Sunbeam 5891 2-Pound Programmable Breadmaker, White
by Sunbeam
|
List Price: Our Price: $51.54 You Save: $34.51 (40%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $47.42 (click here) Category: Kitchen See more product details |
|---|
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Sunbeam 5891 2-Pound Programmable Breadmaker, White
Customer Review: The good reviews are all true.
Summary: 5 Stars
The Sunbeam 5891 2-Pound Programmable Breadmaker demonstrates all the advances made in the last 10 years (which is as long as my last breadmaker lasted... not a Sunbeam). It's the best Christmas present I ever bought for myself! Not only does it work well, it looks snazzy! The display, the features and the many settings all make it easy to create a wide variety of excellent breads. However, I agree with the reviewer who said that the recipes that come with it are very poor; don't even think about trying to make their "whole wheat" recipe.
This breadmaker takes up quite a bit of room on a counter top, so clear a permanent space; you will be using it a lot. Users should be cautioned to pay attention to the words that appear on the back of the inside: "Release" and "Lock". If the bread pan is not locked (turned slightly to the right), the drive shaft won't turn the paddle as it should. For easy removal the bread pan must be released (turned back to the left).
I do wish some inventor would discover a way to keep the kneading blade (the paddle) from ending up baked into the bread! The Troubleshooting section of the manual says to use the "hook provided" to pull the kneading blade out... I didn't get a hook. It also says to invert the hot bread pan and "gently shake it"... which doesn't work, either. With my old breadmaker, if I removed the bread from the pan immediately after the machine indicated that it was "done", the paddle did not stay inside the bread; I've not figured out a way to make that happen with this breadmaker. I do hate ruining a huge chunk of the loaf by digging the paddle out.
The best thing I can say about this breadmaker is that it produces consistently uniform and excellent loaves, which is exactly what a bread lover like me hoped for !!
Customer Review: Recieved damaged (Edited review)
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first bread machine and I am a bit disappointed. Just received it yesterday and there are 2 cracks in the plastic that surround the inside and the metal inner lining is crimped in places and warped.(uploaded 4 pictures to gallery) The metal liner edge could be just how it is attached, but I know the cracks in the plastic should not be there. Not sure if I just got a bad one or if this has been reconditioned and resold as a new item.
I wanted to return it for a replacement or get my money back through amazon but I don't want to pay return shipping or take the chance on receiving another bad item. I called Sunbeam directly instead and they were very pleasant, and the person I spoke with told me this falls under the 1 yr warranty and they would be shipping out a new product and I would not have to pay to ship the bad unit back.
I can't comment on how this bakes yet, but going by the other reviews I am looking forward to baking!
Received new breadmaker from Sunbeam (not Amazon). Not only do they stand behind their warranty but I received free shipping AND they told me to throw away the old machine after making sure I keep the paddle, pan and the rest of the accessories as back up extras.....wow!!
I finally got the chance to try this machine out too. I have never used a bread machine before. This was actually fun! Toss in this and that, push a couple of buttons and it does everything for you. I found a bunch of bread machine recipes online (just google breadmachine recipes) so it will be a very long time before I run out of things to try. This was a good buy! :)
Customer Review: Very good machine
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this machine because online reviews of bread making machines rated it as one of the best. I also wanted one that made a loaf shaped loaf, which this does. I have had it for over a year now. Because I have had problems with bread machines in the past, and most recipe books are not very helpful in explaining how to use a bread making machine, when I bought it, I decided to borrow some videos from the library showing how to use one. Through the videos I learned that previous failures at bread making using other machines had been my fault. I had not really understood how they worked and how to use them properly. I learned among other things that using too much yeast or exposing the rising dough to drafts through constant peeking, made the dough fall.
Bread machines are glorified blenders. I learned that you can help them along in their mixing using a spatula and I learned how to tell when the dough was the right consistency. I myself found I preferred making a smaller loaf or using the machine as a blender and finishing the baking in the oven.
Sometimes for no reason I can discern, the bread doesn't turn out well. Perhaps there was too much yeast or the dough was exposed to the cold as it was baking. Whatever, flour is cheap and mistakes can be fed to the squirrels and the birds.
I think most important to the success of bread making is a book giving simple, tasty recipes. After researching bread machine recipe books through the local library, I settled on a great recipe book by Jennie Shapter called The Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook. It has lots of how-to pictures and the recipes are simple and tasty. Using it, I have made white, wheat, and mixed grain breads as well as pizza dough in this machine, quite successfully.
Customer Review: A great bread machine for the price!
Summary: 5 Stars
I "accidentally" bought this machine for myself. It was actually supposed to be a Christmas present for my sister-in-law. I found out later that she already had a bread machine so I ended up keeping it. Wow! I'm so glad I did! This machine does every thing it says it does. When I first started using it I would allow the machine to run full cycle and bake the bread in the machine. The result was fine but the odd shape of the loaf made the slices hard to use for normal-sized sandwiches. I find that now I only use the "dough" setting so that I can shape the bread into more conventional loaves and bake them in my oven instead. Either way, the taste, texture and overall food value is excellent. This product is well worth the money. I've had mine for about four years now and I'm very satisfied with it. In fact, our family has stopped buying store bought bread altogether. I bake my own homemade bread about twice a week and if I need sub-sandwich rolls, hamburger or hot dog buns all I have to do is shape the dough and bake. It's already paid for itself in the money I've saved.
There is one or two things to watch out for though:
Number One, since bread baked at home has no preservatives, you'll need to store any bread more than a day old in the refrigerator to avoid molding.
Number Two, when the dough is being mixed at the beginning you'll need to stand by with about two or three ounces of water and add it little by little if the dough ball appears to be dry, flaking and generally not cohesive. If you overwater it you can sprinkle some more flour into the dough ball until you get a nice consistency. With a little practice it becomes second nature.
Happy Baking!
Customer Review: Great machine at a great Price ...
Summary: 5 Stars
I have used the sunbeam 5891 for three years now, and feel that I am an experienced user.
First of all, the instruction book is very clear about using the machine. Each setting has a single recipe to use. These are all very good basic recipes, and most people will stick to these. They make good bread when you follow the instructions. So wait until you have a bit more experience before you buy a bread machine recipe book. By then, you'll know what you want.
The machine is easy to use, and works well. Additionally, I appreciated the Jam and Cake settings, so you can use this for much more than just bread. It even has a "quick bread" setting, for things like banana bread! So it is very versatile!
I appreciated the bread slipping easily out of the pan (I've had a bad experience with a different breadmaker), and the accuracy of the settings. All in all, it works well, and I do recommend it.
One caution if you have never used a breadmaker - measurements MUST be precise! In normal breadmaking, you add flour or water until you get it to the right consistency. With a pre-programmed maker, you need to be more precise. I also recommend checking the bread after the first knead, and adding water or flour. Once you are experienced with a particular recipe, you will be able to skip checking it and can do the "overnight" bread we all love to wake up to.
Probably the worst "beginner" mistake I made was forgetting to put the knead paddle in the machine. In case you can't figure it out, it works WITH the paddle, but doesn't do anything to stir or knead the bread when you leave it out. (blushes)