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Best Bread Machines – My Favorites!

Here is our list of the best bread machines. They are perfect for people looking to make bread at home for the first time or for any home bakers who need an upgrade because their old bread machine broke down. These bread machines range from the inexpensive but functional to more costly machines that include tons of bells & whistles.

Be aware that most bread machines do an excellent job making bread. Nevertheless, brands differ in their size and cost. In addition, they vary in their ability to make larger/smaller loaves, baked goods such as moist “quick breads” (i.e. banana bread) and/or gluten-free products. You need to buy a bread machine that will best produce the baked goods that your family eats (i.e. large loaves, artisan breads or gluten-free breads). Therefore, here are our favorite bread machines.

Bread Machine

FYI – I used a Sunbeam bread machine for many years in order to make the recipes on this website. When it finally broke down, I purchased a Hamilton Beach (as I am kind of frugal!) in early 2022. I currently use the Hamilton Beach bread machine listed below in order to make all of my new bread machine recipes… although I am eyeing the Zojirushi. 🙂

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Bread Dad’s Favorites – They make great gifts for your favorite home baker!

Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker (BB-PDC20BA)

  • The Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso is one of the most expensive bread machines but it also has lots of bells & whistles. FYI – This will probably be my next bread machine… if Bread Dad wins the lottery!!
  • The machine comes with a wide bread pan with 2 mixing paddles (versus the one paddle found in most standard bread machines). This allows you to create a bread loaf that is shaped more like a “real” loaf versus the “block” shape created by most standard bread machines.
  • This bread machine has a wide range of settings including Multigrain, Whole Wheat, Rapid Whole Wheat, Gluten Free, Salt Free, Sugar Free and Vegan. Of course, it also has settings for basic breads such as White Bread.
  • The Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso has heaters on the bottom and lid of the bread maker to promote even baking.
  • This bread machine even has a “Homemade” setting where you can adjust the knead, rise and baking settings in order to create your own unique baked goods or to manage more specialized recipes.
  • Their recipe book includes recipes for things such as Cinnamon Roll Bread, Mini White Bread, Meatloaf Miracle, Homemade Pasta, Gluten Free Dinner Bread, etc.
  • It is a larger & heavier machine than more “standard” bread machines.
  • Always read actual customer reviews on the seller’s website before buying a bread machine in order to see if the machine is right for your family & kitchen. You will be able to find many pros & cons by reading these reviews.

Hamilton Beach Bread Maker Machine (29882)

  • Bread Dad owns and uses this bread machine.
  • Moderate cost versus more expensive bread machines.
  • It has 12 settings including basic, French, quick (quick breads), whole grain, cake, dough and gluten-free. The whole grain setting covers “heavy varieties of flour that require a longer phase of kneading and rising (whole wheat flour, rye flour)”.
  • I like their detailed instruction manual because it shows the kneading, rising and baking times for each setting. This helps you to find the appropriate setting for recipes (i.e. banana breads). This can be confusing on some machines (given similar setting names such as Quick vs Rapid).
  • Uses only one mixing paddle.
  • This machine produces the standard bread machine “block” shaped loaf. This is the standard loaf shape with most bread machines (except some of the larger and/or high end bread machines).
  • Noisier than my old Sunbeam.
  • Always read actual customer reviews on the seller’s website before buying a bread machine in order to see if the machine is right for your family & kitchen. You will be able to find many pros & cons by reading these reviews.

West Bend Hi-Rise Bread Maker (47413)

  • A number of our visitors own this machine. They like this machine because it has a larger capacity than many traditional bread machines. According to the company, this machine can handle “2 lb, 2.5 lb, and 3 lb. loaf sizes”. In contrast, most traditional bread machines only make 1.5 lb and 2 lb loaves. Larger loaves are great for large families who eat a lot of bread.
  • However, be aware that there are not many 2.5 lb and 3 lb recipes online. You might be stuck with the manufacturer’s recipes for these larger loaves or you will need to experiment with “upsizing” a favorite 2 lb bread machine recipe.
  • Medium cost – Not the cheapest & not the most expensive bread machine.
  • This bread machine uses 2 mixing paddles (versus the one paddle found in most standard bread machines).
  • It has wider bread pan than most traditional machines (that use one mixing paddle). This allows you to create a bread loaf that is shaped more like a “real” loaf versus the “block” shape created by most standard bread machines.
  • This machine has 12 settings including Basic, Wheat, French, Sweet, Dough, Gluten-Free, Cake, Bake and Custom.
  • Not sure if you can make moist “quick breads” (i.e. banana bread) easily with this machine even though it has a Cake setting. You might have to use the Custom or Bake settings for moist “quick breads”. The Sweet setting on this machine is for yeast-based breads and not moist “quick breads” that use baking powder/soda.
  • Always read actual customer reviews on the seller’s website before buying a bread machine in order to see if the machine is right for your family & kitchen. You will be able to find many pros & cons by reading these reviews.

Best Selling Bread Machines – Beyond looking at my favorites, you should also explore the best selling bread machines on Amazon. This page is a best sellers list that is frequently updated by Amazon with rankings based on product sales. These best selling machines will show you what other people are buying based on price, performance and functionality (i.e. ability to make banana breads or gluten-free recipes). I would look at the top 5-10 names in order to get a good idea of the best options on the market. This list includes names such as Cuisinart, Hamilton Beach, Neretva, Zojirushi, KBS and others.

Bread Machines Used By Our Visitors – If you don’t like my picks, there are many other great bread machines. Below are some of the bread machines that are used (and loved) by the visitors to Bread Dad. Nevertheless, you should make sure that any machine that you purchase includes the settings that you want. Not all bread machines can make banana breads/cakes, create extra large loaves and/or handle gluten-free recipes.

Related Products

  • Bread Machine Cookbooks – Popular bread machine cookbooks with tons of recipes.
  • Bread Machine Yeast – The type of instant yeast used in most bread machines. Most bread machine recipes typically do not use active dry yeast.