Best Bread Maker Machine Review

Great Deal West Bend 41200 Programmable Bread Machine, Stainless

We have owned five bread machines over the past twenty years or so. One ChefMate (which was by far the best), three Breadman, and now this one from West Bend. Though the Breadman machines were pretty good, none of them stacked up to the ChefMate. It’s the one I compare all others to.

We’ve only had one machine motor die (that was our original one after seven years of usage). Mostly the problems have been with the bread pan gaskets breaking down. Replacing the stem piece and pans often costs as much as buying a new machine, not only in the cost of the parts, but with postal rates as they are.

When our most recent machine died I was not looking forward to shopping for another one. I’m known for researching things to death, but these days no amount of research really prepares you for how something is going to work.

During the Christmas season this West Bend became available at a local store for . Though I’ve never been a fan of the oblong pan (I prefer the upright), we figured that we couldn’t go too terribly wrong at that price. If nothing else this machine would get us through until we could find one we liked better.

I’ve never been under the illusion that ingredients can be put into a machine, turned on, and left to their own devices. Every machine needs a little supervision, and the ingredients need to be tweaked. Compare that small issue with making bread completely by hand and it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. Do a little tweaking, a couple of hours later – fresh bread.

So far this machine is excellent (and right up there with the ChefMate). It has one powerful motor, and it mixes, kneads, and raises dough to perfection. I’ve made several loaves of bread in it, and several batches of dough for other things (including bread I let raise in a pan in the oven).

My only complaint about it so far is the beeper. It’s extremely loud, and when the machine is finished it sounds like a smoke detector going off. A minor annoyance for what appears to be a good machine, at least so far.

I actually like that the paddle rests higher up on the stem. It comes out in the bread (sometimes the others did too), but at least it doesn’t get stuck on the stem and have to be soaked off (which can ruin the gasket over time).

I hope to get a lot of use out of this bread machine.

*After several months (it is now June) of using this machine there has become one minor issue to contend with.

The clips that hold the pan down into the machine eventually end up bent inward too far (from taking the bread pan in and out), and occasionally during a particularly heavy kneading cycle the pan will pop up. Because the machine doesn’t shut off when that happens, you hear the horrible noise of metal banging on metal. Not good for the underside of the paddle, not good for the metal bracket in the bottom of the bread machine, and not good for the nerves.

If and when that happens, unplug the machine, bend the brackets up a bit (don’t yank on them too hard), pop the pan back in, and plug the machine in again.

Tweaking the brackets solves the problem for a while, but eventually they need another tweak. This is an issue we’ve never had with any other bread machine.

Not sturday – Mary A. Taylor –
I have been very happy with West Bend products in the past but this bread machine was disappointing. I like all the features it has but it is not heavy enough for the kneading cycle. The 2nd time I used the machine it vibrated off my counter and warped the lid. It has continued to work but it vibrates itself all over and usually off the counter if not held during the kneading cycle. So I have to hold it in place for 20 minutes …. Part of the reason I wanted a bread machine was the convenience of turn it on and go. It is lighter in weight compared to the other 2 bread machines I have owned and I think that is the problem. Don’t recommend buying this one.

West Bend Model 41200 Bread Machine – R. Mazur – California, USA
I am thankful to Amazon for sharing these reviews. I read them all and am, so far, very pleased with this machine. After wearing out 2 bread machines, I wanted a programmable one. One prior review mentioned an error in the recipe book regarding raisin bread. I called their customer service number and mentioned the problem. I was told there were other recipe problems with the booklet packaged. When I asked why this had not been corrected, I was told these machines had been already packaged. A poor excuse, I think. They offered to send me a new instruction manual which contains the recipes. I asked if it contained one for sourdough. No, but they had another small booklet they would send. Well, the new instruction booklet was no different than the original one with the errors. However, the additional recipe book had more recipes and had been totally corrected. If one just only knew this when buying this machine. If not for this problem, I’d give it 5 stars. West Bend 41200 Programmable Bread Machine, Stainless

Rating : 4.0

Price on Aug 01, 2010 17:40:29 : $139.99

Offer Price : $79.99

Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days

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