First of all, I do kind of like my coffee maker, but it can be somewhat annoying at times...
It is a cuisinart 10 cup grind and brew thermal auto drip. It's got a built-in blade grinder. It's nice to be able to set up some whole beans at night and have them freshly ground automatically before I wake up. Thing is, it's a pain to clean out, which has to be done prior to each use. Not such a huge deal for the most part, but it sucks when I'm making consecutive pots.
It comes down to the grinding mechanism. Water vapor gets in there, so you can't simply wipe the old beans out, they have to be washed and then dried because you can't put a wet grinder in the machine. Because it is a decent auto drip, and I dig the thermal carafe, I'm not abandoning it, but I think I'll just turn the grinder off and just grind them myself...
That said, I'm really looking for a grinder. A not-too-expensive hand grinder would be cool, but an electric is worth looking at as well. I'm combing this forum for ideas, but suggestions are always welcome. With an external grinder, using this coffee maker shouldn't be such a hassle.
While I'm at it, I'm also going to get a french press. From what I can tell, they're pretty straightforward. I just need to decide on size and also if I also want thermal for this. My guess is that since you're not really supposed to let the coffee sit in the carafe for too long (20 minutes?) having a thermal carafe on your french press might not be a very useful feature. Still, any suggestions are welcome and appreciated.
It is a cuisinart 10 cup grind and brew thermal auto drip. It's got a built-in blade grinder. It's nice to be able to set up some whole beans at night and have them freshly ground automatically before I wake up. Thing is, it's a pain to clean out, which has to be done prior to each use. Not such a huge deal for the most part, but it sucks when I'm making consecutive pots.
It comes down to the grinding mechanism. Water vapor gets in there, so you can't simply wipe the old beans out, they have to be washed and then dried because you can't put a wet grinder in the machine. Because it is a decent auto drip, and I dig the thermal carafe, I'm not abandoning it, but I think I'll just turn the grinder off and just grind them myself...
That said, I'm really looking for a grinder. A not-too-expensive hand grinder would be cool, but an electric is worth looking at as well. I'm combing this forum for ideas, but suggestions are always welcome. With an external grinder, using this coffee maker shouldn't be such a hassle.
While I'm at it, I'm also going to get a french press. From what I can tell, they're pretty straightforward. I just need to decide on size and also if I also want thermal for this. My guess is that since you're not really supposed to let the coffee sit in the carafe for too long (20 minutes?) having a thermal carafe on your french press might not be a very useful feature. Still, any suggestions are welcome and appreciated.