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Reviewed By: Eric on August 28, 2013

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Why/When I Purchased This Bread Maker

I purchased this bread maker in June 2013. I am a 27 year old male who is not particularly good at cooking anything. I make a lot of spaghetti, grilled cheese, ramen noodles, burgers, hot dogs, and other simple things. Bread is definitely one of the more complicated things I’ve recently started making.

The reason I bought this bread maker was because I was looking for ways to be as frugal as possible. I’m a full time college student with no job. I can survive like this because I am a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who is using my Post 9/11 GI Bill to pay for school and my basic needs. I digress…

Anyway… I started looking up ways to save money. I found out (through very rigorous, complicated, intense, secret research) that if I invested in a bread machine I could buy the ingredients for bread and save quite a bit of money in the long run. It will be a while before the bread machine pays for itself in money I saved by not buying bread. But in the meantime the bread I would be eating would obviously be much tastier, as long as I can do it right.

That’s like killing two birds with one stone…er… feeding two birds with one scone… for all my animal lovers out there!

So, I went to my local department store and picked out a bread maker. I had a choice between two different bread machines, and I chose the WestBend 41300 Hi-Rise Bread Maker. I honestly cannot remember what the other option was. But I do remember that the one I picked definitely looked cooler than the other one.

Bread Recipes For This Bread Machine

I looked up many bread recipes online before I made a purchase. This was part of my research so I could determine what I had to buy to make my own bread. After reading a ton of recipes and reviews about bread recipes, I came to the following conclusion:

‘Man, making bread is gonna be hard!’

So many places say things like:

You need to measure very carefully.

You need to know your ingredients before you make your own bread.

It’s a very delicate process.

Ignore all of that. I am not a very careful or accurate person. Let the smart people (Chefs) make their recipes and post them online. From there, as long as you are remotely close to the quantity that they tell you to use, you’ll be fine. This is the most important thing I learned about making bread. I was so nervous that I would get the ingredients wrong. It’s easy. Especially with the WestBend 41300 Hi-Rise Bread Maker.

22 Recipes Included In The Manual

The manual for this bread machine comes with 22 recipes. Including:

Old Fashioned White Bread, Garlic Bred, Walnut Bread, Classic Rye Bread, Sesame Bread, Gluten-Free Bread, Brown & White Rice Flour Gluten-Free Bread (whew…), Lemon Poppyseed Gluten-Free Bread, Whole Wheat & Seed Low Carb Bread, ‘Favorite’ Low Carb Bread, Low Carb Bread, Nut Bread (it suggests Banana Nut, Cherry Pecan, Cranberry Nut, or Dates), Corn Bread, French Bread, Basic Super Rapid Bread, 100% Whole Wheat Bread, Wheat ‘N Yogurt Bread, Coconut Bread, Raisin Bread, Basic Bagels, Basic Dinner Rolls/Bread Sticks, and finally… Sandwich White Bread.

The manual tells you exactly how to use this machine to cook each of these.

This Bread Machine Can Even Make Jam

I didn’t know this, but this bread maker even makes jam! I haven’t tried it yet, but I mean to sometime. It tells you exactly how in the manual.

The Best Bread Recipe For The WestBend 41300 Hi-Rise Bread Maker

The very first loaf of bread I made was not from the manual. It’s actually from a video I found on YouTube. Here is the recipe I have been using from the beginning for Honey White Bread:

Notes: When I use this video to make bread in the WestBend 41300 Hi-Rise Bread Maker (not the machine used in the video, I use this instructions:

Place all the mentioned ingredients in the mixer (you don’t have to mix anything… just drop the ingredients in) I use a tad less sugar than called for in this recipe, because I like the crust of my bread to be less ‘hard’ and more ‘fluffy’ (I learned this tip from the manual) Press the ‘TEMP’ button a few times until ‘LIGHT’ is selected. Press the ‘LOAF’ button a few times until ‘1.0/1.5LB’ is selected Press START That’s it! The bread is done in a few hours. The machine will beep a few times early on in the process. That’s just telling you that you can now place the nuts or extra ingredients into the bread at this time, if you wish to do so. I just ignore that set of beeps. The next time it beeps will be when the bread is finished.

WestBend 41300 Hi-Rise Bread Maker On Amazon

Product Attributes

Pros It’s extremely easy to make bread with this machine

The quality is very good. I feel like this bread machine will last me a very long time

The manual is very helpful. It helps you ‘troubleshoot’ problems. Like what to do if your bread comes out short or what to do to make your crust harder or more fluffy, among many other tips. Cons I bought this machine to save money on bread in the long run. But the bread that comes out of it tastes so good that I now eat bread more often. I’m sure I’ll grow out of this.

My handle for the mixing bowl broke off. The pieces that hold it on are kind of flimsy. It’s not a big deal though because I felt like the handle was more in the way than anything else. Features Color: Black

Weight: 2.5 LB

Electronic dual-blade bread machine for making bakery-style artisan bread at home

4 horizontally shaped loaf sizes–1 pound, 1-1/2 pounds, 2 pounds, and 2-1/2 pounds

11 pre-programmed settings; 3 crust shades; digital control panel; 12-hour delay timer

Measuring cup and spoon, knead-blade removal tool, and instructions with recipes included

Measures 18 by 10-1/2 by 11-4/5 inches; 1-year limited warranty

Conclusion

I absolutely love this bread machine. I have never owned a different one, but this one works very well and is very well built. I highly recommend this bread machine to other beginners like myself. It really makes it easy to make bread.

What Is Your Favorite Bread Recipe?

Now that I’m a proud bread machine owner I like to hear of different, creative recipes to try out. Please feel free to leave some comments.