I am a cook, but I am not a baker. Cookies are hit or miss mostly miss) and the creation of elaborately decorated cakes totally eludes me.

But I do bake bread and I do that well. Maybe it's the heavier dough, maybe it's because I can stick it in the oven and forget about it for more than ten minutes or maybe it's the mix-let rise-punch down-let rise again-bake process that has me experimenting with different kinds of bread. I also absolutely detest any bread that comes in a plastic bag and has been sitting on my grocery store shelf for a week.

But I very rarely have the time to bake bread from scratch. I usually bake several loaves on Sundays and hope they last the week.

Several years ago I bought my first bread machine and was somewhat impressed. Put in the ingredients and the machine does the rest. Sadly this machine has recently developed a mind of it's own and now only works when it wants to. So a new one had to be found.

During last weeks city-wide Yard sales, I found the Magic Chef Automatic Breadmaker for only $10.00. I happened to know the person who was selling it. She's not a cook nor a baker and she received this as a wedding gift and never used it. The machine was no longer in it's original box, but it had a manual and looked brand-new. So I bought it, took it home and tried out my new toy.

This is a step up from basic bread machine. It offers 8 cycles and a delay timer and bakes either one-pound or 1.5 lb loaves. This machine also makes Jam, but I haven't tried it yet, the strawberries aren't quite ripe enough yet and the peaches are still babies. This machine lets me choose three different types of crust.

CYCLE SETTINGS:

Basic - for your basic white breads only, will not work well for heavier breads, total time for one cycle is 3 hours including kneading and cooling.

Rapid - same as above, for one pound loaves only, total cycle time is 2 hrs, 20 minutes. This will give a very pale white bread and I use it only if I'm in a real hurry.

Sweet - for breads with high sugar or fat content, such as Easter breads, total cycle time is 2 hrs, 50 minutes

French - for breads with a thicker, crunchier crust or sourdough breads, kneading cycle will be longer, total cycle time is 3 hrs, 50 minutes

Cake - for baking powder based doughs, cycle time is 1hr, 50 minutes

Whole Wheat - for whole wheat bread or any bread that needs a longer rising time, total cycle time 3 hrs, 40 minutes. I've got the feeling this one will work well for my Christmas Stollen when the time comes.

Dough - mixes and kneads dough for Pizzas or specialty breads that will be baked in a regular oven, total cycle time is 1hr and 30 minutes

Bake - shortest program of all, for previously prepared bread dough or commercially bought dough and to make Jams (I haven't tried to make Jam yet, so don't know how that works)


CRUST SETTINGS AND DELAY TIMER:

"l" - light crust for basic or rapid white bread and certain specialty breads, is a very pale golden color

"p" - medium crust for all types of bread, comes out to a light golden color

"h" - dark crust for Rye and Wheat breads and certain specialty breads.

I don't know why the letters "P" and "H" were chosen, I thought they could have used "M" for medium and "D" for dark, but I'm not about to second guess that, it works just fine either way.

Delay timer - this machine offers a delay timer feature. With this feature I can add my ingredients and set the timer for up to 13 hours. This enables me to prepare everything at night and wake up to freshly baked bread in the morning, or to start a baking cycle when I'm at work, so it's ready by dinner time. This is one of my favorite features. However, this timer can only be used for the regular bread cycles, not for the bake or dough cycle. The one draw back to this timer feature is that it works in ten -minute increments, so it takes a lot of pushing buttons to get to the 13 hour delay.

There is one drawback to the timer and it took me a while to figure out how to set it right. Let's say it is 10PM and I want my bread to be done at 6AM. I thought that I had to subtract the baking time from the total amount of hours (i.e. 10pm to 6am = 8hours, minus - 3hrs. for the baking cycle, so I set the timer to 5 hours). Setting the timer to 5 hours means my bread would start baking in 2 hours.

To correctly set the timer, I have to ADD the baking time to my total of hours, once the timer is at the correct baking time it will start. So if I want to start baking bread at 3am to have it ready at 6AM, I will have to set the timer to 8hours and the baking process will begin in 5hours after I set the timer. Sounds complicated, but it really isn't, just took me a while.

OTHER FEATURES:

ADD INGREDIENTS - this feature sounds a short series of beeps during the cycles to let me know when I can add other ingredients like nuts or raisins. The beep sounds after the first two heavy kneading cycles and thus prevents my ingredients from being squashed. I've found that if I add raisins to the dough after the beep, they are evenly distributed throughout my bread, instead of being all at the bottom of the loaf.

KEEP WARM:

This feature allows bread to be kept warm for up to an hour after the cycle is finished. I had originally thought I had to manually turn the machine off after the cycle was done, but then found out about this feature (helps to read the manual). The machine will not turn off until this keep warm cycle is finished. If I want to turn the machine off before that, I have to do it manually. I like this for the delayed timer, because I have warm bread in the morning.

WARNINGS:

Just like other small appliances that heat up, this one needs to be approached with some caution. I always use oven mitts or pot holders when removing the pan from the machine. The pan will be hot, even after the cool down cycle and the sides of the bread machine get hot also. There is a viewing window that will not get extremely hot, but it does heat up somewhat and it's probably best to not let small children take a look and touch this window accidentally.

MATERIALS

The bottom of this machine is a white colored metal, the top part is a plastic coated metal and also white. The buttons for the cycle are "soft touch" buttons, so nothing has to be pushed in, just touched lightly to make cycle and timer selections. There is a clear plastic coating over these buttons. I bought this machine used and the coating has come lose in several places, but the buttons still work fine. The display window for time and cycles is read with a red digital read-out.

The inside of the machine is a gray metal, the pan is gray aluminum with a non-stick coating. The paddle that kneads the dough is a one way paddle only, meaning it only has a little thingy sticking out on one side. It is made from gray plastic, easy to remove and dishwasher safe. It actually comes out by itself with every loaf of bread I bake. The pan comes out easily, I just pull up on the handle. To insert the pan into the baking chamber, I have to push down on it firmly to make sure it is secure.

The powercord is about 2.5 ft long and plugs into a standard two-prong outlet. There is no cord storage on this machine.

CLEANING

Cleaning the machine is easy. The outside wipes off with a damp rag, the baking cavity can be wiped out with a damp rag or a paper towel. I add my ingredients with the bread pan on the counter, so nothing accidentally falls into the baking chamber.
The pan can be washed and rinsed in the sink, but should never be submerged in water. Because of the non-stick coating it wipes clean very easily. The paddle for kneading is removable and is dishwasher safe, but most of the time I just wash it by hand.

ODDS AND ENDS

This machine sits on four little rubber feet. It's probably okay to set it onto any countertop just like that, but because the bottom tends to get hot I usually place it on one of my many cutting boards. I also allow a bit of room (about six inches) in the back of the machine, so my backsplash doesn't get too hot.

As far as bread machines go - this one is a light weight. I haven't actually placed it on a scale, but it seems far lighter than other machines I have used.

The manual that came with this machine is easy to read and understand. It offers a general overview of the machine, as well as information about each cycle, a recipe and trouble shooting section and information about the warranty.

The warranty covers a period of 90 days from date of purchase and only covers defective materials or workmanship. It does not cover accidental breakage or parts broken in shipment, unreasonable use or neglect.


This machine was made by the Maytag Corporation, carries the Magic Chef logo and is distributed by Walmart stores.

Thank you Helen for not giving up and adding this.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 10.00