From: mcgrew@ichthous.Eng.Sun.COM (Darin McGrew)
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
Subject: Re: Breadmachines....Purchasing Advice
Date: 21 Jan 1993 22:36:46 GMT
Organization: Sun
NNTP-Posting-Host: ichthous

hinz@porthos.rutgers.edu (Dorothy E. Hinz) writes:
>Could you expand on why you decided on the Zojirushi and let us know
>what price range it falls in.

(Dorothy is replying to a posting from my wife Michelle.)

Our top choice was the low-end Zojirushi.  We found it at
Emporium, regularly $250, on sale for $200, and we got a 10%
discount for applying for an Emporium credit card (net, $180).
The features we wanted were the square loaf, the 1.5 lb capacity,
the flexibility to bake 0.5 lb and 1.0 lb loaves, the quick bread
(non-yeast bread) cycle, the dough cycle, and the raisin bread
cycle that allows you to add raisins (nuts, etc.) at the start.

The high-end Zojirushi adds a french bread cycle, a jam cycle, a
fancier display, and I think it added a programmable cycle for
rye and other whole-grain breads.  It also adds a kneading rod in
the side of the pan in addition to the paddle at the bottom; the
rod should improve mixing and kneading, but looked like it would
also inflict more damage on the loaf.  This model also retails
for another $100 or more, and it wasn't on sale.

Our second choice was the Hitachi.  We found it at BEST for $200
("suggested retail" $250), and at CostCo (a warehouse club) for
$160.  It didn't have the quick bread cycle, and it might have
been missing another feature or two compared to the low-end
Zojirushi (I forget).  Basically, we were spending Christmas
money and decided that $20 was worth it for a quick bread cycle.

The larger Panasonic/National machines have a rectangular pan
instead of a deeper square pan.  According to one of the volumes
of 'The Bread Machine Cookbook', this machine doesn't work very
well if you make smaller loaves.  Apparently ingredients get
stuck at one end or the other and don't get mixed in.

We found the Chefmate for $160 at Target, and it had a French
bread cycle, but didn't have several of the other features.

We also considered a couple other machines based on the comments
in 'The Bread Machine Cookbook II', but found that the other ones
we were interested in were more expensive, or cost about the same
but didn't have the features we wanted.  We didn't consider any
of the smaller (1 lb loaf) machines, nor did we consider any of
the round-loaf machines.  We didn't consider anything for very
long if it would have cost much more than $200.

Your mileage, feature requirements, and budget will vary.  The
info in 'The Bread Machine Cookbook III' is a great starting
point.  (The info in the the first two volumes isn't as current.)

>                               We haven't decided on getting one, but
>we may never taste homemade bread again if we don't.

We finally decided to buy one because we both missed the homemade
bread Michelle used to bake before she returned to school.

>                                                      The ones that
>make the tiny loaf for hardly 2 people seem a waste of money to me.

We find that we end up making a "1.5 lb" loaf every couple days
or so.  If we had a smaller machine, we'd probably have to make
bread almost every day, which could be good or bad depending on
your point of view.  We wanted a machine that could handle
smaller loaves well though, because that way we can make a 0.5 lb
loaf of some savory bread as an accompaniment to a specific meal.

Darin.McGrew@Eng.Sun.COM            Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,
Soli Deo Gloria!                      but righteousness delivers from death.
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking