I've been lurking - & baking - for a while now. I got my first bread
machine ( a 1 lb. Regal from Walmart ), because I am allergic to corn, about
3 years ago. I've been baking & experimenting since. My sister gave me the
Bread Machine Magic book about 3 months after I got the machine & I haven't
looked back. I've put a request in for the second book for my birthday this
year, so am ready to leap ahead again. I had to buy a new machine this past
Christmas I couldn't get through the Holidays without one while I waited for
a new bucket to be shipped (my husband was in the habit of setting it to dry
upside down & it finally succumbed to the accumulated rust). I chose a
Proctor-Silex Model 80139 - a 1 1/2 lb size. I chose it as the only one
available in Canada with a timer on the dough cycle. I have had nothing but
trouble with it, & unfortunately I gave my sister my old machine & th e new
bucket. The original machine had an immediately apparent problem with the
baking, which was not immediately detected as I tend to do a lot of fancy,
baked in the oven breads. Through repeated email correspondence with
Hamilton-Beach I finally made it clear to them that I was not using the new
machine any differently than the old one, so my problems _were_ with the
machine not the technique, placement, recipes, etc. They sent me a
replacement machine that performed admirably for about 2 weeks, then has
slowly degenerated to the point where recipes calling for the light crust
cycle now yield a barely cooked loaf when processed on the dark crust cycle.
I am again in correspondence with them & am finding that they are wanting to
start the whole "your technique" thing all over again. I also find that I
reply takes 1 -2 weeks by email.
Has anyone else had a similar problem with this model of machine -
or with Hamilton-Beach ?
Thanks, Mavis Nolte