I recently went to sears with my wife and i looked briefly at the bunn they had on sale for $99 Does anyone have this unit and if so give me the pro's and con's on it.This unit is online at www.sears.com Thanks, Al in NC homeroast mailing listhttp://lists.sweetmarias.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast |
target has unit for 89.99-have an earlier model and IMHO a very good unit-maybe other better but this one is very durable-left mine on for 5 years and works well. |
Great coffee maker. Just a few hints - you need brew at least 2/3 pot at a time due to the fast brew speed. Any less and it just doesn't taste good. Also, using VERY fresh coffee can lead to so much 'blooming' that all the coffee won't get wet. A trick is to rotate the basket while brewing every 30 seconds or so to evenly wet the grounds. Also, if you use the proper amount of coffee for a full pot, the brew basket can overflow if using very fresh coffee. That said, a Bunn will brew 200F every time, brew quickly, and make a great cup of coffee (for a dripper). Personally, I think a vac pot will smoke a Bunn every time, but for the office, it works great and is a snap to clean. Buy it, you'll like it. It just takes a little fiddling to find your 'happy place' w.r.t. coffee amount, grind, water amount, etc. Chris alsden (Al Lane) wrote: <Snip> Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. Experience the convenience of buying online with Shop!http://webmail.netscape.com/homeroast mailing listhttp://lists.sweetmarias.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast">http://shopnow.netscape.com/Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today athttp://webmail.netscape.com/homeroast mailing listhttp://lists.sweetmarias.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast |
Al, I had the older Bunn 8 cup unit for close to 25 years. Sent it back to Bunn company a couple of times for repairs over the years. Finally, a plastic part crumbled and no replacement parts were available for the old unit, so I bought the new 10 cup model at Kohl's. We really like the Bunn. Another advantage of the Bunn is the easy availability of hot water. My wife 'jump starts' many dinners by starting with hot water from the Bunn when she is preparing pasta, etc. Dave Westerville just 25 minutes from SweetMaria's <Snip> recently went to sears with my wife and i looked briefly at the bunn <Snip> homeroast mailing listhttp://lists.sweetmarias.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast |
The plastic at the junction where it connected to the boiler crumbled on my unit. Was that where your problem was? I could probably fix it, but I get much better coffee from my Chemex. Although it is a manual unit, and not nearly as convenient as a Bunn (which requires boiling water and doing about three pours), it makes coffee that is far superior to the Bunn brew. Bunn coffee is pleasant and tastes really good, but the Chemex brings out flavors and qualities that are nowhere to be found with the Bunn. Regards, Ed Needham ed |
I really like mine. It is just like the one I use almost every day. $89.00 at Lowes all the time. You will need to use more coffee than in a regular drip machine. Terry F alsden writes: <Snip> |
Thanks for all the informative feedback.I've been looking at the Yama stovetop vac/brewer and the Chemex brewers i would like some feedback on these units.I have a strong feeling one of these will be my final pick.I already use a french press and i'm satisfied with the quality of the brew.I looked at these on the SM website.I think it is time to get away from autodripper's...Btw Tom and Maria i love your website.It is awesome! Once again Thanks... Al in NC homeroast mailing listhttp://lists.sweetmarias.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast |
Ed, I think we had the same problem. The funnel inside the top of the machine crumbled where it was supposed to direct the new water into the top of the boiler. So some of the water piddled all over the counter top. (The old, crumbled Bunn has gone to the landfill.) I like the Chemex brew also. I use it when I'm ALREADY awake. But it doesn't fit my early morning routine. The convenience factor is a MAJOR plus in favor of the Bunn. Dave <Snip> homeroast mailing listhttp://lists.sweetmarias.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast |
Funny thing happened today. I stopped at a yard sale and lo and behold, there sat a Bunn. It looked much better than my old one did (same model, just newer looking). The light bulb went off in my head and I bought it for $3. At first, I was thinking of using the good part on my machine, but then I realized the yard sale machine was probably 'less used' than my Bunn. I cleaned it up, filled the boiler and saw a little puddle on the counter. I sort of sighed, but hoped I had just spilled a bit of water in the process. I took the top off and found that this one too had the crumbling plastic at the boiler connection. It was not 'quite' as bad as the old one, but 'dang'! I put it back together and tightened the connection where it joins with the boiler and probably got it to work for a while, BUT!!! when I heated this one up, the water was not nearly hot enough to brew coffee. It had plenty of time to heat...probably a half hour, so I think I may just put them both in the basement for later experiments. The only reason I like the Bunn is that it is so fast, and the water is already hot, unlike the Chemex, where it has to heat on the stove for 15 minutes to boil --'before'-- making coffee the hard way. Since my wife really likes the convenience of the Bunn, and she makes the coffee in the morning, I was sort of thinking of her when I brought the Bunn home. Oh well. Since this is obviously a manufacturing defect (anyone else have a Bunn that 'piddles' on the countertop?), and 'could' possibly cause a fire or electrocution, I wonder if an email to Bunn might get a new unit...hmmmm. Regards, Ed Needham ed |
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I've always wondered why I NEVER EVER see a Bunn at a thrift store. Maybe the same issue. People just run them until they are totally shot, then toss them. It's amazing how much the old ones get on Ebay, too. How is the buyer to know he/she is not getting a "piddler"? Just go buy a new one for $89 and be done with it, I say. I keep the Bunn I have in my cube at work "off" unless I'm making coffee. I usually make only one pot a day, MAYBE two, so I just turn it completely off. When I get to work, I turn on the Bunn, my computer, get situated, get water, grind coffee, and prepare everything. The Bunn is usually hot and ready to go by then. That keeps the water from getting as stale, lengthens the life of the unit considerably, and reduces risk of burning down the building in case something happens to the unit. Chris "Ed Needham" wrote: <Snip> Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. Experience the convenience of buying online with Shop!http://webmail.netscape.com/homeroast mailing listhttp://lists.sweetmarias.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast">http://shopnow.netscape.com/Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today athttp://webmail.netscape.com/homeroast mailing listhttp://lists.sweetmarias.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast |
At 07:54 AM 4/19/2002 -0400, you wrote: <Snip> I know there's a few Bunns at the local Goodwill, and I think my parents still have an older one in their basement. Which models are particularly good? I might swing over there to see if any of what they have is worth buying (either for myself, someone on the list, or ebay bux)... -g homeroast mailing listhttp://lists.sweetmarias.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast |
To tell if there is a problem, it involves removing two screws under the fill lid and unscrewing the metal fitting on top of the boiler. Under the fitting is a metal washer and a silicone washer. the plastic between the washer and the boiler crumbles, and allows water to leak around the washers and into the coffeemaker itself. A nuisance at best...a fire or electrocution hazard at worst. I emailed Bunn to report the problem (they are most likely aware of it, since these things have been around for a while) and to ask if they could send me a couple of pieces to fix my two units. I haven't heard from them yet. I hope I can find a way to fix them since the Bunn is so convenient. Still not totally sure I want to though, since the Chemex makes coffee so much better. Oh, the dilemmas in life . Maybe both! (PS...the one I recently got at a yard sale was $3.00. How could I go wrong.) Regards, Ed Needham ed |
My 20+ yr. old Bunn crumbled exactly as you describe. I called Bunn and explained the problem. The lady knew exactly what I was talking about and said that they no longer had parts for the old model. It was redesigned a few years ago. So I junked the old one, and bought a new one. Dave <Snip> homeroast mailing listhttp://lists.sweetmarias.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast |
That's odd... I emailed them and in two days received two packages (one kit for each broken 'Model GS' machine I own) containing three parts each to fix the problem. Congrats on the new machine though. That's a long time for a small appliance to remain in service. After 20+ years, my J.C. Penney washer gave out this week too. Spent half a day Saturday getting rid of the old one, and buying and installing the new one. What a chore. It's been an expensive week. $400 for the new washer, and $400 to repair my wife's Buick. I digress...The fix kit includes a longer stainless fitting, a new metal washer and a cup shaped washer. The outer diameter of the cup washer fits snugly against the sides of the plastic well area, and the washer/fitting screw tightly against it to make it seal even tighter. Kind of a nifty fix to a problem they obviously already know about. Regards, Ed Needham ed |