Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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89 of 91 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent bread machine, November 23, 2004
My old Oster Breadmaker broke down after years of heavy use, and so I was faced with purchasing a new machine before the holidays. Without hesitation, I bought another Oster. I like the rectangular loaves, the ease of the controls, and the consistent results. Although this new and improved model has the same non-stick loaf pan and easy-to-clean white plastic/glass exterior, Oster has added two Express Bread cycles, a crust color control, and the ability of the motor to handle another half pound, taking the total to 2 pounds or 4 cups of flour. This added capacity is especially useful when converting typical bread recipes that call for 8 cups of flour. The older Oster had an annoying hum to the machine when it was plugged in but not in use; this one is silent except when making bread. In every way, this is an improved model; even its price is lower.
You can time your bread to be done up to thirteen hours after adding ingredients as long as perishables such as milk, egg, and oatmeal aren't used. The dough setting allows for mixing, kneading, and rising of dough that you can later use for artisan breads such as focaccia, hand-rolled pretzels, rye rounds, dinner rolls, baguettes, and pizza dough. Other settings include sweet bread, wheat, and French. This machine includes a much needed option for bake only - to salvage those annoying times when the power goes out, resetting the machine. (Previously, I had to dump the dough into a loaf pan and cook it in the oven.) If not unplugged or stopped after the end of the cycle, the machine reverts to "keep warm" mode for up to 60 minutes, but expect a thicker crust.
The Express cycles, 58 and 80 minutes long from plug-in to completion of baking, require adjustments to recipes. You need five teaspoons of fast rising yeast, less salt (salt controls rising), and at least two tablespoons of sugar/honey. Although I haven't yet had the guts to try the 58 minute cycle, the results in the longer Express setting are wonderful. The bread has a moist, slightly denser crumb - more like a batter yeast bread than a kneaded one, but not as dense as a quick bread. You get a full size loaf with a nice crisp crust; the additional yeast lends only a slightly more yeasty flavor and probably wouldn't be noticeable if you weren't tasting for it.
Troubleshooting: if your loaves collapse or have a coarse, large-hole crumb then you've either added too much water or used a fast-rising yeast for a regular cycle. ("Bread Machine Yeast" is generally fast-rising.) Midway through the kneading cycle, the dough should be a smooth round ball. If it is oozing, add more flour. The general ratio is 3 cups dry ingredients to 1 cup liquid. If your loaf doesn't rise properly, you may be using old yeast or all-purpose flour instead of the higher gluten bread flour. Also, 100% whole wheat recipes require added gluten to rise. Never omit salt, as it is an integral part of the rising process as well as the taste. I find that the recipes in bread machine books are much more accurate and successful than those that come with the bread makers themselves.
Newcomers to bread making will get wonderful tasting loaves from the start, although experience will yield consistency. (I'm so familiar with the usual proportions that I make up recipes as I'm going - and they all turn out.) Just make sure you add the ingredients in order, starting with the liquids and ending with the yeast. Plug it in, select a setting, and walk away. You have complete control over the quality and kind of ingredients that end up in the bread basket.
Highly recommended. If you've never used a bread machine, you'll wonder why you hadn't bought one sooner.
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64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A baker will love this...and so will the person cleaning-up!, October 16, 2004
Form, function, price this thing is great.
I have made a lot of bread over the years and I am a bit of a snob when it comes to fresh baked bread. Crust, texture, flavor are all very important. What has never been important to me is how messy the kitchen gets while I do it. I have resigned myself to the fact that bread making is going to be messy (dishes, flour, bake pans, you know the score).
I have always been skeptical of bread machines and the few loaves I've tried from machines have always been lacking. Generally the break tastes okay but the crust is soft and weak and the body a little too fluffy.
This machine is very different...
1) There are multiple settings to automagically bake the bread to the you desire (quick-white, french, plain doug [no baking]).
2) It works through the same knead/rise cycles that are used when baking by hand.
3) You are also able to select the darkness of the crust.
What comes out is very good bread. What else do I like...
--Almost no mess. Everything into the non-stick pan push button everything mixes then bakes. Clean-up is nearly non-existent.
--Manual and recipe book couldn't be easier. My wife bought this for my birthday but in the first two days she cracked open the box and made 4-5 loaves of bread.(Many quick easy varieties in recipe book)
--delayed start...want hot, warm bread for breakfast...bake while you sleep.
--Can use basic ingredients. Don't need bread machine mixes. This means your bread can be very high quality and very cheap (when do you get that anymore?).
--Design. Small foot-print. Easy to use buttons.
Bottom line...nothing wrong here and if you like good bread you won't be let down.
Tip of the Day... Don't vary the recipes that are supplied with the unit too at first. There are reasons for the volumes and ingredient combinations. Remember this is real yeast based bread that is being prepared completely automatically.
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This is my first breadmaker..., January 21, 2004
...so I don't have a true basis of comparison against other machines. However, I did my homework and bought a machine with the features I wanted in the price range I could afford. I've had the machine about 3 weeks, and have made about 15 loaves of bread. So far I have had fairly good outcomes, however, most loaves collapse. I have tried adjusting the ingredients as I have read in the book that came with the machine and on several websites, but there seems no rhyme or reason as to why the tops to cave in. Raisin bread came out great twice, and I made a loaf of Country White that didn't collapse. Other than that, every loaf sank, but I must say that even though they weren't exactly attractive, they tasted good. They weren't "bricks," they were just flat on top. I am not going to give up; I enjoy using the machine, I am an experienced breadmaker, and I know how to find and use resources. I believe I will be successful.As for the machine itself, I find it easy to use and to clean. So far I have had no problems with the machine itself, only the recipes. (That's what I believe, anyway... I don't think it's the machine causing the tops to cave in, but the ratio of ingredients.) I could recommend it for anyone who has the time to stay with the machine and adjust the ingredients while the dough kneads. I haven't tried the delay timer or the ExpressBake features, as I thought it best to keep an eye on things while I'm still a breadmachine beginner. By the way, this model appears to be exactly the same as the Oster 5838, but they call it Inspire and only sell it through Target stores.
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