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(More customer reviews)I came to machine made bread late, and it was a long road to get here. You could say I was a purist stuck in times past, or I was just waiting for my questions to be answered. I know a bunch of people who swear by thier bread machines, and several folks who've had one die and miss it terribly. Me, I had no real problems making bread the old fashioned way so to speak. I learned how to make bread from my Mom when I was a little girl, and that always worked for me.
I'd read that for features and function the Zojirushi was the top of the line. Great, but there was no way I could cost justify that kind of money for a bread machine. Plus, while it met most of my specifications, it missed on one important one, loaf size. For me a requirment was a horiontal loaf, and an ideal was maximum function and control. Including loaf size and crust.
Enter the Hi-Rise. It's selectable for four different loaf sizes 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 pound loaves. It has three different crust settings that give one control over color and thickness of the crust, accessed with the temp button.
With a horizontal loaf pan, and dual blades, it makes it simple and easy to prepare just about anything. The large windows in the top make it easy to watch how your bread is doing and the display is easy to read and keeps you informed about where in your journey each loaf is. It even has prgrammability in terms of when the bread machine starts, and even allows you to create a custom profile for "Home Made" bread. Wake up to the smell of bread baking? Done! Now you can program the coffee machine to start your morning cup of java, and have fresh baked bread waiting too. Spoil me rotten why don't you!
The acid test of course was actually making bread with it. Took it out of the box, used the basic white bread recipe that came with the manual, hit start and walked away. I looked in now and again to see what it was doing, but I did not hover, chosing instead to believe that this would work just fine and I'd have a wonderful smell to tell me that all was right in my bread machine.
Soon, the unmistakable aroma of rising dough filled my senses, and sometime later, baking bread. When done I took it out of the machine and placed a wonderful looking and sounding loaf on the cooling rack and waited a bit before putting on water for tea. When I say sounding, one of the things my Mom taught me was to tap on the side of the crust lightly like with produce to get an idea of how the bread was inside. A properly cooked loaf should have a slightly hollow sound to it when tapped. Sure enough, this one did.
When the time was right, I poured a cup of tea to steep, waited for it to be ready and cut a slice out of my warm, crusty, perfect, loaf of bread. It was crusty on the outside as it should be, and warm, slightly moist, springy bread on the inside. I grew up in New England, and one of the things I love is "Country Style" bread. Slightly heavier, and moister than your run of the mill bread, it has a wonderful taste, texture and weight to it not generally available outside of New England.
Before I even tasted this I knew I was in for a treat from the smell, feel and texture of bread. The first morsel was a reward beyond my expectations! "Country Style" bread by pushing a button. Plus because I controled the ingredients it is healthy too. I used 1% milk, and "Smart Balance" butter substitute along with Unbleached King Arthur Bread Flour and Fleischmen's "Highly Active Yeast" in the making of my first loaf. Perfect "Country Style" loaf in terms of all criteria. Taste, Texture, Smell, Weight, Crust, Color and Moisture.
It is easily the simplest loaf I've ever made. Put the materials in the pan, select options, press start and walk away. I'm thrilled with this bread machine! Hundreds less than it's nearest Zojirushi in terms of price and more features. Needless to say, I'll make more of this so called basic bread again, because now I can have "Country Style" bread anytime I want it despite no longer living in New England. So far I've only made one loaf, but I know hundreds more are to follow, next I'm going to go for a New York Deli style Rye.
The West End Hi-Rise is a gem at twice the price, and honestly has more features then the high end Zojirushi. Plus this has one touch selectable loaf size & crust type which the Zojirushi does not.
Would I reccomend this again? Oh yes, without question.
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West Bend 41300 Hi-Rise Electronic Dual-Blade BreadmakerFrom cinnamon-raisin bread for breakfast to buttery dinner rolls or garlic bread sticks to serve with dinner, this countertop appliance makes it easy to create delicious bakery-style artisan bread right at home. Simply add in measured ingredients, close the lid, make a selection from the push-button digital-display control panel, and it takes care of the rest. Choose from three crust shades--light, medium, or dark--and from four horizontally shaped loaf sizes: 1 pound, 1-1/2 pounds, 2 pounds, or 2-1/2 pounds. Its 11 pre-programmed settings consist of Basic, Quick, French, Super Rapid, Whole Wheat, Sweet, Dough, Bake, Jam, Sandwich, and Home Made. Best of all, the machine's timer can be set to delay the end time by up to 12 hours and 58 minutes, which makes it possible to wake up to the smell of freshly baked, homemade bread in the morning or to come home to a warm loaf at the end of a long day at the office. The bread maker provides two blades for thorough dough kneading and a higher rise, a large viewing window, and a removable nonstick bread pan for easy cleaning. It also includes a measuring cup, a measuring spoon, a handy knead-blade removal tool, and a multi-lingual instruction manual with a variety of recipes, including low-carb and gluten-free. The bread machine measures 18 by 10-1/2 by 11-4/5 inches and carries a one-year limited warranty.
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