Oster 5838 ExpressBake Breadmaker, White
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Oster 5838 ExpressBake Breadmaker, White
Customer Review: Great Value! Great Bread!
Summary: 3 Stars
I would have given the machine 4-5 stars but I have two complaints.
1) the machine has no "Quick Bread" or "Cake" Setting. I have to mix the doughs for these breads myself and then I have to use the "Bake" setting which bakes for 60 minutes but never finishes the loaf, whether it be Banana bread or Amish Friendship Bread.
2) The crusts always come out hard even at the lightest setting, so I have to cut the crust off of the sandwich bread I make my husband for his lunches. It seems like a lot of wasted bread when I do that, but the money I save baking vs. buying pre-made loaves still makes it worth it!
Also I bought the Bread Lovers Bread Machine CookBook because the manual only provided a couple dozen recipes, and I found the recipe's in Bread Lovers were MUCH MUCH better. Very yummy, I always make my husband a Banana loaf to go with his PB& J which he loves. Bread Lovers also goes into a little of the science behind baking bread, and baking in the bread machine. Well worth the money, I highly recommend it.
Customer Review: It works, just not well enough for me to switch from doing it by "hand".
Summary: 3 Stars
The whole reason I bought this machine was for its "58-minute" bake cycle. It takes me ~68 minutes to make a loaf of bread in a food processor and oven. Unfortunately, for the cycle to work, you have to use a lot (3+ tablespoons) of yeast. The consistency of the result just isn't as good as the alternative. The normal 3 hour cycle produces a nice loaf, but it's a bit on the sour side for my tastes thanks to all the kneading and rising. You have to put in enough ingredients to make a 1.5 lb loaf, or it just doesn't mix them well. I like my bread fresh from the oven and 1.5 lbs is too much to eat in one sitting. Then there's the problem of the oil from the bread sublimating during the rising and condensing on the heating coils. When the machine starts to bake, the oil smokes a little, triggering the all too sensitive smoke alarm in my apartment. Every loaf I've tried in this machine falls during baking. All told, I would say this machine is on par with every other on the market and I have no intentions of trying another.Customer Review: Oster Breadmaker issues
Summary: 3 Stars
Many of the reviews of the Oster mention problems getting the Oster breadmaker to make satisfactory loaves of bread. I've been using this model for several years. My initial efforts pretty well matched the experience relayed in other reviews. Bricks or collapsed loaves, etc.
Here's the real scoop. This bread machine is very sensitive to the amount of moisture. Be prepared to experiment in order to make satisfactory loaves. Take notes when making bread in the machine. If it collapses or hits the lid, use less water. If it is a brick add more water. Try adding gluten if the loaf won't rise well. Add slightly more yeast if it is a brick.
After much note taking and slight modifications to the recipes, I've managed to make excellent loaves of bread starting from nearly any recipe I've found on the internet. Some work well as written, but most won't work well in this machine without some adjustment. So be prepared to experiment.
Experimentation is half the fun of baking anyway.
Customer Review: Even a Monkey Could Use This
Summary: 5 Stars
I received the Oster Expressbake Breadmaker as a wedding gift this year from friends who bake a few loaves per week. They currently have two machines (for when they go into heavy baking mode) and this one is their favorite. I had never owned or used a breadmaker and I'm not that great a cook, but I can follow instructions and that's all you need to be able to do to create delicious homemade bread. I am always afraid of making mistakes with recipes so I always take my time (okay, I'm really slow), but I had a loaf in the machine and making itself within 20 minutes. My loaf came out beautifully. I guess the only bad thing I can say about it was the hole in the bottom of the loaf from the mixing blade, but I assume that all breadmachines do that or something like it. But the bread was delicious and I've made probably 5 more loaves since then that turned out just as well. I would definitely recommend this machine to someone who has never had a breadmaker before because it is so very easy to use and turns out wonderful bread.Customer Review: What a dud!
Summary: 1 Stars
After 15 (yes, 15) years, my old bread machine (an America's Best brand - no longer made) finially gave up the ghost. I looked at a few new models and after reading the reviews and tips, went with this Oster 5838. What a mistake. I returned it after about 3 weeks. Out of 12 different loaves, only 2 turned out correctly. Most loaves only rose up one side of the pan and came out looking like a blob. 5 of the loaves burnt on the bottom, but were not baked in the middle. The 2 times that I tried the "express bake" option, I ended up with a brick of bread that only rose about 1 1/2 inches. Other reviews informed me that the recipies in the included book required too much yeast, which is true. The recipie book also stated that it was important to have all ingredients at room temp., but this made no difference in the way the machine performed. This machine is very inconsistant and the pan is so cheap, I was afraid I would break it every time I removed it. I am now testing out the Sunbeam. Cross your fingers!