Customer Reviews

Toastmaster 1148X Fast Bake 2-Pound Horizontal Bread Machine

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was HIGHLY disappointed in this machine. I got this machine last October, had it for 2 months and it died after making horrible clunking noises for a week. I took it to the certified repair center who had it for a month and said they fixed it, but when I took it home to make pizza dough it died the same day. I was FURIOUS and shipped it back to the company. I will say I got very prompt service from them and had a new one (they couldn't fix mine) on my doorstep in 10 days from when I had sent it. I was happy until the new one started doing the SAME THING after 4 months of use. It just died 2 days ago. Needless to say I am looking for a different brand. To be fair I will say that I use my breadmaker 5-7x/week. However the Welbuilt machines I had previously took that kind of workload for 6 years without a problem. So Don't buy this machine unless you are only using it on a rare occassion!

My husband and I chose this breadmaker as a 10 yr. anniversary gift from his employer. I have used it only 2 days and I have two main complaints about it. One, I don't like that this is a vertical machine, I like the top of the bread to be like the bread found in grocery stores. Two, on the basic medium cycle, the bread got way too dark and I had to turn off the machine even though it had 32 minutes left to bake the bread. My son said the bread was burning. Who knows what the bread would have looked like if I had left it in the machine until the end of the cycle!

The recipe book is easy to understand and has a lot of information; I suggest that you read it a few times all the way through before you start to make bread. I have not used any of the cycles except Basic Medium and French. My husband and I feel that we will only use the 1 lb. and 1.5 lb. setting, because when I made the French Bread on the 2 lb. setting, the bread was not dense like normal french bread--it had a lot of holes due to the need to expand the dough to make a bigger loaf. I made the second loaf of bread--the one I had to remove early--on the 1.5 lb. setting, and it was fine, nice and dense. The machine is noisy when mixing the bread, but that doesn't bother me. The inner pan is very easy to clean, though it cannot be immersed in water/dishwasher. Bread is very easy to remove from the pan.

Lastly, I found that as soon as I start the machine, it mixes, but I have to open the lid and give the machine a little help by scraping the flour from the corners and bottom with a rubber spatula. The blade does not get all the flour from the corners and the bottom. The flour will lay there even after the machine starts mixing the dough ball back and forth. This doesn't bother me either, I don't mind scraping the flour; I'd rather do that than have lumps of flour in the bread or flour on the outside of the loaf.

Since we didn't have to pay for this, this breadmaker is an ok machine. It does what it is supposed to do. My husband is a fresh bread lover, so he is pleased with the bread. However, if you are paying $100 and up for a breadmaker, look at other models first.

You know, it's funny because I wanted this thing so badly but I couldn't "justify" paying $1-200 to make bread at home. Years went by that I just kept wanting it.

What's so funny is that if you look at my other reviews, I don't even blink when it comes to spending $2-300 on a device that replaces my $10 dayplanner, or $200 on an MP3 player to replace my walkman!

I realized that I had this "kitchen" mental block going so I caved in and bought the Toastmaster. I haven't regretted it since. There are a LOT of breadmachine cookbooks out there - but here's what i've done to make owning one of these Very economical, easy, and fun.

1. I MASTERED the plain white bread recipe. Every little spoonful of ingredients makes a world of difference. Your altitude, humidity level - everything can influence your recipe. So rather than switching recipes all the time (too many changed variables - that's the engineer in me speaking) I keep the same recipe.

2. Once I had the recipe mastered, I measured out Dozens of ziploc bags filled w/ the recipe - this only takes a half hour or so, and will last you months and months... about 30cents per ziploc bag.

3. Now, anytime I want bread I just dump a ziploc bag, add water, butter and yeast - and customize the bread - this is the key part.

**If I want raisin bread, it's my basic white - plus cinamon, and raisins...

**If I want to bake in the oven and make a braided bread - I start w/ my basic white and add some spices or flavors...

**I don't even use a recipe book anymore and since it's so easy to do I make breads all the time. I personally believe simplicity is the key that makes this breadmachine great.

Now how does this breadmachine excel? I can't say exactly because I haven't compared it to others. But I can say that I have no complaints, that it's cranked out maybe hundreds of loaves and never fails me. VERY easy to clean (IMPRESSIVELY Easy I should say) and even easier to master.

Don't hesitate if you've been thinking of it. Just don't get some wimpy 1 lb machine - even a single guy like me needs the full 2 lbs (who cares if you're feeding the ducks w/ the rest - no big deal, but what are you going to do if you have guests over - give everyone a slice! )

Enjoy!

I recently tried to resolve a problem with Toastmaster concerning my bread maker. Their lack of concern, and indeed lack of response, to my queries were very aggravating. Don't buy their products! If a company won't stand by their products and try to resolve customer concerns, why would anyone want to own one? I will never buy their product again and I most certainly suggest you don't either.

If you don't mind the horizonal shape, this machine does it all. It's very simple to use. Regardless of the type of bread you are making, there are only 2 buttons to push to start the process, 3 if you want to delay the start time. The only drawback is the cooldown time between loafs. I have found you can make 2 loafs back-to-back, but it needs to rest (about 30 minutes) before making a 3rd. It's the next best tasting to the honest labor of love effort.

I got this one when it was ... The only complaint I had was that it didn't ship with a breadmix, even though the box said it was included. I have since baked dozens of breads, and except for a couple of times, have had excellent results. The bread is generally much better (and obviously fresher) than you regular grocery store or even gourmet breads. The occasions when the results didn't come out ok was also due to me not following the recipe book strictly. Pay close attention to the type and amount of yeast and the temperature of liquids, as it makes all the difference.

I have also used the breadmaker to make dough for unleavened bread, such as chapati/roti and parathas.

I have wanted a bread machine for years, but couldn't justify buying one. I figured, whatever, if it works great, I'll have gotten a bargain--if it's awful, I didn't spend that much money.

Well, guess what? It's GREAT! The cookbook it came with is great, it really explains the chemistry of the ingredients so you can experiment confidently. I followed the white bread recipe to the letter, and got outstanding bread. Now, I'm experimenting a little bit. So far, have made about 5 loaves in about 2 weeks....all terrific! The crust does get a bit dark, I am only using the "light" setting and it's nicely browned. I am now experimenting to find the recipe I like best.

It's very simple to use this machine, too....very intuitive. You needn't be a rocket scientist or an engineer to figure out how to start the thing!

I am very pleased with this bread machine

I used to have really expensive Panasonic bread maker(model SD_-YD 250), but after 1 year of use it stopped working completely Soo.. I bought this toastmaster breadmaker almost 1 year ago. I didn't expect this less expensive breadmaker was going to be my favorite kitchen machine. The best thing of this machine is definetely 3 things. 1. price 2. durability 3. simplicity. Since I bought this machine I am using everyday for my 3 kids and bread loving husband. Last week we decided to buy the same machine as 2nd bread maker( I have 2 of this breadmaker now!) since I can't keep up with my family guys' eating bread speed. Almost everyday I make 2 kinds of bread!
This machine is defenetely worth your money.

I bought this bread machine almost a year ago and as long as you make sure you have the pan in right it works great. I love having fresh bread in the morning. My children love the different kind of breads they can try...

I was surprised to see a negative review here about Toastmaster support. When I got mine, I had a bit of trouble removing the pan the first time, and being afraid of damaging it, I called the support number and was helped by a very friendly and knowledgeable person. He told me to give it a good and careful but hard yank, and if it bent it, he'd send me another pan for free. Well, it came right out, and after baking a few loaves the tight fit loosened and is now fine. He also answered a number of my questions about using the machine. I was very impressed with all of this free help for a new customer.

The only thing I don't like about my particular model, the Bread Box Plus TBR2, is the LCD is blurry and sometimes hard to read unless you view it at just the right angle. Other than that, it's a great appliance, and I bake at least twice a week. As with the microwave oven, I don't know how we ever lived without it.