Decent Bread Machine?

[mneeley490]

I've been throwing hints like crazy at the wife, that I would like a bread machine for Christmas. We had one years ago when the kids were small, and worked it to death. But she is dead-set against it, since she is now in Weight Watchers, and believes that no one else in the household should have any fun, either. The heck with that! I've had my eye on a Cuisinart CBK-100 like this one:

(I can't get the image to show.)
I like the idea of a horizontal loaf like store bread, rather than the tall, square ones the old one produced. The main problem though, as I recall, was that the paddle would scrap off the Teflon (or whatever it was) coating, and ruin the bread. I assume they've improved the things in the last 20 years.
Anyone have a good recommendation?

 

[chef jimmyj]

A Kitchen Aid Pro 600 with flour, water, yeast, sugar and salt. Oh yeah, two bread pans and an oven. Best bread machine on the planet......JJ

 

[mneeley490]

Thanks Chef, but I'm looking for "set & forget" this go 'round.

 

[desertlites]

I let mine mix but bake in pans, if I have the time I mix by hand

 

[chopsaw]

No idea here , but I still have my old one in the pantry . Like you , we used the heck out of that thing . Now I'm gonna get it out tomorrow .

 

[dward51]

The Zojirushi models have been highly rated for years. They are pricey though.

We used to have a Breadman model but I have not used it in a number of years (it's in the basement somewhere). The wife is a retired "lunch lady" and she used to teach all the other kitchen workers county wide how to make bread (for 1,000) every summer. She makes killer bread and is the official keeper of the "super secret school lunchroom roll" recipe (which also makes wicked cinnamon rolls). She uses the Kitchenaid 6.5 quart mixer I bought her in the 1970's for her yeast rolls and breads.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I have an older Oster, I love it. If you want a reliable model, that is my bet :)

 

[johnmeyer]

About 15 years ago I got a Zojirushi bread machine. It has worked very well. I use it sporadically, although because of your post, I'm going to make some bread before I go to bed.

It is similar to this current-day unit:

Zojirushi BB-PAC20BA BB-PAC20

As another poster noted, it is stupidly expensive, but it does gets awfully good ratings.

I use it a lot to make dough. I have a KitchenAid stand mixer with a dough hook and for big recipes that's the way to go, but if you need dough for a pizza or something similar, this will make the dough and handle the rising, all without having to do anything except pour the ingredients into the unit.

 

[LanceR]

You might want to give the Artisan Bread in 5-Minute a Day recipes a shot. It only takes about 3-4 minutes to mix up the dough, let it rise on the counter and put it in the fridge. For the next one to two weeks (depending on the specific dough) you just pull off a hunk of dough, shape a loaf and bake it...... No kneading and it makes really great bread. In fact I'm mixing a batch of semolina dough this morning.

 

[old sarge]

We have a Zojirushi that makes a vertical loaf. Works flawlessly. But if you want a horizontal loaf, maybe this will do it for you:

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/sho...-bakery-supreme-bread-machine-stainless-steel

 

[mneeley490]

Yeah, I'm kind of looking at the Zojirushi's, too. But even the used ones tend to be a bit pricey. I'll probably wait and see if the wife got the hints, and if not I'll pull the trigger on one after Christmas.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

My vote is for a Zojirushi. The MIL bought one for my wife and I as Christmas present several years ago. We haven't used it for a couple of years but from what I remember, it was pretty much set it and forget it and makes horizontal loaves.

If memory serves me correclty, it is this model.

 

[mneeley490]

Well, the wife was stubborn, and didn't come thru for Christmas, so I set out looking for one on my own.
The Zojirushi brand seemed to get the best ratings across the board, so that's what I looked for.
Even used ones were $150+ on craigslist and ebay, but I finally found a local one on OfferUp that a gal was selling for $75. Still more than I initially wanted to shell out, considering you can find most bread machines at garage sales for less than $20. But I got this one, the BBCC-V20. It's not the latest model, but it does put out a great product. I've made a few loaves so far, and can't complain a bit. I set it to come on in the morning, and wake to the smell of fresh bread!
It will also just make dough, so you can throw it into your own pan and bake it, pizza dough, or bake a cake. It will even make jam. Just throw in some berries, sugar, and lemon juice, and it will mix/mash, and cook it. Can't wait to try that one.

 

[old sarge]

We have had a Zo for a few years now and it does a mighty fine job. It replaced a Hitachi which gave great service and bread till it malfunctioned.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

I bet you can even make meet loaf in it. That is if you wanted to.

My wife found and unpacked our BB-CEC20 so we could use it to start baking low carb bread for her.

The Zos hold their value because they're reliable and versatile.

 

[johnmeyer]

Well, the wife was stubborn, and didn't come thru for Christmas, so I set out looking for one on my own.
The Zojirushi brand seemed to get the best ratings across the board, so that's what I looked for.
Even used ones were $150+ on craigslist and ebay, but I finally found a local one on OfferUp that a gal was selling for $75. Still more than I initially wanted to shell out, considering you can find most bread machines at garage sales for less than $20. But I got this one, the BBCC-V20. It's not the latest model, but it does put out a great product.

That is the exact unit that I had for twenty-five years. It works as well now as the day I got it.

BTW, it has a "custom" mode that lets you set all the different parameters any way you want: rise time; pre-heat; cooking time; and more. I found out that I could make bread much more quickly by heating the water myself to 110 degrees and then programming it to skip the preheat cycle. However, I needed to know the original cycle times. I wrote to Zojirushi and the same day they sent to me all of the cycle times. I have it here in front of me, and if you want it, I'll send it to you. It has all the times for the regular and quick cycles for basic, wheat, dough, sandwich, cake, and jam.

 

[johnmeyer]

FWIW, I've attached the cycle time chart I got from Zojirushi, in case anyone else with this model needs or wants it.

 

[Bearcarver]

I've been throwing hints like crazy at the wife, that I would like a bread machine for Christmas. We had one years ago when the kids were small, and worked it to death. But she is dead-set against it, since she is now in Weight Watchers, and believes that no one else in the household should have any fun, either. The heck with that! I've had my eye on a Cuisinart CBK-100 like this one:

(I can't get the image to show.)
I like the idea of a horizontal loaf like store bread, rather than the tall, square ones the old one produced. The main problem though, as I recall, was that the paddle would scrap off the Teflon (or whatever it was) coating, and ruin the bread. I assume they've improved the things in the last 20 years.
Anyone have a good recommendation?

I like the one we got years ago, but I put it away a couple years ago, because of the Calories too.
However I've been thinking about bringing it up from my Basement hideout.

Pros---I love fresh bread!!
Cons---I love Fresh Bread!!

Bear

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Pros---I love fresh bread!!
Cons---I love Fresh Bread!!

That is so true.

 

[old sarge]

I like the one we got years ago, but I put it away a couple years ago, because of the Calories too.
However I've been thinking about bringing it up from my Basement hideout.

Pros---I love fresh bread!!
Cons---I love Fresh Bread!!

Bear

Bear - If you sit with your ankles crossed and one eye shut, there are no calories. That is my theory and I am sticking with it.

Dave