Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 A great machine for a great price August 31, 2008
Noelle (Washington, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm all about spending a lot less money on the essentials - and in my house, bread is an essential item. I've made 7 or 8 loaves so far using this bread maker and the Betty Crocker cookbook that other reviewers have mentioned - and I have to tell you, we are just loving this thing. Between that book's recipes and this bread maker, I'm making incredibly good bread both in the bread maker and in my oven.
I've never had a bread maker before, had never made bread until a couple of weeks ago. This thing is so easy - put your ingredients in, push a few buttons, and voila! You're making bread. I'm loving it. In my experience, so far, this has made terrific bread. We're really happy with this purchase.
The one helpful hint I can pass along is, on the dough cycle, don't open the lid! Before I knew that, I couldn't figure out why my first batch of dough didn't rise right. Now I'm like a pro, and gaining the weight to prove just how good this bread is.
Great, reliable breadmaker August 28, 2008
Eric Ritchie (Texas)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an excellent, reliable, and useful breadmaker. I don't understand some of the negative reviews here--I suspect those unfortunate ones must have received defective units or something. I've already cooked several loaves of bread and two batches of jam, and I'm extremely pleased with the machine. The display is simple and easy to use; the instruction manual is helpful, although I agree with the other reviewers in saying that the recipes included leave much to be desired. (Try allrecipes.com or get a bread machine cookbook.) The settings, like Whole Wheat, Sweet, Quickbread, Sandwich, and ExpressBake are very useful for many different baking situations. It has a Dough cycle which comes in handy for so many things, like pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, etc. It also has a bake-only setting for custom baking. Overall, I couldn't ask for more!
 Best White Bread Recipe for the Sunbeam Machine August 27, 2008
Amanda (NH)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is an inexpensive, reliable, easy to use bread machine overall. I use it twice a week and I get better at baking with it as time goes on.
Don't use the recipe for the 1.5 lb. "Homestyle White Bread Loaf" on page 13 in the Sunbeam manual that comes with the machine! Try my version instead. After many weeks of trial and error, this adjusted recipe works best for me:
Add to the bread pan in the usual Sunbeam-recommended order - this is the order I use:
1 c. plus 2 tbsp water
1 tbsp soft butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2.5 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp dry or powdered milk
1.5 tsp salt
3 c. flour*
1.5 tsp quick yeast or bread machine yeast
*Either bread flour, all-purpose flour, or a mixture thereof -
2 c. bread and 1 c. all-purpose works best for me.
Set the machine to bake at the lightest color, at the 1.5 lb. size. When the bread maker finishes baking the loaf, unplug the machine and extract the bread pan (twist to the left and pull up). Don't leave it in the machine. IT'S HOT! Be careful!
Gently twist and shake the bread pan to loosen the loaf or loosen with a thin plastic spatula. Carefully remove the bread from the pan and lay the loaf on its side on a rack to cool. If the mixing paddle is stuck inside the loaf, remove it with the included tool.
This makes a delicious, tender, yet substantial loaf for cold, hot, or grilled sandwiches, toast & jam, French toast, or just about anything. For a delicious stuffing base, cut it into cubes, season, drizzle lightly with melted butter or olive oil, then spread out and lightly toast on big cookie sheets.
Economics: For a 1.5 lb loaf @ 3 cups flour per loaf, I get 6 loaves of bread per 5 lbs. of flour, with around 2 cups of flour left over for the next batch.
A great bread machine for the price! August 14, 2008
A. P. Whitehall (Nashua, NH)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I "accidentally" bought this machine for myself. It was actually supposed to be a Christmas present for my sister-in-law. I found out later that she already had a bread machine so I ended up keeping it. Wow! I'm so glad I did! This machine does every thing it says it does. When I first started using it I would allow the machine to run full cycle and bake the bread in the machine. The result was fine but the odd shape of the loaf made the slices hard to use for normal-sized sandwiches. I find that now I only use the "dough" setting so that I can shape the bread into more conventional loaves and bake them in my oven instead. Either way, the taste, texture and overall food value is excellent. This product is well worth the money. I've had mine for about four years now and I'm very satisfied with it. In fact, our family has stopped buying store bought bread altogether. I bake my own homemade bread about twice a week and if I need sub-sandwich rolls, hamburger or hot dog buns all I have to do is shape the dough and bake. It's already paid for itself in the money I've saved.
There is one or two things to watch out for though:
Number One, since bread baked at home has no preservatives, you'll need to store any bread more than a day old in the refrigerator to avoid molding.
Number Two, when the dough is being mixed at the beginning you'll need to stand by with about two or three ounces of water and add it little by little if the dough ball appears to be dry, flaking and generally not cohesive. If you overwater it you can sprinkle some more flour into the dough ball until you get a nice consistency. With a little practice it becomes second nature.
Happy Baking!
Breadmaker is perfect intersection of performance and price August 6, 2008
ILoveGadgets (Florence, SC)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This was given to me as a gift. It was originally purchased from Amazon.com at an excellent price (under $50). I have had many bread makers over the years and this one performed well right out of the box. It is less expensive to make bread than buy for me. Plus, homemade bread isn't mostly air. The house smells wonderful too!
Pros:
1 - Very friendly interface and large buttons. They are logical. I have had bread makers that used only symbols which didn't always make sense. Those were clearly models sold in multiple countries and they didn't want to spend the money to print words next to the buttons on the unit.
2 - Good viewing window.
3 - Excellent loaf sizes (1.5 and 2 lb) You would be surprised what a good size 1.5 lb really is.
4 - Bread pan is more horizontal than vertical. I don't understand why this is listed as a vertical one. I have had vertical ones and they are more square than this one.
5 - Offers express bake option for both loaf sizes. Have had bread makers that don't.
6 - Allows crust color choices for more than just the basic setting. Have had bread makers that don't.
7 - At under $50.00 price point this is an exceptional value. Probably willing to pay more but over a certain amount ($70), too many other competitors enter the picture that might offer more preferable options.
8 - Instruction guide is user-friendly and mostly thorough although not perfect. Better than others I have had.
9 - Comes with a 'hook' to help remove the paddle should it get stuck in the loaf.
Cons:
1 - I *think* the signal beep is the notice to add special ingredients like raisins but the user guide doesn't mention it for some reason.
Unknown:
1 - Still very new and longevity is complete unknown at this early stage.
Recommend additional purchases:
1 - Betty Crocker bread machine recipe book. Betty Crocker's Best Bread Machine Cookbook: The Goodness of Homemade Bread the Easy Way
2 - Thermometer capable of checking water temp for optimal outcome. Taylor Commercial Waterproof Digital Thermometer or CDN IRXL220 ProAccurate Insta-Read NSF Large Dial Professional
3 - Measuring cups and spoons. Norpro Grip-ez 12 Piece Measure Cup Spoon Set
Tip:
If the paddle gets stuck in the bread pan, just soak it for only a few minutes in some water and it will come right off. Don't let it sit for too long though. This is normal for bread makers.
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