Sunbeam Oster HDX23 12 cup Programmable Coffee Maker Review

Received a variant on this same machine for Christmas as a gift. It wouldn't have been my first choice had I bought one myself (I'd been using simple cones and a jug! That's cheap!) As with all manner of appliances there are minor variations on the models for different markets ... for example this one did not come with a permafilter. (Thank goodness I had one, but more on that later) It is a TALL machine. Even with slightly high upper cupboards, you MUST pull it all the way out to fill the reservoir and put in the coffee. The dome that goes over the pot works as a good handle after you pull the pot out. The controls are generally well labeled and understandable, and the indicators are clear in a bright kitchen. It stays very bright even at night and the coloured led indicators get bleed through light from the clock so they glow and look like the machine's on! The machine is not the fastest coffee maker in the world, but it does allow it to extract far more flavour out of the grounds because the water is hot enough. Too many faster makers make cold coffee! This machine also keeps the coffee at an acceptable temperature with an adjustable control set on max. I wouldn't want to set it lower ... I like HOT coffee! It uses a basket filter. Normally I loathe basket filter coffee makers because the sides of the filter often collapse during brewing and send grounds spilling into the coffee ... I like to drink coffee, not eat it! Then comes the matter of taking the filter out. It too can be messy and you can slop grounds everywhere on the floor etc unless you get enough grips on the filter! Yuck! Permanent filters are all very well, but they only mean you get to clean the darned things. BUT I found a larger permanent filter that fits this machine and holds a paper basket filter well enough to do the job ... so I now keep out the grounds and can carry the permafilter to the garbage to tip out the old filter. So, it half redeems its use of the basket filter by using a compromise. I still wish it used cones. I read a review elsewhere about this machine leaking and it made no sense. Well, one day, I rinsed out the jug, dried it on the outside, put it down on the counter and there was a puddle. Where did THAT come from!? Seems that the people who designed the jug were braindrains. If you're going to fit a plastic handle, top and pouring spout onto a glass jug, you need to seal it all up. What the designer of this jug did was simply put a plastic top/spout assembly on which traps water when your rinse the outside, and worse, if you tip the jug too much with too much coffee/water inside, it seeps between the plastic top and the glass jug, so as soon as you put it down, it piddles out! Why couldn't they have followed the route of for example Braun, whose jug is moulded glass spout and a simple cover for a lid. My three gripes would stop me from buying this one for me (but I'm not going to look a gifthorse in the mouth!), but it doesn't stop me from recommending it - many wouldn't mind what irks me. The 3* overall rating is lower than I'd give it based on the way it brews the coffee (Hot!) and keeps it that way, but the height, jug and basket filter are just too much of an impediment to give it more.

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