Cuisinart Compact Automatic Bread Maker Review
On top of the unit, there’s a bread door with a viewing window and a control panel with an LCD display. Machines that bake horizontal loaves tend to be more expensive than those that bake vertical loaves. You’ll find affordable horizontal bread machines, along with some of the most expensive bread machines on the market.
A window in the lid, lit from underneath, lets you peek at your bread’s progress. For each bread maker, we made three loaves — white, wheat and gluten-free — using the recipes for each provided with the machine. If a loaf turned out seriously undercooked, deflated cuisinart griddler elite or misshapen, we baked it again to ensure a mismeasurement of ingredients wasn’t to blame. Although both kneading blades are non-stick and removable, you can set the timer to go off before the final rise to remove the blades before the loaf is perfectly baked.
For each program, there are two times listed under ADD-INS and under REMOVE PADDLE. The Displayed Time is what you will see in the countdown timer window. The Elapsed Time under ADD-INS and REMOVE PADDLE is the number of minutes that have passed since you pressed start. Elapsed Times are listed to let you know when you should return. This unit is equipped with a power failure backup system. In case of any disruption of the power supply, the unit will store in memory the stage of bread-making cycle and resume once power is restored. The power backup feature can maintain memory for a power failure up to 15 minutes.
I chose to make the French bread recipe from the included booklet. All you have to do is add your ingredients, and the bread maker does the rest. The included recipe guide has several foolproof recipes to get you started. Everything from gluten-free and artisan bread options to jam and sauce recipes. Even though the bread machine is compact in size, it doesn’t lack in functionality.
Using dry milk instead of fresh milk enables you to use the Delay Start feature. Dry milk is also added to breads (often along with fresh milk/milk products) to produce a softer crumb. For white breads and any recipe calling for a white flour, the best flour to use is unbleached, all-purpose flour. Doughs made using the Artisan program should use bread flour, which has a higher protein makeup. Use the Whole Wheat program when baking breads containing not only whole-wheat flour, but other heavy flours that will require a longer knead and rise – for example, pumpernickel bread.
LCD Display – both machines have a built-in LCD that shows you the size of the loaf and the crust setting that you chose. It also shows you which preprogrammed function you selected and the timer. Making homemade bread has always been an intimidating task for me – until I found out about the existence of bread makers. Cuisinart CBK-200 Convection Bread Maker vs CBK-100 Bread Maker, two of the best-selling bread-makers in the market right now. Let us find which is the perfect match for your baking needs.