Braun Aromaster KF400

[lotsosudz]

Krups is my go to brand

I had my original Krups maker {basic} for 14 years, before I gave it it my friends who were down and out, and we bought a new one that my partner took when he and I split up. I them inherited a 10 cup Krups programmable maker, that I've had for 15 years, and is still going strong. I use it everyday.

Hugs
David

 

[justjunque]

Hi David,

We actually have a Krups as well.
It's black, and a much larger machine than the Braun.
Ours says AromaControl, and has an insulated carafe that you can take to the table as a server.
We've actually only used it a couple of times, when the Braun was briefly carafe-less.
I seem to recall it making good coffee.

Kind of a funny story.
When we signed up for a gift registry before our wedding, the Krups just appeared on it.
We never put it on there.
I believe, and I could be mistaken, I think we removed it from our wish list, only to have it reappear.
So, we decided to leave it on there. And someone bought it for us!
It's currently stored in the dining room closet.

Barry

 

[rp2813]

Sometime back in the '90s we had a Krups that did drip coffee on one side and espresso on the other.   I preferred the FlavorSelect's brew, and we weren't using the espresso side much, so we gave the Krups to Dave's daughter when she got her first apartment.

 

[dermacie]

This makes me want one I know my brother and sister-in-law had one for a long time. I have somewhat of a coffee maker addiction. Mostly percolators, but have recently started looking at drip machines too.

 

[ea56]

Derek,

I got the coffepot bug too, and this Braun has pert near cured it. It makes consistently excellent coffee,I don’t need to use as much ground coffee, because it brews a nice strong pot with slightly less coffee than I used to use. And its fast and much less hassle to clean up and use.

And with the neat digital outlet timer that I found I can program it to turn on at 7:30 am, turn off 45 mins later and then turn back on at 7:00pm for my evening pot and again turn off an hour later. Plus it looks really nice on the countertop and takes up minimal space. Its a win/win all the way around.

Keep an eye out for one on ebay, you won’t be disappointed.

Eddie

 

[wayupnorth]

I wont keep any heat generating appliances plugged in. My next door neighbor is the fire chief, next city over. He said to unplug all toasters, coffee pots, hair dryers, etc, as any of those could just go poof. Better to be safe than sorry. He has seen too many fires caused by those.

 

[justjunque]

Eddie,

Thanks for mentioning that!
I always feel like I'm not using enough coffee, but I'm happy with how it turns out.
I thought maybe I just like weak coffee.
But everyone who I've ever made it for has complimented it.
But, now it makes sense!

Barry

 

[jakeseacrest]

This way my favorite coffee maker of all time. I burned through 3 of these in the last 20 years. I found that they made such a rich delicious cup of coffee.

 

[lordkenmore]

My mother had a Braun that looked sort of like the one posted in the first post of this thread. The big difference is hers had a switch by the power switch which supposedly did some magic if one were brewing only 4 cups. That was one feature that was almost certainly never used on our specimen...

 

We got that Braun in the 1980s.

 

Not too terribly long ago, I saw one just like it at Goodwill...and it was an epic battle to say "no, I don't really need this!" and move on. I feel pangs of regret even as I write this...but I don't brew much coffee at once these days, and I didn't have any "toy" money that day...

 

As I recall, the coffee is pretty good. It's not as good as French press, but it was a good, convenient "daily driver."

 

We used a permanent filter--less convenient than paper, but it probably made better coffee.

 

Another thing I seem to recall: these Brauns top rated by (IIRC) Consumer Reports.

 

[askolover]

I bought my mother one way back when.  My grandmother followed soon after.  Mom's eventually died after many years of use.  I kept the carafe and used it in an old Mr. Coffee for the once in a blue moon I'd make coffee.  I may still have the carafe in storage.  I used to see stainless replacements for people who tend to break them frequently.  I don't drink coffee unless I'm desperately cold at work on nights.  And it's been over 3 years since.

 

[justjunque]

John,

I've seen that version with the additional switch, but not in person.
I have no idea what it does.
I've made as little as 2.5 cups in mine with no problems. That makes just about the perfect amount for one serving in the mug that I use.

I really like the coffee from this machine.
Aside from the Krups that we got as a wedding gift, and have used maybe a handful of times, this Braun is the only coffee maker I've ever owned.
I have the permanent metal mesh filter too, but we've always preferred the clearer coffee produced by the paper filters.

Barry

 

[foraloysius]

My parents had a Braun coffeemaker with that additional switch. IIRC it was marked 2-3 and IIRC it slowed down the brewing process so you didn't need to add extra coffee for a small pot of coffee of the same strength as a full pot. Somehow my parents managed to turn that switch on too when they switched on the machine. Often when they were making a full pot of coffee we would be waiting for ages for the so much needed coffee. lol

 

[fan-of-fans]

I bought my mom a Kenmore 12 cup in 2007. I remember it had a button that could be pressed for 1-4 cups. It was an annoying machine. The grounds sat under the same lid as the water tank so they often got into the water.

The springs on the lid broke, plus there was a plastic ring around the warmer plate that cracked one day with a loud pop.

It beeped 3 times when the coffee was done, plus once every hour after it was brewed which I found rather annoying, and that feature couldn't be turned off.

Eventually there was a recall on it so they replaced it. The second unit was slightly better but not much. Eventually my mom get rid of it.

Now she just uses the cheapest Walmart unit, replace it when it gets stained.

I do like the look of these Brauns. If they still made them I'd get one for her, they would last a long time.

The one I have is missing the clear plastic flavorseal on the carafe lid, which seems to be a common issue. Plus the pause and serve piece is broken on the bottom of the filter basket, so I just removed it.

 

[lordkenmore]

I have no idea what the "small quantity" switch on drip coffee makers do either. I'd guess it either switches thermostats or else part of the heater.

 

Of course, a coffee maker manufacturer could be sneaky, and put a 20 cent switch in that does nothing. Let people's imagination make the 2 cup setting helpful for making a better cup of coffee when making only two cups... LOL

 

[lordkenmore]

Now I have another reason to regret passing up that one Braun at Goodwill...if the bottom cover is removable by mere mortals, I could have looked inside to see if I could figure out how the 2-3 cup switch worked...

 

[lordkenmore]

I do like the look of these Brauns. If they still made them I'd get one for her, they would last a long time.

 

I like the look of the 80s Brauns, although I may be biased since it reminds me of a different time of my life. (Which is why that Braun at Goodwill was so tempting. I have no problem saying no to other drip coffee makers that might be good, recognizing that there is little/value for my life of today.)

 

I don't know about durability...but I can say my limited experience was positive. Indeed, I remember my mother moving to German companies partly in hopes of getting something longer lasting. She had bad luck with a couple of Norelcos, although I now wonder if it wasn't partly an issue of how they were used. (They were often unplugged with a partial carafe of coffee when we went out, and plugged back in to heat the coffee upon return. Melitta, our first German make, warned against this practice, so we stopped switching on the coffee pot except when actually brewing.)