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91 of 99 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing like fresh bread in the morning, June 3, 2000
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!
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