Are you happy with your breadmaker?

mamaluv

Sun, Aug 11 2013, 11:13 am

Hi, I am looking into buying a bread machine. Do any of you have recommendations on ones that you are happy with? I've never had one before what are the pros and cons that I should look for...

Thanks!

I am currently looking at the
Sunbeam 5891 2-Pound Programmable Breadmaker
http://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-....._pb_t
and the
Cuisinart CBK-100 2-Pound Programmable Breadmaker
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinar.....chine

OutATowner

Sun, Aug 11 2013, 1:18 pm

I don't know about those two, but you should look for:
1)how long it takes to make a dough. My friend has one that's 1.5 hours, so she can start a batch of rolls when she gets home and have it ready for supper. Mine is a panasonic and takes over 2 hours, so I really have to plan ahead.

2)My machine has a delay feature for baking a loaf, but I wonder if there are any that has a delay just to make the dough. I would love to come home to a dough ready for me to make into pizza or whatever, not just a loaf. If you see this feature anywhere it would come in handy.

Always get a warranty!
Read plenty of reviews.

Good luck!

Seas

Sat, Sep 17 2016, 11:10 pm

We had a Panasonic that we used for a few years with good results (generally), however we lost the paddle and since then I just do the dough in the mixer, shape the loaves by hand and bake in the oven. It takes less time to bake my own bread than to go and buy - not to mention cheaper and tastier.

Mevater

Sat, Sep 17 2016, 11:35 pm

Seas wrote:

How does the bread from the bread machine and oven, compare?

What are the pros and cons?

Gneshe

Sun, Sep 18 2016, 12:14 am

Those are both excellent machines. I've been using my Sunbeam daily and I have only good things to say. I also had a Cuisinart that I got from a fellow Imamother, that lasted a good while.

Seas

Sun, Sep 18 2016, 12:23 am

The pros of a bread machine is the machine doing all the work for you, so after weighing out the ingredients you can basically forget about it until it's done.

The pros of oven baking is you have more control over the process, so if for example a bread takes longer to rise for whatever reason, you just wait a bit longer before baking. Same is with doneness - you can leave the bread in the oven to become as dark or light as you wish.

Having more control is especially important when experimenting with different types of bread and new recipes, as you often need several attempts to get it right with the machine.

Oven baking has another plus that you can sprinkle toppings (sesame, poppy, etc.) all over it, whereas machine bread rises in a pan and only a much smaller surface is exposed.

A major difference in texture is the crust. With machine bread, because it's in a pan it comes out much crustier. With oven bread the crust is softer, and personally I prefer it that way.

Ps. I wrote 'weighing' instead of measuring as it's miles easier and more accurate to weigh the ingredients rather than measure. Just get a good digital scale and you're good to go.

sky

Sun, Sep 18 2016, 10:05 am

I have a panasonic 2.5 lb machine for a few years.
I use it mainly for mixing challah dough, pizza dough, yeast cakes, rolls, etc.
And to bake a occasional breakfast loaf or crusty bread for stew supper.
I LOVE having it.

CONS (I think many of these are only available on very expenisve models) but there are workarounds:
- can't customize the cycles. So stuck with wasting time when the water sits for a long time coming to the right temperature when I can do that myself. I have to use the pizza cycle to make a quick dough.
- Dough cycle doesn't work on a timer - only bake. so can't put up dough to be ready the next morning unless I"m creative.