Side by Side Comparison of: Cuisinart vs Sunbeam

Cuisinart CBK-200 2-Lb Convection Bread Maker5 out of 5 StarsI have been dying to get a bread maker for a while now so when I was able to order this I was very excited. I use several shopping coupon apps I decided that I would cash in everything I had saved for the last month & I had enough to purchase this. I did a LOT of research prior to purchasing my new bread maker & despite some of the negative reviews this had, I decided this model had all the settings I was interested in as well. So far I am 150% satisfied with my bread maker. My first loaf came out fantastic. The crust was a little hard so next time I’m going to adjust my recipe slightly & lower the crust setting. I love the fact that it has an alarm before the final rise so you can take out the paddle & reshape the loaf. As someone who has been schooled in cooking & who grew up with a father that loved to bake I know that brad making is a science & there are a lot of things outside of the machine itself that can cause you do get a not so great loaf. I personally believe IMHO that some of the negative reviews about not being able to produce a good loaf had a lot to do with these issues & not the bread machine itself. Like a collapsed loaf after baking, you may have used too much liquid in the dough. The dough should be smooth and soft. Or, you may need to adjust the amount of yeast; instant yeasts are stronger than active dry yeasts, so less is needed. If your bread didn’t rise, you might try using chlorine-free water. Also, check the expiration date of the yeast. If you determine that your yeast is good, make sure that you keep the yeast separate from the salt. If yeast and salt are directly on top of one another, the high concentration of salt can kill the yeast. Also, don't be afraid to open your machine to look at and poke the dough as it kneads. This is the only way you'll be able to tell if the combination of ingredients you've used has made a good dough. You can add a little more water (by the tsp) or flour (by tablespoon) I wouldn’t recommend poking at the the dough as it rises, and you should never open the top when your machine is in its second rise or baking cycle, but before that make sure to keep an eye on the bread as it goes. That’s the best way to learn & tweak your recipe for the perfect loaf. When adding your ingredients, first add your liquids, then you dry ingredients saving the yeast for last. Another tip is to make sure you are using the correct flour. Don’t be tempted to grab basic white flower. Also things like humidity & your home temp can have an effect on your bread as well. if you’re having issues getting a good loaf, before giving up, google “bread maker forums” or “bread maker tips” there is a wealth of knowledge out there & tons of kind & helpful bread makers that would love to help you produce the perfect loaf.Pros:16 preset menu options including Low Carb, Gluten-Free, and Artisan Dough settings. 3 crust colors and 3 loaf sizes; over 100 bread, dough, sweet cake, and jam combinations. Audible tone indicates when to add mix-ins; 12-hour delay-start timer; power-failure backup.Cons:So far I don’t have much negative to say. I also believe that several of the negative reviews about the machine are more likely personal error & not the result of the machine itself. I will be using this regularly so should any issues with the machine itself arise, I will update my review accordinglyI would have no problem recommending this product to anyone looking for a good bread maker. Just ember.. Bread making is a science & has a learning curve.. So don’t give up if your first few loaves don’t come out great.. Keep trying. Join some bread machine forums & ask away. I guarantee that after some trial & error & getting to know your machine, you will be making wonderful breadThank you for reading my review! If my review has been of help to you, please do me the favor of clicking the “yes” at the end of this review where it says “Was this review helpful to you” If you have a question, feel free to ask, I will do my best to answer them.Item URLCuisinart CBK-200 2-Lb Convection Bread Maker

I bought the Cuisinart CBK-200 to replace an ancient bread machine. My old machine was unevenly browning the crust, even to burnt, and required a watchful eye. Now, I can set it up before going to bed and wake to warm, crusty bread. Convection makes the bread bake and brown evenly. I have yet to try the artisan bread features but considering how well the machine works, I can do so with confidence Definitely recommend.If this review was helpful to you, please rate it. I count on reviews when shopping on Amazon and your feedback will help me improve.

I have been very happy with this bread machine. It does all that I want it to do. The only thing is that I think it sometimes overcooks. I always have to use the lower setting for the crust or it will get to dark or to thick and crusty. I like a nice crust but it just goes overboard I think. The lowest setting works for me I also set it to a smaller loaf even when I am making a med or larger loaf. This seems to make the crust about right for us. One thing you might want to consider is if you are using instant yeast then cut way back on the amount used. My bread would always collasp on top so I cut back on the yeast, added some extra salt and added wheat gluten. The bread is better and doesn't mold as quickly now.

I purchased this machine almost 2 years ago, that's when I had originally planned to take the gluten-free route. Needles to say, that plan did not launch at that point.Fast forward from 2014 to 2016...I blew the dust off and pulled out baking pan. I can say I am TRULY a happy camper. I made the decision to go the pathway of the gluten-less on Ash Wednesday, but wanted to have some bread with a few of my meals. (You know how it goes when it's the winter months and you want some real comfort food.)I have tried several of the gluten-free recipes in the manual, along with variations of what they have provided. I am so extremely pleased with the outcome from each batch of bread made. It's a joy to complete the kneading and shaping process, and then being able to walk away to do other things without worrying about things.Very pleased with my purchase!!!

This is my first bread machine and I'm not an experienced bread maker in any way, but I am delighted with this machine. The few times I tried to make bread without a machine, I hated all the mess, and results were less than satisfactory. I had no idea what to expect, but my first loaf of Basic Honey Wheat was fantastic. I like that all you do is dump the stuff in and set the machine. I thought the paddle would be hard to removed from the dough, and messy, but it wasn't. I used the medium setting on this first loaf, and husband said it was a little too hard, so I'm going to try the lighter setting next time. That's just personal taste, I suppose. I kind of like the crustier breads. It is noisy, but I have heard they all are. I assume it is because during kneading cycles, it has to be pretty strong. Better the machine make noise than I have sore arms from kneading. It wasn't louder than a washing machine, to me. It didn't budge on my counter though. The book is easy to follow. Merry Christmas to me and you!!! Addition in January: I tweaked the Honey Wheat recipe. I use half beer and half water. It made a huge difference in flavor and seems to rise slightly more.

When I first started making bread with the recipe that comes with the machine, I was very disappointed. The bread was dry and crumbly and I wasn't happy with it at all. So I searched the internet and found a recipe that everyone was raving about and now my bread is wonderful! I make several loaves a week and am very happy with the results.As far as the machine goes, I find it very easy to operate and clean. The only thing I would change about it is to have a light in the settings window.Here's the recipe I now use for my bread machine. Try it. You'll love the results.BASIC WHITE BREAD ~ makes 2 pound loafIngredients:1 cup warm water2 1/4 teaspoons or 1 package of bread machine yeast2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar1/4 cup oil (I use olive oil.)1 1/2 teaspoon salt3 level cups of bread machine flour.Put 1 cup of warm water in bread machine pan. Add in your sugar and yeast and let the yeast foam in the water for about 10 minutes. Next, add in your oil, Then your flour and salt. That's it. Now set your machine for 2 lb loaf, light crust and turn it on. In 3 1/2 hours you'll have the best bread you've ever tasted.Good luck and enjoy your bread.

This will be my first on many comments on this bread machine. Our long time Cuisinart machine died and we needed a replacement. After reading reviews for a week we decided on this one. Today I am making my fourth loaf in a week. We are using King Arthur bread flour, Trader Joe's unsalted butter, tap water, Red Star bread machine yeast, Alba nonfat milk powder, Morton salt and Aldi sugar. Humidity today is 76% and 68 degrees inside. We are using the standard 1.5 pound loaf recipe. The last three loaves have been perfect. Will post a photo of the finished product. If today's results are like previous ones then you will see how this compares to other bread makers. Bread is a science and measurement is key. Also using fresh ingredients makes your bread even better. I don't think blaming the bread maker is fair. It is just using temperature and mixing to make the product. Will be back later with the photos.

excellent for the price - only con: shape of loafs (but the same with all others). very very easy, fast and reliable, just follow instructions to the letter.

I've been the victim of so many kitchen gadgets, filled with empty promises. I am usually so, so, so disappointed. One day, I heard tell of a magical device called, -A Breadmaker-. It sounded too good to be true. Surely, an art such as break making cannot be replicated by a machine?! And so I researched and read and eventually added this to my wishlist. But memories of gadgets past kept me from making my purchase. Then, on Christmas morning, I find myself face to face with this myth, in the flesh! (kinda). I searched my cabinets and found I had what I needed for a loaf of french bread. With great trepidation, I set it and let it go. Soon, my home was filled with the delicious aroma of fresh bread. Could it be? Could the legends be true? I easily released the bread from its pan and took a bite.HOLEY GUACAMOLE I MADE BREAD BY DUMPING SOME CRAP IN A BOWL AND STICKING IT IN A MACHINE AND GOING TO PLAY VIDEO GAMES.I've made all the breads in the recipe book and have a folder full or recipes to try. I've used the timer to wake up to fresh bread.I. LOVE. THIS. THING.-sobs while stroking bread maker-

I bought this for my younger sister for Christmas and she loves it! She has already made bread and pizza dough. It was a perfect gift for her and her first home. I have owned a bread maker for years (a discontinued model) and have always enjoyed the simplicity of making bread whenever I want. In under two hours we can have pizza dough and in about 4 hours we have fresh bread. If you have ever thought about a bread maker, this one will fit the bill. It is as simple as adding water, flour, sugar, milk powder, and yeast and turning it on. It takes me under 5 minutes to put the ingredients into the pan and hit the on button. I never have to buy store bread with artificial preservatives again. One last tip - I would recommend trying unbleached flour instead of bleached flour. The flavor is much better!

I really don't get into reviewing products, but I just had to for this bread maker. Before I purchased the Sunbeam, I had an expensive Breadman go bad in a very short time. Didn't have a lot of money to spend, but I bake my own bread constantly, so I saw the Sunbeam advertised on Amazon.I wasn't sure how it was going to work out because it was inexpensive. I have to say that I love this Bread machine!! It is so much better than the expensive Breadman I had. The bread comes out perfectly each and every time so far. Last time I made bread, I forgot to add the butter just as the first knead started. I stopped the machine, pulled out the bread, added the butter and threw it back in the machine. The bread came out perfect!! I really can't say enough good things about how great the bread turns out. I will never go back to spending a lot of money for a more expensive brand again. The digital readouts on this Sunbeam were much easier to read than for my Breadman. I make bread twice a week, each and every, week, so if this machine lasts (and I see no reason why it shouldn't), I think it's the best buy on the market.

Before I purchased this machine, I read ALL the reviews, the good, bad and the ugly. I realized there would possibly be some trials and tribulations with my first attempts at using it since I am not only a novice to breadmakers but also living in high altitude country. I made bread from scratch many eons ago and am aware of the exact measurement problems.So I crossed my fingers, ordered the machine AND, on the advice of several posters, I also bought 2 of the Donna German Bread Machine books(let's go ALL the way :-)I rec'd it in a timely manner and read the manual thoroughly. Sonewhat of a brain overload but I thought very thorough in taking you from start to finish.My first loaf was plain white bread from DG's Bread book (avoiding the Sunbeam manual recipes). I made minor adjustments to compensate for the altitude. Hmmm! Fine loaf of bread but a bit too heavy. My 2nd loaf was made using the exact measurements from DG's book and it turned out much lighter in texture and very good indeed.I have since made fruit/cheese filled brioches, apple chunk bread (Oh, Lordy, Lordy, so sublimely delicious!), hot dog/hamburger buns and banana outmeal bread - all to the exact measurements, no adjustments. ALL have turned out extremely well and I'm quite pleased.In calcing the cost of each loaf, I am making plain white bread (2 lb) for about $1.20/25 a loaf or 12 brioches or buns for the same. Unless I use a particularly expensive ingredient, none of these loaves should cost more than $1.50.My future plans are to make regular pizza plus peanut butter pizza. While it can be intimidating at first, after reading the various problems people have had, I'm now perfectly comfortable with this machine and well pleased with my purchase.To make some observations that may be helpful to others.....1) It's not clear what caused many people to complain of fallen loaves but most did not relate the source of their recipe. My hunch is that most used the recipes from the manual. Several people have warned against this since these recipes appear to be flawed. GREAT machine! LOUSY recipes! If you still have your machine, try purchasing Donna German's book(s) or any other popular bread book and give it another shot.2) DO use the plastic measuring cup and spoon that comes with the machine. Do your very best to have exact measurements. If your recipe calls for 1/2 cup, check the measurement equivalents and create your 1/2 cup from 8 level tbls rather than trying to eyeball just where 1/2 is in your measuring cup.3) I have no explanation why recipes in DG's books seem to need no adjustment for high altitude (I'm a mile high). If you're H/A, try your recipe with no adjustments first and then adjust if necessary.I really do suspect that, for the most part, most of the negative reviews have less to do with a defective machine and more to do with a defective manual. You should avail yourself of a good bread making cookbook. Many people, dependent on where they live (temperature and altitude), may need to make some adjustments. What eventually works for you may not work for the next person and that is just the nature of bread making.At the price it's listed today ($44), I can only say - ORDER IT!

QUESTION....1.IS THERE 2 VERSIONS OF THIS MACHINE? I THINK THERE IS A STAINLESS STEEL MODEL & A BLACK AND STAINLESS MODEL...ONE BEING MORE ELECTRONIC WITHOUT BUTTONS, WHICH I OWNED AND TRYING TO FIND AGAIN2. HOW tO USE THE BAKE ONLY FUNCTION....DOES IT BAKE FOR ONLY 10 MINUES!I have owned both machines but the black and STAINLESS seems to be different, especially the BAKE functionConvection baking has a crisper crust. I did not know this....drier climates may want to consider this for your recipe to bake on a lighter setting.Buttermilk whole-wheat bread, needs to have some oil put in it. Look on page 11 and you will see the difference between these two recipes; an omission of 2 tablespoons of oil or butter should be added . Every time I've made this piecrust is so hard and the bread is dry. I really like the honey whole wheat recipe though.Here are bread machine helps from King Arthur. Hope these help:We hope you enjoy this beginners' exploration of bread machines, and feel confident that you can produce a good loaf of bread in your machine. Once you feel comfortable with how your machine works, begin to think about using it for all kinds of yeast baking: it's an incredibly versatile tool, if you use your imagination. We've used our bread machine to make the dough for wonderful pizza, sticky buns, kolache, bread sticks, baguettes, focaccia, doughnuts, coffee cakes...you get the picture.Helpful Hints:Hint #1:Don't be afraid to open your machine to look at and poke the dough as it kneads. This is the only way you'll be able to tell if the combination of ingredients you've used has made a good dough. We don't recommend poking the dough as it rises, and you shouldn't open the top when your machine is in its second rise or baking cycle, but before that, feel free to get familiar with your dough, and how your machine works with it; that's how you'll learn.Hint #2:If you're using your machine's delayed cycle, where the machine won't start for several hours, don't use fresh ingredients such as milk, eggs, cheese, etc. Bacteria likes to grow in these ingredients, and there's a risk of food poisoning in keeping them at room temperature.Hint #3:Too little yeast, your bread won't rise sufficiently; too much, and it will rise and collapse. It's important to watch your dough as it rises and bakes; dough that has risen and collapsed may look just like dough that never rose at all, once it's baked. In order to correct the problem, you need to know what went wrong.Hint #4:Bread that is undercooked and gummy inside is bread that didn't rise sufficientlyHint #5:We've found that one or more of the following will increase the chances of your getting a successful loaf of sweet bread: doubling the amount of yeast; cutting back the amount of salt; using 1/8 teaspoon of ascorbic acid; using the longest cycle on your machine (the one with the longest rising period); or taking the dough out of the machine, and forming and baking it by hand.Hint #6:Match the flour to the desired result. A high-protein all-purpose or bread flour will yield high-rising bread. Whole-grain flours will yield denser, heavier, more substantial breads. A combination of flours will yield something in between.Hint #7:The basic ratio of salt to flour in bread is 1/2 teaspoon salt per cup of flour. Recipes that call for less salt than this may seem “blah”; try increasing the amount of salt to the recommended ratio.Hint #8:The basic all-purpose flour/liquid ratio is 2 1/2 to 3 cups flour to 1 1/4 cups liquid, depending on the time of year -- more flour in the summer, less in the winter.Hint #9:Bread that rises, then collapses in the middle as it bakes -- the infamous “crater bread” -- contains too much liquid. Adjust your formula.Hint #10:Adding a couple of teaspoons of flour along with the raisins/nuts helps the dough in the machine to “open up” and accept whatever you're adding more easily. If “additives” haven't kneaded into the dough by the time it goes into its first rise, simply remove the dough from the machine, scoop out the raisins/nuts, knead them in by hand, and return the dough to the machine.Hint #11:We often recommend letting the dough rest for 20 minutes between mixing and kneading, especially if the dough feels especially sticky. This gives the flour a chance to absorb the water and lose its stickiness.Most Frequently Asked Questions:We continue to receive inquiries regarding modifying “regular” bread recipes to work in the bread machine, and using bread machine recipes to make a “regular” loaf of bread.A 1-pound bread machine, in general, can handle 2 to 3 cups of flour, while a 1 1/2-lb. machine can handle 3 to 4 cups of flour.Many recipes ask for a range of flour. For example, if a recipe asks for 3 to 4 cups of flour, it is because flour changes with the weather, absorbing moisture when the humidity is high (generally, in the summer), and becoming dry when the humidity is low (usually during the winter months). To put it simply, you'll need to use more flour in the summer and less in the winter.Q. Can I use regular bread recipes in my new bread machine?A. Yes, you can probably use many of the same recipes you've always used. Just be sure to use a flour with a high protein content. King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, with its high gluten, is an excellent flour for bread machines. Numerous people have told us that their recipes worked in the bread machine using King Arthur, when they didn't work with other all-purpose flours. Another tip: don't try to make whole-grain breads, such as rye or whole wheat, using only whole-grain flours. Their minimal gluten content will produce loaves which are flat and hard. Mix them with unbleached all-purpose flour for best results.As we continue to work with the bread machines, we find that they're extremely versatile and flexible, as long as you use the manual or dough setting. It's convenient (and tempting) to take a regular 3-cup-of-flour bread recipe, throw it all in the machine, press Start, and hope you have a nicely risen loaf of baked bread 4 hours later. Well, usually this won't work; the dough is too stiff, too slack, the rising time in the machine is too short (or too long), etc. etc. etc.Save yourself the hassle of trying to modify recipes by simply placing all of the ingredients into the machine, programming for manual or dough, then taking the dough out at the end of the cycle and proceeding with the recipe from the point where it tells you to “punch down the dough”. What the machine's dough cycle gives you is a thorough knead and initial rise. From then on, you're on your own. But, hey; the mixing and kneading is the only part that takes even a modicum of effort. From then on you're just shaping the dough, putting it in a pan, and putting it in a hot oven to bake. You can do that -- honest! We find our 1 1/2-pound Zojirushi will handle up to 5 cups of flour in the dough mode.In some respects, bread machine dough is better than hand-kneaded. Very slack doughs, those with a lot of liquid, are virtually unkneadable by hand; you always have to add more flour. In the bread machine, however, slack doughs knead very nicely, and the resulting loaf is full of coarse holes and light as a feather.Sometimes you can take a regular bread recipe, reduce the flour to 3 cups and amend all the remaining ingredients correspondingly, make it in the bread machine, and get a good loaf on the very first attempt. But most often, you'll have several failures while you're in the trial and error process. A more fail-safe method is to just make dough, and go from there.Q. Can I make a bread machine recipe by hand?A. You can easily convert bread machine recipes to “manual” recipes by reading the ingredients, then combining them the way you usually do. Dissolve the yeast in the liquid, add other “wet” ingredients (e.g., eggs, honey, butter), add the flour and other dry ingredients, knead, then knead in any “extras” (raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.). Let the bread rise once in the bowl, then transfer it to a pan and let it rise again. Bake for about 30 minutes in a preheated 350°F oven. A bread machine recipe for a “large” machine, calling for 3 cups of all-purpose or bread flour or 4 cups of a whole-grain/all-purpose flour mix, will make a 1-lb. (8 1/2” x 4 1/2”) loaf. A bread machine recipe for a “small” loaf, calling for 2 cups of all-purpose or bread flour or 3 cups of a whole-grain/all-purpose flour mix, will make a 10- to 11-ounce loaf (a 7 3/8” x 3 5/8” pan).Q. How can I convert a 1 1/2-lb. bread machine recipe to a 1-lb. machine?A. Your 1-lb. bread machine will probably be happy with a ratio of 2 cups flour to 1 teaspoon each yeast, sugar and salt, and 2/3 cup liquid. Let's say the bread recipe you want to use calls for 6 cups of flour (a typical two-loaf recipe). Simply divide the amount of each ingredient by three, and use one-third (6 cups flour becomes 2 cups, 1 tablespoon yeast becomes 1 teaspoon, etc.). If any of the ingredients seem way out of whack, be aware of adjustments you can make (i.e., the amount of sugar seems high, so increase the amount of yeast). This may seem complicated at first, but by keeping the ratio in mind, as well as the relationship of the ingredients to one another, you can convert just about any bread recipe to the bread machine.Q. What qualifies as a liquid?A. Liquids include obvious things, such as water or milk, as well as anything which becomes liquid or semi-liquid when heated. Typical bread machine liquids include water, milk, buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, and soft cheese (cream cheese, cottage cheese, feta, etc.); soft fruits (applesauce and other fruit purees, bananas, etc.); liquid sweeteners, such as honey or molasses; eggs; butter and margarine; and vegetable oils, in either their liquid or solid form. Relatively soft cheese, such as mozzarella, grated Cheddar or Swiss, etc. are on the border between liquid and solid, as far as your machine is concerned; don't figure them into the flour/liquid ratio, but keep in mind that they'll tip that ratio a bit toward the liquid side. Hard cheeses, such as Parmesan and Romano, won't affect the flour/liquid ratio.Q. Why did my loaf sink in the bread machine?A. You may have used too much liquid in the dough. The dough should be smooth and soft. Or, you may need to adjust the amount of yeast; instant yeasts are stronger than active dry yeasts, so less is needed.Q. My crust is always soft. How can I make a crispier crust?A. If your bread machine has a french bread setting, try using that. If you reduce the oil or butter in your recipe you may get crispier results. Also, if the recipe calls for milk, try using water instead.Q. My bread didn't rise. Why?A. You might try using chlorine-free water. Also, check the expiration date of the yeast. If you determine that your yeast is good, make sure that you keep the yeast separate from the salt. If yeast and salt are directly on top of one another, the high concentration of salt can kill the yeast.Q. My crust was crisp but I wanted it to be soft. What can I do?A. You may try increasing the oil or butter in your recipe. Also, try using milk instead of water.Q. Why do I have raw, doughy spots in my finished loaf?A. The cycle could be too short for the recipe causing it to be baked prematurely. If that's not the case, maybe too much heat may have escaped from the bread machine as it was baking. You should never open the cover of your machine while it is on the bake cycle. Also, too many rich or heavy ingredients may cause the bread to underbake.Q. Why do I get coarse, crumbly loaves?A. Perhaps the dough is too dry. Try increasing the liquid if the dough appears dry during kneading. Or, your recipe may not call for enough oil in the dough. If dry whole grains were added, which takes moisture away from the dough, try soaking The Cuisinart is one of the only bread machines offering the convection oven feature, which makes your bread 25% faster.

This is my second Cuisinart bread maker. I like the bread maker a lot but it turns out that I must have had the CBK-100 and not the CBK-200. While they both make three sizes of bread, the CBK-200 makes a much larger loaf. I have not figured out why the pan sizes are different if they both make 1 lb, 1 1/2, and 2 lb loafs. THE CBK-200 does not make a good 1 lb loaf because of the larger pan size. It does bake a good larger size. I always make my breads with the light crust.2nd Cuisinart bread maker.

Great Bread Maker so far. had it for a week now and already made 3 loaves. Works wonderfully, wish the pan was stainless steel and not teflon coated. Please visit cusinart FB and comment if you are interested in stainless steel pan with no teflon coating, with enough support may be they will consider this option.

This machine is very well built, solid, and easy to operate. While it claims to be a 2 lb. machine, I think in practice it's really only suitable for 1.5 lb. loaves. When I tried a 2 lb. loaf, it way overflowed the pan, reaching the bottom of the lid, and didn't really properly cook on top, despite adding 2 additional bake cycles (7 or so minutes each). It does a much better job on 1.5 lb. loaves.I don't really like the way the pan snaps into the unit - in fact, when trying to make a 2 lb. loaf, it became unsnapped and rolled around during the knead cycle until I re-snapped it in. Twice, I think. Again, no issues with smaller loaves.I do like the fact that it tells you (via beeps) when to remove the paddle and/or mix-in additives. You do need to be around to do so, and notice when it beeps, so I only manage to remove the paddle 50% of the time or so. It has a fairly large paddle, which is aluminum (teflon or similar), so it's kind of hard to remove from a baked loaf. I ordered a second paddle, as in the past, I've had paddles end up in the disposer, which does them no good.I haven't tried a lot of the recipes included (and it includes a lot of recipes), but the white bread worked very well, while the whole wheat recipe was inedible. I'd still like to make whole wheat, but need to find a better recipe - most likely one that includes a larger ratio of white to WW flour.I purchased this machine largely to make sourdough bread, and it includes no sourdough recipes, so I use the one on the Gold Rush site, which works well. My best loaves so far are the sourdough white with King Arthur Harvest Grains Blend grains to add some texture and nutrition.

Not as automatic as i expected. The paddle does not mix the ingredients, you have to help it with a spatula. I used the whole wheat with rapid yeast for my first try and selected the appropriate setting #4. The beeps don't help! I got so confused not knowing when to remove the paddle and reshape my dough! The panel light showed 'raising' and the 'add-in' button was on -- I thought the beeps i heard were to add nuts or stuff so i ignored them. I tried deactivating the add-in button but it did not work. Still on. I think 3 tbs of rapid yeast for the 2 lb loaf is too much but that's what the book says. Despite of adhearing to that qty of yeast, the bread did not rise as expected! It looks like a blob and it stinks like yeast. I will follow the white bread recipe that one of the reviewers posted for my second try. Keep you on the loop. Luckily, the bread maker is not noisy at all and it came intact from Amazon. Apparently Cuisinart ships directly to Amazon. Great experience buying from Amazon.

I bought this machine to replace a West Bend Bakers Choice that I've been using twice a week for 15 years. It finally gave up the ghost, but 15 years of constant use I found to be quite acceptable. This new Cuisinart CBK-200 is a really good looking machine. It looks fantastic on the counter....but, I'll take performance over looks any day. I've made 3 loaves so far. The first two were complete disappointments. The first loaf, a 1.5 white, I let the machine do its thing start to finish as a test. Other than the usual tweaking of the doughball 10 minutes in, I ignored it until it was finished. The resulting loaf was burned and inedible. (Basic, Med. crust) The second loaf was my staple tried and true Country Buttermilk White. (2#, Basic, Med. Crust) With minor tweaking at 10 the doughball was a thing of beauty! Again, the loaf was burned, but this time not nearly as bad. Not looking good for the new machine. I finally nailed a good loaf. My 3rd loaf was a San Francisco Sourdough, 1.5#. This time I set for light crust, and I also wrapped the pan with aluminum foil, shiney side out. Perfect loaf this time. I think in a little time the machine will cool down a bit, but until then I'll use light crust, wrap the pan in foil, or simply set a timer to check the loaf 10 minutes early. A good bread machine should be mostly hands off, especially for those that use the delay timer unattended, but if you want the "perfect" loaf you're gonna have to pay attention and interact with it some: tweaking the doughball during fist knead, extending the final rise, stopping it when the "bread" is done and not when the machine is done. I was really impressed with the quality of the doughball it made with my buttermilk recipe. It was better than I've done with the Kitchenaid stand mixer and dough hook. I may do another one and shape it for an 8.5x4.5 loaf pan and see if I can get a good "bloom" top shape baked in my oven....we'll see. If this machine could do a great loaf, unattended, without burning I would give it 5 stars. In the picture, the loaf on the left was the slightly burned Country, the loaf on the right is the sourdough. You can see the foil wrapped pan behind them.

Alright, I'm pretty satisfied with this machine, especially given the price. I think I passed the 100 loaf mark awhile ago (mostly variations of raisin bread), and it is still going strong.Pros:1. Price. It performs similarly to more expensive machines (I've used a Panasonic one).2. Ease of cleaning. The pan is easily removed and cleans very easily.Cons:1. The lid does not close fully. I actually had to return the first machine Amazon sent me, but even the replacement I'm using now has a significant gap between the lid and the rest of the machine when "closed." What this means is that plenty of moisture and heat escapes from the sides and hinge areas.2. Discoloration. Probably because I use cinnamon or brown sugar a lot in my breads, but the steam from the cooking tends to soak into the white plastic. Even cleaning it asap after baking cannot remove the brown stains that have infused into the edges of the lid (and the lid itself).3. The non-stick surface of the pan has started to wear off, especially on the wall-ridges near the bottom. Essentially this means whatever that material is, it is dissolving into the bread and you are eating it. I'm looking into getting a replacement pan, but they're almost half the price of the bread machine. Decisions, decisions.I would have preferred if the manual laid out more of the timings for each bread type, but I guess you get what you pay for.In the end, problems aside, this machine is VERY worth the cost.

We've made our bread at home using breadmakers for a couple of decades. This is a perfectly satisfactory solution although it may take some practice. This particular model (there are many brands) has a design problem with the breadpan spindle which sometimes freezes permanently. Its life can be extended by occasionally lubricating with vegetable oil. And they do wear out. That was what led to our most recent replacement. However, the rewards of fresh homemade bread like cinnamon raisin breakfast bread more than make up for the minor issues. Wonderful treat with apple butter! We also love a winter bread made with dried tropical fruit and fresh orange juice instead of cinnamon and raisins. Great with guava jelly! There are a number of other breads which we enjoy. Except for thanksgiving stuffing bread, we never have to buy bread and we always have fresh, homemade bread available.

I have had this bread machine about a month and have used almost everyday. The main reason for buying this is to produce all the bread of the household. I wanted to save money and produce bread I knew exactly what was in it. For anyone considering buying this machine I would recommend it. The bad productions that have been made have been mainly due to the booklet the machine came with. I do not recommend using the book for the recipes, they never worked for me. I bought a seperate book, with recipes just for a bread machine and they have all worked perfectly. I have only tried a few of the settings on the machine, the normal bread setting, the expressbake and the dough method. I also tried the quick setting but I do not really know the difference between it and the expressbake and the bread did not rise as much with the quick setting so use expressbake. In general expressbake did produce good bread but it did not rise as much and was therefore, much denser than the usual longer setting. I use the dough method to make rolls, which I subsequently baked in the oven. These have been perfect everytime using the recipe from the book I bought. Overall I would recommend this machine but DO NOT use the provided book it is terrible!!!

I am new to bread baking, and this machine was recommended to me by a friend. I was originally looking at a much more expensive Zo 1 lb. Machine, because I have a small family. I decided to go with this knowing if I really enjoyed the process, I could upgrade at a later date. I read the other reviews, did not attempt recipes from the manual, bought both the Betty crocker and Beth Hensperger's bread machine cook books and started baking. I am happy with the results. I have made rye, white, cinnamon raisin. Follwed the recipes from the book exactly, experienced no problems, and was thrilled to produce really good bread without the 50 + ingredients in store-bought. REAL food, easy to make. I am attempting the dough cycle this weekend, to make brioche...hping for similar success. In the future I'll try the jam setting... Nice feature in an inexpensive machine.After purchasing the machine, I noticed most recipes in cookbooks and online are for 1-1/2 & 2 lb. Loaves, and since I keep reading how exact measurements are so important, I am relieved I didn't buy the 1 lb. Machine... Recipes are not always easy to halve, depending on the book. Betty crocker's book for instance in some cases mentions their testing has shown there is no difference in the amount of yeast between a 1-1/2 and 2 lb. Loaf... I wouldn't want to " guess" what might work for a 1 lb.loaf.For the price, this machine is great.

This is an inexpensive, reliable, easy to use bread machine overall. I use it twice a week and I get better at baking with it as time goes on.Don't use the recipe for the 1.5 lb. "Homestyle White Bread Loaf" on page 13 in the Sunbeam manual that comes with the machine! Try my version instead. After many weeks of trial and error, this adjusted recipe works best for me:Add to the bread pan in the usual Sunbeam-recommended order - this is the order I use:1 c. plus 2 T. water1 T. soft butter1 T. vegetable oil3 T. sugar2 T. dry or powdered milk1 1/2 t. salt3 c. flour*1 1/2 t. quick yeast or bread machine yeast*Either bread flour, all-purpose flour, or a mixture thereof - 2 c. bread and 1 c. all-purpose works best for me.Set the machine to bake at the lightest color, at the 1.5 lb. size. When the bread maker finishes baking the loaf, unplug the machine and extract the bread pan (twist to the left and pull up). Don't leave it in the machine. IT'S HOT! Be careful!Gently twist and shake the bread pan to loosen the loaf or loosen with a thin plastic spatula. Carefully remove the bread from the pan and lay the loaf on its side on a rack to cool. If the mixing paddle is stuck inside the loaf, remove it with the included tool.This makes a delicious, tender, yet substantial loaf for cold, hot, or grilled sandwiches, toast & jam, French toast, or just about anything. For a delicious stuffing base, cut it into cubes, season, drizzle lightly with melted butter or olive oil, then spread out and lightly toast on big cookie sheets.Economics: For a 1.5 lb loaf @ 3 cups flour per loaf, I get 6 loaves of bread per 5 lbs. of flour, with around 2 cups of flour left over for the next batch.UPDATE 2/9/2009: Here's another great recipe for this bread maker. It's made with oatmeal and makes a wonderful tender loaf of tasty bread. In my experience, everybody LOVES it so it doesn't last long. Add to the bread pan in the usual Sunbeam-recommended order - this is the order I use:1 1/4 c. milk (lukewarm)2 T. soft butter3 T. light brown sugar1 1/2 t. salt2 c. bread flour1 c. rolled oats (or old fashioned oats)1 c. all-purpose flour2 t. quick yeast or bread machine yeastI set the machine at light color for a 1.5 lb. loaf. Makes delicious sandwiches and toast.UPDATE 4/28/2010: Hodgson Mill Honey Whole Wheat Bread Mix (and all the other Hodgson Mill bread mixes) work perfectly in this machine, and when bought through Amazon subscription (for the current price $9.60 per 6 pack) are actually cheaper than from scratch (fresh yeast is included). All you add is water and a tablespoon of butter or oil for a great loaf. I usually don't use mixes but the Hodgson Mill mixes contain very high quality fresh ingredients and are very easy to use with this machine.

I bought this for my Mother-In-Law for xmas 2007. I have an older Oster model (Oster = Sunbeam : Sunbeam = Oster, FYI - Oster discontinued my model but seems to have replaced it with this one - the recipe book has the same pictures as my 4 year old model). I made her first batch with her. It came out great. But the reason I made the first batch with her was due to 2 failures that could have been avoided during the manufacturning design process. This review describes my old machine experience vs. this newer model.Oh, the jumbo display and buttons are so great so see and press but they come with these two detractions.1. Upon my Mother-in-law's first batch failure, she was so excited (I wasn't present) that she leaned over the machine so many times at one point she accidentally leaned on the Start/Stop button and unknowingly canceled her cycle. On my older Oster model they did not install raised push buttons. They had those clicky flat plastic selector buttons. It was impossible to accidentally lean against the machine looking into the window and shut down the machine without great effort because they were placed on the top of the machine.2. The display on this machine is bigger and better, but only on first impressions. On my older Oster machine the display was next to the clicky buttons on the top of the machine; which sometimes made it hard to read, cause you had to crane your neck over the counter to see the display. However, the main drawback to this newer display is that it has 12 cycles and when you select 10, 11, or 12, the 1's place can be shadowed by the permanent plastic overlay (not adjustable). So what happened to batch #2 for my mom? Well, due to a shadow and being anxious about her sencond try (and being 79 years old with ok (so so) eyesight, she pressed the cycle selection button to 12 and did not see the 1 due to a shadow. The 12 setting is 180 degrees from the function of the 01 setting which is used for making most all types of bread. The #12 setting is called the "Bake" setting. If you intened on making bread manually (on the counter) and want the machine to cook it for you - just as an oven, this is the setting you would use. So good ol' mom accidentally selected this setting, because she didn't or was not able to acknowledge the 1 next to the 2 designating 12 instead of 02 (the zero is not shown on the display, it is just typed for your clarity here) and therefore the bread machine started cooking her ingredients but not mixing them. Also the crust color icon could be hard to see in one of the rightmost positions.Ok, nuff feature bashing.One more thing before is say my last peace. The recipe/instruction manual (available in Spanish/English) does not include a large variety of recipies that my 4 year old machine included, even though the machines have the same settings and capacities. I can't imagine why Sunbeam would simply leave out 5 pages of already formulated recipes and give you so few to work with. For example, EVERYONE (I think) loves cinnamon raisin bread. Well, that recipe was removed from the instruction manual, including Cheddar chive bread. These are two great recipes I can't believe they skimped on. Anyway, if you go to a good bookstore, there are "Bread Machine" books and that can help fill the void. If purchasing a book kills you or you are too electronified, search for "bread machine recipes" on the Net and you are sure to find a ton of stuff to bake.OK, this is really long winded but I wanted to help my fellow Amazonians, since I believe in these reviews and read them for almost every product I buy online.FINALLY - BUY THIS MACHINE, I would have given it 5-stars if the two design flaws mentioned above weren't there; The machine makes excellent bread! My 4 year old Oster (remember Oster = Sunbeam : Sunbeam = Oster) is still going strong. I've made at least 100 batches of bread, had a few pitfalls (ie, don't add too much cinnamon to bread or it will kill the rising action - found that out the hard way - makes nice bricks for building houses though). Also, for the price, I can't see why you should spend 2x the amount on a more costly machine, unless the design flaws I mentioned make you sick to your stomach.Have a good day. N-Joy ! :-)

So, I was very excited to get this after seeing all the videos and postings. Well, its just ok. its like any other bread machine. Convection or not. I have had others and this one gives you a good crust, thank to the convection, but if you don't get the mix right, you still get bad, dense bread with a bad crust (crunchy, but bad). So it's more about the way you measure the ingredients then the way the machine works them. So if you have a machine that makes great beard, keep it or get one like it. if you are starting in the bear making world, then this is not a bad machine, if the price is right. it looks good, works just like any other bread machine and once you get the recipe right (for each machine you have to tweek the recipe to get it just right for your machine. it works just fine.

Well designed machine, easy to use and clean. Mixes all the ingredients perfectly. The only down side is that when you set it to medium brown crust it tends to over cook the bottom of the bread ( the heating element is located below that mixing pan and there isn't a fan to circulate the heat evenly) so you get a very very fluffy top ( to the point it's very fragile) and an dense bottom. The remedy for this was to set the crust setting to lite and it was a more balanced loaf. Still not perfect though but edible none the less. As far as rising goes it's perfect as well we have made baguettes and regular white bread from it and it rises them perfectly.

Not sure yet. None of the loaves o have baked have come out perfectly yet....hoping I just need to get to know the new machine.........The sides are mug darker then the top- even on the lowest setting it's just shy of burning

I had different bread makers before and they all had some problems with mixing or baking. This one is very consistent and works great.After a year of use the pan gets loose when making large bread. Disappointing.

Works well although there are some things they don't mention that get annoying. Mainly that you have to remove the paddle from the pan prior to it finally baking or you end up with a hole in the bottom of your load and it's a little hard to clean that little piece as well. Otherwise not bad.

Having bought this bread machine (New not refurb.) over three years ago I will tell you the pros and cons that I have had with it.Pros are it is very easy to use. It has 3 size loaves to choose from. It has 16 options I have only used a 3 being white bread, wheat bread and dough.Cons are if you are short it is hard to read the settings. I have to tilt the machine in order to see them while it is setting on my kitchen counter. You have to adjust the recipe in order for it to mix proper. I have found that I always have to add more water than what it calls for. Like others have said the crust is rather thick and hard on the bottom. I usually keep mine set at medium, dark seems to burn even the 2 pound loaves. The container does pop up from the holders. I have bent the holders out a little bit in order for it to hold better. Over the past year or so the motor at times hesitates while mixing. I have had the paddle come off the shaft while mixing once or twice and had to throw the mix out since I didn't catch it and it didn't mix, rise or bake correct. As of late there has been an oil or grease coming from the part that sits under the pan and it is getting up through into the pan along the shaft and seal.I am looking for a new bread machine now and although all in all I liked this machine I will not purchase another one like it. I would not recommend it because of the cons I have experience with it. This was a replacement for a working West Bend machine I had had for at least 10 years. I only replaced it because I thought it more than likely wouldn't last much longer. I will be looking at different models now.

This is my third breadmaker. I make bread every week. This is the first machine I've had that makes a horizontal loaf. It is an odd sized loaf which, depending on how you cut it, makes slices that are larger than what will fit in a sandwich sized zip top bag. The wheat bread recipe that comes with the machine make a pretty nice loaf, but my other recipes seem to be a little "off" in this machine. I tried the "jam" setting and it was really messy! I had jam splattered all over the inside of the machine. My next machine will one that makes vertical loaves.

I purchased this machine on Amazon and it arrived about a week ago. But it did not have any manual or any paperwork at all. I am in Afghanistan so it was a big hassle to send it back so I waited a few days until I could get on the Internet again as I am in a very remote place and went to Sunbeam's web site and downloaded a manual today. I am going back to my quarters now and attempt to make my first bread. If it turns out good, I will upgrade my review. I just hope the personnel at the factory did not leave anything else out! Update: I never got to use this machine before someone stole it! Hope they !@#$%^&*()?><!

As soon as I received the Sunbeam Breadmaker I wanted try out my favorite recipe, potato bread. It can be baked on the Expressbake setting. I was disappointed because my bread came out too compact, too doughy. The manual suggested cutting back on salt, so I tried again reducing salt by a third. Not much change. A big factor is the bake time: my old machine used 85 minutes for Expressbake. The Sunbeam uses only 58 minutes. That's a big difference, given the same recipe. I tried another recipe for Homestyle white bread, using a basic (3 hour) setting. It came out perfectly. This means all my Expressbake recipes have to be modified. A negative, in my opinion.

I have not read this in other reviews of this product, and I just bought mine right before Amazon stopped shipping it direcly and it started being sold only by a 3rd party, so I think there are a couple of different versions out there. However, the directions on the machine I have, and in the manual are WRONG. Just wrong. Period. If you do things in the order the instructions tell you to with the delay timer--THE MACHINE WILL MIX YOUR YEAST IN THE SECOND YOU PUSH THE START BUTTON. Big problem if you weren't planning on being around for the next 3-4 hours (which is why you would use the delay). However, once you figure out that, no matter what, the up and down time buttons must be the last buttons you touch before "start," it does okay.A HUGE, added bonus is that it will let you delay dough--almost no machines, other than the zoji, can do this.I have used the basic, sweet, dough and sandwich cycles so far. The bread it creates is just okay (the crust is too thick when baked in the machine). However, I mostly use the dough cycle for all my needs anyways.I had an Express Bake Oster for 2 years before this that I used about 2x/week--it recently broke. THat machine had less function settings, but was more reliable.All this, combined with the very low price, makes this an okay, serviciable machine.

Sunbeam 5891 2-Pound Programmable BreadmakerI bought this particular machine on the recommendations in Amazon but am a little disappointed with its performance. I've tried many different recipes, both in the recipe book that came with the machine and a great gourmet breadmachine recipe book that turned out perfect bread loaves on my last machine, but all so far have resulted in bread that is both too heavy and falls after rising. All recipes have been followed exactly. I have also tried reducing the amount of yeast/increasing flour because I live at high altitude, but it hasn't made a difference. The bread tastes fine- it just doesn't produce a well-risen loaf.

The Sunbeam 5891 Breadmaker works as well as some other breadmaker machines, but not as well as a few. There are too many to name each and every one here. Since purchasing last month, being April, 2008, I have made quite a few loaves of bread with the Sunbeam 5891. Many adjustments to the recipes in the included book were needed to obtain the perfect loaf, but this is the norm with many of the less expensive machines. But, as with any of the automatic breadmakers, it saves me from having to knead the bread myself, which is a labor of pain with the arthritis in my hands. So, I can enjoy fresh baked bread without the discomfort. I guess it does the job it was purchased to do.

I was very excited to receive my new breadmaker after my old one broke. The Cuisinart 200 seemed just the thing. But it burnt the first three loaves I tried, even though I used different recipes and different settings on each one. I returned it and had it replaced with the same make and model. Same thing. What are the chances that a second machine would have the same problem if this isn't an overall problem with this make and model. I have since seen that others have the same problem. They offered "solutions" (like venting the lid during the baking process, and only using the "light" crust setting), but isn't it the point of having a bread machine to put the ingredients in and walk away? I really don't want to "babysit" it and not be able to use all the variable functions. Apparently some people are very happy with their purchase. Maybe I just had a string of bad luck, but I would NOT recommend this machine.By the way, I emailed Cuisinart about the problem approximately three weeks ago and have yet to receive any acknowledgement or answer.

Burns everything! I would get hard, burned crust even on the light crust setting. Not just the top crust, but the bottom & sides of the loaf were also way overdone. It was too late to return, once I realized it was the machine and not my baking skills causing the problem. I managed to get decent bread by doing three modifications: wrap the outside of the bread pan with foil, lay a bamboo skewer across the corner so the lid rested on it and created a small gap, and pull the loaf out 5-7 minutes before the end of the cycle. Oh, and only do this on the light crust setting!

The first one burned the BREAD REGARDLESS of the setting.( light, medium or dark) They replaced it and the new one burns the bread like the first one.Looks great on the counter, But will try the ZOJIRUSHI

This bread maker has not made a decent loaf of bread since we bought it two years ago. We still use it for making dough but for some reason if we let it go on a full cool cycle the bread never rises and we end up with very small dense loaves that are not fun to eat. We have tried many different recipes that have worked well on other machines, and even have worked great if we get the dough out and cook it ourselves, but not in this machine. So as an automatic bread machine that makes it pretty much useless.

I was so looking forward to a new bread maker. I'm a little disappointed with this machine. Even on the light crust setting, my crust is way too dark verging on burnt. Unfortunately I bought it in the US but I live overseas, so can'tkn return it.Update 12/2016: This machine has been a constant disappointment. I make bread at least twice a week. I cut back from 2 lb loaf recipes to 1 1/2lb and that did help with the burnt crust issue (still have to set on light though). Now, after only a year and a half, the electronic board that controls kneading is going out. I've been able so far to nurse it by doing some hand kneading, and restarting, but to have it breakdown after spending good money, is really disheartening. I'm unable to get it repaired because I don't live in the US, and they don't sell them here. I have ordered a less expensive brand with a better reputation from a local importer, and am just hoping this one holds out til it get here, then this is going in the trash!

I've had that breadmaker for about 2 weeks and have used it every day. I really liked it at first, the breads (whole wheat) were delicious! We really like nuts in our breads so I added some every time and after about 10 days I noticed that the PTFE (what Teflon is made of) started to peel off and I got some of it in my bread... NOT GOOD! The reason why I bought this breadmaker was to make healthier bread for my family but I surely don't want them to eat that carcinogenic (causes cancer) stuff!! I called Cuisinart to see what they could offer as solution and they told me that what they could do was to replace the whole machine but I would have to pay shipping both ways. They would not just replace the pan! So I decided to send it back to Amazon :-( who is always a pleasure to deal with! :-)It worked really well though, but the quality of the pan coating is really not good! I'm still waiting for a company to step up and offer us a non carcinogenic non-stick alternative, at this time I haven't found one yet... Even Zojirushi uses PTFE... After reading a review on the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme 2-Pound-Loaf Breadmaker that mentioned that this model didn't have "Teflon" on their pan, I called Zojirushi customer service and they confirmed that they too are using that nasty stuff on their pan but maybe it takes longer than 2 weeks to wear off on their model but I'm not sure I want to risk it...To summarize this breadmaker is great for people who don't put nuts in their bread (but I'm sure that even if you don't add nuts, after a while, the coating will peel off... You can replace the pan for $20 though) or don't mind eating PTFE (Teflon).

I bought this machine in 2015 as my daughter liked hers. Mine worked... somewhat. The last rising went too long and the loaf collapsed during baking, each time. I went online and found many people had the same problem with this machine. They said to just take the dough out of the machine after the "punch-down" cycle, let it rise in a loaf pan and bake in a regular oven. That worked fine... till the machine quit entirely about a week ago. I tried it again today just to make sure—and yes, it's dead. Two stars because it did kind-of work for awhile, and did save me considerable time. But now I'm going to search for a bread machine with better reviews... or try the "no-knead" bread again.

Makes a very nice loaf of white bread, PERIOD. Unfortunately, it performs very poorly with whole wheat flour. I have tried all of the recommended solutions: 0) Add gluten 1) Better brand of flour 2) Adjust the amount & temperature of water 3) Adjust the amount of salt 4) Adjust the amount & type of yeast 5) Adjust the amount & type of sugar 6) Added lemon juice 7) Lit candles... Although I had limited success with a few recipes, many resulted in an outright brick. I used a Breadman Machine with the same recipes many years ago, with little or no issues, only suffering a few failures out of hundreds of loaves. The only conclusion I can come to is that the cycle times or temperature settings for this machine are inadequate for whole wheat flour. Time to find a different machine!

It worked... eh and lasted 3 3/4 years of very light use (I estimate 20 total uses.) My typical recipe was a 1.5 lb loaf. I did it on "light" quick bake setting, which left the top half baked with a light crust but the bottom third stayed pretty doughy. Odd, but still tasty and it worked well for french toast the next day.When I bought this, I also considered a Zojirushi. I figured I wouldn't use it much and should get the cheap machine, however, I recently used a friend's 21 year old Zojirushi bread maker with perfect results and can't help but think for the quality and longevity, the Zojirushi would have been the better bet.

I ordered 2 units for Christmas presents. One unit had a screw loose inside - was 1 of 3 screws holding the power/mixer drive unit in place and was in a position such that I could not get the screw back into its hole, so I sent it back. Then later I got news on 2nd unit.Its delayed start button fell to inside of control panel (probabaly missing the part behind it that holds it in place?) on the very first press of the button. I had already replaced the 1st defective unit with another one when I learned of the defective button. After testing all its buttons, so far it seems to be OK, no loose screws or buttons, but not much time has passed since X-mas to be sure how it will hold up. The 2nd defective unit will be replaced with a different brand. But it does make good bread when you have a fully functional unit. Too bad the assembly quality is so poor. Thank you Amazon for taking back the defective units no problem!

I received the breadmaker, and when I was taking it out of the box, I noticed something rattling inside the bread maker. I noticed that there was a Chinese "QC Passed" sticker on the bottom of the machine. Great job guys. I tried to take the bottom off the breadmaker, but it won't come off. I guess that I will have to leave the loose screw or whatever it is , inside until it shorts out the electrical components. It's not worth the $15.00 shipping to return it for a new one. I was hoping for a little better quality for a $60.00 BREAD MACHINE !

*Updated Review After Two Years of Owning*Original review is below but I felt I needed to update. When I first purchased this machine I gave it 4 stars ~ I have however knocked it down to 2. I have only owned this machine for about 2 & a 1/2 years and today, while in the middle of making bread the machine began smoking. I, thankfully, was standing right there in my kitchen, smelled the burning smell, saw the smoke coming out of the machine and was able to unplug it immediately. I wonder however what would've happened had I stepped out of the house for a moment and been unable to unplug it! From what I can tell, I'm almost positive it was an issue of the belt breaking.I had not spilled any ingredients while putting them in the machine and the dough was not overflowing so it definitely wasn't a "user error" and a normal "food burning" smell. (Plus it was smoking out of the back of the machine) I will be contacting Sunbeam although I am not holding my breath that they will help in any way. My suggestion would be look elsewhere for a machine unless you want to be replacing this one every few years! (And for the record, I would use this maybe a couple times a month, if that, so it's not as if I was using it daily and it just simply wore out)*original review*I ordered this bread maker a couple weeks ago and have used it a couple times and really do like it. I took the advice of previous reviewers and don't follow the recipes in the direction book ~ I ordered a separate recipe book for bread makers.However, I do have one issue and am wondering if anyone has had this issue too and if you have been able to fix it?Every time so far that I have made a loaf of bread, the little mixer lever that goes inside the machine bakes INTO the bread and comes off (it is removable as it comes in a separate little bag and you have to put it on) and it's pretty annoying to have to dig it out of the bottom of my loaf of bread every single time. I have no idea how to fix this though?? (short of super gluing it (And no I'm not serious ~ I'm not going to super glue it for real)Otherwise it really is a good machine. The buttons/menu are easy to use and so far I have liked it ~ like I said it's just that one issue that is really frustrating.

This has seriously damaged my opinion of Cuisinart. The instructions warn about making sure the tabs on the left and right of the bread pan are engaged, but they don't really engage. The noise is intolerable and the machine nearly "walked" off the counter top because of the vibration. I was lucky I caught it in time. I finally got the pan in securely enough that the machine was okay during the kneading, but now I can't get pan back out. Too bad this happened past the 30 day return window. I can't really say the machine didn't work. It just bounced around too much and made a horrible racket. Then when the pan was firmly seated, that was because I pushed down firmly enough on it to get it stuck in there. I had a breadmaker 10 years ago and it worked fine without these problems. It's just frustrating that the know-how exists to make these things work, but people nowadays just don't care to bother.

I ordered this bread maker after reading all the positive reviews but was quite disappointed with it. The bread machine is quite big to start and the loaves started coming out with think crust even in the light setting and ended up covering the pan with Aluminium foil as mentioned in one of the reviews. This helped with that but the paddle was always a problem. One would have to wait for the remove paddle beep to remove and if not the loaf was invariably come out torn. After couple of weeks, the paddle became loose and would come off part way during the cycle! I had to keep checking the machine to fix the paddle back in the pan!

Followed user manual and recipes. Tried several times and still burning bread in light setting. Borrowing friends and hers works perfectly. Thinking my thermostat is off.

Broke after only a few loaves. They should have put more money into the gear between the motor & the bread mixing container. That is a critical component & unfortunately there is now way to see how well it is made. Did great on the 2 loaves we made & it looks very nice. Broke on the 3rd loaf. Maybe ours was just defective. I suggest if you buy one, you use it multiple times before the return window expires.

The first time I used it it was absolutely perfect. The second time? The bake cycle (not the kneading or mixing cycle, I could understand that) sounds like a Volkswagen running in my kitchen. It's not the pan rattling but something inside the casing on the side. Great bread, but NOT worth two hours of this noise. I wouldn't buy again, if I had the choice. Bummer.

I am going to have to send this back. This is my first bread machine and it is noisy and overcooks the bottom of the loaf. I left the paddle in on my first try and it was almost impossible to get the loaf out. The second loaf, I changed the crust from medium to light and removed the paddle. The loaf came right out of the loaf pan but the top was light and looked undercooked and the bottom crust was so hard and overcooked it was hard to cut through. I loved all the options on the menu, but since the heating element is close to the bottom of the pan, even with the convection cooking the bottom 1/4 of the loaf will always cook at a higher temperature. Both loaves tasted good, not awesome like fresh bread normally is, but good.The paddle leaves such a huge hole in the bottom of the load that I would be unable have the machine run unattended. Both loaves came out a little lopsided, I wonder if the location of the paddle during raising affects the height because one side was always higher. I put too much trust in the Cuisinart name and needed to do more research.

Not sure why this has such high reviews. I thought it was too good to be true at the price point, it was purchased August 9th. Used no more than 10 times and the screw that holds the bread blade in place just snapped off... guess how it went with customer service

Please TRUST the reviewers who say the recipes that are listed in this Bread Maker Manuel are BAAAAAD! Bad, and add HORRID! We needed Alka-Seltzers after having a slice. The crust was dry and the excess yeast gave it a very bitter flavor. The texture of the bread is a cross between a kitchen sponge and cheap pig bread. The top crust was like cement. I followed the recipe perfectly. I have been making yeast bread and rolls for years (decades), and this was disgusting. I am going to try a recipe I've used with very well respected success in it tomorrow. If that loaf turns out gross... I'm sending this back!!I will edit after tomorrow.. Today is January 10, 2014.

This did not work at all for whole wheat breads.

To close to the heat, makes loaf dry out, yet not thoroughly bake. Oven bake bread is much better in texture and taste.

I bought mine last March and have been making a loaf of bread just about every week. Today it made its last loaf, the motor was straining to turn the paddle.Positive: The price.Negatives: LCD is next to impossible to read. Made to be viewed by someone under 5' tall, I over 6'. Bread crust is over-cooked, even on the light setting. It never wanted to make a great loaf of bread, no matter how hard I tried. To load the pan I had too pull the machine out from under the cabinet and turn it so the lid would open wide enough for the pan.I'm tired of messing with this machine. I have 3 weeks left on the one year warranty, and won't waste my money shipping it back. My previous machine cost $180, but it lasted 7 years. This one was $40, and lasted one year. Add me to the never again group on Sunbeam bread machines.

I bought mine based on the reviews here; I must've gotten a lemon, because from within the first few runs the kneading motor started laboring more and more to the point where it has a hard time turning at all now. Even so it still produces bread, but the results are unpredictable. This is all with 4-cup recipes.It's noisy as some have pointed out. My bottom line: it might be worth the gamble for the low price, but keep the paperwork! The quality is not consistent between units. This one was to replace a Breadman TR555LC which burnt out after two-plus years of rugged use (operator error); might be time to go back to Breadman.