Breadman TR875 2-Pound Breadmaker, Stainless Steel
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Breadman TR875 2-Pound Breadmaker, Stainless Steel
Customer Review: I love this bread machine!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this bread machine from Amazon because they had a nice sale on it about two weeks ago. It seemed like a good price for what looked like a decent machine, so I ordered it. I'm so glad that I did! I have made six loaves so far, all of which have come out perfectly. I tried two other, hand-me-down machines before this model, both of which burnt or did other crazy things to the loaves and so required tons of monitoring and adjustments. With this machine, though, it really IS as easy as throwing a few ingredients in the machine and pressing a button! So far I have made french bread, whole wheat bread, brown rice flour bread, irish potato brown bread, and more. The recipes that came with the machine work well, but I also picked up a few bread machine cookbooks for more variety.
In addition to making great bread, I love how quiet the machine is (like another reviewer, I kept checking to see whether it was working the first time). I also like that it's a little smaller than equivalent 2 lb. machines and so easily fits under kitchen cabinets, and I love the way it looks in my kitchen (it's not a huge, hideous white box!). There's a helpful fruit/nut add-in beep, the shape of the loaf is nicer than the other 2 machines I've used, and the finished bread easily slides out of the pan.
Overall, I am extremely happy with my purchase. 5 stars!
Added 10/25/2007:
I am still so happy with this bread machine, so I had to come back and add to my review. Since I bought this more 6 months ago I have been using it often (at least 1 loaf a week) and I have never had a failure yet. In addition to loaves made with bread flour, I have made many loaves with 100% whole wheat flour (the majority of my loaves are 100% whole wheat) or other flours like spelt, rice, and oat, and all loves came out beautifully. This machine produces perfect, perfect bread! I now bring fresh bread to every dinner party I attend, and people are always so grateful.
In addition to homemade bread being delicious, I think it's much healthier, too: I love that I now know exactly what went into every loaf of bread I eat (i.e. no weird chemicals or additives, I can decrease the sugar or replace it with a natural sweetener like maple syrup, etc.). I would give this machine 10 stars if I could, I love it that much.
One helpful tip someone gave me was to buy The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger. I use recipes from this book every time I bake bread, and they always come out beautifully. I'm sure there are lots of other good bread machine cookbooks, but this is by far the best one I've tried.
UPDATE 09/04/2010:
3.5 years later, I STILL love this bread machine! My Breadman TR875 is still going strong, as of September 2010 with no problems at all. I made a loaf of whole wheat bread in it just yesterday, in fact :) In 3.5 years of near weekly use, I've had zero loaf failures, and zero merchanical problems. The machine has held up perfectly cosmetically, as well. Overall this has been a truly excellent, reliable machine - I remain thrilled with my purchase, and would absolutely recommend this bread machine to anyone.
Customer Review: Breadman customer service worse than machine
Summary: 1 Stars
(See my review update below) I am frustrated with Breadman's warranty service. Oh, the customer service people are nice enough, they have promised me a replacement unit not once, but twice, and even after waiting two more weeks for the breadmaker to arrive in "7 to 10 days" once again, nothing has shown up. In reading other reviews I am suspecting that they hope to wear you down by making promises they never keep. I purchased my unit in March and after two months, still no bread maker.
My only thought is that rather than returning the unit to Breadman in Bedford Heights, Ohio, just send the unit back to Amazon and get another brand or better yet, a refund.
And be sure to note the number of low rated reviews versus raves, and calculate your chances of getting a lemon like I did.
The machines are made in China, but the customer service procedures seem to have been created in fantasy land since what you get (nothing) is not what you are promised. (A replacement.)
After several more weeks of waiting, a replacement machine arrived and I have now been using it for several months. I am very pleased with it now that it is working correctly. With several dozen loaves of bread under my belt, most recipes work fine, but perhaps one out of four turn out less than ideal. So now finding the right bread recipe book for this machine has become a priority. Without a doubt, the most successful recipes have come from a modest little book, proving it is quality not quantity that counts.
"Great Bread Machine Recipes" by Norman A. Garrett was made for this machine, and is just a little over 100 pages. My friends rave about the breads created from this book in the Breadman machine. Oh, it has little imperfections - I wish I could pause it or skip the programmed 30 minute wait in the whole wheat cycle - but what product does not have limitations to a cook's unlimited imagination! The other more expensive book I purchased is Beth Hensperger's Bread Machine Cookbook but I think its 600 plus pages are filled with pretty mediocre recipes, more for a gift than for real use.
My final note is that these Amazon reviews are a treasure. When I looked at the overall review box on this breadmaker, I saw that the vast majority of buyers had good things to say about this machine. I also saw that there were a number of defects, no doubt due to the fact that the machines are being made in China which is not known for particularly good quality control. I was forewarned, and in the end, the company did the right thing. If they had told me the truth about the delay in getting a replacement, I would have revised my rating to give then more stars. But they lied, not once but three times over 2.5 months and so they stay a one star product. Honesty is still the best policy.
Customer Review: So far, So good
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had the TR875 for about a month now. I make 2 or 3 breads a week and have been busily trying different recipes. The breads come out great with a minimum of fuss and cleaning. The various settings make things easy and I've done everything from sweet raisin bread types to caraway rye. The recipes in the instruction booklet are for all intents and purposes more than adequate and despite comments to the contrary, there is no need in my opinion to buy an auxiliary cookbook.
On the subject of recipes, there are scores of bread books on the market, some pretty useless, some quite good, and if you decide to buy one, browse through a few, disregard the hype on the book jackets and choose something that appeals to your particular tastes.Beyond that, and I hate to take any income from hard working authors, the internet is a source of infinite advice and recipes. The main thing to remember is that there is one basic recipe,slightly different depending on white or whole wheat flour, and an infinite number of variations, most not very complicated. A little reading and a bit of common sense will result in a never ending stream of fresh bread. There is no need for special 'bread machine' recipes. Other than following the manufacturer's basic instructions (liquids first, then dry ingredients)recipes are the same whether you use a machine or knead by hand.
There are only two drawbacks and neither of them really detracts from the enjoyment of having fresh bread basically on demand. The first is freshness. The breads don't keep very well, although I guess the addition of fat and sugar will help that issue. But if you're used to getting a baguette fresh from the bakery daily then you understand that basic breads do not keep well. For me that's not a problem since I tend to French and Italian type breads and enjoy the fresh taste of a new one every day.
The other drawback is that I haven't yet been able to duplicate the really doughy flavors and textures of good bakery breads. I'm not talking about packaged breads or supermarket bakeries here, but quality bakeshops like the small Italian and other ethnic bakeries that are found in neighborhoods or like a quality chain, perhaps Panera. The fact that the bread machine is preprogrammed is what makes it so usable and convenient, but the variables inherent in hand kneading and associated rising times are what give bread its overall qualities. Regardless of that though, since I no longer have the time or patience to make bread by hand, I'm enjoying my Breadman and its breads that are really much better than most anything I can find in a supermarket. And now that I'm familiar with the product I think with a little research and experimentation I will eventually find the perfect bread.
I recommend the Breadman TR875 highly.
Customer Review: Breadman TR875 2-Pound Breadmaker, Stainless Steel
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this for myself for the holidays. It arrived 2 days ago and after reading all the reviews I was a bit apprehensive about the quality and possible results.
Odor: None.
Refurbished Unit: No! brand new (I think it is, did not have plastic film and did not have to use the rapid cycle to start. Maybe it is a good refurb..).
Ease of use: Ridiculously Easy.
Bread Results: Perfect!
Clean Up: A breeze!
The first day I made a sweet bread out of a box that only called for room temperature water. The results were fine, but I was not impressed. I thought maybe it was the box mix. The bread was fine but not as voluminous as I expected it to be. Everyone in the house liked it, there was nothing wrong with the taste.
Today I made a basic white/French straight out of the little recipe booklet that came with the machine and the results were fantastic.
Reading how some people stated that the machine "walked" off the counter, I used silicone pot holders (get them at Wally-World for $1.00) next to the machine to prevent shifting.
It was not necessary, the machine did not "walk" away but will continue to use the silicone potholders until I am satisfied with several more recipes.
Based on recommendations here I also ordered the Bread maker book and I can't wait to try new things.
This machine is worth what I paid for it. I figure if I make 50-60 loafs this year it would have paid for itself.
This little machine is a work horse and I am very pleased with it. So is the rest of the family.
As usual Amazon's delivery was excellent.
Update 12/29/2010: Made a loaf of Gluten-free bread... YUMMY! soft, tasty and left overs made great French toast for the family in the morning.
Spent all day yesterday searching for gluten-free flour and I have to admit that after doing a lot of research on Celiac sites and the fact that gluten may actually cause other health ailments, I think I'll be using the gluten-free setting from now on.
If you can't find potato flour, simply use a food processor to pulverize potato flakes. It worked like a charm!
EDIT: January 2 - broke rule about gluten-free to try a pizza dough recipe that required beer and all-purpose flour. The pizza was AMAZING!!! (not buying any more pre-made pre-packaged pizzas). I finally found a gluten-free pizza dough recipe and will be trying that one soon.
I LOVE THIS MACHINE!!!! (Refurb or not)
Customer Review: Breadman = junk
Summary: 1 Stars
Here is my letter to the company. The unit is being returned tomorrow.
Applica Consumer Products Inc.
Attention: Executive Offices
3633 S. Flamingo Road
Miramar, Florida 33027
Re: On selling expensive junk to people
As you can guess from the title, this is about a non-working product made by Breadman / Applica / Salton / Russell Hobbs / Spectrum / whatever your name happens to be this week...
I recently purchased a Breadman breadmaker through Amazon.com at a cost of around $100. The bread tray could not be removed from the main unit, even after applying an extreme amount of force, more force even than it would take to start my pull-start emergency generator. If you're going to sell a product that requires this amount of force to operate it, you can forget about 90% of your market right now.
This only points out the lack of Quality Assurance in your off-shore manufacturing process. I can understand when you sell a $10 doo-dad that there are going to be a few in every batch with problems. BUT for a $100 appliance, YOU NEED TO INSPECT IT FIRST! I know this is a concept that is hard to understand when you're trying to squeeze every dollar from the off-shore manufacturing process. But you DO NEED TO INSPECT STUFF!
Even my $7 underwear comes with a tag that says "Inspected by No. 33". Not your stuff though. If anybody in that China factory had even tried to pull the bread tray out of my unit it would have been instantly obvious that it was busted.
On customer service (or lack thereof):
Even though it says on your manual, "Call us first before you return this to the store", I am still sending it back to Amazon. The reason being is that Amazon lets me schedule a return 24/7. I had tried your 800 customer (non-)service number but got a recording that said "Our offices are closed at this time".
So if you can't be bothered to answer the phones on the weekend, I can't be bothered to wait until Monday and interrupt my busy work schedule to wait on hold for your customer service people. So the junk breadmaker is going directly back to Amazon and you guys will just have to eat the cost of the return.
Sincerely,
H. Brower
Ps: I love where it says on your website that "we strive to make each product we produce with the same level of commitment to quality, durability and value". Too bad your "level of commitment" to those goals is basically "none".