Java Jim

If one of your major temptations is fresh bread, then you need a bread machine to indulge your cravings. Regardless of personal preferences or even budgetary constraints, you are guaranteed to find the perfect one for you.

When bread machines first came on the market in the 1980s, they became an immediate hit. Even with their $300+ price tags, people scooped them up off store shelves and headed home to bake up a storm. In the beginning, the mainstream houseware retailers hadn’t caught on to the craze; bread machines were made by companies who produced that one particular product only.

Finally in the 90s the big houseware lines jumped in and produced a better product for less money, usually in the $75 to $100 range. In stark contrast to the earlier versions, these were less noisy and much less bulky. Many had far more options than the older ones as well.

Since any baker will tell you, you need a round pan to mix ingredients, so the first bread machines all produced round loaves of bread. The loaves may have looked strange, but they still tasted like regular homemade bread – fabulous. So who could complain? It would be another few years before manufacturers figured out how to make a bread machine with a square baking tin that could also produce some reliable bread.

Nowadays it’s easy to find round and square models. (The actual machines are all square or rectangular; it’s only the inside baking pan whose shape will change.) Some bread baking aficionados will swear by the round tin because the bread is easier to bake and the quality is more dependable. However, even though many now prefer the square tins, the uses do admit that the loaves do end up with some burned edges or unmixed flour near the corners.

When you tire of baking bread all the time, try some homemade pizza dough or bagels! Machines now can do just about anything including “quick breads” that don’t require yeast or rising. Timing mechanisms will alert you as to when you should remove the dough to continue with your recipe.

If you have ever tried to make your own home made bread, you’ll see right away how much time and effort these machines save while still producing equal or better bread. They are set up to standardize mixing times, raising times, and kneading times. If you have ten minutes to add the ingredients, and if you know how to push a button, you already know how to use a bread machine.

Before making a decision on which one to bring home, look at it to see how easy it is to keep clean. When mixing begins, flour tends to get all over the place as does any liquid ingredients. Check out the machinery to see which parts are removable and washable. Also check to see if the heating coils are protected at all – these are fragile and difficult to clean at all costs.

Look for a machine that allows you to completely remove the top and put it in the dish washer. Also look for a machine that has built in splatter guards so that when accidents happen – and they will – you only need to clean the guards.

John McKain owns a best bread machine blog. He writes many bread machine reviews such as Zojirushi bread machines reviews, Panasonic bread machines reviews, and Breadman bread machines reviews.