Description
This is the red version of the Kenmore twelve cup programmable drip machine, model KKCM12, manufactured by Koolatron under the Kenmore licence. It is the same appliance as the silver listing covered separately on this site, and the two records differ in colour, in listing text and in one specification that cannot be true of both. Sorting out which figures to trust is most of the work of reviewing it.
The machine itself is well equipped for the money: a 1.8 litre carafe, a programmable timer with an LCD display, a pause and serve interrupter, a bold brew setting, a charcoal water filter, a reusable gold tone cone filter and a two year limited warranty. Within the coffee maker category the closest comparison for the filter combination is the Braun BrewSense KF7150BK at a considerably higher price.
Brewing System and Capacity
Gravity drip into a dishwasher safe glass carafe on a warming plate. The capacity is stated three ways that agree with each other: 1.8 litres, 1.9 quarts and twelve cups. That works out to a cup of just over five ounces, which is the standard American drip serving and not the twelve ounce mug most people pour. Work from the litre figure and you will know what you are getting.
There is a 1 to 4 cup mode for smaller batches, which slows the water through a shallow bed of grounds so a small pot does not come out thin. On a twelve cup machine that setting is close to essential rather than optional, and many machines at this price omit it entirely.
The Bold Button That Is Also the Small Batch Button
The bold brew setting shares a button with the 1 to 4 cup mode. According to the listing, when you are making a full pot the 1 to 4 cup button doubles as a bold setting, slowing the water flow and steeping the grounds to bloom the flavours before releasing the coffee.
Blooming, wetting the grounds and pausing before the main pour, is a technique borrowed from pour over brewing and it is genuinely uncommon on a machine at this price. The control scheme is the problem. One button carrying two unrelated functions depending on how much water is in the tank is confusing, and the listing does not explain how the machine distinguishes the two cases or whether the display indicates which mode is active. Anyone buying this should read the manual before the first pot rather than after.
Two Filters and Running Costs
The machine includes a charcoal water filter and a reusable gold tone cone filter, doing two separate jobs. The charcoal cartridge treats the tap water before it reaches the grounds, reducing chlorine taste, which is the single biggest improvement available to anyone on municipal water. The gold tone cone replaces paper in the basket and passes more coffee oils, giving a fuller bodied cup.
The gold tone filter is effectively free to run. The charcoal cartridge is not: it is a consumable, and the listing gives no replacement interval, no part number and no price. That is the standard omission across every machine in this category that includes water treatment, and it matters, because a machine designed around a cartridge simply runs without one when supplies dry up. Generic charcoal water filter replacements are widely stocked, though fit should be confirmed against the model.
Pause and Serve, and the Stated 20 Seconds
The pause and serve function stops the coffee flow for up to 20 seconds when the carafe is removed. Publishing that limit is more useful than the vague assurances most manufacturers offer, because every machine with this feature has an overflow point and most owners find it by making a mess.
Twenty seconds is enough to pour one mug and put the carafe back. It is not enough to pour, add milk and carry the mug away. Note that the summary text attached to this product on the site describes the flow stopping without mentioning any limit, and the manufacturer’s own bullet is the more accurate of the two.
The Dimensions Contradict the Other Listing
This record gives the product dimensions as 9.3 inches deep by 13.5 inches wide by 6.5 inches high. The other listing for the same model on this site gives 9.3 inches deep by 6.5 inches wide by 13.5 inches high. The depth matches and the other two figures have been swapped.
Only one can describe the machine. A twelve cup drip brewer 6.5 inches tall is not possible, since the carafe alone is taller than that, so the correct reading is 6.5 inches wide and 13.5 inches high, and this listing has the width and height transposed. That makes the machine unusually narrow for its capacity, which is a genuine selling point that the record on this page manages to hide. The weight is not given on this record at all, while the companion listing records 6.93 pounds.
Bullets Written from Customer Reviews
Several bullet points on this listing are not specifications. One asserts that the machine operates without creating any mess and that unlike other coffee makers this model is designed to be mess free. Another states that the machine consistently brews hot and delicious coffee and that users appreciate that the coffee is hot and tastes great every time. A third describes the design as beautiful and elegant on the counter.
These read as customer sentiment rewritten into bullet form rather than as product information, and they contain no facts a buyer can use. The phrasing elsewhere is similarly odd, describing the machine as impeccable for both large gatherings and personal use, which is a thesaurus substitution rather than a claim. Set against them, the specifications that are genuinely stated on this listing, the 1.8 litre capacity, the 20 second pause window and the two year limited warranty, are the parts worth reading. The imported category data is wrong as well, filing this coffee maker under Industrial and Scientific rather than Home and Kitchen.
What the Specifications Do Not Settle
There is no brew temperature, no wattage and no brew time. The bold setting’s bloom duration is not stated. There is no descaling guidance and no clean indicator mentioned. The auto shut off is named in the Amazon title but no duration is given anywhere in the bullets, so it is not clear whether it follows the two hour convention.
The listing states the machine comes in several colours including black and red, and this record covers red while the companion KKCM12 listing covers the silver finish. Both carry the same model number, so parts and filters are interchangeable between them.
Who It Suits
This suits a household wanting a full pot, a timer and water treatment without paying mid range money, and one that likes the idea of a coloured appliance rather than another black box. The two year warranty is longer than most machines in this bracket offer, and the inclusion of both filter types in the box is the strongest practical argument for it.
Look elsewhere if a single button doing two different jobs will annoy you every morning, or if you want a thermal carafe. The Hamilton Beach 46299 gives you three clearly separated brew settings and a dishwasher safe borosilicate carafe, though without the charcoal water filter.
