Hamilton Beach 48274 coffee maker

Hamilton Beach 48274 Brew Station 6-Cup Coffee Maker

Coffee carafes have been the bane of my existence. I can never get them clean, I can’t seem to pour from them without dribbling on my counter, and I seem to shatter at least one a year. That’s just one of the reasons I love my Hamilton Beach 48274 coffee maker: I think a carafe-less brewing station is nothing less than a stroke of genius! I grab my favorite mug in the morning, hold it in place beneath the dispenser spout, and I have my hot fresh cup of coffee ready to drink! This brewer has become my favorite “waitress”—I hold out my cup, and she fills it without a drop spilled. And (all praise to the coffee-making gods) I am finished with the scrubbing and soaking of coffee carafes, not to mention replacing them.

Hamilton Beach 48274 coffee maker product features:

No carafe to clean (or break)

Easy single-hand coffee dispensing—simply hold your cup in place for a fill

Digital clock permits pre-programmed auto start, as well as auto shut-off

Dispensing system ensures coffee stays fresher than in a carafe kept on “warming”

Works with any variety of ground coffee beans

The Hamilton Beach 48274 coffee maker is one of the smaller models in terms of brewing capacity. It maxes out at six cups, but that’s perfect for our household of two, in which we used to waste half a pot of coffee daily when we poured it out before setting the coffee maker for the next morning’s batch. You might try to tell me that we should have been brewing half pots instead, but the truth is that most coffee makers don’t do well with small batches. Despite all our experimenting, we always found that our best coffee happened when we went ahead and brewed the full pot. In contrast, the Hamilton Beach 48274 is designed to brew the smaller capacity, and is capable of brewing even a two-cup quantity to perfection.

I always had another objection to the coffee carafe sitting on the warming plate, namely, that our coffee began to go stale even before the automatic shut-off signaled the end of its life expectancy. The Hamilton Beach 48274 coffee maker, however, keeps its brew fresh and hot for considerably longer within the machine itself. Its features include that critical automatic shut-off (absolutely necessary for someone like me, who doesn’t even remember to turn off the oven when I’m finished baking), as well as the equally important programmable automatic brew. I am not a morning person, and I am utterly incapable of getting myself out of bed without the beckoning aroma of my already-brewed coffee as an incentive.

My bedtime routine these days (to ensure I’ll have that coffee waiting to lure me out of bed when I wake) is remarkably simple. I’ve spent the extra seven bucks to accessorize my Hamilton Beach 48274 with a permanent coffee filter basket (more economical, more environmentally responsible, and less messy than disposable paper filters), so I simply dump out the morning’s used grounds, rinse my filter under hot water, and refill it with fresh grounds.

The removable water reservoir of the Hamilton Beach 48274 coffee maker is easily filled at the sink, and since I have already programmed in my usual wake-up time for the machine to start brewing, I turn on its auto-function with the touch of a single button. All in all, a ninety-second ritual at most—no more scouring of the coffee carafe, and I’ve happily thrown out all the carafe-cleaning solutions that used to clutter the cupboard under my sink. I should mention also that the programming was absolutely simple—and that’s a remarkable recommendation from a technophobe like me.

Now that I’ve become spoiled by my very own Hamilton Beach 48274 “waitress” on my kitchen counter, I promise I will never be going back to any coffee machine with a carafe!