Anyone satisfied with their breadmaker? If so which ones stand out?

[pivoxa15]

Anyone satisfied with their breadmaker? If so which ones stand out? Is it worth buying a more expansive one? How does it compare to the bread at the local bakery?

 

[chroot]

In my opinion, they all pretty much suck, but some suck slightly less than others. I've never had bread from a bread machine that came even remotely close in quality to a $2 loaf from a nearby bakery.

The biggest problem with them is that they just don't make good crusts, so you're never going to make a good ciabatta or sourdough in a bread machine. They do okay for banana bread and other moist breads that don't need a crispy, textured crust, though.

- Warren

 

[pivoxa15]

In my opinion, they all pretty much suck, but some suck slightly less than others. I've never had bread from a bread machine that came even remotely close in quality to a $2 loaf from a nearby bakery.

The biggest problem with them is that they just don't make good crusts, so you're never going to make a good ciabatta or sourdough in a bread machine. They do okay for banana bread and other moist breads that don't need a crispy, textured crust, though.

- Warren

You mean fruits mixed with bread? So it seems they are good for making personalised breads espcially with filling. Almost like making a cake.

Do people also usually buy pre bread mix or add the basic separate ingredients themselves?

 

[Evo]

My breadmaker makes great bread with a nice crispy crust.

If I let it cook in the bread maker, they all come out as uniform rectangular loaves. If you want authentic shapes, you need to remove the dough, shape it, and cook it in a regular oven. At least all of the hard work is done.

 

[turbo]

My wife has a Kitchen Pro breadmaker that makes crispy crusts, and my favorite bread of all is her onion rye from that breadmaker. Much tastier than anything from a store, with body and a nice texture. That bread is great for toast and for sandwiches.

My father has a breadmaker, but stopped using it since he found out that he could make delicious raisin bread. It was addictive and he started packing on the pounds, so he buys bland store-bought bread so that he won't overeat.

 

[Moonbear]

Mine makes really crispy crusts too, but I wouldn't recommend it for a few reasons
1) It's HUGE! Takes up too much counter space.
2) It's really noisy when mixing the dough. So much for setting it on a timer to have fresh bread when I wake up, because as soon as it starts mixing, it wakes me up...about 3-4 hours before there's fresh bread ready.
3) It's hard to clean. The paddle inside the mixer is supposed to be removable to clean thoroughly. Well, it hasn't budged in years. I think by the third time I made bread, some flour got inside and baked in there, and all the soaking, tugging, pulling and swearing in the world hasn't freed it again.

Cube-shaped loaves of bread are pretty strange too. I wish someone would figure out a way to make more normal shapes of loaves, but I guess they need to be the shape they are to do the kneading properly.

 

[turbo]

Mine makes really crispy crusts too, but I wouldn't recommend it for a few reasons
1) It's HUGE! Takes up too much counter space.
2) It's really noisy when mixing the dough. So much for setting it on a timer to have fresh bread when I wake up, because as soon as it starts mixing, it wakes me up...about 3-4 hours before there's fresh bread ready.
3) It's hard to clean. The paddle inside the mixer is supposed to be removable to clean thoroughly. Well, it hasn't budged in years. I think by the third time I made bread, some flour got inside and baked in there, and all the soaking, tugging, pulling and swearing in the world hasn't freed it again.

Cube-shaped loaves of bread are pretty strange too. I wish someone would figure out a way to make more normal shapes of loaves, but I guess they need to be the shape they are to do the kneading properly.

1) Ours is really big, too, so we store it in the pantry unless it is being used.
2) Ditto on the noisy, but we have taken to running a fan in the bedroom for "white noise" to cover the sounds of some neighboring truckers that fire up at 2-3am to be the first pulp trucks at the local pulp mill, so they can squeeze in an extra load or so a day. We certainly don't begrudge them this - some of these local truckers are putting in 12+ hour days with weekend runs to keep food on the table.
3) Ours is very easy to clean. The agitator comes out so cleanly that it ends up embedded in each loaf of bread as we invert the non-stick pan to dump the loaf.

 

[brewnog]

We've got an LG one from about 3 years ago, which makes very good bread (assuming you're prepared to buy proper flour and experiment a little), but absolutely fantastic dough, and the best carrot cake I've ever had.