Cuisinart GTF-4 Tone Coffee Filter, 4-Cup Cone, Black/Gold

**UPDATE** I am new to grinding my own coffee. So what I wrote below the equals bar are my original thoughts. Everything above is what I recently learned. For light roast, you want to stick with the paper filter as you want it to filter much slower. For darker roast, you want to use a higher grind setting on your coffee beans and you want it to filter faster to avoid a bitter after taste. As I played around with different grind settings and light roast vs medium roast vs dark roast, I realized that this filter is perfect for dark roast coffee. So I am changing my original rating to a five-star and updating my headline. ==================== When I received this product, it seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. #2 paper filters for my Cuisinart coffeemaker do not stay in place and the filters collapse. So I knew I need a more rigid permanent solution. Upon initial inspection, this filter seemed perfect. That is until I ran water through it. A regular #2 paper filter will slow drip the water through the filter. This filter, water flows through immediately. However, when I made my coffee for the first time, it tasted no different than when I used a regular #2 paper filter. So I decided to do additional testing. The next test was to put in a #2 paper filter with the Cuisinart gold tone filter on top. When I made the coffee, it tastes stronger than when I made it with either the #2 paper filter separately or the gold tone filter separately. Upon inspection of the #2 paper filter that I had used in conjunction with the gold tone filter, I noticed that some of the coffee grind had permeated through the gold tone filter. Picture is attached. For now, I'm going to continue using both the #2 paper filter with the gold tone filter on top. But the ideal solution would be for Cuisinart to change this permanent filter to have the wholes smaller so it allows water through slowly just like the #2 paper filter and without letting any coffee grinds permeate through.

As I suspected, this product works perfectly with the Kupper, a simple devise designed to allow you to brew K-cups at home or while traveling without the expensive brewer. Brewer can set you back $100-$150 for the convenience of using your k-cups. Kupper is sold by Amazon at the following link:http://www.amazon.com/The-Kupper-coffee-without-Automatic/dp/B00DPO2KQ0/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1407432562&sr=1-1&keywords=kupper. As I mentioned in my review of the Kupper, it does NOT work as intended because the o-rings are not functional. I discussed an adaptation with coffee filters and binder clips which solution solves the problem and renders the Kupper highly functional. I suspected that the Cuisinart GTF-4 Gold Tone Filter would be yet a better solution for the problem as it would be simpler to use and it would eliminate the need for the filter papers and binder clips. While these work, they are not exactly an "elegant" solution to the problem created by the Kupper. Now the Cuisinart GTF-4 Gold filter fits absolutely perfectly. It couldn't be better even if it were custom made for the Kupper. Fits into the cylinder perfectly. All that you need to do is to open the K-cups and pour the contents into the filter (which you have placed in the Kupper cylinder) then pour in 6-8 oz of boiling water. Your coffee comes out perfectly and you have not needed to purchase a Keurig brewer. Lots of people, these days, buy boxes of K-cups to use at work where there is a brewer available to them. Sometimes a person would like to brew a K-cup at home but he either does not want to spring for a pricey brewer or else does not have counter space available (the brewers are quite bulky) in the room where he wants to brew the coffee. So now, here is the perfect solution. This combo would also work well for space-restricted motor homes, tent camping or else in scenarios wherein one wants to stash away the Kupper along with a few K-cups into a suitcase while traveling. This combo is highly portable and not at all messy - very simple to use. If you like K-cups but don't want to spring for the brewer, I say go for it.

Update After 1 Month of Use: Still love it! No sign of wear or tear at all. After dumping the grounds, I hand-rinse it once a day and have no problems at all. Still tastes good. I am spoiled to reusable filters! Have used them for years, then got a new coffee maker and had to use paper filters (yuck) while waiting for this to come. The taste is so much better!! I had no mess, no spills. Even pulled relatively hard on the basket lift handle before putting it in to test it, no problems! It fits my DCC-450bk coffee maker perfectly. Just make sure you push it all the way in to the bottom and close the lid firmly, so that your dripper will engage. Seems to be a genuine Cuisinart product, included are photos of the packaging. Way better than paper filters in any regard! No waste/messy soaked paper.

Exelent product

This is my first mesh filter, I bought it with a 4-cup Cuisinart coffee maker. The filter works great and maybe makes a better cup of coffee; it's hard to tell, it's about the same as paper filters I think, which is good. Note that the metal mesh filter must be cleaned or rinsed, and it takes more water than I thought to rinse it out and get all the grinds out of the mesh. Not a problem, just something to note for those trying to save water. I wonder what the economics or environmental difference is between using paper and using more water to clean this out. But overall, I'm expecting it to last for a long, long time and it works good.

Es un filtro pequeño. Diseñado para una cafetera con capacidad de solo 4 tazas. Al ser marca Cuisinart, Idealmente se espera que lo compre una persona con una cafetera de la misma marca. Yo lo compré para dejar de utilizar filtros de papel para una cafetera Cuisinart modelo DCC-450. Y le queda y funciona a la perfección (de nuevo, porque está diseñado casi en específico para este tipo de cafeteras). En la descripción del filtro especifican los modelos de cafeteras con los que es compatible. Busquen, lean y compren el filtro solo si su cafetera está en esta lista. P. D.: El filtro que se considera "universal" (cafetera de 10 o más tazas) es el número 4. Si su cafetera es de estas características (para más de 10 tazas) no compren este filtro.

I have a 4-cup Cuisinart coffee maker and had been looking for a reusable #2 filter for it for ages. This is ideal for my purpose- which is basically making coffee. The holes are small enough that even finely ground coffee doesn't get through. It's the right size, does what it's supposed to do, isn't difficult to clean and it seems relatively durable. I can't think of any faults. Definitely worth getting as it will pay for itself in the long run when you stop buying paper or bamboo filters- plus you're never going to run out of filters at an inopportune time.

El producto funciona perfecto y ayuda al planeta porque no generas basura. Es fácil de limpiar pero uno tiene que ser muy delicado ya que la rejilla puede desprenderse. Estoy comprando por segunda vez este producto después de aproximadamente 2 años porque con las lavadas esto pasó con mi rejilla. Seré mucho más cuidadosa ésta vez.

Perfect fit for Cuisinart 4 cup Coffee Maker model DCC-450C(KB). The permanent filter GTF-4 fits inside the basket for holding paper type filter cones. The coffee flavour is superior to brewed coffee using paper type filters. Filling, emptying and cleaning this filter is easy and fast. Beware of other permanent filters that do not fit, some are larger cones with an oval bottom (send them back, they will not work).

El filtro se adapta perfectamente a la cafetera Cuisinart pequeñita que es para la que está hecho. Su material es resistente y fácil de lavar, cumple con su función de manera adecuada.