Cuisinart SS-20P1 Coffee Center 10-Cup Thermal Coffeemaker and Single-Serve Brewer, Stainless Steel

Great coffee machine, good looking and works well

I have used a Cuisinart Thermal Carafe coffee maker for so many years now, and I will never stray from it! I wanted a single serve option also as we're empty nesters and this has worked out so perfectly! I'm thrilled with this, it makes a nice strong single cup of coffee, which is exactly what I was looking for, but one could easily adjust the strength if you don't like a killer amount of caffeine like I do! I saw some reviews that said the single serve splattered a bit, but my coffee cups are all kind of large, so this isn't a problem at all, perhaps just using a larger cup could solve this problem. This coffee maker also looks great, very aesthetically pleasing. I do have to scoot it out to fill the water tank, but it's surprisingly easy to move on my granite counter... that being said, I will still get an appliance mat to go under it. All in all, I'm really very happy with this coffee maker! OH, I neglected to say that I never use the pods, only ground coffee, so I can't speak to pod use with this coffee maker, but using ground coffee is great! I do suggest a second filter cup though, just makes it easier for use when 2 people are making coffee.

We had a $180 Keurig Elite that stopped working because that company makes their machines so that you can only use their coffee (or licensed) ... oh, you can use other pods that are compatible but it causes degradation over time. In our case, 15 months and time for a new machine. So okay, if that is the way Keurig wants to play it (meaning that I cannot use my favorite coffee), we decided to look elsewhere. A lot of reading and reviews later led us to this Cuisinart. We already have an old and perfectly good 12-cup drip Cuisinart but needed the single serve (pods) machine. We finally decided to go with this one that combines both - and are very happy. We put the old Cuisinart pot into storage so now with the pot and single-serve combined in one unit, the footprint is so much smaller on our coffee bar ... more room for other coffee-related items.Before buying it, I was a little concerned about some comments, e.g., someone said it could be difficult to fill the water reservoir. Not really ... note: we have the thermal pot and I do not recommend trying to fill that pot and then pour into the reservoir. Instead, just use a pitcher. The fill marks are easily visible on the side of the reservoir. I use the same pitcher (1.5L) to fill the single serve reservoir. Also, a couple reports of leakage but we have not experienced this at all.The only issue I have, really, is that the single serve tends to be a little messy with splatter - which is not unique to the Cuisinart, just that it shows a bit more than it did on our Keurig (because of the proximity of the pot to the single-serve side). Most of the splatter goes onto the side of the thermal pot but it is an easy clean - just a wipe with a damp paper towel. Now I usually try to watch the fill, and once the cup gets about half full I just lift it up a few inches so it is closer to the where the water is dispensed.Bottom line ... we could not be happier with our choice.Edit: One thing we have noticed (and has been mentioned in at least one other review) is the mess from grounds, i.e., exploding k-cups. We did experience this, too. Taking a closer look at the single serve side, it appears to me that Cuisinart chose to use some type of "needle" that is not real sharp - probably intentionally so as a safety precaution because of the way you have to reach in to place and remove the k-cup. My guess is that this can result in an "explosion" of the grounds from k-cups which are vacuum sealed (some are more heavily pressurized than others). We have solved this by using a push-pin to puncture the k-cup just before placing it in the holder, releasing the extra pressure. Works fine, as long as we remember to do so.EDIT (after 1+ yrs): Just had another exploding incident! This time, it was due to another issue (discovered after calling Cuisinart customer service). It seems that the needle on the bottom of the k-cup holder gets dull over time - which necessitates another step to keep the pods from exploding. Now, when we place a pod in holder, not only do we need to puncture the cup with a push pin (because if the rounded needle) but we also must now "gently push down on the pod with our hand, so as puncture the bottom of the cup." Our failure to know this would be necessary as the unit grew a bit older (info is not in the manual) means we ended up with two clean-ups this morning ... tedious, difficult clean-ups, trying to remove grounds from all the little nooks and crannies. Not fun. Still like the coffee maker but brought it down a notch ... maybe should have been two.Edit #2 (10/25/21): Well, another exploding cup incident - and, of course, the tedious clean-up. I must have been really tired this morning - and distracted - so I failed to take the necessary precautions when using the machine. Yes, I guess that I forgot to manually push down the pod to seat it. Another explosion. Another messy clean-up. I have had it with this machine, will start my search for a new one. I will wrap this one up, store it in in the garage for those rare time when we make a full pot.DO ... NOT ... BUY!!

I had the regular Cuisinart brew and grind and wanted something that I could still brew but wanted something that if I just wanted 1 cup in the afternoon or on the run I could without going though making a small pot. As far as the single pod section, you can use a pod, OR the machine comes with a filter where the pod goes so that you can put reg. coffee in and it strains it for 1 use.Each side comes with little charcoal water filters but I used filtered water for drinking or coffeemaking, so its optional.On the single pod side, I just fill up the back water, put the pod in , close it and put my 16 oz cup underneath and bam!... good to go! Toss the pod and if you set the notification, lets U know when its done. I always removed the pod immediately and leave it open to air dry as well as dump the rest of the water out of the back of the pod water holder and leave the top off to air dry for sanitation reasons.The coffee pot side, you just put in the V shape filter, fill with coffee and fill the water on the left side of the machine ( behind the V filter). You can see how many cups of water on the left side. Close lid and hit the brew button.This machine also comes with a clean function, bold button...so easy to use! It will not grind coffee grounds but I love this just the same! I highly recommend it!

like the coffee maker but one warning, do not leave water in the tank for the single serve if you are not using it. the water ends up in the reservoir for the main coffee maker and then when you try to make a pot of coffee it runs over and makes a mess.