Cuisinart: Touchscreen Burr Grinder $40, EvolutionX Cordless Hand Blender

A touchscreen on a coffee grinder sounds like an answer to a question nobody asked.

I haven't personally reviewed these product, but I just updated my coffee equipment from a different model of Cuisinart burr grinder and Cuisinart coffee maker, and did a whole bunch of research before purchasing OXO products as replacements.

The sense I get from reading a ton of review lists is that Cuisinart coffee products are typically middle of the road. They're better than the cheapest set of coffee makers, but they don't produce the same quality coffee as the higher end machines (which don't necessarily cost much more if you find a food sale or buy refurbished).

According to the reviews, Cuisinart burr grinders seem to typically use cheaper parts and I've never seen one recommended on any of the dozens of "best coffee grinder" articles I read online. I bought a different Cuisinart model 5 years ago and it still functions but has produced an inconsistent grind size since the start (i.e. it spits out a bunch if messy & gross dust along with the coffee grinds).

The OXO burr grinder is often recommended as the best budget burr grinder which uses quality parts and creates a consistent quality grind. Right now it's $80 on Amazon, but it was $65 last week and if you wait a bit you can probably get another good deal or buy a "used, like new" one when people start regretting and returning their Black Friday splurges.

For the coffee machine itself, your best bet is to get something from this list: https://sca.coffee/certified-home-brewer. Without getting too in the weeds, it is widely accepted that the best coffee makers must be extremely accurate about keeping the water a very exact temperature for the entire brewing process, and the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has a list of certified machines that they've tested to meet that standard.

Some Cuisinart machines have been certified in the past, but they no longer seem to be on the official list (and they were different models anyway). The cheapest coffee maker from that list that you are likely to find is the OXO Brew 8 Cup Coffee Maker, currently $138 (https://a.co/d/iy94QIz). But if you are able to find a good sale on a Bonovita model, definitely grab it because they get race reviews.

If you want something cheaper that isn't officially certified, consider something like the Ninja CE251 12-Cup Programmable Coffee Brewer for $80 (https://a.co/d/00JotE1). That doesn't have the SCA certificate, but Ninja machines have been certified in the past and I've read the unverified claim that that model maintains the correct water temperature which is most important to coffee flavor, but let the SCA certification lapse due to some other less important cost saving changes (this is just what random people say on Reddit/r/coffee, so take it with a grain of salt).

Edit 1: The Capresso Infinity grinder is currently $80 at Kohls. This is a good alternative to the Oxo grinder I recommended above (both are popular and seem to be about the same quality based on reviews. Either would be a nice step up from the Cuisinart).

Edit 2: The Ninja CE200 coffee maker is currently $60 at Walmart. I don't know enough about the Ninja machines to compare the two different models which look pretty similar, or to compare that to this Cuisinart. But I have read several posts on reddit saying that Ninja's are a pretty good coffee maker for the price if you don't want to invest $100+ on an SCA certified machine.