BR> Hi,
BR> My husband wants to buy me a bread machine for Christmas. I hope you
BR> can point me to one or more of:
BR> * archived .net product reviews of bread machines
BR> * magazine article product reviews
BR> * your own recommendations
BR> I do want a "full- featured" machine that can do 100% whole wheat,
BR> fancy breads with nut/fruit additions, and timed-start. What are other
BR> great-to-have features?
BR> We just saw a Sunbean maker advertised for $190 (Cdn) that said it
BR> could make 1 lb. and 1.5 lb. loaves. What about loaf size -- do you
BR> find you always make the largest your machine can do? There are just
BR> two of us I'll be baking for.
Selection criteria is reasonably straight forward. First decide what kinds of
breads you want to make with your machine - that will determine the features
it must have. Then set your budget (remember, the more you want your machine
to do, the more it will cost).
You want a machine capable of handling whole grain doughs - that means you are
_only_ interested in top grade machines with powerful motors and flexible
programming. That also puts you into the large size loaf machines because they
are the only ones with large motors.
I would focus only on the well established brands: Zojirushi,
Trillium/Breadman,
Panasonic/National and DAK/Welbilt. All their top models meet your criteria.
The DAK/Welbilt is the only one with direct drive (the motor turns the paddle
without a belt drive).
The Panasonic/National and Zojirushi have jam/preserve making cycles.
The Trillium/Breadman was very highly rated by Consumer Reports.
Lastly, just because your machine is capable of making 1.5-2 Lb loaves does
not mean you must make full sized loaves every time. You can reduce the
quantities by half and still have your breads come out fine. Remember,
half a loaf is better than none.
Joel
... Our children learn by our example. Oh my god...