Breadman TR2200C Bread Machine
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- Max Loaf Capacity: 2 lbs
- Timer Capability: With Timer
- No. of different Programs: 110
- Jam Function: With Jam Function
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I love my bread machine
Pros
Makes excellent bread, custom programmable, lots of features
Cons
large- takes up counterspace, noisy
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
I would recommend this machine to anyone looking to purchase a bread machine. It is a bread machine that you will not outgrow.
I am a fairly experienced bread baker but I rarely have the time to make my own bread, so I decided to get a bread machine. I did a lot of research, and ended up buying the breadman ultimate. I think I made the best choice. The only thing I don't care for is the noise and the room it takes up, but I get a lot of use out of this machine, so it's worth it. Now my friends all wait for me to come over with a warm focaccia in my hands.
Basic Bread Machine Basic Information/Features:
Most Bread Machines have some of these cycles/features. The breadman ultimate has all these features.
Generally, a full cycle takes around 4-4.5 hours, from start to finish (not including the time it takes to measure ingredients). The only major difference between white and whole wheat bread is that the whole wheat cycles is a bit longer due to the longer kneading/rising times). Some less inexpensive models do not have whole wheat settings so if you plan on making whole wheat bread, I would recommend a bread machine with a whole wheat setting.
There are Rapid cycles- you use different kind of faster rising yeast for this cycle- that will turn out bread in half the time. However, I think the full cycle tends to develop better flavor. In a pinch, this is useful.
Loaf sizes- 1, 1.5 and 2lb loaf sizes are available. I find the 1.5lb size to come out the best. Sometimes, I've made wonderful bread on other cycles but they were a bit misshapen in shape because the dough was too big (or small) for the load pan. I've found this to be true in all bread machines regardless of brand. This does not matter if you use the dough cycle, and bake in the oven.
Crust control- you can set your crust to light, medium or dark for any cycle (except jam/dough cycle- because it has no bake setting).
Dough cycle- for when you want the machine to do all the work but want to shape/glaze and bake the loaf in the oven (for shaped breads like making croissants, cinnamon rolls). I use this all the time to make wonderful pizza dough. It can also make great pasta dough as well!!!!
Jam cycle- to make Jam. It will turn out great jam but the paddle tends to splash the stuff inside the machine if you use juice to make jam.
Batter cycle- for making quick breads like banana bread that does not require yeast. I have found that it does a great job for quick breads (i.e. zucchini bread, banana bread) but I would not use this for cake batter. Cake batter seems to be too delicate to take the hard-core kneading of a bread machine. I've found this to be true in ALL bread machines regardless of brand.
French bread cycle- for making french bread. You will not get the crispy crust of a french bread with this cycle. A stem-injected or clay oven is required to produce that crispy crust. However, it does have a longer rising time required for french bread.
Fruit and Nut Cycle- for using the automatic fruit/nut dispenser when making raisin breads, etc.
A lot of bread machines do not have a dispenser- in case you can just add fruit/nut when the machine signals or during your second kneading cycle.
Pause- for pausing the machine. Many machines have a 30 second pause feature. The ultimate has a ten minute pause feature- which is great for extra rising (sometimes, you want to give the bread extra rising time, for example, when the weather is cold, etc). also great for shaping the bread and baking it in the machine. This was one of the features that sold me on the machine.
Bake Only- ditto. When you want to just bake.
Custom- a ultimate feature that most bread machine does not have. This allows you to make custom recipes with custom kneading and rising times, instead of having to choose from one of the baking cycles. The machine can store up to 5 recipes so you don't have to re=program every time. I make a lot of rustic and european breads that have very long rising times so this feature is one of the features that really sold me to this machine.
Delay timer- so you can throw in your ingredients in the bread machine, and program it so you can come back home to fresh baked bread. You can't use it for breads that have perishable ingredients (like milk, eggs, etc).
PROS
The features that made me decide to buy this bread machine over other machines:
the pause feature (explained above)
Custom programming feature (explained above)
The fruit and nut dispenser- I have missed the beeper to add fruits/nuts, etc on other machines more times than I care to count, so the dispenser is a godsend if you make a lot of raisin breads (like I do), or the like.
Delay cycle - 24 hours (although I would not recommend waiting that long- but other companies give you 12 hrs, 13 hrs. It's nice to have that option if you need it).
1 hour power failure backup (will resume the bread making if the power comes back on within an hour. I have had to finish bread by hand or throw it out because the electricity was out for 5 minutes. Some companies have only a 30 second power failure backup- which can be useless. while 1 hour might be overkill, again, I like the fact that it does give you a longer time frame to decide what to do).
Simply put- this bread machine has a lot of features that I use and appreciate that other bread machines did not.
Bread machine does not make breadmaking foolproof. However, if you are willing to learn some tips and tricks, you will come out with great results the vast majority of the time.
The key to successful bread machine baking is accurate measuring ( get appropriate measuring utensils for liquid and dry ingredients), and checking the dough consistency during kneading. This is true regardless of the kind of bread machine you buy. The key to successful bread machine baking is to learn the proper texture of a good bread dough. The king arthur flour website has a great website for this info.
It is called Bread machine basics and beyond. URL is
http://ww2.kingarthurflour.com/cgibin/htmlos/15265.3.2197233715913947659
For anyone looking to buy a bread machine, I HIGHLY recommend buying some bread machine books. In terms of information, I recommend the bread machine magic and more bread machine magic by Rehberg and Conway. The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Hensperger is recommended for the varieties of recipes.
Other than making bread, I've made banana bread, pasta dough, pizza dough, and jam with my bread machine- all with excellent results.
One more- cleaning.
This machine is easy to clean- just rinse the nonstick pan in warm water, use mild dish soap and nonscratching sponge if necessary. The mixing paddle sometimes need to be soaked to wash off the bread dough stuck on it. Cleaning time usually runs under 5 minutes. Every so often, you might want to vacuum clean the inside of the machine using a crevice attachment on your vac. Dust, crumbs, etc fall to the bottom, and the baking element is there, so if you let a lot of crumbs accumulate, you can have the smoking bread machine syndrome. I only need to do this once a year or so. This is true of all bread machines.
I highly recommend this machine. It is a great deal (at @100.00) and it is a machine that has enough features that as you expand your bread-baking repertoire, you will not outgrow it.
Basic Bread Machine Basic Information/Features:
Most Bread Machines have some of these cycles/features. The breadman ultimate has all these features.
Generally, a full cycle takes around 4-4.5 hours, from start to finish (not including the time it takes to measure ingredients). The only major difference between white and whole wheat bread is that the whole wheat cycles is a bit longer due to the longer kneading/rising times). Some less inexpensive models do not have whole wheat settings so if you plan on making whole wheat bread, I would recommend a bread machine with a whole wheat setting.
There are Rapid cycles- you use different kind of faster rising yeast for this cycle- that will turn out bread in half the time. However, I think the full cycle tends to develop better flavor. In a pinch, this is useful.
Loaf sizes- 1, 1.5 and 2lb loaf sizes are available. I find the 1.5lb size to come out the best. Sometimes, I've made wonderful bread on other cycles but they were a bit misshapen in shape because the dough was too big (or small) for the load pan. I've found this to be true in all bread machines regardless of brand. This does not matter if you use the dough cycle, and bake in the oven.
Crust control- you can set your crust to light, medium or dark for any cycle (except jam/dough cycle- because it has no bake setting).
Dough cycle- for when you want the machine to do all the work but want to shape/glaze and bake the loaf in the oven (for shaped breads like making croissants, cinnamon rolls). I use this all the time to make wonderful pizza dough. It can also make great pasta dough as well!!!!
Jam cycle- to make Jam. It will turn out great jam but the paddle tends to splash the stuff inside the machine if you use juice to make jam.
Batter cycle- for making quick breads like banana bread that does not require yeast. I have found that it does a great job for quick breads (i.e. zucchini bread, banana bread) but I would not use this for cake batter. Cake batter seems to be too delicate to take the hard-core kneading of a bread machine. I've found this to be true in ALL bread machines regardless of brand.
French bread cycle- for making french bread. You will not get the crispy crust of a french bread with this cycle. A stem-injected or clay oven is required to produce that crispy crust. However, it does have a longer rising time required for french bread.
Fruit and Nut Cycle- for using the automatic fruit/nut dispenser when making raisin breads, etc.
A lot of bread machines do not have a dispenser- in case you can just add fruit/nut when the machine signals or during your second kneading cycle.
Pause- for pausing the machine. Many machines have a 30 second pause feature. The ultimate has a ten minute pause feature- which is great for extra rising (sometimes, you want to give the bread extra rising time, for example, when the weather is cold, etc). also great for shaping the bread and baking it in the machine. This was one of the features that sold me on the machine.
Bake Only- ditto. When you want to just bake.
Custom- a ultimate feature that most bread machine does not have. This allows you to make custom recipes with custom kneading and rising times, instead of having to choose from one of the baking cycles. The machine can store up to 5 recipes so you don't have to re=program every time. I make a lot of rustic and european breads that have very long rising times so this feature is one of the features that really sold me to this machine.
Delay timer- so you can throw in your ingredients in the bread machine, and program it so you can come back home to fresh baked bread. You can't use it for breads that have perishable ingredients (like milk, eggs, etc).
PROS
The features that made me decide to buy this bread machine over other machines:
the pause feature (explained above)
Custom programming feature (explained above)
The fruit and nut dispenser- I have missed the beeper to add fruits/nuts, etc on other machines more times than I care to count, so the dispenser is a godsend if you make a lot of raisin breads (like I do), or the like.
Delay cycle - 24 hours (although I would not recommend waiting that long- but other companies give you 12 hrs, 13 hrs. It's nice to have that option if you need it).
1 hour power failure backup (will resume the bread making if the power comes back on within an hour. I have had to finish bread by hand or throw it out because the electricity was out for 5 minutes. Some companies have only a 30 second power failure backup- which can be useless. while 1 hour might be overkill, again, I like the fact that it does give you a longer time frame to decide what to do).
Simply put- this bread machine has a lot of features that I use and appreciate that other bread machines did not.
Bread machine does not make breadmaking foolproof. However, if you are willing to learn some tips and tricks, you will come out with great results the vast majority of the time.
The key to successful bread machine baking is accurate measuring ( get appropriate measuring utensils for liquid and dry ingredients), and checking the dough consistency during kneading. This is true regardless of the kind of bread machine you buy. The key to successful bread machine baking is to learn the proper texture of a good bread dough. The king arthur flour website has a great website for this info.
It is called Bread machine basics and beyond. URL is
http://ww2.kingarthurflour.com/cgibin/htmlos/15265.3.2197233715913947659
For anyone looking to buy a bread machine, I HIGHLY recommend buying some bread machine books. In terms of information, I recommend the bread machine magic and more bread machine magic by Rehberg and Conway. The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Hensperger is recommended for the varieties of recipes.
Other than making bread, I've made banana bread, pasta dough, pizza dough, and jam with my bread machine- all with excellent results.
One more- cleaning.
This machine is easy to clean- just rinse the nonstick pan in warm water, use mild dish soap and nonscratching sponge if necessary. The mixing paddle sometimes need to be soaked to wash off the bread dough stuck on it. Cleaning time usually runs under 5 minutes. Every so often, you might want to vacuum clean the inside of the machine using a crevice attachment on your vac. Dust, crumbs, etc fall to the bottom, and the baking element is there, so if you let a lot of crumbs accumulate, you can have the smoking bread machine syndrome. I only need to do this once a year or so. This is true of all bread machines.
I highly recommend this machine. It is a great deal (at @100.00) and it is a machine that has enough features that as you expand your bread-baking repertoire, you will not outgrow it.
