I won a Cuisinart bread maker - a review

I was fortunate enough to win a cuisinart bread maker .


I have made a few different loaves in it, An Einkorn Loaf with dried fruit in, A Kamut, spelt and Rye loaf and a Chocolate and raisin Spelt loaf. This has allowed me to test a few different programmes and different functions on the machine to give a balanced review.

The machine upon unpacking is large, very large and does not slip into any of my cupboards easily, and its footprint is too large to stay on my limited workspace when not being used. Whilst it is not a heavy machine despite its size,  it does not have a carry handle on.

The control panel is clear and easy to use, once you have put in the ingredients, you select a programme, a crust colour as well as a medium or large loaf and the start/stop button and it starts.

Loved the smooth flat interior, the element is built in and not exposed as in many of the older models, therfore food does not drop on it and burn or get under it and prove impossible to clean out, this is a good enough reason alone to buy this style of machine.

There is a small draw at the top you can add extra ingredients too like raisins that will add at the appropriate time so they do not get mushed up. This did not impress me really as dried fruit is about the only thing suitable to put in the drawer, it does not recommend cheese, chocolate, small seeds, moist ingredients or herbs so really does not serve much purpose.

Like all bread makers it will make a cake, jam or dough. Will try out the cake mode at some point, just in the name of scientific research, but cant really see me having a need to use it regularly.

My thoughts

pros -

• nice machine for a bigger family as it will make a full 1kg size loaf.
•  Easy to use, with simple push controls that turns out a nice result.
• easy to clean interior as its heating element is built in so no food gets under it. 

cons-

• bulky, has a large footprint
• difficult to store, wont slide into my standard kitchen units, its too tall
•  ingredients drawer a gimic rather than actually serving much purpose
• no carry handle

I was under no obligation on winning this machine to do a review, but I was asked if I wanted to and so agreed.