BREAD MACHINES: EASY-TO-USE, AFFORDABLE, FLEXIBLE

What's New, Nov/Dec 2002

Quick, easy to use, affordable and convenient, bread machines are a blast. Allowing young people to create their own breads gives them a sense of accomplishment. Today's new generation of bread machines provide a great variety of choices in terms of shape, size, ingredients and even the type of products they can make. What's New Magazine has compiled some of these new components and features of bread machines so you make the right choice for your classes.

The Black & Decker B1561 All-in-One Breadmaker makes full-sized 1.5 pound loaves of bread. Students can choose from regular or dark crust with the crust control setting. There are five baking settings including: basic, grain, dough, rapid bake and pasta. The All-in-One makes bread in less than 2 hours with the Rapid Bake setting and has a 13-hour delay bake tinier. Students can program the breadmaker easily with the 24-hour digital clock. They can also keep bread warm for up to an hour after baking is complete with the Keep Warm feature.

Most Unique Feature: Clean up is easy with the non-stick coated baking pan. Cost: $74.99.

BLACK & DECKER, 800/743-8625, www.blackanddecker.com

The Breadman TR2200C Ultimate Professional 1, 1-1/2 or 2 lb. Loaf Machine bakes cakes, batter breads and jams. Also makes pizza, bagel and pasta dough. Features include an 18-hour delay bake timer, 200 program settings, rapid bake, extra-large see-through window and custom-control recipe program. Another plus for bakers is that the machine includes a 10-minute, fully random pause feature to allow adding mix-ins. The machine also has an Instant Recall and 60-minute power failure backup.

Most Unique Feature: The patented fruit and nut dispenser and the fully random pause. Cost: $129.99.

BREADMAN, 888/889-0899, www.breadman.com

The Kenmore 2 lb. Rapid Breadmaker makes up to a 2 lb. horizontal loaf in 59-minutes with its Rapid Bake cycle. This machine has 54 baking cycle combinations. The Rapid Breadmaker mixes, kneads, rises, bakes and cools down automatically. It also features a bake-only option for prepared dough. Its dough-only cycle allows students to prepare dough in the breadmaker, which can then be baked later in a conventional oven. This breadmaker has a beeper signal that indicates when fruit or nuts should be added to the dough.

Most Unique Feature: Its whole wheat cycle permits baking with whole wheat flour. Cost: $119.99.

KENMORE, 800/349-4358, www.kenmore.com

Oster's 5838 2 lb. Expressbake Breadmaker has a compact modern design. Students will be able to enjoy freshbaked bread in less than one hour. It features an easy-to-use control panel and requires only three-steps to program. The Expressbake is intended to make 1-1/2 lb. or 2 lb. horizontal loaves perfectly every time. It has 18 bread settings, a 60-minute keep-warm feature, a crust color selector feature and an extra large viewing window.

Most Unique Feature: Baking can be delayed for more than half of a day with the 13-hour delay bake feature. Cost: $85.00.

OSTER, 800/528-7713, www.oster.com

Panasonic's SD-YD250 Bread Machine enables students to have control of many types of bread or dough, the size of the loaf, and the crispiness of the crust. Cooks can choose to make a variety of breads in 1 lb., 1-1/2 lb. and 2-1/2 lb. sizes. A variety of program modes allow users to make dough especially for French bread, soft breads for sandwiches, multi-grain breads, croissants, and more. Electronically controlled modes produce the correct density, texture and moistness for types of breads and pastries.

Most Unique Feature: It features YeastPro which automatically dispenses yeast. Cost: $149.95.

PANASONIC, 800/211-7262, www.panasonic.com/electronics

Toastmaster's TM1142 Toastmast-er Horizontal 2.0 lb. FastBake Breadmaker has a unique Fast Bake Cycle. It can make a loaf of bread from start to finish in less than an hour. This model has a horizontal non-stick loaf pan, crust color control and bakes traditional 2 pound loaves. Once you start the machine, the mixing and kneading begins. It also has an easy-to-read control panel.

Most Unique Feature: Its programming does not require pre-heating. Cost: $105.

TOASTMASTER INC., 800/947-3744, www.salton-maxim.com

The Zojirushi BBCC-V20 Home Bakery Traditional allows students to bake large traditional rectangular shaped 2 lb. loaves. This machine comes equipped with ten useful automatic baking settings - whole wheat, dough, cake and fruit jam; quick baking cycle; crust control function; dual kneading blades; viewing window; nonstick baking pan; auto shut-off function; and an automatic baking timer.

Most Unique Feature: The Homemade menu function allows students to program in their individual recipes. Cost: $149.95.

ZOJIRUSHI, 800/733-6270, www.zojirushi.com