Review on Cuisinart DBM 8 Supreme Grind Automatic by Jeff Rubio

These products are difficult to review because you get what you pay for. You can't give the Ford Escort a star because it doesn't drive like a Cadillac. :) In this case we have one of the cheapest grinders you can get. My previous coffee grind was with blade grinders. I gently shook them as I sanded to get the best evenness. I have tried 3 blade grinders in 3 years due to broken blades, lid switch etc. This time I decided to try the grinder and found this one. I wasn't willing to spend more than $150 to grind my coffee (how much I love my coffee a certain way). Having used this product several times, here are my observations: NEED. It's true that it's messier than using the grinders I've used before. A bit dusty. However, I was able to minimize this problem after grinding by doing the following: (a) tilt the grinder forward and tap on the back, (b) carefully pull out the filled grounds container, (c) cover the opening with the lid of your hand (the lid remains covered ), tilt the basket at an angle and tap the counter again to form a nice pouring stack, then (d) remove the lid and pour the coffee directly into the coffee pot basket by tapping the lid lightly. I'm still a bit dusty, but not bad. UNIFORMITY. Sharpening uniformity isn't impressive, but it's much better than a knife sharpener. CONTROL. The cup switch, which is really just a way to set the auto meal, is a long way off. At least, that's how I like my coffee (about a tablespoon of whole beans per 6-ounce cup of coffee pot). As for me, I have to multiply the number of tablespoons of beans I use by 3, and that's a rough timer setting. So for 6 "cups" that's the maximum timer setting of 18. For more cups I have to run it twice. I think there is a lot of room for improvement in low-cost products in this area. The timer should be much more generous. To turn it off manually, you also need to slide the switch to the off position. It would be more convenient if pressing the START button was actually START/STOP, but it didn't make much of a difference. TECHNICAL SERVICE. I would imagine that if I were to grind different types of coffee in this machine, it would be a bit of a hassle to clean it between each switch. It leaves a bit of shredding and chunking. But for me, I'm pretty consistent in the coffees I use, so it doesn't really matter to me. I tidy up every once in a while. The advantage of this device is that the removable parts can be washed in the dishwasher. EXTRA SERVICE: There are some negative reviews stating that their Cuisinart DBM-8 just stopped working after a while. Mine did just that after about 2-1/2 years of use. I decided to disassemble the machine and found that after 2 1/2 years of grinding coffee, a few times a day, a lot of grist was getting into the cavity of the coffee grinder's workspace (see [.]). This is due to the ground coffee "blow-back" as the beans are ground back through the outlet of the grinder. It recedes a little with each grind, and how much probably depends on how finely you grind the coffee. (We grind ours down to about 30% of the indicator, starting at the thinnest point). Over 2-1/2 years the machine has accumulated at least 8-12 ounces of dry coffee grounds. This resulted in the slide switch becoming isolated and the device could never be turned on. After cleaning all bases and gently wiping the slide switch with 91% isopropyl using a cotton swab, the device will function normally again. My recommendation: If you are mechanically inclined, take the unit apart about every 6 months and clean out all the coffee grounds. This includes both the lower and the upper cavity (these are accessed separately). To access the lower cavity, remove the interchangeable rubber feet and remove the 4 screws. To access the upper cavity you will need to remove the 4 screws recessed deep into the lower cavity (you will need a long bar, small to medium Phillips screwdriver). There is another screw at the top that the waste bin attaches to. So 5 screws to get to the upper cavity. You will need to remove 4 more screws to remove the slider and button board so you can clean them before reinstalling. A possible improvement in the design of the device would be a better seal or some sort of gasket around the small square joint between the grinder and the grinding container.