Goldstar Bread Maker Review

On this site we look at a variety of bread makers including old and new, as many folks will often buy older machines due to their reputation for enhanced reliability. Goldstar is one such company that is no longer around, having changed their name to LG Electronics back in 1995. However, the Korean owned company did have a great reputation for making quality kitchen and household appliances, and that reputation still stands under the LG brand. Today we are going to have a look at one of their more popular bread machines models – the Goldstar HB-152CE. This model was released around 1994 we believe, so it is around 20 years old. Is it still something that should be considered a decent purchase at this time? Lets talk about that below.

Product Features:
Now before we begin, we should start off by mentioning that when Goldstar changed their name to LG, they simply swapped logos on many of their current Goldstar models. So essentially this is also known as an “LG HB-152CE” model too, but the only difference is that there is a LG logo in place of the Goldstar one. With that bit of confusion out of the way, we start off by having a look at the design of this model. Bearing in mind that this model is two decades old, it doesn’t look that dated by modern standards. Of course it isn’t as slick as some of the new models, but by no means does it look like an antique. The model comes in a glossy white color, and the top of the unit features a decent sized viewing window.

On the right hand side of the unit is the control panel and buttons, all of which are well labelled. The lcd screen is quite small, and is a bit hard to see if your eyesight isn’t great. This screen will show the current recipe selection, and the crust color before the selected recipe is started. Once you hit the start button, the lcd will switch over to the remaining time until the bread is ready.

This model comes with 7 different recipes including basic, specialty, whole wheat, french, rapid bread, dough and cake. There are also the three standard crust controls including light, medium and dark. If you mistakenly choose the wrong recipe you can use the cancel button to reset the current configuration. There is a built in timer, which can be set in ten minute increments up to 13 hours ahead. The Goldstar bread machine can only do one size loaf which is 1.5lbs. The loaf tin has a nonstick coating, although we should mention that it is not dishwasher friendly. You should simply wipe the interior with a damp cloth to remove the remnants of the last cooking batch.

This machine runs using one dough blade, which seems perfectly capable of doing the job.  Powering the motor is the 550 watt motor, which is more or less the average size of a bread maker motor made in this period. It does feel like quite a hefty motor, as the machine weighs in at 6.3kg in total. The dimensions of the machine are also somewhat average, coming in at 13.75″H x 10.25″W x 13″L. Bread is cooked in the conventional manner by adding the liquid ingredients, then the dry ingredients and finally the yeast on top.

Cooking times vary between the recipes, with the basic, specialty, whole wheat and french bread taking between 3:45 and 4:00 to finish. The rapid bread recipes takes the cooking time down to around 2 hours, although reports say that the results aren’t quite as good as the standard recipes. If you pick a recipe which requires extra ingredients such as nuts or raisins, the machine will beep eight times to signal that it is time to add these additional ingredients. Once the bread is ready, the machine will again signal 8 beeps to indicate this. We should also mention that the machine does get quite hot during the heating phases, so avoid touching it during this period. According to many reports, this model does make a really good loaf of bread.

We have not come across any complaints of burnt or undercooked bread, so it seems like the core functionality of the Goldstar machine is quite reliable. Many users have reported that they are still using this machine today, so it seems like the quality of the cooked results speak for themselves. The only real problem is trying to find one of these machines. If you can find one for cheap, then it is not a bad purchase to consider.

Pros:

• Doesn’t look dated
• Few different recipes and crust control
• 13 Hour timer
• Works well
• Reliable

Cons:

• LCD is a little small
• Not dishwasher friendly

Summary:
If you come across this machine at a yard sale for cheap, then it should serve you well as a basic bread machine. It reportedly works well, and is still in use today by many folks. If you want something a bit more advanced then you will unfortunately look elsewhere. The only place you are likely to find one is on Ebay or perhaps at a local yard sale or charity shop.