Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased this breadmaker as a gift for my wife on Mother's Day, and it was a hit. She is a woman with every high-end kitchen item there is (think Vitamix, KitchenAid, and Cuisinart), but I had convinced her for many years not to buy a breadmachine because such machines seem get stuffed into to the back corner of the pantry, never to be seen from again. Not so with this unit. With kids at home, we have used it to bake a variety of breads (white, maple wheat, cinnamon, etc.), typically 4-5 loaves per week, and the results have been consistently good. The included recipes are simple and tasty. The automatic "hold warm" function at the end of baking is a nice feature. The mixing paddle has never been left in the bread, and it leaves almost no gap or hole in the bottom of the loaf. A few helpful quicktips: 1. Place the unit in the middle of the counter (the instructions note this, but worth repeating). The machine gently vibrates during kneading. 2. Add ingredients in the order they are listed in the recipe, and use a butter knife to level your measurements (a heaping cup or tablespoon is very different from an actual cup or tablespoon). 3. Place the finished loaf on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before cutting into it. 4. Enjoy healthy, fresh bread!