REASONS TO BUY
Large brew capacity range
Good water distribution
Coffee filter included
REASONS TO AVOID
Bulky
Confusing interface
Cuisinart 14-Cup Programmable Review
A great option for coffee drinkers looking to brew larger batches
This is a great brewer for the masses, with a large cup capacity not found with many other models. We do have some concerns with the brewing temperature, water distribution during brewing, and the complicated interface.
Credit: Laura Casner
RELATED: Best Drip Coffee Makers of 2024
Our Verdict
The Cuisinart 14-Cup Programmable makes a light coffee with subdued, bitter flavors. This brewer has a timeless style with brushed stainless steel that will look nice in any kitchen. In most respects, it is a decent piece of coffee equipment, but we do have some concerns. The spray head creates an uneven extraction, making a final cup that is less than balanced, and the user interface isn't the easiest to learn. Still, this is an adequate choice for fans of the Cuisinart brand with larger households. If you want to see how it stands up to the other models we tested, check out our drip coffee maker review.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product Cuisinart 14-Cup Programmable | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  Best Budget Drip Coffee Brewer | Best Drip Coffee Machine on a Tight Budget | |||
| Price | $100 List $69.99 at Amazon | $80 List $69.99 at Amazon | $78 List $59.99 at Amazon | $25 List $24.99 at Amazon | $40 List $36.99 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | A good choice for anyone who wishes for programmability over a large brewing range | Easy to use, programmable options give you the tools to brew your coffee to your liking at a nice price | A cost-effective brewer that makes decent coffee and has more features than expected for its price | While we think this machine brews a fair cup of coffee, it is convenient to use and affordable | An inexpensive brewer with programmable functions that makes okay coffee |
| Rating Categories | Cuisinart 14-Cup Pr... | Ninja 12-Cup Progra... | Black+Decker 12-Cup... | Mr. Coffee 5-Cup Mi... | Black+Decker 12-Cup... |
| Taste (50%) | |||||
| Brew Quality (30%) | |||||
| Brew Time (10%) | |||||
| Ease of Use (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Cuisinart 14-Cup Pr... | Ninja 12-Cup Progra... | Black+Decker 12-Cup... | Mr. Coffee 5-Cup Mi... | Black+Decker 12-Cup... |
| Max Cup Capacity | 14 cups | 12 cups | 12 cups | 5 cups | 12 cups |
| Scheduled Brewing | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Average Brew Time for 6 Cups | 6.5 min | 7.8 min | 7.1 min | 8.1 min | 7.9 min |
| Average Measured Brew Temperature | 191.9 F | 191.6 F | 177.4 F | 181.9 F | 181.8 F |
| Descaling Time | 30 min | 42 min | 57 min | 50 min | 56 min |
| Dimensions (H x W x D) | 14.0" x 8.0" x 9.0" | 14.5" x 9.5" x 8.3" | 13.0" x 7.4" x 10.8" | 10.0" x 6.5" x 8.0" | 8.2" x 12.2" x 11.0" |
| Carafe Type | Glass | Glass | Insulated | Glass | Glass |
| Preinfusion | Yes, Not Adjustable | Yes, Not Adjustable | No | No | No |
| Filter Shape | Cone | Cone | Flat | Flat | Flat |
| Cleaning indicator | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Power Draw | 1050 watts | 1100 watts | 750 watts | 650 watts | 975 watts |
| SCA Certified Home Brewer | No | No | No | No | No |
Show full specification detailsHide full specification details
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Cuisinart 14-Cup Programmable is a dependable machine that makes a good-tasting cup of coffee. With its larger brewing capacity, this coffee machine is better for those with a household full of multiple coffee drinkers who don't mind light, astringent coffee.
Performance Comparison
With many buttons on the interface, at first the 14-Cup Programmable can be confusing to use. It does include an instruction booklet, which may be crucial to fully understanding the interface.
Credit: Laura Casner
Taste
Taste may belong to the bud of the beholder, but our team of taste testers thought the Cuisinart 14-Cup produced an okay cup of coffee, at least for those who prefer their brews a little on the bitter side.
GearLab taste testers in action sipping fresh brews and recording their findings.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
This machine can brew a lot of coffee at once, which may be a reason why the resulting brews we tasted were a bit imbalanced. All of our testers agreed that the overall flavor profile was bitter and ashy, with a lingering aftertaste of stale wood.
That's not necessarily a bad thing for everyone — it packs heavy flavor, but the brew had a light mouthfeel. Plus, the taste-testers generally felt the acidity was bright and smooth. So it's a bit of a contrast of results, which, with the right coffee, could bring out distinct, complex flavors. But for those who aren't fans of burnt, roasty notes, the Cuisinart might taste too harsh. However, when I added cream and sugar, this helped create just the right balance of flavors.
Brew Quality
The Cuisinart 14-Cup brews a basic cup of coffee — nothing much stood out, good or bad. It just barely reaches the industry standard for water temperature, an important metric for extracting the most flavor from your coffee. Hitting an average brew temperature of just 191.9°F, this is outside the 195°F to 205°F recommended range.
We do appreciate the charcoal filter inside this machine, helping to regulate the quality of the water used for brewing.
Credit: Laura Casner
Water distribution is also an important piece of brewing great coffee. Unfortunately, this brewer didn't excel at it. After brewing, the grounds had a deeper-than-normal dip in the center of the brew bed, suggesting water channeled through the center. Water quality is also crucial to brewing a quality cup. With this in mind, Cuisinart provides a charcoal filter in the water tank of this brewer, an added feature we really appreciate.
We brewed five back-to-back pots of coffee to test for consistency of the machine's brewing parameters. Brewing temperature and time were very consistent, but the temperature was on the low end of optimal.
Credit: Laura Casner
Brew Time
The Cuisinart 14-Cup Programmable average brew time for six cups of coffee was 6 minutes and 30 seconds, which is pretty standard for a drip coffee maker. The first pot we brewed took about 7 minutes. After that, since it was already warmed up, the following four pots each brewed about 30 to 45 seconds faster than the first. This was all very reasonable and, other than the first pot being faster, fairly consistent.
Perhaps the best part of a programmable coffee brewer is that you can set it the night before to finish brewing just as you wake up.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Ease of Use
In our ease of use testing, the Cuisinart showed mixed results. We found the 14-Cup Programmable interface difficult to navigate without reading the instruction booklet first. There is a lot to remember about this brewer. In the beginning, you will likely need to reference the booklet often, but once you get the hang of things, this issue will pretty much disappear.
The 14-Cup Programmable comes with many customizable features, including an adjustable warming plate, adjustable automatic shut-off, and a 1-4 cup smaller brew size option. This brewer also has an adjustable tone that indicates when the coffee finishes brewing. Other features include a bold brew setting and a separate button for the cleaning cycle.
The brew basket and reusable filter don't seat very easily. We had to line them up and wiggle them around a bit to get them to sit right.
Credit: Laura Casner
We would have liked to see some attention to the finer details of the Cuisinart. To start, we found the brew basket doesn't seat very easily. We had to line everything up just right and wiggle it around a bit to get it to sit properly. We also weren't terribly impressed with filling the water tank. The reservoir fills from the same compartment as the coffee, and there isn't ample space between the two, which can make filling a bit troublesome without getting water in your grounds.
The carafe has a removable lid for cleaning, and we love that it is dishwasher safe.
Credit: Laura Casner
The Cuisinart was fairly easy to clean in some aspects but not so much in others. The outside of the brewer requires some more rigorous cleaning. Dark plastic brewers are better at hiding fingerprints than the metallic material on the 14-Cup. The carafe is easy to clean, and both it and the reusable filter are dishwasher-safe for periodic deep cleaning. With left-handed folks in mind, measurement markings are printed on both sides of the carafe, which is nice. The descaling process took a full hour but was fairly easy to do.
The brushed stainless steel finish took a bit of elbow grease to get clean. It showed fingerprints and smudges more obviously than your typical black plastic.
Credit: Laura Casner
Should You Buy the Cuisinart 14-Cup Programmable?
The Cuisinart 14-Cup Programmable managed to produce an adequate cup of coffee but didn't necessarily wow us. The larger brew capacity is ideal for a house full of coffee drinkers or for someone who entertains a lot, but it might take a few tries to get used to the interface. We also think there are tastier brewing options for the same cost or even less.
If you have a family, or even an office of coffee drinkers getting in line for their morning cuppa, this 14-cup brewer has the capacity you need.
Credit: Laura Casner
What Other Drip Coffee Makers Should You Consider?
The Cuisinart 14-Cup is a sleek machine that makes a middling cup of coffee. This programmable coffee maker provides convenient and customizable settings to appease the average coffee drinker, but if you are looking for an easier-to-use interface and machine that can make an even better quality cup of coffee, the Ninja 12-Cup is one of our favorites. That said, flavor is king, which is why we also recommend checking out the Technivorm Moccamaster — it makes coffee with outstanding flavor at the flick of a switch.
—Lesley Robinson, Arthur McMahon, Liz Nelson, and Kendra Ridenour
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