Description
The BLACK+DECKER CM1160B-1 is a twelve cup programmable drip machine built around its control panel. Large rubberised buttons, an easy read screen showing the clock and brew time, a 24 hour auto brew setting and a two hour automatic shutoff make up most of the pitch. Around them sit a Duralife glass carafe with measurement markings, a front facing water window, a washable basket filter and a Sneak-A-Cup pause valve.
This is the middle of BLACK+DECKER’s drip range and the model where the clock arrives. Below it, the CM0915BKD is a switch only machine with the Vortex showerhead. Within the coffee maker category it competes with the programmable twelve cup models from Hamilton Beach and Mr. Coffee at roughly the same price.
Brewing System and What a Cup Means
Gravity drip into a glass carafe on a nonstick keep hot plate. What sets this listing apart from most in the category is that it defines its own units. The carafe bullet carries a footnote stating that a cup equals approximately 5 ounces and that this varies by brewing technique.
That single sentence removes the ambiguity that causes more disappointment than any other specification in this category. Twelve cups at five ounces is 60 ounces, which is five twelve ounce mugs. Almost every competing listing leaves the buyer to work this out or to assume wrongly. BLACK+DECKER states it, and the carafe carries measurement markings so you can dose against the number rather than against a guess.
Controls and QuickTouch Programming
The digital controls are described as large rubberised buttons with an easy read screen that displays the clock, the brew time and the programming options. Rubberised buttons are a specific and sensible choice on a kitchen appliance, since they tolerate wet fingers better than flush membrane panels and they give a physical click that tells you the press registered.
The 24 hour auto brew feature works in the usual way, and the two hour automatic shutoff cuts the plate afterwards. The listing does not say whether the shutoff timer starts at the end of the brew cycle or at the programmed start time, and it does not say whether the clock setting survives a power interruption, which is the difference between a timer that works and one that has to be reset after every trip of the kitchen circuit.
The Water Window and the Duralife Carafe
The water window is front facing and shows the exact amount of water that will become coffee. On a machine that is 11 inches high and therefore likely to live under a wall cabinet, a front window is worth more than a lid you have to peer into. It also means you can check the level without lifting anything. What the window does not tell you is how much coffee has already been brewed, since it shows the reservoir rather than the carafe, and the markings on the carafe are where you check the finished volume.
The carafe is branded Duralife, described as sturdy with an easy grip handle and measurement markings. The name is a BLACK+DECKER designation rather than a material specification, and the listing does not say what glass it is made from or whether it is dishwasher safe. Measurement markings on the carafe combined with the stated five ounce cup are the two details that make dosing on this machine straightforward.
Filters and Running Costs
The Amazon title describes a washable basket filter and the Filter Type attribute confirms Reusable, with the Included Components field listing both the Duralife carafe and a filter. That is more internally consistent than most records on this site and it means paper is optional rather than required.
A washable basket filter passes more coffee oils than paper, giving a fuller cup with a little fine sediment. Paper basket filters will fit if you prefer the cleaner result, and note the shape is basket rather than cone. There is no charcoal water filter and no cleaning cycle or clean indicator on this model, so descaling is manual and unprompted, which matters more on a machine you will keep for years than on a disposable one.
Where the Record Goes Wrong
The Voltage field reads 1.2E+2 Volts. Read as scientific notation that is 120 volts, which is correct for a North American appliance, but no consumer specification sheet expresses voltage in exponent form and the field is unreadable as printed. The same fault appears on other BLACK+DECKER records here in a form that also gets the number wrong, so the notation is a systematic importer problem rather than a one off.
The Operation Mode field says Semi-Automatic. A machine that starts itself on a 24 hour timer and shuts itself off two hours later is fully automatic by any ordinary reading, and the field says Fully Automatic on far simpler machines elsewhere on this site. The Coffee Input Type reads ground in raw single word form. The dimensions of 8.25 inches deep by 12.25 inches wide by 11 inches high and the item weight of 4.5 pounds are plausible and consistent with a twelve cup machine. The listing dates to June 2016.
What the Specifications Do Not Settle
There is no brew temperature, no wattage and no brew time. The keep hot plate is described as nonstick, which is a cleaning property rather than a temperature, and no plate temperature is given. Unlike the closely related Vortex models, this listing does not state a time limit for the Sneak-A-Cup valve, so the safe assumption is the same thirty second window BLACK+DECKER publishes elsewhere.
There is no brew strength selector and no small batch mode on this machine, which is the significant functional gap. Brewing four cups in a twelve cup brewer at full flow rate gives a thin cup and there is no setting to compensate. The Hamilton Beach 46310 offers both a strength selector and a 1 to 4 cup mode at a comparable price if that matters to you.
Who It Suits
This suits a household that brews a full pot most mornings, wants it ready at a set time, and values a control panel that is easy to read and easy to press. The stated cup definition, the marked carafe and the front water window together make it one of the more honestly documented machines in this price bracket, and the washable filter removes the paper cost. The BLACK+DECKER CM1070B-1 is another machine in the same range.
Look elsewhere if you regularly brew small batches or want brew strength control, neither of which this model offers. If the programming is not needed at all, the switch only CM0915BKD does the same job for less, and the CM1110B-1 adds the Vortex showerhead and a published keep warm temperature to a similar programmable package. The BLACK+DECKER CM2046S is the thermal carafe machine from the same brand.
