The Morning Routine That Finally Runs Itself

For 26 years, I was the person who had coffee going before the first school bus pulled in. These days the crowd is smaller. It is me and my husband Gary, in the same 1970s split-level in Nashua, and the kitchen has about eight feet of usable counter. That is not a complaint. It is a fact that decides which appliances get to stay out. About two years ago, the basic drip maker I had used for eight years finally gave out, and I bought the Cuisinart Brew Central. It has sat by the sink ever since.

I did not go looking for a project. I wanted coffee ready when I came down the hall, and I wanted the thing to be easy to wash. The Cuisinart does both, mostly because it is programmable and I am not. At night I set the timer for 6:15 the next morning. By the time Gary has his shoes on for the mailbox run, there are about six cups in the carafe, which is the right amount for two people who drink coffee and not a pot that sits there turning bitter.

The first week I kept waiting for a catch. There is a 1 to 4 cup setting I use on the mornings when Gary is at the dentist or one of the girls is coming by and I do not want a full pot. The heater plate has low, medium and high, and I leave it on medium. The auto-off can be set from 0 to 4 hours. I set it to two. If I get distracted by the garden or a phone call, the machine is not still cooking coffee at lunch.

What I notice most after two years is not a feature. It is the absence of a mess. The handle is easy to get a grip on, the spout does not dribble down the side of the carafe, and there is a knuckle guard that has saved me from the hot plate more than once. I am 64 and I do not need a fancy machine. I need one that does not make me mop the counter at 6:20 in the morning.

The Cuisinart came with a permanent filter, and I use it most days. I keep #4 paper filters in the pantry for the mornings I want less sediment in the bottom of the mug, or when I am making coffee for my sister Carol, who is particular. There is a charcoal water filter built in, and I change it on the schedule in the manual. I descale about every two months. That is it. No pods, no little plastic cups, no extra shelf in the pantry taken up by a flavor carousel.

I have never owned a single serve pod machine. My sister Carol has one, and I have used it at her house. It is fine for one cup. It is not fine for two people who want a second cup without standing at the machine again. I also do not have the counter space for two coffee setups. The Brew Central earned its spot by being the only one I need.

I set it at night for 6:15. By the time Gary has his shoes on, there are about six cups in the carafe.

Counter space is the part nobody warns you about. The machine measures 11.8 inches wide, 9.61 inches high and 15.59 inches deep. On my eight feet of counter, that is a real footprint. It sits between the sink and the toaster, and I have to keep the toaster pushed back. If your kitchen is smaller than mine, measure first. A coffee maker that does not fit is a coffee maker that ends up in the pantry, and then you are back to boiling water in a measuring cup.

Cleaning is not glamorous, but it is the reason I still like it. The carafe, the lid and the filter all come apart and go in the sink. I do not put them in the dishwasher, mostly because I have a single sink and a dish rack that is already full. A warm soapy cloth does the outside. The hot plate wipes clean if I get to it before the coffee dries. If I do not, it takes a little more work. That is true of every drip maker I have owned.

The one quirk I will mention is the size of the pot. Twelve cups is more than Gary and I drink on a normal Tuesday. I use the 1 to 4 cup setting most weekdays and save the full carafe for Sundays when the grandkids come and the daughters want coffee after dinner. If you are a one cup household, this is more machine than you need. I would rather tell you that than have you buy it and find out.

I have had the Cuisinart for about two years. In that time I have not had a repair, a leaking carafe, or a morning where I stood in front of it trying to remember the setting. The controls are simple. I set the timer the night before, and I walk away. For a retired cafeteria manager who spent decades dealing with industrial equipment, that is the highest compliment I can give a small appliance.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

If we were sitting at my kitchen table, I would tell you to think about the two or three minutes before the coffee is ready, not the machine. The Cuisinart Brew Central is not a statement piece. It is a drip coffee maker with a 24-hour timer, a 1 to 4 cup setting, a heater plate you can set low, medium or high, and an auto-off that goes from 0 to 4 hours. It has a permanent filter and a charcoal water filter. It has a handle that does not slip and a spout that does not dribble. That is the list. If that list matches your mornings, you will be happy. If you want one cup and a pod, this is not your machine. If you want a pot that is ready before you are, this is the one I would tell you to look at.