- Dealer: Amazon.com
The Hamilton Beach HomeBaker Bread Machine is a very good bread machine at a very good price. It does not feature some of the more advanced options you can find on more expensive bread machines, but for the money and based on customer satisfaction scores it does a very good job.
“We have owned several bread making machines over the years. This is BY FAR the best one we have ever had. Easy to use, excellent booklet with information, recipes, etc. Easy to clean.”
12 Settings Across Cycles
Like many bread machines it offers a variety of settings. Hamilton Beach offers 12 that will allow you to bake most breads. It has a Gluten-free setting but your success with that setting will have more to do with your ability to combine the right ingredients. It can also handle whole-grains but the recipes seem to indicate a percentage of grain flours such as whole wheat rather than 100% whole wheat. According to one experienced owner:
“If you use all whole wheat flour you will end up with a very heavy and dense loaf of bread. Most whole wheat bread recipes use about 3 cups of bread flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour. You will still have a dense loaf of bread, but it will be much less dense than using all whole wheat.”
It’s a Big Machine
Most comments from owners are very positive although the height of the machine and the added height when you lift the lid showed up from time to time.
“Machine is tall and opening lid adds to the height.”
“A little bigger than I would like. Was hard to find a place I could store it. But it works well and the bread came out great.”
Finally! An Excellent Instruction Book
The instruction book is exceptional and probably one of the best given the failure of so many instruction books with other brands and models.
“Good recipe book.”
“I’ve had other models and I prefer this one. It’s sturdier and quiet and bakes a nice loaf, simple to use and has good recipes.”
Intuitive Interface That Makes This Bread Machine Easy to Use
The settings are easy to use and the keypad is also easy to use and understand.
“Operation of the machine is pretty intuitive and straightforward.”
Seeing is Believing
Like many other bread machines it features a window in the top lid so you can track the progress of your loaf or dough without lifting the lid and compromising the internal temperature while rising or baking. The machine also is reported to work well with gluten free bread recipes. I has a delay time that can be set up to 13 hours in advance and is reported to work well with fruit and nut breads although you have to add them at a beep that occurs after the first kneading cycle.
Why Kneading Paddles Matter
The machine has a standard, single-paddle system for mixing and kneading. The unit actually comes with two paddles so you don’t have to order a new one if one gets lost or broken. As far as I’ve seen it’s the only bread machine to give you an extra paddle -just in case. There were a few comments about the single paddle during the kneading process that indicated some flour stayed in the corner of the pan. This is fairly common and is usually the result of the bread recipe, although many people simply use a spoon to pull the dough out of the corner and incorporate it into the knead when they have a single paddle machine.
“Dough in Hamilton Beach mostly stayed at one corner, so the loose flour at the other corner got barely touched.”
There were some very positive comments about the rapid-rise feature that allows you to shorten the overall process time. All machines offer this option as a setting, but this is the first machine to actually elicit positive comments from owners about this feature.
Bread Sizes
The bread pan is identified as a non-stick pan. No mention if this coating is Teflon although most are. The pan can accommodate 1, 1.5 and 2.5 pound loaves, and like many other machines can also be used to prepare jams and jellies.
A Very Good Choice for a First-timer
Based on the comments; the price, features and overall performance -the Hamilton Beach HomeBaker Bread Machine Model Number 29982 is one of the best bread machine values for the money. It’s simple with basic features but its ease of use and dependability has made it very popular with its owners. If you or someone you know are going to explore bread-making with a bread machine for the first time, this is a very good choice.
The Hamilton Beach Homebaker Bread Machine Model Number 29982 is available in Black and measures 12.4 x 16.4 x 12.8 inches and weighs 12.8 pounds.
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I just bought one 2 months ago. Yes haven’t seen any reviews stating issues other than crust. I have had almost every bread I’ve made uneven and not rising. I’ve changed the flour and yeast and still the same! I have a machine that’s about 13 years old and it led a better job. I’m very disappointed
Just made my first loaf and am very pleased. However I found the crust too thick for my taste. Any fixes that can remedy this? . Price is great. Just eliminated soy from my diet and was unable to find breads and almost any processed foods without it. This bread may be equivalent for my first try at from scratch bread making which I no longer am able to stand long enough to make. Being from New England it’s great to be free of the cloying sweetness of today’s commercial breads.
got this machine from my grand-daughter about 2 months ago and except for it making the crust too dark and hard it does a fine job …. setting it on light crust helps a little .. I have only made white bread in it, 1.5 loafs I use the machine to mix the dough then do the rest by hand and my oven… other than that I like the machine..
I can’t rate it honestly because it is my first machine and I have only had it about 1 1/2 months ., but I will say ..I LIKE IT ! .
only prob. so far is that the crust setting is off ? …better use the light setting or it will make the crust hard and dark even when I follow the recipes to the letter … I have made a few white bread loafs and when the bread is finished the crust is very, very, very hard !!!, have to leave it set for a day before the crust softens enough to eat.. other than the crust prob. it seems to be a great little machine !
I have made pumpernickel bread and white bread. The pumpernickel came out a little burnt because I set it on dark crust. The white bread was the most perfect loaf you could do. I set it on light and the crust was exactly what I wanted.
Different ingredients react differently to temperature so knowing which crust color to set is sometimes a process of trial and error, although most bread machine recipes should indicate the best crust color. I see you got the Hamilton Beach. I reviewed that machine and you made a good choice.
Steve
Have tried several recipes and the medium selection in crusts seems to be golden brown ,but hard as rock on bottom and sides. This machine was rated high, but I’m dissatisfied.