Coffee Center Grind and Brew Plus: Cuisinart's All-in-One Machine Reviewed

The Cuisinart Coffee Center Grind and Brew Plus (SS-GB1) is a dual-purpose coffee machine that combines a 12-cup grind-and-brew carafe brewer with a single-serve K-Cup pod brewer on the same base. If you're searching for this machine, you're probably trying to figure out whether it lives up to the promise of replacing two separate appliances with one. The short answer: it does a solid job at both tasks without excelling at either.

I've had the Coffee Center Grind and Brew Plus on my counter for about 18 months, and it's become the household workhorse. I use the grind-and-brew side for my morning pot, and my wife uses the K-Cup side for her afternoon cup. Here's everything I've learned about this machine, including the settings that produce the best coffee, the quirks you need to know about, and whether it's the right pick for your kitchen.

What You Get in the Box

The Coffee Center Grind and Brew Plus is a substantial machine. It takes up about 14 inches of counter width and 17 inches of depth, so measure your space before buying. Here's what's included:

  • 12-cup glass carafe with ergonomic handle
  • Built-in conical burr grinder with 5 grind settings
  • Single-serve side compatible with K-Cup pods
  • Gold-tone reusable coffee filter (for the carafe side)
  • Charcoal water filter
  • Measuring scoop
  • Cleaning brush for the grinder

The build quality is typical Cuisinart: stainless steel accents over a plastic body. It looks premium enough for a kitchen counter, and the controls are a mix of buttons and a small LCD display on the carafe side.

The Grind and Brew Side: Performance Breakdown

The left side of the machine is a full grind-and-brew coffee maker with an integrated burr grinder. This is the side I use daily, and it's the main reason to buy this machine over a simpler drip brewer.

Grinder Settings and Quality

The built-in grinder has 5 settings ranging from fine to coarse. In my experience, settings 2 and 3 produce the best coffee for the carafe. Setting 1 (finest) grinds too fine for drip and can cause the filter basket to overflow. Settings 4 and 5 produce a coarse grind that makes weak, under-extracted coffee in the drip cycle.

The grind consistency is acceptable for a built-in grinder, but it's not going to match a standalone burr grinder. I see more fines at every setting compared to my dedicated grinder, which means the carafe coffee has a slightly muddier body than what I get from a separate setup. For most people, this tradeoff is worth the convenience.

Bean hopper capacity: About half a pound of beans, which lasts me 3-4 days of daily brewing. The hopper has a shut-off lever that lets you remove it without beans falling into the grinding chamber, a thoughtful design touch.

Brew Strength and Temperature

The machine offers three strength settings: mild, medium, and bold. Bold mode slows the water flow rate and increases brew time for stronger extraction. I keep mine on bold because the medium setting tastes thin to me, but this will depend on your beans and preferences.

Water temperature hits about 195-200 degrees during brewing, which is within the optimal range. Some cheaper drip machines brew with water below 190 degrees, which under-extracts and produces flat-tasting coffee. The Cuisinart gets this right.

Auto Grind and Brew Timer

The programmable timer is one of the best features. Set the clock, program your wake-up time, and fill the hopper the night before. The machine grinds and brews automatically, so fresh coffee is waiting when you walk into the kitchen.

One warning: the grinding is not quiet. At 6 AM, the grinder sounds like it's running at about 70 dB, which is enough to wake a light sleeper in an adjacent room. My solution was to set the timer for 10 minutes before my alarm, so the grinding finishes before I need to be up.

The Single-Serve K-Cup Side

The right side of the Coffee Center accepts standard K-Cup pods and brews directly into a mug placed on the drip tray. It also works with the reusable My K-Cup filter if you want to use your own ground coffee.

Brew Sizes

You can select 6, 8, 10, or 12-ounce brew sizes. The 6 and 8-ounce settings produce stronger, more concentrated coffee from a K-Cup because the same amount of coffee grounds gets less water. At 12 ounces, K-Cup coffee tastes watered down.

I've found that using the "bold" setting on the K-Cup side makes a noticeable difference at larger cup sizes. It adds about 30 seconds to the brew time and produces a fuller cup.

Hot Water Dispenser

The K-Cup side can also dispense plain hot water for tea, oatmeal, or soup. It's a small feature, but I use it more often than I expected. The water temperature is about 190 degrees, which is good for green tea but a bit low for black tea (which benefits from a full boil).

Daily Use: What's It Actually Like

After 18 months, here's what living with this machine feels like.

Morning routine: I set the timer the night before. The machine grinds beans and brews a 12-cup pot that's ready at 6:15 AM. The coffee is good. Not specialty-cafe good, but better than any pre-ground drip coffee I've had. The convenience of waking up to fresh-ground coffee is genuinely nice.

Afternoon K-Cup: My wife grabs a K-Cup around 2 PM and has a cup in under a minute. The single-serve side heats up in about 30 seconds and brews quickly. No complaints from her.

Counter space: The machine is wide. If you have limited counter real estate, this might be a dealbreaker. It replaced both our old drip machine and a separate Keurig, so the total footprint actually decreased. But if you're only replacing one machine, it's going to take up more space.

Noise: The grinder is the loudest part. Brewing itself is quiet on both sides. The K-Cup side makes the standard puncture-and-brew sounds you'd expect.

Cleaning and Maintenance

Like any coffee machine, the Coffee Center needs regular cleaning to perform well and avoid stale flavors.

Weekly Tasks

  • Remove and rinse the gold-tone filter after each use (or use paper filters for easier cleanup)
  • Empty and wipe the drip tray on the K-Cup side
  • Wipe the exterior and control panel with a damp cloth

Monthly Tasks

  • Remove the grinder's upper burr assembly and brush out accumulated grounds and oils. Cuisinart includes a small brush for this purpose. The process takes about 5 minutes.
  • Replace the charcoal water filter (Cuisinart recommends every 60 brew cycles, which is roughly monthly for daily users)
  • Run a water-only brew cycle on both sides to flush internal tubes

Quarterly Descaling

Fill the reservoir with a 1:1 mix of white vinegar and water, then run a full brew cycle on the carafe side and two K-Cup cycles on the single-serve side. Follow with 2-3 cycles of plain water to rinse. The LCD display shows a "CLEAN" alert when descaling is due.

If you're comparing built-in grinder maintenance to standalone grinder care, our best coffee grinder guide covers maintenance requirements across different models.

Who Is This Machine For?

The Coffee Center Grind and Brew Plus is built for households where different people want different types of coffee.

Buy it if:

  • Your household needs both a pot brewer and a single-serve machine
  • You want fresh-ground coffee without managing a separate grinder
  • Counter space is a concern and you'd rather have one machine than two
  • Convenience matters more than extracting every last drop of flavor from your beans
  • You use K-Cups regularly

Skip it if:

  • You only drink espresso (this machine can't make it)
  • You're a pour-over or AeroPress person who wants precise control over brewing
  • Grind quality is your top priority (a separate burr grinder outperforms the built-in one)
  • You brew for one person and don't need a full carafe

For standalone grinder options that offer finer control, our top coffee grinder roundup covers picks across all budgets.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use pre-ground coffee in the Coffee Center Grind and Brew Plus?

Yes. There's a "pre-ground" option that bypasses the grinder. Open the filter basket door, add your ground coffee and a filter, and select the pre-ground setting. The machine brews without engaging the grinder. This is useful when someone gives you a bag of pre-ground beans or if the grinder needs cleaning.

How does the built-in grinder compare to a standalone Baratza Encore?

The Baratza Encore produces a more consistent grind with fewer fines and more grind settings (40 vs. 5). For drip coffee, the difference shows up as a cleaner, more balanced cup from the Encore. The Cuisinart's built-in grinder is adequate and convenient, but a dedicated grinder at the same price point will outperform it.

Does the Coffee Center work with reusable K-Cup pods?

Yes. Third-party reusable K-Cup pods fit the single-serve side. This lets you use your own ground coffee on both sides of the machine. I recommend this approach for better coffee quality and less waste.

How long does the Coffee Center Grind and Brew Plus typically last?

Based on owner reports and my own experience, expect 3-5 years of daily use before something needs repair or replacement. The grinder motor and heating elements are the components most likely to fail first. Cuisinart offers a 3-year limited warranty, which provides decent coverage.

A Solid Household Workhorse

The Cuisinart Coffee Center Grind and Brew Plus won't impress coffee snobs, and it shouldn't try to. It's a practical machine for households that want fresh-ground carafe coffee and single-serve convenience in one footprint. The grinder is good enough, the brewer gets the temperature right, and the K-Cup side works exactly as expected. If that combination fits your household's coffee habits, this machine does the job well.