WEST BEND Bread Slicing Guide
From Distributed by Maxi-Aids
Features: Accommodates large size loaves of bread to 2lbs. Sides are collapsible for easy compact storage. Slice guides give you even slices every time. Easy to clean and store.
Why is this obsolete? I need this item. The one I have is broken and I have to hold the sides together to slice the bread right. Otherwise, I'll have to be satisfied with uneven bread slices. HELP!!!
West Bend 41200 Programmable Bread Machine, Stainless
From West Bend
Compact Breadmaker with non-stick pan for easy clean-up and easy loaf removal. Stainless Exterior - 490 watts with window to view bake cycle. Audible alert for adding "extras". Recipes included.
Wake up to the smell of freshly baked bread with this programmable bread machine. Simply add the ingredients, choose from several options using the touch-pad controls, and it takes care of the rest. It will mix the ingredients, knead the dough, let it rise, and bake it to perfection--soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. Choose from 1-, 1-1/2-, and 2-pound sizes and three crust settings--light, medium, or dark. Once the baking has completed, the machine switches to a one-hour keep-warm cycle that keeps bread warm without over-cooking. The unit's 12 program settings include basic, French, whole wheat, sweet, quick, brown, and super rapid for 1-1/2- and 2-pound loaves, plus dough, bagel dough, jam, and bake settings. Other highlights include delay start, an audible alert for adding "extras", a viewing window, an easy-to-read blue backlit LCD control panel, and a non-stick pan for effortless loaf removal and quick clean-up. Recipes come included. Attractively housed in durable stainless steel, the 490-watt bread machine measures 13-1/2 by 12-1/2 by 11-1/2 inches and carries a one-year limited warranty.
So far, so good!
Purchased this West Bend model after hours of research on the internet. Was unwilling to risk problems associated with other brands/models. I was looking for something under [...], reliable, relatively quiet, easy to use, preferrably stainless (although not absolutely necessary) and of course, made a good loaf of bread. I also liked the fact that this one was a little smaller than others I considered. So far, I'm very happy with this machine, and if it continues to hold up over time, I will continue to pass on good reviews.
***Update 9/2009 I've learned the key to good bread is, of course, having a good recipe, and using yeast specifically made for bread machines. I've found two recipes I really like on [...] and am passing this on to help others avoid wasting time and money like I did! (The two I am using are the whole wheat w/cereal, and the raisin cinnamon. I don't know that the flour makes a lot of difference, but I'm also using the Gold Medal mixed with Hodgson's Mill Whole Wheat, and putting in the extra cinnamon and a bit more raisins for the other recipe.) Easy and delicious! I'm very glad I bought this machine and started making bread that is so much healthier and tastier than most of what you find at the local supermarket!
Still Working After All These Years.
Though the shape and design has changed over the years, my West Bend is still going strong. It was given to me as a gift at least ten years ago.
Making bread has never been easier. Pour in water. Dump in flour, salt and yeast. Push button. The bread machine does everything else, including that dreadful kneading.
I've experimented many times by adding garlic, olives, cheese, pepperoni, or whatever I can think of. I lessen slightly the amount of water when tossing in wet ingredients such as black olives. It's fun and the bread is delicious.
If this West Bend ever fails I will seek another.
Fantastically Easy
I'm a novice breadmaker, but the West Bend machine is just what I was hoping it would be. Easy to use and super easy to clean. And the bread is terrific, with a nice crust.
Betty Crocker's Best Bread Machine Cookbook: The Goodness of Homemade Bread the Easy Way
By Betty Crocker Editors
Everyone loves fresh bread, but not the time it takes to make it. Bread machines are hot items in the kitchen because they take the work out of making homemade bread. Even better, Betty Crocker takes the mystery out of the bread machine and brings you easy-to-use recipes for both 1 1/2-pound and 2-pound loaves that work for all the popular bread machine models. We've packed this book with over 100 recipes to tempt your tastebuds. There are delicious bread recipes for classic favorites, rustic breads, sweet doughs, coffeecakes and buns.
Old-fashioned bread the new-fashioned way, Betty calls it. Easy, convenient, modern. There's no knead for loafing. Not with that fabulous combination in the kitchen: Betty Crocker and the bread machine.
The construction of this book, first of all, is wonderful. The cover is hard and the binding is heavy, enameled spiral. Each page lays flat on the counter, or you can hold the book open on one arm while doing something with the other hand. This suggests that Betty Crocker wrote her bread-baking cookbook with serious use in mind. She certainly tested her recipes. A variety of bread machines were used, which means that each recipe was tested a number of different times. Betty tells you exactly what kind of flour she used, as well as salt, size of eggs, kind of yeast, etc. She leaves nothing to chance.
Bread machine baking has its own peculiarities, and Betty addresses all these right up front, the hows and how-tos (as well as the whys and wherefores) of getting the perfect loaf every time. There's a troubleshooting section, as well as a frequently asked question section. Then it's right into the recipes, all 130 of them.
There are Good and Savory Loaves (Cheese Onion Bread) and Wholesome Grain Loaves (Toasted Almond Whole Wheat Bread), Fruit and Vegetable Harvest Loaves (Dried Apricot Bread), Smaller Can Be Just Right Loaves (these are one-and-a-half-pound loaves), and then several chapters on breads you start in the bread machine, but finish in the oven. These include braided sweet breads, pizza dough, rustic-style breads, and coffeecakes.
Any bread machine owner is going to love to loaf with Betty Crocker. --Schuyler Ingle
From the Back Cover
With the press of a botton, enjoy an exciting collection of satisfying homemade breads and doughs!
Betty Crocker takes the mystery out of the bread machine and brings you easy-to-use recipes for 1-pound, 1 1/2-pound and 2-pound loaves. Everyone loves fresh bread, but not the time it takes to make it.
Bread machines are great because they take the work out of making homemade bread.
We've packed this book with over 130 recipes to tempt your tastebuds. There are recipes for breads your machine makes, in addition to recipes for doughs that you shape and bake in a conventional oven. You'll also find easy-to-follow illustrations on how to shape and trim doughs into great loaves of bread!
Best of all, you can trust these recipes will work in your bread machine because the Betty Crocker kitchens have tested every recipe in many different machines to ensure success at home. There's nothing better than the taste of homemade bread—and no one brings it to you better than Betty Crocker.
Great book
when I bought my bread machine a year ago I was really excited about buying a cookbook to try it out. I found so many books, and most of the reviews said "buy this one it's the best", or "you won't need another one"... I got all confused. So, since I have most Betty Crocker cookbooks, I choose this one, 'cause I know they only have try and true recipes. In fact, it didn't let me down.
The book starts with an introduction about bread machines in general, how they work, and ingredients. It has a chart with all kinds of flours and teaches you what kind of bread you'll get.
Then the recipes. Including here, classics like white bread, Sally Lunn, garlic bread. New ones like orange capuccino brad. It has one of the best bagel recipe.
It's divided in 7 chapters:
Chapter 1: Good and Savory loaves
Chapter 2: Wholesome Grains Loaves
Chapter 3: Fruit and Veggie Harvest Loaves
Chapter 4: Smaller Can Be jst Right
Chapter 5: Rustic Loaves and Flatbreads
Chapter 6: Satisfying Rolls and Breadsticks
Chapter 7: Sweet breads and Coffee Cakes
The book has plenty of pictures, and this, especially for a beginner, is pretty important to know what it will look like the bread you are gonna bake.
A year later, I find myself still using this fantastic book and having excellent results. It has over 130 recipes so it's impossible to get bored.
Breads lack variety in consistency but info/reasearch great
There are several very positive comments that I have about this book. First, the recipes were tested on all 3 sizes of loaves. Therefore, sometimes proportions of ingredients will not necessarily agree with proportions of bread weight in order to get the same bread. I was happy to have someone else go through these tests so that I didn't have to. Another interesting element to this book is that they show pictures of how "wrong" breads look and list what possible ingredients were out of proportion. This is very helpful in analyzing the outcome of your bread. Finally, I am a picture person and all of the breads have beautiful pictures next to them.
The big negative I found in the book was that all of the breads I made (about 7) had the same consistency. If you are interested in creating more interesting types of breads, such as light airy french breads with crunchy crusts or ciabatta's - you will be hard pressed to find them in this book.
Great variety of breads plus easy to follow instructions
This excellent bread machine cookbook covers a wide variety of bread types, from standard loaves to multigrains to fruit breads to related items such as rolls, pizza, and coffee cakes. The instructions for each recipe are clearly broken down into easily understandable steps; although some of the breads involve decorative touches that appear difficult, simple sidebar illustrations make these fancy finishes a breeze. The full-page photographs accompanying many of the recipes definitely make your mouth water as well as give some wonderful suggestions for how you can use each type of bread (however, as an earlier reviewer mentioned, I would have preferred to see every recipe illustrated). Overall, I would recommend this cookbook to anyone looking for bread machine recipes ranging from the simple to the more creative.
Breadman TR520 Programmable Bread Maker for 1-, 1-1/2-, and 2-Pound Loaves
From Black & Decker
Bring Home the Bakery! Fall in love with your favorite breads and baked goods all over again! Featuring 16 unique baking functions in 3 loaf sizes – 1, 1.5 & 2 lb. – plus light, medium and dark crust control, you can make all your favorite breads, dough and even jams with ease – including low carb and gluten free! Our patented automatic fruit & nut dispenser means no more waiting around, while convection technology ensures even cooking and professional results.Please Note: When delivered, kneading paddle may be attached to the power cord of the bread maker.
Enjoy the delicious aroma of freshly baked bread with this easy-to-use breadmaker. The machine bakes 1-, 1-1/2-, and 2-pound loaves in less than an hour and can handle any favorite recipe--from cinnamon raisin, honey wheat, rosemary, and cranberry oat to hearty rye, cheesy onion focaccia, and classic French bread, even cinnamon rolls for breakfast or dinner rolls for the evening meal. The machine features a user-friendly push-button control panel with a digital display for simple programming. Choose from three crust shades--light, medium, or dark, and from eight different functions for making a wide range of breads and doughs. The unit also provides a delay timer that can be set up to 13 hours--great for waking up to or coming home to a warm loaf ready to be sliced and lathered with butter. Other thoughtful design details include a fruit-and-nut add-in signal bell, a viewing window, a removable lid, and a nonstick baking pan for quick cleanup. The breadmaker measures approximately 13-1/2 by 12-1/5 by 13-1/2 inches and carries a one-year limited warranty.
good deal - we're happy with it
We bake a loaf about every 5 days, usually basic white or honey wheat. We've also made herb breads, seed breads and pizza dough. This is our first and only bread machine so we've nothing to compare it to, but seems great to us. The loaves are beautiful and almost always perfect - we've only had one loaf that didn't turn out (don't know why). There's a timer that lets us set it up the night before and wake to the smell of fresh bread baking... mmmm...... The paddle does tend to take a largish chunk of bread with it when the loaf comes out of the pan. The writing is hard to read as others have said, but we use the default setting 95% of the time so we don't have to read anything - just hit start. For an inexpensive breadmaker, it's really great. We've had ours 7 months.
Horizontal Loaf Breadmaker
This Breadmaker is exactly what I had hoped for. In all my years of skirting around purchasing a Breadmaker, I never realized how easy it would be to use one and then we found this one on Amazon.com. My husband is the primary cook in our 2-member family, we are retired senior citizens, and he is very pleased. The breads are delicious and there was no trial/error period! The aroma of fresh cooking bread is so good! We find ourselves waiting anxiously for the end of the cooking cycle, slice it after it's cooled, get out the butter/margarine and enjoy a very small piece and critique it. No failures! Thanks. jtf895@aol.com
Not too shabby!!
This is my first bread machine and it's a beauty! My first loaf was a failure, but the 2nd, 3rd and 4th have been simply delicious. I believe the trick is to sift your flour thoroughly and remove immediately after baking (don't use the 'warm' option). Gotta go...there's bread to be made! ha ha
P.S. Don't be fooled amazon shoppers...this is the exact same model as the 'Breadman TR520'. They're roughly the same price, yet the Melitta has free shipping...or at least it did when I purchased it.
Panasonic SD-YD250 Automatic Bread Maker
From Panasonic
Providing myriad options, this automatic bread maker embodies the marvels of 21st century electronic convenience and choice. Yes, it mixes, kneads, rises, and bakes bread in three loaf sizes up to 2-1/2 pounds. But its digital controls go much further, offering settings for white, whole wheat, multigrain, and French (crisp crust, open texture) breads, each made according to what's best for that particular style. Other settings permit rapid baking and baking sandwich bread with a soft crust. For raisin (or other dried-fruit) bread, a beeper signals when to add the fruit so it's not crushed during kneading. Crust color--dark or light--can be selected as well.
The machine automatically adds yeast at the proper time from a dispenser on the unit's lid. It also bakes non-yeast, quick breads-- like banana and gingerbread--and sweet cakes. And it mixes, kneads, and rises doughs for pizza, focaccia, croissants, and other pastries without baking them. A timer permits the machine to be programmed up to 13 hours in advance so fresh bread or cake is available for breakfast or dinner. For cleanup convenience, the baking pan is nonstick. Clad in metal and packing 550 watts of power, the machine measures 14 inches wide, 13.5 inches high, and 9 inches deep. Its instruction booklet is exceptionally easy to understand and includes recipes for 40 breads and doughs along with an insightful guide to baking basics and illustrated tips for making pastries. --Fred Brack
Has lots of options, and makes very good bread
[Between 4 and 4.5 stars]
The Panasonic SD-YD250 is pretty much the state of the art in bread machine technology in mid-2003. It's one of the larger units around with a 2.5 lb. loaf capacity. This size will also eat up your counter or cupboard space: you need just under 14" of width and height, and 10" of depth, so keep that in mind when you order.
The bread consistency is excellent. It's even pretty good in the "rapid" mode, though the results are a bit better in the standard bake mode so that's what I generally use. Also, the "rapid" mode for whole wheat or multigrain bread is 3 hours (vs. 5 hours standard), so it's not like you can start the machine at the beginning of a meal and expect completed bread before you leave the table. The fastest full cycle -- "rapid" bake mode for white bread -- is 1hr 55min.
The SD-YD250 is quieter than most earlier bread makers; however, you'll still hear the clicking and whirring as it mixes and kneads the dough. It's a neat idea to wake up to the smell of freshly-baked bread but the machine isn't quiet enough to run in the bedroom unless you're a VERY sound sleeper.
The options for this machine include the following:
o basic/rapid bake
o immediate start/timer delay
o white/whole wheat/multigrain
o sandwich (soft crust)
o crust color light/medium/dark
o raisin (pause and beep to add fruit or nuts)
o dough knead without bake
o bake without dough knead
Note that not all of these options can be combined. For instance: you only get crust color selection for white bread, and sandwich mode for white and whole wheat; multigrain bread always has a dark, tough crust (although the bread inside the crust is moist and well-textured).
The container inside really is nonstick (based on my not-so-lengthy use since I bought it) and the kneading blade does very little damage to the finished loaf. Ease of use and cleanup are both excellent.
Bread results are quite sensitive to variations in the ingredients in either weight, consistency, or age. Always use fresh BREAD flour and fresh yeast (bread machine yeast recommended) and the right amount of salt, sugar, and flour. The recipes in the included book specify flour weight in units like 16 3/4 oz., so it's HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you get a digital kitchen scale for good results. Note that this will require still more counter space.
Summary: a very good machine, but you'll need a fair amount of counter space and attention to details to get the best results from it.
Panasonic Rules
You get what you pay for in this world and the Panasonic SD-YD250 is a perfect example. Quiet as a mouse. No jumping around the counter and whining and improperly mixing as a Breadman we purchased (and returned) did. Had another Panasonic for 8 years. Decided to replace it when the pan seal failed and we checked out the cost of a replacemtnt pan (not realizing we could replace just the paddle mechanism/seal.) Thought we could get by on the cheap with the Breadman. Wrong. If you are looking for a rock solid, flexible unit that turns out a perfect loaf time after time (up to 2.5 lbs), this is your bread machine. The automatic yeast dispenser is a great feature, particulary if you use the timer. Spend the [money].
No problem with the Oz and really outdoes the Philips
I purchased this machine as a replacement for a Philips bread machine I've had for a couple of years. It's the third bread machine I've purchased for myself, and had bought its predecessor (the SD-250) for my Parents some time ago. My Philips packed up (the bread tin broke away from its base), and they don't make spares, so I have to throw the whole machine in the bin - definitely won't buy another Philips anything. My parents have been most impressed with the Panasonic, and it's been personally recommended to me by other people, so after reading all the reviews on Amazon.com I decided to buy one.
So, to the point, I'm thoroughly impressed with this machine. It is solid and quiet. I took the first loaf I made with it and sliced it to find an absolutely even loaf (even from the 1:55 rapid mode). All the other machines I've had have had some level of streaking or unevenness in the bread.
As for all the other criticism of the recipe book for its use of weight rather than volume measurements for flour, it is a far more accurate way of measuring flour for any baking. Also the manual has since been updated (no doubt as a result of these criticisms), and now shows the approximate volume equivalents in all the recipes.
