Conference 7.286::home_work

    	I did find some comments in TURRIS::COOKS.  Someone had even
    mentioned the Toastmaster (1952.97), and a few had mentioned the 
    Hitachi.
    
    	A lot of people talked about the Panasonic, but it only does the
    1.5lb. loaves. 
    
    	Ray

    My experience with them is that they are fantastic and lots of fun. 
    Until they break down.  I've had four (of various manufacturers).  They
    generally break-down after about 150 loaves (that's six months), and
    they take about six months to get repaired/replaced.  The last one we
    sent off got lost by the manufacturer, who now claim (even though they
    cashed my check, which I sent in with the unit) that they never
    received it and are ignoring further inquiries (that manufacturer is
    DAK Industries).

They sound about as reliable as that Sanyo coffee grinder-maker combination
that Sharper Image used to sell. After the third sub-annual repair, we tossed
it.

If you are a subscriber to Compuserve, the Consumer Reports Forum under Basic 
Services has a good section on bread makers. It is from, I believe, 1993. 
Your local library may have a hard copy. Quit a few things to look for that I 
would not have thought of.

Cheers and good luck

Consumer reports had a review of bread makers about 6 months ago.
I have a Panasonic and love it.  They make several models.
A previous note incorrectly said it only does 1.5 lbs.  You can make
1lb (or less!) in them.   
Things to look for are a variety of baking cycles.  e.g. shorter cycles
for white breads and longer cycles for wheat bread and french style 
breads.   This is important if you ever plan to experiment a little.
Some models are programmable.  That is you can tell it how long you
long and how often you want to knead, rise, and bake.  Now that 
I'm experimenting more I would have opted for one of those although
my panasonic is still doing ok ... even with sourdough!

-Larry

    	I have noticed that the Toastmaster is on sale at Caldors for $149.
    It does three loaf sizes with the large one being 2lbs. It has I
    believe 7 baking cycles and does whole wheat bread. At this price, it
    is over $100 less than the Hitachi which appears to have the same
    features. Not sure how durable either of them are.
    
    	Ray

	OK, I'll bite -- why is there a note about breadmakers in the
	home_work notesfile?

	Roy

    Because someone entered it and no one jumped on the base note author.
    Yet.  OK, let me:  this doesn't really relate to HOME_WORK.
    
    But since I'm typing, my DAK model has been going for a couple of
    years at over a loaf a week with no problems.  If you eat bread
    regularly, this is a very useful device!
    
    	Larry

    In order to do HOME_WORK, one needs the staff of life.  These 
    machines seem to produce that product, thus it appears that
    this topic is germaine to this notesfile.

    justme....jacqui

    p.s. Not a MOD of HOME_WORK!

    ... and you knead a lot of bread to finance those expensive home
    improvements, some of which are a real ... pain.

Problem here is that if someone asked how to fix their Yuppie contrivance, 
there'd be no negative discussion.  However, since the base note simply 
wanted to know where to procure one of these silly contraptions, we have 
similar notes being discussed in numerous conferences  (sorta like the 
engineer boot note floating around the conferences) and everyone's asking 
"why here (too)?"

Another problem is that we have folks in here who, after reading all the 
(lets use refrigerators as an example) refrigerator notes and ask for 
recommendations.  So the precedent has been set for folks to ask for 
consumer advise.  The problem is where does one draw the line between 
refrigerators and corn butterers.  Where's the line drawn between major 
appliances and fad appliances?

There's a right place and there are wrong places.

There are anxious folks and there are patient folks.

There are obnoxious folks and there are pleasant folks.

There are folks who take the time to research a subject and there are folks 
who simply barge in and ask a silly (usually already covered  -  numerous 
times) questions. (and get all riled up when someone points them to the 
previous replies that already address their concerns)  These are the same 
folks who create a NEW topic to address a topic already covered (sometimes 
extensively) and, again, get in a snit when you point that out to them.

Looks like the base note probably should have stayed in the consumer 
conference and not have been written here as well.  I hope the author of 
the base note is following the discussion in all of the conferences the 
topic was entered in.

    	After taking a few days off and coming back with a fresh perspective, 
    some of the replies in here are one of those things that make you
    realize why you need a vacation once in a while.
    
    	I did do some amount of research and checked the keyword listing in
    here before making the entry. I did see the APPLIANCES-COOKING keyword
    and it seemed to sort of fit. Maybe if you think of it as a power tool
    for the kitchen; Ya, that's the ticket. If I crossed a fine line just 
    let me know and I won't get into too much of a snit ;-)
    
    	Ray

    Jordan Marsh has the Breadman on sale this week. It makes 2 pound
    loaves. Call first though, the supplies are limited and demand is high
    for this brand.
    
    Kath

    re:-1 
    	
    	Do you know how much the Breadman is and what features it has.
    
    	Can someone who has one of these things maybe mention some of the
    features to look for. Aside from loaf size, it seems some don't have
    the ability to do certain mixes (whole wheat ?). Is this true ?
    
    	Other features that seem obvious are 12-13 hr. timed start delay and 
    a 3 hour bread warmer. I've heard of something called a quick bread mode 
    or some such thing. Anyone know what that's all about. I've also heard
    about being to program some of them. What exactly is it you program
    them to do ? Any other obscure features that I should know of ?
    
    	While I'm at it, my mother-in-law mentioned a model that was
    advertised as being able to make 2 loaves at a time. Considering that
    there are 5 of us, and that my wife babysits (more mouths to feed), it 
    sounds like something we could make use of. Anyone hear of or see one 
    of these units ?
    
    	I want to thank the people that have commented so far and Skip
    for letting this questionable topic slide. Guess I better find another
    notes file to ask about the sewing machine my wife wants though ;-)
    
    	Ray

    The quick bread feature is for making breads that don't need yeast,
    like banana bread, pumpkin bread, etc.  The feature will mix and bake
    for you but it doesn't have the knead and rise cycles.
    
    I have a Welbilt and so far so good, I usually make a loaf a week and
    haven't had any problems.  I like having the manual setting, this
    allows me to make the dough for calzones, pizza and raisin cinamon
    bread, et al.
    
    My husband laughed at me when I bought it, within 2 weeks and lots of
    experimentation he apologized and said it was one of the best purchases
    I've made in a long time.
    
    /Susan

    The Breadman, on sale, is $239 I think.  Last year, around Christmas
    consumer reports recommended it highly. For that reason, trying to 
    find a Breadman breadmaker was like trying to find a needle in a hay
    stack.  Filene's also carries them.  
    
    I don't know about the features. My husband is the baker in the house.
    I am the official taste tester.  He and the Breadman make great raisin
    bread...  8)
    
    Kath

>>     <<< Note 5450.16 by REGENT::WOODWARD "I'll put this moment...here" >>>
>>                     -< More on the Breadman Bread Maker >-

>>    The Breadman, on sale, is $239 I think.  Last year, around Christmas
>>    consumer reports recommended it highly. For that reason, trying to 

Filene's has plenty (Nashua) on sale for $199.  Jordan Marsh had some in
stock for $229.  Lechmere's has them also for $229.

Garry

You may also want to try the warehouse stores (BJ's, Costco, Sam's, etc.)  I
seem to remember seeing the Breadman there as well.  I also saw the Consumer
Reports article and they did indeed recommend it highly.