This review is from: Oster CKSTBRTW20 2-Pound Expressbake Breadmaker, White (Kitchen)
I’ve had the Oster Expressbake Breadmaker for almost 7 months and have used it too many times to count. If it died tomorrow, I feel like I have had my money’s worth out of it and would buy another. I have used the Basic, Quick, Whole Wheat, Dough, and Sweet cycles, and they all work perfectly and produce a wonderful loaf of bread. If you’re new to bread making, I highly recommend the book 300 Best Bread Machine Recipes by Donna Washburn and Heather Butt. This book gives a lot of good hints and tips besides outstanding recipes. There are also good recipes on allrecipes.com. An electric knife to slice the loaf is also extremely helpful.
I want to address some points brought out in other reviews. First of all, many bread recipe books recommend helping the beginning 5-minute mix (knead) by scraping down the sides with a silicone spatula. All you have to do is leave the lid up and as the blade is turning, scrape down the sides and help the ingredients mix. This will also help you to see if you need to add more flour or more water. Dough should circle the pan nicely and not get stuck on one side for too long. Dough with nuts or fruit in it needs to be a bit stickier than regular bread dough in order to help the nuts or fruit stay incorporated in the bread.
Secondly, there IS an “add ingredient” tone (for fruits and nuts) that sounds on most of the bread cycles…even the Basic cycle.
The instruction book that comes with the manual does not explain this, but the Quick cycle (sometimes called the Cake cycle) is not to make bread bake quicker. It is for breads without yeast…quick breads like banana bread. There is only one mix (knead) and no rising time in this cycle.
To fasten the bread pan in the machine securely, you must push down on the bread pan until it clicks into place under the brackets.
Lastly, the times for kneading, resting, rising, and baking are perfect in this machine! Loaves turn out perfectly every time. Just follow the instructions given in the recipes and the instruction book for perfect loaves, don’t substitute ingredients, measure ingredients carefully, and use actual bread flour. There is a certain order that you are to add the ingredients to the machine, and the 300 Best Bread Machine cookbook gives further instructions for ingredients that have to stay dry before the mixing starts. The paddle comes out in the loaf of bread, but a tool is included that helps you pull it out with minimal tearing of the loaf. I have to say that if someone is not experiencing great loaves of bread, it’s a strong possibility that it’s because of user error.
I highly recommend this bread machine and wish you happy baking!
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This review is from: Oster CKSTBRTW20 2-Pound Expressbake Breadmaker, White (Kitchen)
Update 10/20/2012 – STILL works phenomenally well, and way better than the price might indicate!
I am a father with four young children, and I bake bread 2-3x a week. I bought this in the summer of 2011 (albeit not from Amazon) and have used it at least 100x or so. I bought it for $60, and I can hardly believe the consistently excellent quality that this machine turns out. I mean…seriously, for $60? You’d expect the thing to be sub-par and not up to the task. The key with this machine (as with any other, I’d imagine) is to work hard on getting the dough ball correct. That’s the only part that the machine cannot monitor. Almost invariably, I have to add an extra tbsp or so of water, although very occasionally extra flour is needed. Once you figure out the right additions, you’re ready for the REAL convenience of owning one of these – the timer function! Get yourself perfected on 5-10 recipes, and all you’ve gotta do is measure out the ingredients into the bread pan, set the timer, and presto! Wake up the next morning to fresh bread! The recipe for frozen berry jam is also excellent, although I HIGHLY recommend that you allow the berries to soften a bit before starting because the edges of hard frozen strawberries scratched the non-stick coating a bit. Cleanup is a breeze too.
A small tip (which would apply to all brands of bread machine): Make sure to take the kneading paddle out of the bread immediately after you drop the loaf onto your table. It almost always comes out into the loaf, and a tool is included to make removing it a simple task. Once removed, place it into the bread pan but do NOT put it back onto the kneading cylinder. The bread around the paddle will be moist, and if it dries onto the cylinder, it can be nigh impossible to remove. I ruined an old machine because NOTHING would allow me to get the paddle off, not even soaking it in hot water repeatedly. Again, this applies to ALL bread machines, not just this one.
For the price, there is simply nothing out there to compare with this machine. It outperforms more expensive units that I’ve used before as well.
Cheers!
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This review is from: Oster CKSTBRTW20 2-Pound Expressbake Breadmaker, White (Kitchen)
This was a gift replacing a 16 year old, but still working, Zorjurshi. I wanted a machine that turned out a horizontal loaf rather than a vertical one. I first tried the Oatmeal bread recipe in the Oster book. It came out perfectly. Next I tried using Bob’s Old Mill gluten free bread mix for hand or machine baking. At first I was a little worried as during the second knead I was not getting a smooth round ball. I added a some flour a tablespoon at a time. It still did not look right but it came out perfectly. Next time I may not add the extra flour to see what happens. I will continue to experiment with gluten free recipes so I do not have to rely on the mix as it is only a little less costly than a loaf of GF bread. The main point here is that the Oster is a good value all purpose bread machine. The instructions that came with the Oster said to use bread flour only. The mix I used had among other things, bean flour, and I still got a yummy tasting bread. I have read that one needs a machine with a GF cycle to make GF bread. In my case the Oster worked perfectly.
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Would Purchase Again in a Heartbeat!,
I want to address some points brought out in other reviews. First of all, many bread recipe books recommend helping the beginning 5-minute mix (knead) by scraping down the sides with a silicone spatula. All you have to do is leave the lid up and as the blade is turning, scrape down the sides and help the ingredients mix. This will also help you to see if you need to add more flour or more water. Dough should circle the pan nicely and not get stuck on one side for too long. Dough with nuts or fruit in it needs to be a bit stickier than regular bread dough in order to help the nuts or fruit stay incorporated in the bread.
Secondly, there IS an “add ingredient” tone (for fruits and nuts) that sounds on most of the bread cycles…even the Basic cycle.
The instruction book that comes with the manual does not explain this, but the Quick cycle (sometimes called the Cake cycle) is not to make bread bake quicker. It is for breads without yeast…quick breads like banana bread. There is only one mix (knead) and no rising time in this cycle.
To fasten the bread pan in the machine securely, you must push down on the bread pan until it clicks into place under the brackets.
Lastly, the times for kneading, resting, rising, and baking are perfect in this machine! Loaves turn out perfectly every time. Just follow the instructions given in the recipes and the instruction book for perfect loaves, don’t substitute ingredients, measure ingredients carefully, and use actual bread flour. There is a certain order that you are to add the ingredients to the machine, and the 300 Best Bread Machine cookbook gives further instructions for ingredients that have to stay dry before the mixing starts. The paddle comes out in the loaf of bread, but a tool is included that helps you pull it out with minimal tearing of the loaf. I have to say that if someone is not experiencing great loaves of bread, it’s a strong possibility that it’s because of user error.
I highly recommend this bread machine and wish you happy baking!
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|Ridiculously good performance for the price,
I am a father with four young children, and I bake bread 2-3x a week. I bought this in the summer of 2011 (albeit not from Amazon) and have used it at least 100x or so. I bought it for $60, and I can hardly believe the consistently excellent quality that this machine turns out. I mean…seriously, for $60? You’d expect the thing to be sub-par and not up to the task. The key with this machine (as with any other, I’d imagine) is to work hard on getting the dough ball correct. That’s the only part that the machine cannot monitor. Almost invariably, I have to add an extra tbsp or so of water, although very occasionally extra flour is needed. Once you figure out the right additions, you’re ready for the REAL convenience of owning one of these – the timer function! Get yourself perfected on 5-10 recipes, and all you’ve gotta do is measure out the ingredients into the bread pan, set the timer, and presto! Wake up the next morning to fresh bread! The recipe for frozen berry jam is also excellent, although I HIGHLY recommend that you allow the berries to soften a bit before starting because the edges of hard frozen strawberries scratched the non-stick coating a bit. Cleanup is a breeze too.
A small tip (which would apply to all brands of bread machine): Make sure to take the kneading paddle out of the bread immediately after you drop the loaf onto your table. It almost always comes out into the loaf, and a tool is included to make removing it a simple task. Once removed, place it into the bread pan but do NOT put it back onto the kneading cylinder. The bread around the paddle will be moist, and if it dries onto the cylinder, it can be nigh impossible to remove. I ruined an old machine because NOTHING would allow me to get the paddle off, not even soaking it in hot water repeatedly. Again, this applies to ALL bread machines, not just this one.
For the price, there is simply nothing out there to compare with this machine. It outperforms more expensive units that I’ve used before as well.
Cheers!
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|Worked for both Gluten Free and Regular Bread,
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