Features Of The Cuisinart Bread Machine - By: Robin OBrien

The chic, brushed stainless steel design coupled with some unique features of the Cuisinart CBK-200 breadmaker make this appliance an attractive purchase. It's a good bread machine but it isn't perfect. The following points may help you decide if it's right for you.

The most impressive design feature of the Cuisinart CBK-200 bread maker is the fan convection bake program. Like a conventional oven, air circulates around the dough as it bakes, thereby giving the loaf a more even color with a crispier crust. The convection program is optional, so you don't have to use it every time you bake, but it's great to have it there when you want it.

The LCD is small but it's clear and easy to understand. The screen indicates the time remaining, the loaf size, crust color and baking cycle information. You select the preprogrammed options by entering in a corresponding number. There are also buttons to select crust color, delay timer as well as a button to turn on and off the 'mix-ins' option.

There are 16 bake cycles to chose from including; whole wheat, rapid whole wheat, French/Italian, rapid French/Italian, dough/pizza dough, artisan dough, low-carb, gluten free, sweet breads, last minute loaf, and bake only. You can make further refinements to these cycles, like changing color and loaf size, giving a total of 101 cycles. The low-carb and gluten free programs are very nice-to-have features that aren't available on may other bread machines.

The Artisan dough program is definitely worth trying, taking basic dough through several long, slow cool rises for more interesting textures and rustic crusts.

What annoys many people is the fact that they have to dig out the mixing paddle once the bread is baked. This isn't so with the Cuisinart CBK-200 bread machine. As well as an audible signal to advise you when to add other ingredients, there's another one to advise you when the kneading is done, so you can remove the paddle.

The above are the main and best features of the Cuisinart bread machine, however, it does lack certain features and some of the ones it has could be improved on.

The appliance doesn't come with a preheat cycle (whole wheat being the exception). Other machines offer this so you don’t need to remember to heat your water/milk/egg, etc for some bread recipes.

While it claims to be a horizontal bread machine it really is a hybrid between a horizontal and vertical one. It would have been better if it was one or the other. Also, there is only one paddle, which sometimes means that not all the mixture is kneaded resulting in loaves with floury corners. It would have been far better had there been two paddles like there is in the Zojirushi bread machine.

However, the biggest problem with the Cuisinart bread maker is cleaning it. Its retro design with stainless steel sides with black trim lid may look great, but the trim and the unsmooth lid make cleaning it a real hassle at times. Just about all other brands offer smooth-edged designs with removable lids to make cleaning an easy task. I think the design was a mistake and is an example of style taking precedence over function, but where function has been compromised.

Having said that, I would give the Cuisinart CBK-200 bread machine a high rating; and many customer reviews would agree. It may not be the best, but the features you get for the price you pay, make it an attractive proposition.

About the Author

Follow the links for the Cuisinart bread machine and bread machine reviews on leading models like the Toastman, Breadman and Zojirushi bread machine.

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