Wolfgang Puck may be best known to many as a celebrity chef and restauranteur, but he also has a range of kitchen related appliances for sale under his name. In the last few years they have released a few bread makers, and one of the more popular models is the BBME025. This is a mid range bread machine designed for making a variety of different breads at home, and is what we will be looking at today. So how does it compare to the competition? Lets take a look at that below.
Product Features:
We start things off by taking a closer look at the design of this model. It is certainly something of a unique design, as the machine sports a sleek rounded top. The sides, top and main control area are all made out of brushed stainless steel while a black housing fills out the rest of the machine. The main controls are all on the front of the machine, and the buttons are all quite self explanatory. The lcd on the front is a decent size, and contains a range of different info on the currently selected option. It has black text against the blue backlight which makes it easy to read, and we think the blue lcd color goes well with the black & stainless steel design choice. To the top left and top right of the lcd is a list of the built in recipes for easy reference. Also on the front is the power indicator light which will come on when the machine is working.
The top of the BBME025 has the Wolfgang Puck logo engraved, which looks quite classy. Also on top of the machine is a nice large viewing window, which seems to go against the trend of other modern machines which have smaller windows. However we think it looks great, so points go to Wolfgang Puck for trying something new. The dimensions of this machine are quite large at 11″W x 12″H x 17.5″L. This is because it is a horizontal bread maker, so it makes standard store shaped bread loves. Overall we really do like the design, and it certainly does stand out on the kitchen counter.
Now let’s talk about the features, of which there are quite a few. As mentioned about this is a horizontal bread maker, so it has dual mixing paddles which helps to mix the ingredients thoroughly. These are powered by a 800watt motor, which should have enough power to mix even the denser types of bread. The bread is mixed in the nonstick baking tin, which claims to be dishwasher friendly (although you should avoid using metal utensils in it to prevent any damage). The BBME025 makes two loaf sizes including the large 2 lb and the larger 2.5lb, so this machine is certainly great for making family friendly quantities. There are 12 built in recipes including Basic, Whole Wheat, French, Quick, Sweet, Cake, Jam, Dough, Rapid Bake, Bake, Gluten-Free and Custom.
The Custom recipe allows you to tailor the bread making process to your specifications, so this is handy for anyone who likes control over the entire bread making process. Once the machine has finished cooking the bread it will revert to the Keep Warm cycle which will last up to 60 minutes, otherwise you can skip this by pressing down the Stop button. Like most other models this comes with three crust choices including light, medium and dark. This model has a cool touch exterior, so it is quite safe to touch it even when the bread is baking. Lastly there is the 24 hour delay timer, which is significantly longer than most of the competition. Most other models have a 13 hour timer, so this is certainly an advantage for the Wolfgang Puck BBME025.
At this point the big question is how well does it perform? Cooking times are quite ordinary, with the Basic recipe taking 3 hours in total and the Whole Wheat takes 3:45 for example. These are very similar times to competing models, so no surprise there. The Rapid Bake option will cook bread in a very fast 59 minutes, but you should be prepared for slightly inferior bread when this recipe is used.
From the variety of user reports it seems to work quite well for the majority of the users. The bread is said taste great, and the included recipes in the instruction manual are said to work well. The texture and crust controls are also mostly praised, assuming you are careful the the ingredient quantities.
There have been two complaints with this particular model, and the first one is that the kneading plate rises up which means it stops making contact with the kneading blade axis. There have only been a handful of complaints about this, but it seems to be related to general wear and tear over time. The second complaint is that the kneading blade locking clip can break, which has happened to a few users. The good news is that it can be found at some diy stores, so it seems like a replacement is not that hard to find. Bear in mind that these are not overly common complaints, but in the interests of transparency we believe they are worth a mention.
So that is a quick look at the Wolfgang Puck bread machine. It has a number of different features, looks great, and has a variety of mostly positive reviews. Although it is getting hard to find in retail stores, it still seems like quite a good purchase today. It comes complete with a measuring cup, measuring spoon and user manual which contains a variety of different recipes.
User Manual: You can find a copy of the users manual at this link.
Pros:
- Great design
- Large lcd
- Big viewing window
- 12 Recipes
- 24 hour delay timer
- Cool touch exterior
Cons:
- Some reports of the kneading plate coming loose / kneading lock clip snapping
Summary:
The Wolfgang Puck bread maker certainly looks great, and comes with a variety of impressive features. With lots of good reviews, it certainly seems like this is a great choice for making bread at home. It comes standard with a one year warranty, and you can find out more about it on the Amazon product page.
| Our Rating: |
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| 4 |