Recommend a good DURABLE coffeemaker

[Allegra]

Any coffee maker can last for many years. The key is to only use DISTILLED water in it. All other kinds of water have minerals that build up over time and foul up the machine. Tap water is especially damaging.

We went through several coffee makers, using filtered bottled water, before learning our mistake. We even went through two Keurig machines. Once we switched to distilled water, we never had a single problem again. In fact, our current machine (Keurig) was starting to have problems just before we switched to distilled. After a couple of weeks of using distilled water, the mineral buildup seemed to have cleared out on it’s own, because it began working good as new, and has ever since.

I’ve never used distilled water in my Keurig. When I took it up to Wisconsin, I used jugs of regular water from the grocery store because you could practically see the calcium in the tap water up there, but since I came back to Missouri, it’s always been tap water. Every few months I run a cup of vinegar through it in case of a buildup. The only issue I’ve had actually has to do with wet grounds from the k-cup backing up into the needle. This can be solved by twiddling a paper clip through the hole in the needle and maybe running the machine once without a k-cup to clear it out. That’s only happened once or twice in the several years I’ve had it.

 

[EasterJoy]

If you don’t get the excess vinegar out and you put milk in your coffee, it will curdle, which is gross, but kind of amusing at the same time.

*It curdled the milk? *Oh, man, that is a LOT of vinegar!
Thank goodness the milk warned you before you actually drank any of it!!
(I am so acid-averse, though, that I don’t even like light roasts any more.)

 

[EasterJoy]

The problem I’ve had is with cheap electrical switches.

Used to use the whole switch-with-time delay, clock setup.

then went to the simple on-off.

The on-off switch just broke.

These switches can be cheaply made, or for a few cents more, the manufacturer can get one that’s going to really last.

they opt for cheap.

The on-off switch broke? Are you one of those people who aren’t safe to be around until you get your first cup of coffee? Maybe the time-delay kind would result in less wear-and-tear on that ON switch!

Seriously, though, I’ve never heard of the ON/OFF switch breaking. That must be very frustrating. I’d suggest you change brands.

On that note, BTW, Consumer Reports does do surveys of how long various consumer products tend to last, as a function of manufacturer. Maybe they’ve gathered that information on coffee appliance makers?

 

[Miriam1947]

It is a pretty coffee pot, though. It’s white ceramic with a pretty blue flower in the center.

Are you sure that is not a Corning percolator? I have one and it has that really pretty blue flower and is a Corning.

I don’t use it daily. For that I have a Cuisinart.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Please help.

I’m tired of the waste involved in buying a new coffeemaker. . . almost annually it seems.

How long has your coffeemaker lasted?

Can you recommend something that will last more than three years?

I grew up believing such things should be lasting about 7 years or so.

Recommendations welcome!

My coffeemaker now consists of:

Boiling water
Instant coffee
A spoon
Cream

I only drink 2 cups in the morning and I am too cheap to shuck out $200+ for a Keurig when their little pods are not recyclable!

 

[Mary_Gail_36]

Are you sure that is not a Corning percolator? I have one and it has that really pretty blue flower and is a Corning.

I don’t use it daily. For that I have a Cuisinart.

Yes, you are correct, it is a Corning. I got mixed up with the brand. Thank you. It was a gift for her bridal shower.

 

[Mary_Gail_36]

My coffeemaker now consists of:

Boiling water
Instant coffee
A spoon
Cream

I only drink 2 cups in the morning and I am too cheap to shuck out $200+ for a Keurig when their little pods are not recyclable!

I have instant at home as well for the days that DH doesn’t have coffee because he leaves early.

I also use it to make iced coffee. I put about half a cup of water in the microwave and a teaspoon of instant. I nuke it for about 30 seconds, then I add a dash of vanilla extract, then pour it over ice and then add milk.

 

[Mary_Gail_36]

*It curdled the milk? *Oh, man, that is a LOT of vinegar!
Thank goodness the milk warned you before you actually drank any of it!!
(I am so acid-averse, though, that I don’t even like light roasts any more.)

Vinegar and milk make ricotta! Ricotta isn’t too good with coffee.

 

[Allegra]

*It curdled the milk? *Oh, man, that is a LOT of vinegar!
Thank goodness the milk warned you before you actually drank any of it!!
(I am so acid-averse, though, that I don’t even like light roasts any more.)

Apparently it doesn’t really take much. It happened the first time I used vinegar to clean it. I ran a cup of vinegar, then a cup of plain water, then I made a cup of coffee. I didn’t notice any vinegar taste, so I thought it was fine. Then I added milk. Then I poured it out and ran several more cups of plain water.

 

[on_the_hill]

French press works, and there aren’t any parts that will break. Unless you drop it.

Another durable coffee maker is the stove top espresso maker. No parts to break, and it’ll last a long time. The weak spot on mine was the rubber gasket.

We’ve had good luck with our Krups drip machine. It’s a small machine, makes a four or six cup pot. I forget which.

My wife and I make lattes every morning, and we’ve burned through three low-end espresso makers. We recently purchased a DeLonghi 32BAR machine from Amazon for around $85 on sale from $200. It works pretty well but it’s too soon to know about it’s reliability or longevity.

I also like those tubes of instant Nescafe. I use all milk, (no water,) and they’re pretty good that way.

 

[Captain_America]

The on-off switch broke? Are you one of those people who aren’t safe to be around until you get your first cup of coffee? Maybe the time-delay kind would result in less wear-and-tear on that ON switch!

Seriously, though, I’ve never heard of the ON/OFF switch breaking. That must be very frustrating. I’d suggest you change brands.

On that note, BTW, Consumer Reports does do surveys of how long various consumer products tend to last, as a function of manufacturer. Maybe they’ve gathered that information on coffee appliance makers?

Good comment especially. I bought this particular Mr. Coffee based on Consumer Reports. Previous to this, I’d had two or three of similar models that had the more complicated electronics. . . I thought, hey, I’ll get the model with the simpler switch. . . less possible parts or components to break.

My thing about the switch comes from reading a WSJ article on electric fans being produced for Walmart, which puts great pressure on Chinese manufacturers to keep things cheap, with the Chinese manufacturer telling the WSJ that they have to use cheaper, less durable switches which they know will break down sooner.

Heck, for another $10 the cost structure of this would allow better quality US products.

 

[EasterJoy]

Good comment especially. I bought this particular Mr. Coffee based on Consumer Reports. Previous to this, I’d had two or three of similar models that had the more complicated electronics. . . I thought, hey, I’ll get the model with the simpler switch. . . less possible parts or components to break.

My thing about the switch comes from reading a WSJ article on electric fans being produced for Walmart, which puts great pressure on Chinese manufacturers to keep things cheap, with the Chinese manufacturer telling the WSJ that they have to use cheaper, less durable switches which they know will break down sooner.

Heck, for another $10 the cost structure of this would allow better quality US products.

Well, you may be forced to find something manufactured in the EU, if the US factories have all been driven out of business by the “business practices” of Mr. Walton. (Which is one reason I won’t shop there. )