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: Was broken upon receiving plus flimsy!
Summary: 1 Stars
I took a chance on this Breadman, since I only had my previous Breadman Deluxe for a little over a year before the bread pan started leaking out the bottom. I was going to give it a chance and was completely disappointed.
Upon arrival, the Bread Machine did not ever work; every time I pressed start the error code was E00 or E01. E00 and E01 are error codes for the unit is too cold or too hot, respectively. This would make sense had I baked bread, but I never did. These errors were present from the time I took it out of the box. I'd press start, E01 would flash. I'd unplug and let it sit for about 20 minutes. I'd plug it in, press start again, E00 would flash. This went back and forth until I gave up, put it in the box, and shipped it right back out.
Last, there is some evidence to back this up but I cannot claim that this next statement is 100% fact, but here ya go. I am almost positive that the Breadmaker I received had already been returned once. Evidence: cord was not wrapped (like a new breadmaker), the plastic film that the instruction booklet told me to remove from the LCD screen was not present, the breadpan was a little dirty, there was a slight scratch on the LCD screen, and there were finger smudges present on the stainless still unit. Doesn't make much of a difference since the unit failed to work, but that seems shady. Whether it's Amazon or whether it's the company the dropped shipped the unit, if it was opened, used by another customer, returned, then shipped back out to me... no bueno.
Two broken Breadman's for me = no more Breadman. Now on to looking for an alternative (sigh).
Customer Review: GREAT for the past 2 years, starting to get scared, though!
Summary: 4 Stars
We have absolutely loved this machine, pretty much exclusively making whole wheat bread for our whole family, including two guys under age 4 (using organic flour from Whole Foods) every week or so. We will never go back to store bought bread with added junk!
Not a hitch so far, until today. As a matter of habit, whenever I clean it, I spin the mechanism on the bottom of the bread pan back and forth. Well, today, it wouldn't budge! I could have broken my hand trying to spin this sucker (and I'm a pretty strong guy). I'd never noticed the stem feeling even remotely stiff before, and now it was completely seized up. I did NOT want to try to make bread with this, because it would have burned out the motor trying to spin this thing. I searched on line for a while, trying things like, "breadman pro paddle won't spin" or "paddle broken," but all I came up with were people who were bummed that it broke and that it wasn't worth replacing.
So I tried this little DIY: I put the bread pan upside down in the sink, boiled some water in a Pyrex measuring cup, and poured it into the housing where the seized bearing seems to be. And voila--after a minute soaking there, I dumped out the hot water and it spins fine! I busted out the WD40 and gave it a go around (there's a couple of plastic washers and clip in there), cleaned it up, and the timer just beeped moments ago on another perfect loaf!
I don't know if this is a one-time fix, or I'll have to start doing this every time, but just in case the paddle stops spinning on anyone else, I hope this helps! I'll write more if this turns into a long term problem.
Customer Review: Almost Perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently bought this breadmaker thru Amazon's Deal of the Day and couldn't wait to get it. I bake a lot and have been wanting to make yeast breads without having to do all the kneading and waiting for it to rise, etc. Well, this machine does it all!
All you have to do is put all the ingredients (in order by liquid to dry and yeast last) in the pan, choose the settings indicated in the booklet, hit START, and the machine will do everything. The booklet tells you how long the whole process will take. When it's done baking, the machine will beep and you remove the bread.
There are recipes in the booklet, which is helpful, especially for beginners. I would recommend you find recipes in a bread cookbook or tested recipes online, because there are only a few recipes in each category of breads. You will need bread flour for most of them, as this has more gluten than enriched flour. So far, I have only made the basic white/french bread recipe but am wanting to start venturing out. The booklet states that you can use boxed bread mixes as well, including gluten free options.
I do have one problem with the machine, hence the missing star in the rating. After trying numerous times, I cannot remove the kneading paddle from the bread pan to clean it. I didn't see reference to this in other reviews, so I assume it's a fluke. I'm just afraid mold will grow under the paddle, and so I may have to return the parts to the manufacturer for that reason.
Otherwise, I'm excited about being able to make fresh baked bread without all the indecipherable ingredients you see on most store-bought breads!
Customer Review: This breadmaker is awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this Breadmaker last December when it went on sale. The main reason I ordered it was because it has a Gluten Free cycle. There are 3 gluten free people in my family and getting decent bread has been difficult and very expensive. I had purchased a few cases a GF bread mix before, but never gotten around to making any because it was too much work to do it by hand. The first loaf I made was with Bob's Red Mill GF Wonderful Bread Mix; by all accounts it was wonderful (fluffy, warm, and delicious) and went very fast. My husband could not believe it was GF and thought it tasted better than regular bread. I have also made loaves from other mixes: GF Pantry Favorite Sandwich bread and Bob's Hearty Whole Grain Bread Mix, all excellent. The machine is very easy to use and program. You just put your liquid ingredients in first (milk, eggs, oil, etc.), the mix on top of the liquid part, and sprinkle the yeast packet on top of the mix. Then you close the lid, push the start button, and 1 hour and 20 minutes later you have a loaf of hot bread. I have baked about 10 loaves so far, and everyone in my family is hooked on having delicious freshly baked bread. The only drawback I can think of is that the GF cycle is programmed for 1.5 lb loaves only, and some of the mixes on the market are for 2 lb loaves. This can be easily solved by setting the machine to bake for a few more minutes after the GF cycle ends, but it is a bit inconvenient.
Overall I highly recommend this machine. You will enjoy it for many loaves to come. It also can be used to make jam and pasta, but I haven't used it for that purpose yet.
Customer Review: Does the Color control work?
Summary: 4 Stars
I just received a new (or *very* well refurbished) TR875 as a supplement to my old Breadman Plus (TR810) since the old one was marginal for my 1.5 lb preferred bread size - though it still does very good on 2 lb and 2.5 lb sizes.
I decided to make a 1.5 lb Basic White bread to test out the new machine as well as the booklet's recipes. I like a darker crust so I set the Color control from it's preset Medium to Dark. I noticed that the Total Cycle Time didn't change. I moved it through Light-Med-Dark and still the end time was always the same.
I checked the manual - on page 8 in the chart where all the cycle times are given - and the "Bake" cycle is always the same, regardless of the "Color" setting. In fact, all of the cycle times are the same no matter what crust color you choose on any of the baked bread selections.
My old Breadman controls crust color by changing the length of the Bake cycle, which seems the normal way to do it. Does the TR875 increase the bake temperature instead of increasing the bake time? The bread I baked on Dark was not very dark. More of a light brown.
In spite of this, I'll keep the machine. I got it as a Gold Box Deal of the Day for a very low price - only a few dollars more than it's replacement pan would cost. Maybe I can get the darker crust I'm looking for by choosing the larger 2 lb loaf when I'm making a 1.5 lb loaf. (Bake cycle changes from 48 min. to 53 min. on Basic White), Even without trying to "game" the settings, the bread it makes is still very good - though a bit pale for my taste.