I bought this machine because I figured out that, because of the amount of bread I eat, and, because of the cost of buying the kind of bread I like to eat, this bread machine would pay for itself in roughly 6-8 months. This was a pretty risky investment because I have very limited experience with baking, and, there was a chance that I would not like the bread and would go back to buying; lastly, there was the chance that this machine would break before the 6-8 months elapsed and I would lose my dough. (No pun intended.) I'm sure there were lots of other risks but those are the ones I can think of right now.
Anyway, I did some research here and on other sites. I found out that some people thought the packaging was deceiving. This was not true with my machine. I guess enough people complained and the manufacturer fixed the packaging. People also complained that the medium crust setting produced dark crusted bread and that the light setting produced medium crusted bread. Now this turned out to be true. But it has not bothered me because I don't like light crusted bread anyway. So, I just use the light setting and get the kind of crust I like. I can't really comment on the build of the machine because this is my first machine and I do not know what to compare it to. With that said, err typed, whatever, I am satisfied with the machine's build. It doesn't look cheap. It is not too loud or vibrate too much, in my opinion. I like that it is small because I don't have much counter space.
So what is the bread like? Well I should say that the only type of bread I have really worked on is french bread. Overall, I would say that it's pretty good - if you follow the directions. If you don't follow the directions, the machine will reward you with a brick that tastes kind of like cheeze-it crackers. The best bread I have turned out used the recipe for french bread that comes with the machine with the modification of adding a tablespoon, or two, of honey on top of the yeast. For some reason, adding the honey completely changed the bread. (It probably helped the yeast do its thing or something.) For one, the crust was not as brittle as it normally is and the interior was more like the fancy french breads sold at the store. So, overall, I am satisfied with the bread too.
If I could do it over again, I would look for a machine, in the same price range, that gave me other options (like the option to make artisan breads) instead of the quick bake feature. It uses ridiculous amounts of yeast, which is not cheap, and, I don't really want to eat bread made with like 8 teaspoons of yeast. The regular french bread cycle only takes 3 hours. It sounds like a lot but it really isn't. The machine comes with a timer so I could put the ingredients in the machine, set the timer and go do something else.
One last comment, the crust of the french bread will never match the kind you get from an oven. Why? Because with the bread machine, the crust is always in contact with the pan. It is still good, in my opinion, but keep that it mind. If you are patient enough, you may just want to get a mixer to make the dough and bake it in the oven. I think the trade-off in crust tastiness is worth the set-it-and-forget-it convenience afforded by this machine.
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