Owly Rating
82/100
| Appearance | 19/20 |
| Features | 17/20 |
| Performance | 19/20 |
| Health & safety | 10/20 |
| Price to value | 17/20 |
General thoughts
In this Cuisinart SS 10 review, I would like to emphasize that this coffee maker is truly top-notch. It comes with a superb feature set AND compatible with K-cups. It is an awesome pick for singles and families who enjoy flexibility, convenience and delicious coffee. Brews fragrant, rich and deep coffee in 5 different sizes. I found SS10 to be comparatively quieter than other k cup machines. I don’t like that it is primarily plastic, and Cuisinart does not seem transparent about the chemicals and materials used in manufacturing. Great price and a phenomenal price-to-value ratio.
This product can be perfect for
Cuisinart’s SS10 can be perfect for anyone who loves a highly functional single serve coffee maker at an affordable price. Compatible with k-cups, k-pods and coffee grounds, SS10 can yield some delicious coffee. Can be used for a party or a larger gathering.
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In this Cuisinart SS 10 Review, you can find out more:
Pros and Cons of Cuisinart SS10
Why choose Cuisinart SS 10 over other coffee makers?
As I was testing and working on this Cuisinart SS 10 Review, I learned and experienced so many wonderful things about this product. For a reason, this product is among the top 3 coffee makers on the 10 Best Single Serve Coffee Maker Q2 2019 Ranking, and 10 Best K Cup Coffee Maker Q2 2019 Ranking. I found this model to be really, really good!
- Non-Keurig brand having all/most of the same features as Keurig but at a much lower price tag
- Robust feature set that allows users to control the brewing process (timing and temperature)
- Multi-functionality and flexibility: brews anything from k cups and ground coffee to k-pods (some Keurig machines are not compatible with k-pods, but this Cuisinart coffee maker is!)
- Great capacity (72oz removable water reservoir) to hold a larger party for coffee lovers
- Compact and lightweight
Who is Cuisinart SS 10 perfect for?
As a product that typically comes out in the top 3 models among best single serve coffee makers and k-cup coffee makers, there’s a lot to expect from Cuisinart’s SS 10. Given its price, I was very satisfied with its value and offering. SS10 comes with a beautiful design, very strong feature set and great performance, which can hugely benefit many consumers like myself!
In my opinion, Cuisinart’s SS 10 is a perfect choice for the following:
✓ Simple but highly functional coffee maker
✓ Digital coffee maker
✓ Families and individuals who value good quality at great price
✓ Families and individuals who like entertaining guests
✓ Families and individuals who enjoy brands other then Keurig
✓ Brewing coffee in a hurry
✓ Preference for k cups and/or k pods
Who is Cuisinart SS 10 NOT perfect for?
Though K-Elite is one of the top coffee makers available in the market, this model is not perfect for everyone:
✗ Coffee of a coffee shop quality
✗ Super low budget
✗ Preference for plastic-free coffee makers
✗ Truly perfected brewing temperature
✗ Individuals with problems operating on a digital screen
Cuisinart SS 10 Review and Evaluation 🕵️
→ Appearance
Owly Rating
19/20
Cuisinart’s SS 10 is a modern and intuitive coffee maker that comes with a large digital screen. It’s a gorgeous unit with its own soul and elegant appearance. Made primarily with plastic, but looks quite sturdy and reliable. It’s different from any Keurig machine, and that’s what makes it special!
SS10 is a gorgeous k cup coffee maker with a fantastic feature set. Though made primarily of plastic, SS10 looks as though it had some stainless steel accents. SS10 is a rather modern and intuitive model, with a large digital screen.
SS10 is a regular-sized k cup coffee maker, though I found it to be a bit shorter than other coffee makers. SS10 is about 12 inches tall, and about 15 inches when the upper lid is open. It fits very nicely on my countertop!
Cuisinart’s k cup coffee maker has a lot of functionality (more on this below). I expected it to be very heavy, but was pleasantly surprised how light it was. It weighs around 5 pounds. This is a great weight given the size and functionality! I imagine most people would find this model easy to lift or move around.
→ Features and technical specs
Owly Rating
17/20
Just like Keurig, Cuisinart invested in high quality in SS 10. SS 10 comes with a fairly robust feature set, allowing users to control timing and temperature. With a much lower price tag at around $110, SS10 will appeal to many consumers who consider getting K-Elite or other similar models.
Voltage: SS10 is made for 120V, and can be used in Canada and the US only.
Beverage size: The SS10 k cup coffee maker offers a very generous selection of 5 beverage sizes: 4oz, 6oz, 8oz, 10oz and 12oz. I appreciate the flexibility of brewing anything from a small cup to a larger mug. Like some other k cup coffee makers, SS10 can accommodate a 7in tall travel mug to directly pour coffee into. Thanks to this smart feature, I was able to enjoy coffee on the way to work countless times!
Weight: This is an unexpected but welcome advantage of Cuisinart’s SS10. It weighs about 5 pounds, and I found it very easy to move around, lift and clean, when needed. I would not hesitate to give this k cup coffee maker to my grandma to operate!
Unit size: SS10 is a regular sized k cup machine, about 11 x 9 x 12 inches when the lid is closed, and about 11 x 9 x 15 inches when the upper lid is open to refill coffee. While other coffee makers require me to pull them from underneath a cabinet, this one fits perfectly on my countertop.
Additional perks: Let me say this. Even though Cuisinart does not have such a diverse portfolio of k cup coffee makers like Keurig, Cuisinart invests in high quality and high functionality of their k cup machines.
SS-10 comes with a couple of features that I absolutely love.
✓ SS10 is fully programmable, with an auto on/off feature. In essence, I can program this k cup coffee maker to start heating water and brewing coffee at a specific time within a 24-hour time period. This is a total life savior in the mornings. I do not need to wake up at a crack of dawn to begin my morning chores. Instead, I can wake up with delicious fragrance of coffee permeating my apartment.
✓ SS10 is equipped with a temperature control to heat up water even more. This allows to achieve more optimal brewing temperature. Choosing between temperature and strength controls, I would always go with temperature control. It is more useful and yields in better coffee flavor.
✓ Though not a Keurig machine, SS10 is k-cup compatible. This means that I can enjoy k-cups and k-pods in a variety of flavors.
SS10 k cup coffee machine comes with some additional standard equipment. This includes a charcoal filter, which, in my opinion, improves coffee flavor thanks to purified water. A 72-oz removable water reservoir is a really big help. I do not need to refill water so frequently, and I can host larger parties!
→ Performance
Owly Rating
19/20
Cuisinart SS 10 is arguably among the best single serve coffee makers. I was most excited about the near-perfect brewing temperature, which reached 190 F degrees. It allowed for coffee to be rich and fragrant.
Brewing time: I found the brewing time to be comparable with other k cup coffee makers. Depending on the beverage size, SS10 can takes up to 3 minutes to brew from start to finish. As I mentioned above, the brewing time does not really matter to me so much because I can program SS10 to automatically start brewing at a specific time.
Flavor: I loved coffee beverage from SS10 k cup coffee maker. It was rich, deep and diverse. I feel like 8oz size is much better than any other larger size. But, perhaps, this is just a personal preference!
Temperature: YES! This is why I considered SS10 to be the best k cup coffee maker on my list. I felt that coffee was hotter than in some of the other k cup coffee makers. This could be due to a temperature control functionality. When I measured, freshly heated water was between 180 and 190 degrees, which is quite high in comparison. Coffee experts suggest the water should be between 195 and 205 for a perfect coffee cup.
Noise levels: I have found Cuisinart’s S-10 to be relatively quieter than other k cup brewers. It was noticeably louder with a K-cup, but still noise levels were much better.
Customer-reported technical issues
For full transparency in this Cuisinart SS 10 Review, it appears that some users have reported just a couple of minor issues with the SS10 k cup coffee maker. Those issues seem to be an exception rather than the norm. In fact, SS10 seems to have a rather clean record when it comes to technical difficulties.
While I do not believe those reports are a reason for a major concern, I’d like to flag some of them:
- Difficulty descaling
- Some units flawed and not operational
→ Health and safety
Owly Rating
10/20
Similar to some competitors, Cuisinart did not impress me with its lacking transparency. Though the company claims that all of its coffee makers are BPA-free, there’s no mention of any other chemicals and plastics. To stay on a side of caution, I am deducting points.
I did not find Cuisinart to be very transparent about the chemicals and plastic included in SS10. I searched multiple websites, including Cuisinart’s, and found very little information about materials or chemicals included. I was not able to find information about any particular chemicals, such as lead. Hence, I cannot confirm or refute.
Cuisinart makes it clear that SS10 k cup is BPA-free.
However, SS10 is made primarily of plastic. Whether it is BPA-free or not, this plastic comes into direct contact with scorching hot water. As you may know by now, I am personally very concerned about using products in which boiling water touches plastic.
The BPA-free status is helpful to know, but it typically does not guarantee that there are no other potentially dangerous substitutes used in the production process.
Reports show that many manufacturers replace BPA with other types of plastic. These types include but are not limited to BHPF (fluorene-9-bisphenol), TPP (triphenyl phosphate), and bisphenol S (BPS). The exact health effects of the BPA substitutes, such as BHPF, TPP and BPS, are unknown at this point.
Cuisinart does not publish information what kind of materials or chemicals are used, so I am not able to verify. I will try to reach Cuisinart for more information so I can include it in the Cuisinart SS 10 Review.
→ Price to value: is K-Elite worth the money?
Owly Rating
17/20
Some $30 less expensive than K-Elite, Cuisinart SS 10 may be a much better option for some. It is very unusual to get such a well-equipped and well-performing coffee maker with a wonderful feature set at a low $$$ price tag. In my opinion, SS10 displays very, very strong price-to-value ratio. It offers substantial value for the price that it’s sold at.
The SS10 k cup coffee maker has WOWed me from the start. I find the price-to-value ratio of SS10 to be extraordinary. Depending on the retailer, this k cup coffee maker typically retails in the low- to mid-$$$ price point. It is extremely unusual to get such a well-equipped and well-performing coffee maker with a wonderful feature set. All of this contributes to richer, more enhanced and more flavorful coffee. In my opinion, SS10 has a potential to become the best k cup coffee maker.
Just like with Keurig, I hope Cusinart will begin looking into implementing some metal or stainless steel to avoid direct contact between scorching water and plastic. Further, it is also difficult to find SS10 in many retailers. It seems like distribution is limited to a certain set of retailers.
Should I buy Cuisinart SS 10? Owly’s verdict! 🔨
Cuisinart SS10 is among the best single serve coffee makers and k cup coffee makers. It’s a great value option. SS10 offers features and functionality offered by Keurig coffee makers, but sells for much less. This unit should last for a long time, so the investment may be worth it in the long run.
Do you like your SS10? Let us know in the comments, under the Cuisinart SS 10 review article!
How is 190F nearly perfect when 200F is the ideal brewing temp for coffee? I had one of these years ago and the coffee always came out barely warm enough, hald to microwave it after a few minutes. I wish someone would make a k-cup brewr that actually set out to make the best cup of coffee possible.