Pros: Great Bread, so simple to make, can make a big difference in a meal.
Cons: Short cord, no power switch, and difficult to clean.
The Bottom Line: This little machine will help you put that final touch on a meal, fresh and warm bread. Find a few favorite recipes and there will be no looking back.
dandino's Full Review: West Bend 41077 Just For Dinner??? Bread Machine
My fiancée loves bread. Of all the foods to love, she loves bread… ok. I saw a deal on Amazon and got this little guy for only 40 bucks. Figured I couldn’t go wrong, and I didn’t.
So you can use it right out of the box, assuming that you have all the ingredients. It is the unit that you see pictured above. Then there is the baking pan where the loaf is made and a stir bar, the kneader. Three pieces in total are included. The machine has only two buttons, one to switch between normal bread and wheat bread, the other to actually start cooking.
If you want bread with dinner, this is how it will go….
You get a handy dandy little instruction manual, not very complicated at all. Besides telling you the ins and outs of making bread, you get a few pointers on making fancier bread. It tells you when and how to glaze, seed, and even put your initials in the bread. Half of the instruction booklet is a recipe guide for a good number of breads. Some of them are very good (garlic bread), but others are not (the cheddar bread tastes like a big cheese-it). That’s all a matter of taste, but most likely you will find a few loaves that you will enjoy. If not, experiment. One time I just threw a dash of every single spice I had into the pan, actually came out good too. But for the most part, I find myself following the very easy instructions. Water, flour, teaspoon of this, tablespoon of that, etc. It will take between 5-10 minutes to actually set it up with all the ingredients in the pan, place it in the cooker, and the machine will knead it without you, which is nice. The first time we made bread, I think we watched it for 5 minutes. It will nicely take all the ingredients and knead the dough, when it is ready, it will start to actually cook it.
It takes 44 minutes from the time you hit the start button until the loaf is done. There are two points to check on your bread. After the kneader is done, if the dough does not wind up in the middle of the pan, you will wind up with a lopsided loaf. So when you hear the motor stop, make sure it’s down. Every now and then you will have to push the dough down or spread it out. This is really not a big deal at all. The machine did the most tedious part of kneading the bread; the least you can do is ensure that it’s even. Then a little while later it will beep. At this point you are about 15 minutes from having bread. It beeps to tell you if you want to put a glaze on it now, or seeds, or some butter on the top, etc. Then the last beep will tell you it’s done and the light will turn green. At this point, the machine will just keep your bread warm until you come and take it out. Simply twist the pan with an oven mitt, turn it upside down on a plate and pop it out. Very simple. Give it 5 minutes to cool down, slice it up and enjoy.
There are some down sides to this kitchen toy. The power cord is only 2 feet long. This is just flat out annoying. Whenever I need to use it I need to move other stuff out of the way so that I can reach the outlet. Many kitchen appliances have short power cords and it makes for inconveniences. The second silly point is that there is no on/off switch. To turn it off, you have to unplug it. I can’t see how this was intentionally designed this way. I can only see it as a way to cut manufacturing costs. The third, final, and by far the most annoying con of this machine is removing the kneading bar. It is a little arm in the bottom of the pan that spins around to knead the dough. You need to remove it to get rid off all the crust that is trapped under it. It can be very difficult to remove this, and a little painful on your fingertips. I found that letting it soak in soapy water will help, but it’s still a pain in the butt.
When it comes to the rating, I would have loved to give this 5 stars, but removing that kneading bar is quite a bad flaw. I could have overlooked the power cord and the lack of an on/off switch, but not the difficulty in cleaning up. But these minor shortcomings are completely overshadowed by the bread it makes. I use this regularly. It was well worth the $40.
Bake a 3/4-lb. loaf in just 45 minutes with this West Bend oval breadmaker. The compact unit is equipped with settings for basic and specialty breads,...More at Target
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