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There’s so much delight and joy surrounding fresh, homemade bread — and the quintessential bread maker can help you achieve this weekly, aromatic addition to your kitchen. Choice Bread Maker
Much like an ice cream maker or waffle maker, bread machines are carried in a variety of different sizes with a unique set of features depending on what type of bread you’d like to knead and slice. (Related: Best silicone baking mats).
“You toss in the ingredients for your bread — flour, water, yeast — and whatever else you want — and the machine does the hard work,” Julia Foerster, founder of Plated Cravings and seasoned baker and recipe development expert, told the New York Post. “First, it mixes everything up, then it kneads the dough, lets it rise, and finally, it bakes the bread.”
Ahead, our team of baking experts hand-pick the best bread makers on the market. Alongside these top-rated picks, you’ll find some testing notes after reviewing one particular model for more than a year.
You’ll also want to check out our in-depth FAQ section where our team of baking experts dish out more deets on this type of machine.
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The bread maker we swear by is the DASH Everyday Stainless Steel Bread Maker. It’s simple to use — especially with its included recipes to create all different forms of bread — and is one of the best options for beginners. It’s also fairly priced and, while a bit bulky to remain on your counter 24/7, is easy to clean and self-kneads the dough without fail.
“This is very affordable and looks great so it will look good on your kitchen counter,” Amanda Powell, the founder and creator behind A Cookie Named Desire and cookbook author, told The Post. “It works for many types of bread including gluten-free.”
Additionally, you’ll appreciate its 12 pre-programmed baking modes to create the following breads at the push of a button: French, whole wheat, ultra fast, sweet, gluten free, artisan, jam and cake.
Aside from customizability, it also boasts an automatic dispenser for fruits, nuts, and fillings to allow you to make delicious fruit bread or nutty pumpkin bread. Its clear top-view window lets you view the entire process, too. Hands down, DASH wins the “best bread maker overall” award.
The Breville Custom Loaf Bread Maker can make one-pound, one-and-a-half-pound, two-pound and two-and-a-half-pound loaves, making it a kitchen appliance worth investing in if you prefer making loads (and loaves!) of bread.
Impressively, it comes with 46 step-by-step recipes so you’ll elevate your baking skills in a snap. “This model has a collapsible kneading paddle that reduces holes made during the baking process and has a number of different loaf pan options in one machine,” Powell adds, recommending the appliance.
Its collapsible handle thoroughly mixes ingredients before the baking phase to help minimize the hole at the base of the baked loaf, to our delight. Much like the DASH model, it features a fruit and nut dispenser to release your preferred ingredients at the right moment.
Foerster recommends this model for its collapsible kneading paddle as well. “Breville makes high-quality small kitchen appliances and its bread maker is no exception,” she said. “It looks sleek and modern and comes with a unique automatic add-in dispenser. It even has a collapsible kneading paddle which saves your bread from having a hole in the middle and it has a viewing light.”
“The Neretva Bread Maker Machine is very sleek and modern-looking so you will want to feature it on your counters,” Powell said. “It has many different settings, including sourdough.”
It has a setting to keep your bread warm for one hour as well, should you be hosting guests or wanting to serve it at *just* the perfect time. With 20 customized automatic programs, three crust shades and can make up to two pounds of bread in one cycle.
Additionally, it automatically mixes, kneads ingredients with its quality kneading paddle and features a digital LCD display for easier programming. Its large viewing window offers you a full view of the bread-making process and its AC motor helps mitigate noise (which is what we consider a lovely bonus).
You’ll also appreciate its 360-degree double tubes heating feature that promotes better heat circulation to create fresh and healthy homemade bread. #Yum.
The fairly priced Cuisinart Bread Maker Machine is one that’s readily available online and comes with a slew of features found in many high-end bread makers, including 12 pre-programmed menu options and three crust shades — light, medium and dark — to truly be a baker on your own terms.
“This machine beeps to let you know when to remove paddles and while most other brands have an automatic mix-in dispenser, this one instead beeps to let you know when to add in the mix-ins yourself,” Powell explains, recommending this model.
More, it features a vertical baking pan for that counter-friendly compact design we all desire, and its removable kneading paddle and bread pan is both easy to clean and use.
It also has a lid with a viewing window to monitor the process from start to finish — topped off with a snazzy interior light to check your bread as it bakes. This model is thoughtful, effective and worth the buy if you’re a beginner or advanced baker alike.
Shop the KBS Pro Stainless Steel Bread Machine, a kitchen find that resembles the look of your finest air fryers and toaster ovens but is fully suited for breads of all kinds.
“This brand uses a wonderful nonstick ceramic pan with 360-degree heating for even heating and easy cleaning,” Powell notes. “It has a ton of features, even a fermentation setting.” This setting is effective for topping off your breads with jam, yogurt or transforming it into special types of cakes.
Because of its ceramic and nonstick design, it’s one of the easiest to use and clean — all while being not too expensive, compared to other models on this list. Its detachable fruit nut dispenser releases your preferred ingredients automatically at the optimum time as well.
You don’t need to keep an eye on the time, either. Thanks to its 15-hour delay timer, you don’t have to wake up at 4:00 a.m. to begin kneading. Its one-hour Automatic Keep Warm function is another nice touch, along with its 15-minute Power Interruption Recovery mode to allow for healthy breads whenever you’d like them.
The Oster Expressbake Bread Maker is well priced at less than $100, making it a worthy, top-rated option to pick up. With a two-pound loaf capacity and 13 settings for making a variety of breads, dough, jams and even gluten-free bread, it’s pretty stellar, price aside.
“This is the bread maker I own and I’m super happy with it,” Foerster shares. “It’s super affordable, makes great bread, is very light, and can easily be stored away in a cabinet.”
She also loves how the machine is quiet while it runs and that it comes with a recipe booklet that has lots of great-tasting bread recipes. “This makes it easy for beginners to learn how the machine works,” she notes.
Like other models, it comes with three crust color selection options — light, medium and dark — and its Express Bake setting bakes bread in less than an hour.
Another less-than-$100 pick we recommend: the Amazon Basics Nonstick Bread Maker Machine. It’s backed by nearly 4,500 rave reviews for its impeccable flavor and design that’s both easy to use and clean — and it’s also recommended by our baking experts.
“This is very budget-friendly and still has a lot of settings, including an express bake setting,” Powell shares, recommending the model. It can make loaves up to two pounds in capacity and has an LCD display and intuitive button controls to make it seamless for beginners, especially.
Though it’s not backed with a soiree of features like some others we rounded up, its quality and affordability will do the job.
Shop the Hamilton Beach Digital Bread Maker Machine for a trusty model that hails from a brand we trust. You’ll adore its 12 included cycles make delicious, mouth-watering loaves of bread. You can even prepare dough for pizza and dinner rolls.
Specifically, its cycles include basic, French, gluten free, whole grain, one-and-a-half-pound express, two-pound express, sweet, dough, dough, roast nuts, jam and bake.
“It is very simple to program and the pan and paddles are dishwasher safe which makes clean up convenient,” Powell notes, recommending Hamilton Beach’s nifty bread maker. “It’s one of the easiest to use for very beginners and gives consistent results.”
“While Zojirushi bread makers are pricier than others, they are worth it for the quality, reliability and features you get,” Foerster shares. “Many of its machines bake a familiar size and shape loaf (compared to the typical tall bread machine loaf).”
Backed by nearly 4,000 dazzling reviews, this model includes a variety of healthy course settings that include multigrain, whole wheat, rapid whole wheat, gluten free, salt free, sugar free and vegan.
“There are a lot of different options and it is very easy to set,” Powell adds, also recommending the model. “They have dual heating on the top and bottom for more even browning.”
Its double kneading blades thoroughly power through to knead dough for excellent results. Its dual heaters on the bottom and lid of the bread maker help promote even baking and browning, too.
We also recommend the Panasonic Automatic Bread Machine — an automatic bread maker with 20 Presets — and, an advanced temperature sensor — for premier quality bread that’s especially fitting for serious bread lovers.
“This brand has some of the most preset settings and is built to handle even the firmest of dough,” Powell notes. “It senses the internal and room temperature and auto adjusts accordingly.”
Its included raisin and nut dispenser allows you to incorporate delicious ingredients to complement your fresh bread, and it even drops them automatically at perfectly-timed intervals. Rest assured, this one is the high-tech, real deal — as far as bread makers go.
Ahead, our team of bakers share the 411 on bread makers — including how to use them and what features to look out for when shopping for your next trusty machine.
Above all else, bread machines are great for ease of use.
“You don’t need to know much about bread baking to be able to make a loaf,” Powell told The Post. “It allows you to have fresh bread at any time without needing to worry about the nitty gritty of the science behind bread baking. They can also give you consistent results every single time, so you always know exactly what you are getting.”
According to Foerster, it’s also great for people who want fresh, homemade bread without going through all the trouble of doing it by hand. “Plus, some bread machines even let you set a timer, so that you can wake up to the smell of fresh bread in the morning. Easy peasy!” she adds.
“You can make all sorts of bread like white, wheat or even fancy ones with nuts or cinnamon,” Foerster lists.
Powell told The Post that bread makers are especially good for sandwich breads. “White, whole wheat, oatmeal and even cinnamon raisin bread are all possible in a bread machine,” she adds. “You can also use them for quick breads like banana bread or a loaf cake.”
The more adventurous bakers can use the bread machine for part of the bread making process and finish in the oven to expand what they can make to include different recipes, like bread sticks and bagels, per Powell.
“Most bread machines will have a dough making setting, and settings to adjust for different types of bread such as a yeasted sandwich bread or quick bread,” Powell said. “Most also allow you to choose crust style and texture.”
A good bread machine will also have an ingredient dispensing area so you can drop in mix-ins like nuts, seeds, and dried fruits. “Some bread makers even have timers so you can add in your ingredients and set the machine to bake the bread at a later time, which is perfect for making sure you have fresh bread ready the moment you wake up,” she adds.
Foerster loves how most bread machines offer different bread settings, too. “You can pick the type of bread you want, like basic, whole wheat or sweet, and the machine knows how to handle it,” she said.
With a fair amount of models, you can also choose your crust, delay the baking, keep it warm, select different loaf sizes, choose from “dough” and “bake-only” options, select jam and cake modes, appreciate a see-through window to check out how your bread is doing and create a custom bread-making program.
In short, bread makers are worth the purchase — especially after your first bite of delectable, homemade bread.
Macadams Bakery Equipment Check out the New York Post Shopping section for more content.