| Cuisinart CBK-200 2-Pound Convection Automatic Bread Maker | 
| Brand: Cuisinart
Category: Kitchen
List Price: $235.00
Buy New: $112.95
as of 9/5/2010 20:54 EDT details
You Save: $122.05 (52%)
New (13) Used (5) Refurbished (2) from $54.95
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  reviews
Sales Rank: 1,154
Country: CHINA
Color: Bushes Stainless
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 21.7
Dimensions (in): 18 x 12.3 x 15.3
Legal Disclaimer: Sale Ends: 05-23-2009. You may return or exchange merchandise purchased from Macy's @ Amazon by mail only. Certain items are covered by warranty as indicated. To obtain a copy of the warranty prior to purchase, please write to: macys.com Customer Service Dept.; P.O. Box 8215; Mason, OH 45040; Small Ticket Department-Warranty;
MPN: CBK200
Model: CBK-200
UPC: 086279011046
EAN: 0086279011046
ASIN: B0009VELTQ
Release Date: May 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| ○ | Programmable bread machine with convection fan adjusts speed and timing for foolproof results | | ○ | 16 preset menu options including Low Carb, Gluten-Free, and Artisan Dough settings | | ○ | 3 crust colors and 3 loaf sizes; over 100 bread, dough, sweet cake, and jam combinations | | ○ | Audible tone indicates when to add mix-ins; 12-hour delay-start timer; power-failure backup | | ○ | Measures 18 by 12-1/5 by 14-7/8 inches; 3-year limited warranty |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Cuisinart CBK-200 2-Lb Convection Automatic Breadmaker Audible signal lets you know when to add fruit, nuts, and other ingredients 15-minute pause Bake-only option 12-hour delayed start Power-failure backup Limited 3 year Warranty Bake only option Brushed stainless steel
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great machine with one flaw... December 12, 2005
J. Hrametz (friendswood, texas)
291 out of 299 found this review helpful
I am an experienced bread baker (with and without machines) and this is my third bread machine. It kneads better than others I have had BY FAR. This machine makes excellent bread, but there is one big problem. You cannot cancel mid-cycle to start a different process if you like. As an experienced baker, I like to tweak my loaves by using various different risings, etc., but I can't do that with this machine because once you start a cycle you are committed. Even if you turn the blasted thing off, it does not reset. Other machines allow more flexibility for experienced bakers. This machine does come with an excellent cookbook, and seems easy to operate. I can't explain the negative reviews, except to say perhaps they got a defective machine. This one does not budge on the counter like other machines I've had, either. I have used the dough cycle and have baked in the machine - each time with excellent results. I do recommend that those who are having trouble make sure they are using the proper flour and yeast - see King Arthur Flour company web site for lots of info!
 A serious -- and almost perfect -- breadmaker February 21, 2006
Donald P. Martin Jr. (Concord, NH)
236 out of 243 found this review helpful
I bought this breadmaker for my wife for Christmas. She uses it at least twice a week, and so far has truly loved it. She likes making beer bread and cinnamon raisin bread, and every loaf she's made has been big, aromatic, and absolutely delicious. Have you ever looked for Texas toast to make that killer French Toast for breakfast? This machine - which makes some substantial 2-pound loaves, is the perfect thing for 'em.
Personally, I might add that if you buy one of these machines, you may never need another air freshener. I love the smell of baking bread!
I chose the Cuisinart CBK-200 because I've purchased several Cuisinart products and I've been very impressed with all of them. It's a solidly constructed piece, wieghty, and good-looking on the counter. After looking at so many of the other breadmakers in local stores, I got the feeling of plasticky engineering, and envisioned them lasting an amount of time not worth the $50 or $60-something dollars they were asking. I also envisioned smaller loaves, noisy breadmakers which shifted around on the counter. I admit this is all speculation, but these are real concerns we all have, and we speculate because we want to make the best decision we can. In the end, I feel very satisfied with the choice I made, and more importantly, my wife is thrilled with it.
A previous reviewer mentioned the only downfall to the machine is that you can't change some of the options mid-cycle. This is true, but I got the feeling that reviewer was as expert a bread-maker as one could be! My wife loves baking, but I think even at two or three loaves a week for the next five years, she's not going to have that reviewer's expertise to make those mid-cycle decisions. Actually, if my wife is accustomed to this machine, then I think those decisions might be made before the process even begins, knowing how the machine operates. That said, I think the reviewer was probably correct for upper-echelon bread chefs, and those with that kind of experience might want to go with a $300+ machine.
For the price, which was just under $100 at the time of my purchase, my wife and I are thrilled with what we've gotten back. We're both convinced that the convection oven aspect of the machine only adds to the thoroughness of the baking. She reports that the crusts come out exactly how you want them to, and I know that's important to her! And the bread is scrumptious. The only thing I wish it would do is cut the bread, too!
In summation, we're very satisfied with this purchase, and most of my satisfaction comes from my wife's happiness with it. The Cuisinart CBK-200 may be $30 or so more than other bread makers, but with that investment, you get repeated satisfaction that those dollars were very, very well spent.
An excellent, trouble free machine, December 25, 2005
Justina Hayden (Blaine, WA USA; Vancouver, Canada)
108 out of 109 found this review helpful
I spent many hours reading the reviews on the Cuisinart, the Breadman and the Zoji. I was hesitant to buy this machine because of all the negativity, but in the end I wanted 1)the low carb cycle, 2)the beep to remove paddle, 3)the horizontal loaf, 4)the jam cycle, 4) the pause option, 5)the power failure backup and 6)I really like the convection fan idea. I bought the machine at Amazon knowing their exchange policy was good, and waited before sending the warranty card.
Now I have 4 weeks of busy holiday baking to report and the results are wonderful! I am so happy! I love being able to remove the paddle and lose that hole. I can only assume that Cuisinart's quality control has not been up to par and that I was lucky enough to get a one of a good batch.
There have been some disappointments. The LowCarb cycle was a total failure with my own recipes and the Cuisinart recipes didn't meet MY definition of low carb. However my own recipes (from Dana Carpender's 500 Low Carb Recipes)come out perfectly on the whole wheat light or medium settings. The Pumpernickel was to-die-for.
I also use the Jam setting frequently to make sugar-free jam and cranberry sauce. The first batch was a hit as far as taste and consistency of the sauce, but a disaster in terms of cleaning up the machine afterwards. Cranberries had flown all over in the first 10 minutes or so and burned on the heating elements. The second time, I covered the pan with a 10 inch square hot pad of silicone able to withstand 550 degrees, held in place by the handle. It worked perfectly. I leave it on until the second phase when the paddle goes more slowly and berries aren't flying anymore.
I was also helped enormously by the Bread Machine Magic books, which recommend checking on the bread at the early stages and adding more flour or liquid as needed to get a nice loaf. I have used this several times, and it has definitely reduced my failures to zero.
I'm looking forward to trying the artisan bread cycles, and to many more loaves of Pumpernickel and Whole Wheat low carb bread.
I have heard no clunking noises, had no burned bread. I would give it 5 stars after 6 months of trouble free operation.
 Lives up to its reviews January 27, 2007
Dave
191 out of 201 found this review helpful
I have used many bread makers from different manufacturers over the years, with the most significant improvement's being the addition of special cycles for lower gluten breads. As I usually make rye, whole wheat, and pumpernickel loaves, this has resulted in much more predictable and higher quality results.
My penultimate machine was a Williams-Sonoma branded model, made by Salton(Breadman), and until its motor died after two years service, it never produced anything even reminiscent of a dud! I figured I had gotten my money's worth, but I did contact the retailer from whom I had bought the product.
Williams-Sonoma now only carries the Cuisinart which they cheerfully exchanged for free. I accepted it with trepidation, having read the many consistently negative reviews posted on this forum with reference to the Cuisinart.
Although the Cuisinart has essentially the same size/configuration of the pan and paddle, and relatively similar cycle times and sequences as the WS, the loaves came out consistently somewhat flattened and suboptimally risen, although the texture wasn't bad. Although I did not experience the "burning" that has been commented upon in multiple reviews, I did find that the crust was somewhat thicker and brittle in consistency. It was sort of a cross between a Dutch crunch crust and shoe leather! I think this must relate to the temperature at which the unit operates, in association with the unit's convection effect which increases the effective baking temperature at any given setting, since the reflectivity of the pan is identical with the WS. My impression is that the thermostat is set too high in these machines, and, unfortunately is not adjustable in the standard baking cycles.
With respect to the rising problem, I noticed that in addition to the loaves' not rising as high as desired in the final phase, that there was some disturbing contraction of the loaves when the baking heat was applied; exactly the opposite of the "oven spring" that is anticipated in ordinary baking. This suggested to me that the gluten was not sufficiently developed in the kneading process. I did not find that changing the crust control through the range of light through dark made any significant difference in terms of the negatives of this machine's output.
Please note that the comparison of the two machines was made with identical recipes and ingredients, with multiple trials.
I returned the Cuisinart to Williams-Sonoma, and bought another Breadman 2500BC from Amazon, which, to my delight, has allowed me to pick up where I left off, now turning out beautiful rye loaves.
The Cuisinart does not allow custom programming in the way the WS/Breadman does, so that there is no convenient way to build compensatory rise time into an already longer cycle than the Breadman(which, incidentally, has a shorter first rise).
In summary, I think my experience with the Cuisinart breadmaker is that those who ignore history are destined to repeat it! Please pass this one up in favor of better alternatives.
Good bread if you pay attention to what's happening September 9, 2006
John Hill (Ann Arbor)
64 out of 64 found this review helpful
I've had this machine for about a year now. The learning curve has been gradual but steady. I think that the negative reviews here stem from people having unrealistic expectations. This is not the sort of machine where you put in the ingredients, walk away and come back for a perfect loaf every time. As this is the only breadmaker I have owned, I cannot say if there are other machines that perform ideally. I do know that the user needs to PAY ATTENTION to what is happening with the Cuisinart breadmaker.
1st--mixing: a quick check with a spatula 5-10 minutes into the first knead cycle is advisable. (Yes, it is quite noisy when kneading).
2nd--dough consistency: towards the middle of the first knead cycle check the dough. The ratio of liquid to flour is always variable when making bread. In most recipes I have to add flour to get a stiff enough dough. If you cannot knead the dough by hand, it will not make good bread, I don't care if you have followed the recipe to the milligram.
3rd--take out the paddle when you hear the appropriate beep, if you can. This will give you a nicer loaf. At this point I often like to coat the dough with rolled oats, oat bran or wheat bran before I put it back in for the last rise and the baking.
4th--check how much the loaf has risen before the baking cycle starts. If it has not risen enough, press pause, it will continue to rise "off the clock" for about 15 minutes. Repeat as necessary. There is a chart with timings for every segment of every setting in the booklet.
5th--the crust: look and smell towards the end of the baking cycle (this will be the final countdown on the timer) and take your loaf out BEFORE the crust gets too dark. I never use the "dark" setting, only "medium" and "light." This breadmaker does bake very hot, and recipes with lots of sugar do poorly. The recipe for banana bread is a disaster, so don't try it. I imagine the other recipes for sweetbreads are equally useless.
Finally, it is advisable that you make sure everything is right before you press start--loaf size, crust, cycle, etc., because the machine cannot be reset. You have to leave it unplugged for about a half hour before it "forgets" what it has been told to do. This flaw annoys me. There should be a reset button. Also, I wish I could program my own settings instead of just using the factory presets when I know, for example, that I need a longer 3rd rise on a certain recipe.
These days I am experimenting with the order of adding the ingredients. The manufacturer advises liquid, then salt, then flour, then yeast. Lately I have been doing it this way: adding yeast and liquid, including WARM water, and leaving it for 5-10 minutes in the machine to get the leavening process get well underway, then flour, and then salt. Loaves seem to rise better this way.
In conclusion, I am generally happy with the bread I make with the help of the Cuisinart breadmaker. I would advise potential users who have no experience with making bread by hand to try it a few times. You will see that it is an art more than it is a science, that it's all about adding more flour or liquid to get the right consistency, that it's about seeing how your dough is rising TODAY, and so on. Knowing breadmaking on that most basic level will show the user that putting the ingredients into the machine and not paying any more attention to it until the final beep is a risky proposition. Perhaps other machines produce more consistent results with less attention on the part of the user. I am skeptical about this myself but encourage others to continue the search for their "perfect" machine if the Cuisinart seems more trouble than it's worth.
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