fully engaged & and locked. Contacted B&D who will replace the entire unit as a lid/carafe replacement parts ‘is not available’. Cannot be any fairer than that. Hoping not a repeat. Missed the Amazon description that the carafe thermos portion requires a hot water intro prior making actual coffee for acceptable warmth but found it adequate with a two-hour window. Of the comments no alert when finished I am struggling with that one as it just stops chugging water so you know it’s done. The strong brew option is divine! I am thankful the water tank is not detachable as I have found over time the more expensive removable ones (Mr. Coffee I am talking to you) do not seal well at the base with frustrating leaks developing. The wide mouth carafe opening is a plus for cleaning purposes, the fill water level window is convenient, and the compact design is a plus. Good budget investment.

This is a plain, easy operating coffee pot with a terrific carafe that keeps coffee hot for many hours and doesn’t dribble all over when you pour. Good value!