The Hamilton Beach HomeBaker is a bread machine that doesn’t have a lot of frills, but it does what it’s meant to do – bake tasty, fresh bread. It offers features such as gluten-free and whole-grain settings if you’re looking at purchasing a bread maker for a particular diet. It is quite large, though easily programmable. This automatic bread maker offers 12 program cycles and three different crust settings.
This automatic bread machine has a simplistic design and a plastic outer shell. Hamilton Beach offers the HomeBaker in either black or white with a silver base and rubber feet. The interior baking pan is metal with a carrying handle for removing the bread from the unit. The control panel is laid out conveniently on top of the bread making machine alongside a small viewing window.
The machine can bake loaves from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pounds and offers an express option for cooking bread faster. You should be aware that when using the express feature the loaf will be smaller and have a thicker crust. If you have the time, it’s best to use the basic cycle with this bread maker. This machine uses a single paddle that you can remove and clean after cooking. The Hamilton Beach HomeBaker also includes a second paddle so you can make another loaf while the other paddle is being washed.
Adding ingredients is easy to do mid-cycle. This bread maker will remind you with a beep when it’s time to add nuts or fruit, and the alert isn’t too loud that it’s annoying. The bread machine also offers a delay timer so you can have the bread done at a convenient time for you.
The settings available on the Hamilton Beach include gluten-free, French, sweet, jam and cake. There is also a dough feature, which will take care of kneading the dough for you and allow you to bake it in the oven. This is a good option if you don’t want the mess of kneading on your own, but would prefer to use the dough for irregular shapes like pizza crusts or buns.
The Hamilton Beach has the features you need to get started with automatic bread making at a midrange price. The extra kneading paddle is a unique touch and the programming menu is easy to learn.