Leave it to Cuisinart to make delicious, freshly ground, freshly brewed coffee an even nicer experience. The Grind & Brew 10-Cup Coffeemaker features an innovative DirectFlow grind assembly that seamlessly moves coffee through the professional-style burr grinder right into the brew basket. An AutoRinse feature makes sure all coffee grounds enter the brew basket to make clean-up exceptionally easy! Grinds just the amount of beans needed, to the number of cups selected. Intuitive controls offer three fl avor strengths and a large display provides a clear view of customized selections. It’s innovative coffeemaking technology – and Cuisinart – at their very best! Features: 10-cup thermal carafe with comfort-grip handle|Professional-style burr grinder for uniform consistency|DirectFlow grind assembly seamlessly dispenses grounds directly into the brew basket|AutoRinse ensures all the coffee grounds enter the brew basket|Half-pound bean hopper with sealed lid – keeps beans fresh|Flavor strength options – regular bold or extra-bold|Grind control – program for 4 to 10 cups|Grind-off feature lets you use pre-ground coffee|Extra-large LCD display and intuitive operation|24-hour brew start|Gold-tone commercial-style permanent fi lter|Charcoal water fi lter removes impurities|Brew Pause™ feature lets you enjoy a cup before brewing is fi nished|Limited 3-Year Warranty
Coffee Machines
Cuisinart DGB-850 Burr Grind & Brew 10-Cup Coffeemaker with Thermal Carafe, Black/Stainless Steel, Silver
$4.40
| Asin | B07GTGXJMT |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 10.75"D x 14.25"W x 19.25"H |
| Weight | 1 pounds |
| Manufacturer | Cuisinart |
JS –
Excellent fresh coffee from freshly ground beans. Make it a bit weak for my taste but very fresh.
Grayboy & Oscar –
I broke the carafe on my 5 year old Black & Decker Mill & Brew workhorse and decided it was time to replace it. My first choice was to purchase the same model but unfortunately it is out of stock. I spent hours searching for a white Grind & Brew Coffee Maker and chose the Cuisinart DGB-850W 10-Cup Grind & Brew.
My first picture shows it next to my old model. The design in my opinion is attractively sophisticated. I really like the clean look. It narrow taking up less counter space. It is taller than most machines so I had to make sure I had enough clearance. When in use I have to pull it forward which is not a problem for me. The stainless steel thermal carafe is also a positive feature for me. I usually transfer my coffee to a separate carafe. This allows me to save counter space. The opening of the carafe is too small to fit my petite hand in to clean. I compromise with a baby bottle brush.
The instructions state that the hopper holds up to 1/2 pound of coffee beans. I used less — only 1/4 pound of coffee beans. I followed the instructions carefully. The grounding process is very loud but I can live with that. The brewing time took a lot longer than my old B&D model –about 8 minutes. I can live with that too.
Here is where I ran in difficulty. First time using it. I filled the reservoir careful not to exceed the water line. Poured my 1/4 pound of beans into the hopper. Set the cover properly. Set the grind settings and pushed the button to start the process. The grinder started and seemed to run a long time. Once completed the machine stopped. The brewing process would NOT start. Ultimately I reset the unit but this time turned off the grinder since this was already done. The brewing process was done in about 8 minutes. When I removed the carafe I noticed that grounds were on the top of the carafe, in the carafe housing, and around the hot plate. See the pictures. When I opened the ground basket housing I found grounds on top of the basket lid and on the door hinge housing. The picture of this was taken after I had cleaned some of the grinds away. This is very difficult to clean since the door cannot be removed. I had to use a butter knife wrapped with a thin layer of paper towel to remove all of the grounds. The clean up process took me 15-20 minutes.
I really wanted this to work for me and was not ready to give up. I re-read the material to eliminate human error. I made sure the basket handle was facing the correct direction. Second attempt. The machine would not start the grind process. Instead it gave me an “Empty” error. I opened an closed every component. Yes the water tank was filled to the 10 Cup line. I checked for residue as well. I powered it off and then on after 5 minutes. The machine cycled from grind to brew! I has hopeful. Unfortunately the grounds were on the top of the carafe, the upper and back of carafe housing. When I opened the coffee basket housing, I found coffee grounds on top the basket cover and on the door hinge. Again it was mess to clean. The last 2 pictures were after I had already started clean up.
I really wanted this machine to work for me. So I gave it a third try. It was another messy clean up. I admitted defeat and returned it. What a disappointment.
A few suggestions to the manufacturer. Make it so the door hinge is removable for clean up. Re-evaluate the coffee basket lid. The grinds should transfer directly into the basket and nowhere else.
I would really like to hear from others who had similar challenges and how they overcame them.
Prentice Massey –
Fantastic coffee pot.
Barista Fresh every morning,
You will be inspired and equipped to live your best life by starting with a cup of pure love and joy!
Try Louisiana “Community Coffee” Dark Roast or French Roast, you will be opening a new chapter of your greatest life by adding the essence of Soul!
karl –
After about 3 months of owning this model the grinding functionality has become sporadic, at best. There is no way to clean or maintain the grinder. I have had to resort to using pre-ground coffee most days because I cannot always get the grinder to engage. I have had some luck tapping on the side of the machine near the grinding mechanisms, sometimes that will get the grinder going. I’ve found that if i press the basket area in, toward the back of the machine, the grinder will engage. However! This does not always ensure the water will heat/brew the coffee. About 50% of the time i have to unplug the machine, restore power, turn off the grinder feature, press the brew button, open and close the basket, press the brew button again, and then pray to the coffee gods that it will function.
I called Cuisinart support and was informed there is no way to remove the grinder assembly for cleaning. However, when I lifted the machine to get the serial number off the bottom, I set it back down on the counter and the grinder kicked on.
For the amount of money I paid for this machine, I am not having a great experience. I researched combo grind and brew machines for several weeks before settling on this model. If this is the state of affairs for these types of machines, you’re better off just using a standalone grinder with a nice, featureless, reliable coffee maker.
I would not recommend this particular grind and brew model to anyone. 1 star.
whatever –
Bought at Christmas, 2023 and it was a great improvement over our last Cuisinart grind and brew which had the grinder that needed to be cleaned after each use. Loved the simplicity of cleaning and a large enough bean hopper to last almost a week. As others have mentioned, adding water to this reservoir is not convenient but could live with that. Last month, noticed fresh water leakage from bottom of unit. We made sure it was not us sloshing water when filling, but could not determine where the water was coming from. Dealt with that for a couple of weeks, but the coffee maker was working. Now, after the grind is complete, the water drips down into filter for just under a cup (9 cups in reservoir) then an error message appears, E01, and it stops brewing.
Cuisinart customer service says to cut the cord off, send them a picture and in 7-10 business days corporate will review and ???? We don’t want to buy another coffee maker while we await their review, and paying over $200 and having it fail at 6 months is very disappointing.
We have had various Cuisinart grind and brews for over 15 years and were happy with this pricier unit until this happened.
meggyfin –
I have had several Cuisinart grind and brews and this one is definitely the best looking, but man I have so many issues… First of all, I love the white color so I’m going to stick with it for purely visual reasons. But unlike my previous black version this one doesn’t grind less than 4 cups of coffee (and even on the lowest setting I think it grinds too much for 4 cups) and the warming plate turns off the moment the coffee is done brewing. Which means your coffee gets cold pretty fast. They say the carafe keeps it hot, but it doesn’t. It keeps it warm, not hot. So I have to microwave any coffee I don’t pour immediately. I also hate a carafe that I can’t see through because I like to see how much coffee I have left (and also like to be reminded that I made coffee when I sometimes forget.) 😉 So I switched the carafe out for a clear one and the lack of a heated plate really bums me out even more.
Adrienne Kerr –
I would not buy this again. While it does make coffee at least, there are three significant flaws. 1) it is INSANELY loud. The first morning I had it went off I could hear it from my room and it sounded like a small plane landing. I’ve tried covering the top with towels, but it’s just loud. 2) the carafe. The carafe is horrible. The lid is difficult to put on and remove. The pour spout is so small it barely pours and you have to tilt the carafe almost vertical. The lid also catches some residual coffee which can spill if you’re not careful. Also, the way the carafe is designed it is difficult to clean, due to the top opening being small. 3) It does NOT keep the coffee warm after making. I’ve searched and everything says it just turns off. And the carafe does not keep the coffee warm for long. I’ve had to adjust the time of the program multilevel times to try to get it juuuuust right, so it’s ready when I need it and only sits for maybe a minute or so. Even then, the coffee is just not that hot. I have a previous generation at my work office and I would take that one any day. Not as loud, normal carafe, and actually makes hot coffee. I do NOT recommend this coffeemaker.
RockyTech –
This review is for the 10-cup DGB-850 with Thermal Carafe (stainless steel).
After using this coffee maker for over 10 weeks, we are quite happy with it overall (after learning a few lessons). Perhaps this is an updated version of the model, but we have not had any of the issues some reviews mention, like problems cleaning the grinder burrs. In fact, this version does not even have user-access to the grinder parts, based on the videos and descriptions from others with problems. This model advertises that the grinder assembly auto-rinses all the grinds from the grinder – there is no disassembly to get to the grinder itself, and it appears to work fine without access. All we do to clean it after each use is rinse out the permanent filter itself (or toss the paper filter), and wipe moisture from the holder and the housing above the coffee carafe platform.
PROS:
* Coffee tastes very good – grind/strength controls allows pretty good control over desired taste, by adjusting the amount of water used with each grind range (see my grind testing chart image, and table below). My wife likes coffee a bit weaker, so we use 7-8 cups of water with a 6-cup Grind, for instance, adjusting Strength as needed for the exact amount of water used.
* With the thermal carafe, the heating plate below the carafe warms the stainless steel carafe as the coffee is brewed, so there is no need to pre-heat a cold carafe (which we had to do with our previous coffee maker). Works well – the heater is turned off automatically after the coffee is brewed, so it does not over-heat the coffee. The thermal carafe keeps the coffee pretty warm for an hour or two.
* At least so far, we have not had any issues with cleaning the grinder burrs – easy clean-up.
* We really like the ability to use either the permanent filter basket, or a paper filter. With a septic system, we cannot rinse grounds down the drain, and it is sometimes a pain to dump grounds outside in bad weather (so the paper filter is handy in heavy snow). We did not have this option with our old blade-grinder coffee maker.
CONS (Lessons Learned):
* Pouring water into the reservoir is a pain with the coffee maker under a cabinet. You need access to the back of the coffee maker to pour from a bit behind, since pouring from the front can let water spill out the overflow slots at the back of the reservoir.
* As some reviews mention, pouring from the carafe can be a bit tricky with the lid on, if you are not careful. A full pot pours fine, but steeper angles of pour as the carafe gets emptier can make a mess. I remove the lid for pouring as the pot gets emptier.
* To get just the right coffee strength for your personal tastes, it helps to understand exactly how the coffee maker adjusts the grind for the settings (Grind and Strength). I could not find this information in the manual or any on-line reference. See my “Strength Notes” below – between knowing what each combination does, and adjusting the amount of water for each setting, you can get pretty much just what you want, without wasting coffee.
STRENGTH NOTES:
At first, we found it a bit limiting to have fixed settings for only 4, 6, 8 & 10 cups of coffee. And I could not find any good description anywhere about exactly what the Grind control and the Strength control do – does one adjust the fineness of the grinding mechanism, and the other the amount of coffee beans ground (based on the amount of time the grinder runs)? If so, which controls which? All the manual really says is “The burr grinder will grind the correct amount of beans, and automatically adjust the coffee/water ratio for low cup settings.”
So, I started experimenting with different settings to see what each does, based on the weight of the ground coffee put into the filter. I weighed the grounds after brewing each pot at different setting combinations, letting them drain quite a while first (wet grounds, but well drained). The chart in the image attached to this review (also shown in the table below) shows my results – not every setting available, but enough to figure out what is happening, I believe. From visual comparisons, I could not see any apparent differences in the coarseness of the grounds themselves with any combination, so I assume that the grinder does not change the coarseness/fineness of the grind itself, only the amount of beans ground, for both the strength and grind (# of cups) settings. But with the information in the chart, and by adjusting the amount of water you put in the reservoir for each brew, you can get pretty close to the strength you want.
Ground Coffee Weights, Cuisinart DGB-850 Coffeemaker
GRIND STRENGTH GRAMS (avg.)
=============================
4 Cups Extra Bold 75
6 Cups Regular 91
6 Cups Bold 102
6 Cups Extra Bold 120
8 Cups Bold 122
8 Cups Extra Bold 140
So, for example, we brew a slightly weaker-than-recommended pot by setting the Grind (# of cups) to 6 cups, adding either 7 or 8 cups of water to the reservoir, and setting the Strength as a kind of fine-tuning adjustment to get just the strength we want for that batch (my wife likes it a bit weaker, I like it a bit stronger – we alternate!).
Hopefully this will help you fine-tune your perfect cup of coffee. Happy brewing!
Matt –
I’m not as much of a coffee aficionado as other people, so the coffee maker itself is good for me.
I can use either ground coffee or whole beans, and the adjustments work well enough for my needs. The coffee maker seems well built and good quality, although time will tell on this.
However, the thermal carafe it came with is terrible. It spills nearly every single time no matter how slow and careful I pour it. It got to be so annoying I started taking the top off every time I pour with it. This is disappointing and an extra cost since I now have to get a replacement carafe.
AdamPaz –
I have both the 550 and the 850. The 550 is the glass 12 cup carafe that has the very loud blade grinder. The 850 is the burr grinder-with the steel carafe and bean holding container. Its neither as loud, nor easily cleaned.
If you have persons in the home who like different coffees, the 550 is a better choice, because the grinder (as well as the filter) can be removed and cleaned each time, permitting a coffee change. The 850 is much more challenging to clean the grinder/hopper (filter easy to clean.) Both make great coffee. I actually use the grinder on the 550 as an alarm clock, as the machine is programmable, and wakes me up in the morning.
If you read the reviews- yes the 550 must be cleaned each time (really not that bad- running water rinses it fine). Yes you have to pour the beans each time (you get used to the level needed) and it can leak. The glass carafe has broken twice in the five years I have owned it- which is why we changed to a steel carafe with the 850. And it’s LOUD. However, it makes great coffee, was $100 less than the 850 model, and as I mentioned, you can easily swap coffees for different users.
Not sure why there is a profound price difference between the 850 and 900.
As for the 850, you fill the hopper with beans, pour in the water, adjust the settings and hit the BREW button. The coffee filter is easily cleaned. The steel carafe keeps the coffee hot (in lieu of a hotplate.) Easy Peasy. Great if you only want a few cups or a whole pot. If you want to routinely change coffees- its very challenging- forget it- go buy a 550. Only had the 850 for a few days, so I haven’t experienced a problem with the lid, but other reviews document the problem (there’s even a video.)
I’ve had a slew of grind and brew machines for over 30 years, and I like the Cuisinarts the best.