Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I had one other bread machine before this (Oster Express Bake) that quit turning on after 9 months of weekly use. I suspect that the loose fitting bread pan had something to do with that, because it rattled around in the machine while kneading the dough. This machine in comparison to the Oster, is much quieter. The bread pan needs to be twisted slightly in and out, so it fits more snugly in the pan holder during the kneading cycle. On this machine, I was instructed to turn on the machine for ten minutes on bake to cook off the machining oil and then wiping it down after it cools. This is important if you don't want your bread to taste funny the first time you use the machine. Good to know! Another thing I like about this machine over the Oster, is that the kneading blade is positioned at the bottom of the loaf so when the baking is done, the hole isn't in the middle of the loaf. The blade is also metal over plastic of the Oster, and the loaf doesn't stick to it like the Oster, so it comes out of the loaf cleanly and you can just press the bread back together after removing it. Which is best if you are cooking for sandwich loaves. Also, the shape of the loaf is more "loaf like," in other words: Long and narrow. The biggest challenge so far is that the Whole Wheat cycle proofs too high, and collapses during baking. And that is also the only cycle that heats up in the beginning rather than towards the proofing. So, I'm going to have to see if I can use the #1 Setting, or one of the others to get a better result. *UPDATE* While I was able to cook my wheat bread successfully on the #1 setting, SKG sales sent me a revamped recipe that in essence reduces the amount of yeast by 1/2 teaspoon. I cooked both my own recipe minus 1/2 teaspoon of yeast, and also the recipe they sent. On the Whole Wheat cycle both loaves came out perfectly. The only thing I did differently from their recipe, is to NOT start with warm water. I did this because the WW cycle heats up in the beginning before it even starts to mix the dough. I wanted to see if it would affect the bread in the end. Well, the result is that my 2 # loaves of whole wheat came out perfectly. One thing that strikes me, is that the bread browns better on top with the SKG versus the Oster Expressbake. The Oster's loaves always came out almost uncooked looking on top, and sometimes even a bit "dough-y." Over all, not bad... so far. What will be really telling is if the unit lasts for at least a year of weekly baking.