Review on ☕ Efficient and Stylish BLACK+DECKER 12-Cup Mill and Brew Coffeemaker, Black: CM5000B by Sara Mahoney

I was looking for a replacement for my favorite Melitta, which finally broke after 12 years. Unfortunately, Melitta decided a long time ago to no longer produce its own coffee machines. Melitta had a much better designed grinding chamber than its main competitor, Cusinart Grind and Brew (which you can still buy - I had one for many years before stumbling across my beloved Melitta). The grinder in the Crusinart is very difficult to clean (which has to be done after each pot. Also, the coffee comes out better in the Melitta in my opinion). Luckily, Black and Decker chose a grinding chamber very similar to the Melitta. In fact, the grinding chamber and the reusable coffee filter are one. With the Cusinart, the ground coffee is blown through a reusable cone filter. A significant amount of ground coffee is compacted in the grinding chamber and never reaches the brew filter. Black and Decker is great if your kitchen has black or stainless steel accents. It is very easy to use and most importantly clean. It has some nice features. Firstly, you can adjust both the degree of grinding and the strength of the drink. Second programmable. Third, it has a backlit display so it's easy to read. Fourth, it's easy to program and the watch is easy to set up. Finally, it's fairly quiet when grinding compared to the beloved Melitta and less-loved Cusinart. There are two aspects of this model that I don't particularly like. First, the water tank sensor is on the side and is very difficult to see. DIES also does not match the labeling of the pot. Second, the heating plate turns on and off to keep the coffee warm. While it's nice that the platen turns off automatically after about an hour and a half, there's a clearly audible click as the hotplate cycles on and off every 2-3 minutes. It's very annoying when you sit next to me. But the bottom line is good coffee. I usually set my grinder on 2-4 cups more than I'm brewing to get the rich flavor I want. Of course, once you reach a full 12-cup pot, that's no longer possible.