Sunbeam 5891 Bread Maker Review

Nothing beats the taste or smell of freshly baked French bread.  That's what I thought I'd be getting every day when I bought a bread machine.  I've since found out that you have to follow the recipes to the letter and use the exact ingredients.  It's not like regular cooking where you can substitute something  (within reason) and have success.  If you don't follow directions precisely, you'll end up with a foul tasting hard lump of dough.

In saying that, it's not a flaw of the bread maker.  The machine is easy to use and the timings on the screen seem to be accurate.  The only downside is that I always have the temptation to open the lid to ensure the dough is rising.  The machine comes with plenty of recipes and I'm yet to try them out - I'm still going for the perfect crust on a French loaf.  If I ever find it, I'll update this review with the directions.

One disappointing aspect was that I thought the machine was broken when I received it (shipped, not picked up in store).  The crank wouldn't turn at all, like it was getting no power.  I opened the back and saw that a connector had come loose in shipping.  After re-connecting it, all was good.  It hasn't come loose again after multiple uses so I'm putting it down to rough handling in shipping.

This is my first bread machine, so I'm not sure how Sunbeam stacks up to other makers but I can't say I'd avoid them in the future.  I will probably try a different brand though, just to compare.  Of course, if a new Sunbeam is on sale at the time I will be all over it :-)