Single Serve Coffee Maker - 1 cup coffee maker, personal coffee maker

Click here for more information I've seen other reviewers complaints about this coffee maker, but I've used it for years & haven't had any problems with it. It's easy to use, compact, & works quickly. My wife & I both drink coffee, but not the same type, so it doesn't make sense for us to use a 2+ cup coffee maker since we'd have to make two separate portions anyway. So we each have our own B&D, & use them simultaneously. The coffee comes out fine; I use Starbucks Verona (which my wife says tastes like burnt coffee from the bottom of a pot anyway), & she uses a decaff chocolate blueberry flavor. The only difficulty (& it's not a fault of the B&D) is that the #1 filters are hard to find, even on the internet, but this coffee maker comes with a permanent, dishwasher safe filter, so you really don't have to use paper filters if you don't want to. I recommend this product for anyone who wants a quick cup of coffee & doesn't need more than one cup at a time.

I have used this coffee maker for over 5 years now and it's still running great. In fact, I just bought another one to take on trips & bring to the office.

Pros:

1. I don't have to make more than one serving at a time for myself and it brews straight into the mug.

2. It comes with a permanent filter but you can also use cone filters size #1 which I can buy nearby. Less messy to clean up using the paper filter. I just toss the grounds in the trash.

3. Quick to brew; done in < 5 minutes



Cons:

1. Hard to find a replacement mug of the right size or permanent filter

2. No warming element

3. The grounds do soak up some water and less comes out that you put in but it also happens with larger coffee pots (which being larger, you don't notice as much because you aren't MEASURING with the same cup you drink from).



Hints:

1. To stop grounds from floating into the water resevoir, use drip or cone ground coffee. Avoid very finely ground (i.e., espresso)

2. To avoid overflows, leave the cover off while brewing.

I am the only coffee drinker in my family and had a Brew N' Go for over 6 years when the mesh filter began to separate from the plastic. Unfortunately, Black and Decker changed the design and I was unable to find a replacement filter from them or anybody. I looked for a replacement single cup coffee maker in several retailers and finally found one on Amazon at a very reasonable price.



However, newer is not better. The new model filter only has screen on the 2 sides and is mostly plastic, where as the original was mostly a fine screen with plastic reinforcement.



From the very first cup it was a disappointment, as coffee grounds overflowed into my cup and throughout the coffee maker. This new design filter does not let the water pass through quick enough when you use a fine or moderate grinds of coffee. With larger grinds the coffee comes out weak, or if you try to make it stronger by adding more grinds you can have the same overflow problem! For months I would put coarse coffee in the bottom and the better fine ground coffee on top and crossed my fingers.



Then the other day I was in CVS and saw a single cup coffee maker for 15 bucks. It has a mostly screen filter like the original B&D and works great! The next day I was in Big Lots and found another one that appears to use a #2 filter (so replacements can be easy in the future) and it works great for 10 bucks!!



The Black and Decker is going in the trash!! Save yourself the hassle and get something else and make sure it has a lot of screen area in the filter.

5 weeks after I purchased this coffee maker it quit working. I contacted Black and Decker about it and they sent me to another company (Applica Consumer Products) that actually manufacture and produce the coffee maker for them. This company responded only after a long while and simply said, "We're sorry, we have not experienced any problems with this coffee maker so we are unable to refund your money." Another comment from Applica worth noting was: "Applica Consumer Products does not have a money back guarantee policy." What this means is, if you are unhappy for any reason with your Black and Decker/Applica Consumer Product, well too bad! You bought it and if you don't like or it quits working, you're SOL! If you are in the market for a personal-type coffee maker, such as the Black and Decker Brew N Go, I would suggest you avoid this one like the plaque!

Pros:

- Good tasting hot coffee.

- Includes permanent filter.



Cons:

- Coffee mug is plastic, which means hot coffee rapidly turns warm.

- Besides the removable lid, the coffee mug consists of two pieces, a black container and a brown outer housing. Water tends to seep between the container and housing after a few hand-washings or one run through the dishwasher. You must separate the two pieces to remove the water. That's when you'll discover the seal between the two is simply a thin rubber band.

- Coffee grounds ALWAYS attach to the overhead where the hot water enters the grounds chamber, which means a little extra effort cleaning the unit between brews.

- Coffee grounds frequently enter the water reservoir and seep between the permanent filter and the filter housing, which means even more effort cleaning the unit between brews. Recommend buying number 2 cone filters; less mess.



Note: Black & Decker has released an improved model, the DCM-18S. It has a stainless outer shell and they have solved the issue of the housing coming apart from the inner shell. I give it 5 stars! - 1 Cup Coffee Maker - Personal Coffee Maker - Brew N Go - Coffee Maker - Travel Coffee Maker - Great Value
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Single Serve Coffee Maker - 1 cup coffee maker, personal coffee maker

Sunbeam Bread Machine - sunbeam, great value

Click here for more information Don't let the negative reviews here fool you. This bread machine itself is great, and I can't believe how inexpensive! I picked it up for under $40 at Walmart only to see it is now $34 here on Amazon. It makes 1.5 or 2 lb loaves, has a jam setting, a "raisin beep" (signal to add fresh fruit and other ingredients during the second kneading), bake only (like cakes) and dough only (to mix in machine then bake in oven). Also has up to 13 hour delay so you can wake or come home to fresh bread.



It's the recipes that come in the booklet that are bad. They all have way too much yeast, which is a classic cause of fallen loaves. I can't imagine how they came up with recipes with so much yeast! To see what I mean, Sunbeam has all their bread machine instruction manuals available online at http://www.sunbeam.com/manualsearch.aspx?PCId=3



ANYhoo, I strongly suggest that if you've never made bread by hand before, pick up a good all-inclusive intro to bread machine baking book that includes recipes (I think Better Homes and Gardens and Betty Crocker both have well-rated ones on Amazon). Usually the front of these books include bread baking basics, regardless of whether you are using a machine. The booklets that come with bread machines have only a few very basic recipes anyway, like a crockpot instruction book. This machine is a sturdy, capable tool to use with a descent book. It's too bad the included free one is a dud!



Things to remember: you MUST measure carefully, even more so than with other baking. Don't use dry measure cups to measure your liquid ingredients. Fresh yeast AND flour are a must. Know that adding/substituting in yeast bread recipes is not as "OK" as with other baking.



Also, know that any bread machine is not as much of a "fix it and forget it" walk-away tool as a crock pot (at least, not if you want a perfect loaf every time). You need to check the dough during the second knead cycle to make sure it isn't too wet or dry (which will depend on the weather!). You may have to scrape the sides of the pan, or add additional ingredients (like fruit) later in the cycle. The bread machine is aimed at taking the physical labor out of breadmaking, and also conveniently bake in the same pan. Technically, the same can be accomplished with a heavy-duty mixer and a good oven.

Not having owned a bread machine before, I did my online research and decided to try a reasonably priced "good-enough tester" machine... Well, I'm VERY glad that I decided to purchase this "more-than-good-enough" model!



This particular model is fairly quiet while in operation, beeps after the 1st rest to indicate that it's time to add the nuts/raisins, etc., and beeps after the baking cycle is completed (if the bread is not removed from the machine as soon as it's done, it might lose moisture during the auto keep-warm cycle). I've twice made the following recipe with pine nuts and twice made raisin-pistachio bread (from "the Big Book of Bread Machine Recipes")--delicious.



The best part about this machine baking process is that it's not at all difficult in any way. Here is the typical baking process: Warm the liquid in a glass measuring cup in a microwave, stir in the salt/honey/sugar/butter in the warm liquid, pour the mixture into the baking pan, place the pan on the scale, adjust the scale to zero, add the required flour (1 cup flour = 4 to 4.5 oz), level the flour, add the yeast, twist to lock the pan into the breadmaker, plug in the breadmaker, select the crust color (best to try the "Light" color first), select the baking setting, after about 5 min. check the dough and add water/flour if necessary (very important step), remove the bread to a cooling rack as soon as it's done, then wipe the baking pan when it's cool enough. (It's helpful to have a portable timer on you to remind you to remove the bread, wherever you might be.)



The clean up is SO MINIMAL that the bread tastes just that much better! And, whenever we want oven-baked loaves, I'd simply use the breadmaker's dough cycle to lessen the clean up and do the rest as usual.



However, there are some negative aspects related to this bread machine:

1. The user manual is very uninformative for a new user, so don't even bother. Instead, buy "The BIG Book of Bread Machine Recipes" by Donna Rathmell German (on Amazon; 600 recipes from 5 of her bread machine cookbooks) or other bread machine cookbooks and rest assured that the resulting loaves will be enjoyable and varied.



2. On my machine, I had to make sure to select the "light" color, else the loaf gets too brown/too thick crusted.



3. So far, all 4 loaves have slightly caved/sunken/deflated as soon as the baking cycle kicked in. Although the loaves are just slightly sunken, and the appearance and taste were not affected in any way, I will try using less liquid than normal (for a firmer dough) or less yeast (to slow the dough expansion process for this machine) to prevent the sunken look next time.



Useful tips for new bread machine user:

1. Get a dependable scale, instant-read thermometer, and a liquid measuring cup--approximations might not work well when you're new at using bread machines.



2. For the basic cycle, if baking the bread right away, you can just place all the ingredients right into the baking pan regardless of the liquid-first order stated on the manual.



3. If adding additional flour/liquid to the baking pan, add carefully. Any spilled gunk on the bread machine's bottom or heating element might take some scrubbing if baked in.



4. If additional kneading time is desired, just stop and restart the machine for additional gluten development/knead time.



5. For the initial confidence-building 2-pound loaf, try this tested recipe (might have to set your Sunbeam to "Light" color): 1 1/3 cups milk and/or water, 2 tb honey/sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 2 tablespoons butter, 4 cups bread flour (I used Gold Medal unbleached all-purpose), 1 1/2 teaspoons active yeast, 1/4 - 1/3 cup of pine nuts/other chopped nuts (optional). Remember to check the dough consistency after about 5 minutes and add liquids/flour if too wet or too dry.



6. If the bread dough is over-rising at the top of the bake pan, either:

a. simply scoop some dough carefully off the top, put the extra dough in a greased baking vessel of suitable size. Let dough rise a bit in the oven with the pilot light on, take dough out, preheat the oven at 350F-375F, spray some water in the oven to encourage crust formation, and then bake until the top is golden brown (internal temp. of about 180F to 200F); bake the other portion in the bread machine as usual; -OR-



b. remove dough from the machine completely-- separate the dough into two greased baking vessels of suitable size. Let dough rise a bit in the oven with the pilot light on, take dough out, preheat the oven at 350F-375F, spray some water in the oven to encourage crust formation, and then bake until the top is golden brown (internal temp. of about 180F to 200F).



7. Store bread in the freezer for fresh-tasting bread any time: divide the bread into serving portions, place in Ziplock bag(s) and store in the freezer; defrost (in the bag) in room temperature (or wrap the bread in a moist paper towel and microwave for a few seconds) before devouring. Make life even easier--bake extra loaves and freeze them.



Conclusion: If you like the taste of "just-baked" breads, but don't like the messy cleanups and the typical baking-related efforts => well, this one is worth the try, and it is worth the price. Just remember to get a big bread machine recipe book and enjoy all the possibilities. Great machine (and great book)! - Sunbeam - Great Value - Bread - Bread Baker - Baking - Sunbeam 5891
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Sunbeam Bread Machine - sunbeam, great value