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Cuisinart DCC-2600 Brew Central 14-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker With Glass Carafe Review
About the first thing you notice about the Cuisinart DCC-2600 Brew Central 14-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker with Glass Carafe is the control panel on the front. Displaying the time when not in use, it also shows other settings, from the strength of brew and number of cups ordered to when it’s time to remove any calcification from the water reservoir.
Below that is the carafe, contained neatly inside the frame and enhanced with a stainless steel strip around the lower circumference and down the ergonomic handle that stays cool at all times.
This product from one of the leading names in coffee makers certainly looks good, but is it just looks alone?
Deceptively Large Capacity
You wouldn’t think so by looking at it, but the DCC-2600 can brew up to 14 cups in one go. To give you full control, there’s a cup measure from two to fourteen cups on the side of the carafe, together with a Water Level Indicator Window in the water reservoir. This makes it very easy to feed into it exactly the right amount of water.
But you don’t have to brew in bulk. The settings allow for 1 to 4 cups to be selected if you so wish, so that’s what you get without sacrificing any taste or heat (which sometimes happens when the heater is trying to heat a small amount of water in too short a time).
Quality Filters Equals Quality Taste
While it’s the coffee itself that produces the flavor, it’s the water that comes out of your tap that can ruin it. That’s why the water filter is just as important as the coffee filter in a coffee maker.
The Cuisinart DCC-2600 uses a high quality charcoal water filter to eliminate the chloride and other undesirables found in any water supply and that would otherwise spoil the taste of your coffee.
But do make sure you renew the filter regularly. Charcoal does a great job, but it’s unstable and becomes clogged after a while with all the stuff that would otherwise get into your coffee.
Cuisinart recommend changing it every 60 days or 60 uses – more often if you have calcium-rich, or hard, water in your area. People leaving two-star reviews because the taste deteriorated should check on this point.
The filter for the coffee itself is a permanent Gold Tone filter that doesn’t need replacing – merely cleaning. You can, if you prefer, use paper filters instead, as this is largely a matter of taste.
Features and Specifications:
Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 16.2 x 9.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
Finish: Stainless
Materials: Metal, glass carafe, plastic, electronic
Dimensions: 9.5 inches long (including lid hinge and cord protector) x 7.7 inches wide x 14.6 inches high
Capacity: 14-cup pot (5 ounces each)
Brew-pause function
1- to 4-cup setting
Regular and bold flavor-strength settings
Heater plate with adjustable temperature
Convenient 0- to 4-hour automatic shut-off
Power loss backup system
Showerhead brewing system
Permanent Gold Tone filter, charcoal water filter, measuring scoop and instruction book included
Customer Reviews and Scores
4.4 stars from 473 reviews on Amazon at the time of writing, with a massive 334 giving a full 5 stars, is an impressive rating for any product. The people who love it do so mainly because of the great taste of the coffee it produces, and that it is so convenient and easy to use, whether for a straightforward brew or for programming a brew in a few hours’ time.
As ever, there are others who are not so enthusiastic, citing mostly the carafe and its lid, with occasional leaks and dribbles down the outside of the glass which you have to be careful not to allow to enter your cup and spoil the taste.
But most users appear not to have those problems, or to have dealt with them without any fuss.
Conclusion
Cuisinart is an established brand of coffee maker, and this DCC-2600 model has been very successful. On reading the reviews it’s evident that the manufacturers have taken on board feedback from earlier models and made any necessary improvements.
The result is a product that delivers great tasting coffee when required and in the right quantities, and that has an enviable reputation in its field. You can buy the Cuisinart DCC-2600 Brew Central with confidence that you’ll almost certainly be pleased you did.