We bought this machine based on a recommendation from a friend at work and other reviews we read on Amazon. First of all, let me say that this is a great product. The recipes are easy to follow and the bread is outstanding. We brought the machine with us when we visited relatives over the holidays, and two of them are now going to get machines for their families.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WROTE NEGATIVE REVIEWS, AND THOSE WHO HAVE READ THEM, PLEASE READ THIS!! For my first loaf I went to the store to get flour. At the store I talked to the guy stocking the flour aisle about what kind of flour to use (note that the recipes specify "bread flour"). The grocery store guy and another woman who joined in the discussion assured me that I could use all purpose flour, so that's what I bought. The loaf came out so-so. It was quite dense, and the middle of the loaf was sunken instead of nicely puffed up (many of the negative reviews describe exactly this problem). So I googled "bread flour" and found out that it is significantly different from all purpose flour. It's higher gluten and protein content produces stretchier, chewier bread, but more importantly, it traps more of the carbon dioxide from the yeast so that the dough rises properly.
Equipped with this information, I went back to the store and bought King Arthur BREAD FLOUR. What a difference! My son described it as a 1000% improvement. Every loaf since then has been outstanding.
One more thing. The recipe instructions tell you to set the loaf size and crust color, then select the bread program (white, wheat, gluten free, etc.). You actually want to SELECT THE BREAD PROGRAM FIRST, then the loaf size and crust color, because setting the bread program first will RESET the loaf size and crust color to the defaults (2 lb. loaf, medium crust).
My wife has Celiac disease and a good gluten free bread is impossible to find ready made. We must bake our own bread if she is going to have a bread that tastes good. We have found the bread mix from Gluten Free Pantry is great. but our old bread machine, a Breadman Ultimate was not turning out a consistant product. It was less than a year old and quit working. Which turned out to be a blessing. Based on our experience with other Cuisinart products and the reviews on Amazon we decided on the Cusinart CBK-100. The gluten free cycle is perfect. It bakes the best gluten free bread we have ever had. We have used Gluten free pantry Sandwich bread mix and also Bob's Red Mill gluten free multigrain mix. WOW! THe bread is so good that I even like it. This bread is light and the crust is perfect. It even is easier to slice. If you are looking for a bread maker that turns out excelent gluten free bread this is the one to buy
When our breadmaker of about 12yrs. broke, I search the internet for a replacement. I thoroughly checked out many many many different types and prices. I settled on this Cuisinart CBK-100 and, have been very pleased with the texture of bread it makes. I do however use 2 tablespoons of sugar for a 1 1/2 lb. loaf and use only 1 teaspoon of fast acting yeast instead of 1 1/2 teaspoons. It operates very quiet compared to our older machine we had. I really like the beeps telling you it's time to take the paddle out of the bread so you don't have that gaping hole on botton of every loaf. I strongly recommend purchasing this machine.
Bought this last year and tried about 5-6 recipes several times, at different loaf sizes, using recipes that came with the machine as well as out of reliable cookbooks. No luck. Every loaf collapsed and baked into a dense, inedible mound of dryness. Tried to return it, but had passed the Amazon return time. Cuisinart was not particularly helpful--made us return and try another machine twice even though I explained that I thought the issue had to do with the rise times programmed as part of the equipment, not the product itself. Fortunately, since we live in California, the shipping back and forth costs were paid by the company (CA law). Finally, after the third return, they gave us credit, which we ended up using on a different product. That nonsense took a year and many phone calls to negotiate! As a longtime Cuisinart customer, I found their customer service lacking in quality. Since then, I have started baking by hand, using a wet dough recipe from the PBS show America's Test Kitchen. Also considering trying the cookbook, _Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day_--as making bread is relatively easy--but the timing is the hard part--while adapting some "high elevation" tweaking to the recipes (didn't grow up baking at high elevations so that has been a learning curve). The low star rating is for the issues we faced with Cuisinart in returning the product, which does not adapt to high elevation climates. I wish Cuisinart would address this issue by building better time options into the machine design.
I bought this product in August and it worked great for two months. Then the touchpad stopped working. Customer service told me how to reset it and that seemed to work. The paddle broke during making the very next loaf of bread; it took 4-6 weeks to get a replacement paddle as they were "back-ordered". I made one loaf successfully when the new paddle arrived. During baking the second loaf, the heating element quit and I was left with a half-baked loaf. I called Cuisinart asking for a refund and was told they don't do that, but would send a replacement machine, shipping at my expense. I did talk them into paying the shipping, but they have no expedited shipping so I will wait a couple of weeks for the replacement. I have to return the old machine at my expense. This, in my opinion, is poor customer service. I hope I got a dud the first time and that the replacement is problem free or I will be out $90. By the way, they only give the remainder of the original warranty on the replacement. When it worked, it made good bread, but think twice about buying this product.
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