So you’re on the hunt for the best bread machine under $100. Don’t worry, you’re in good company. Bread is comfort, it’s filling, and it is good. Since the beginning of agriculture, bread has been on man’s menu. It is the amalgamation of just 3 simple ingredients: flour, water, and yeast. For most people, bread is an essential part of the diet. It’s a staple.
Maybe you are tired of having to read a confusing label to find out what’s in your bread. Maybe, instead of that fake wheat bread, you know the pre-bagged kind in your grocery store; it’s really just white (bleached) bread dyed brown, you want to make whole wheat bread. Or maybe you just want to eat fresh bread.
My family loves bread, and so, we are in the market for a bread machine. We want to make breads with nut meal as opposed to grains. So long as we like the taste, it could provide another convenient way to eat protein. No we aren’t paleo. At least not yet. We just want to be able to explore different options in bread, i.e. adding nuts and dried fruits.
Take a look at the 3 bread makers below (you can use quick navigation to jump to each overview), I’ve identified what I believe to be the best bread machine under $100.
Table of Contents
CUISINART CBK-100 2-POUND PROGRAMMABLE BREADMAKER
Description
The Cuisinart CBK-100 is an affordable horizontal bread machine. The stainless/black exterior make this a good looking machine (I’m sure that most would say it’s the best looking on this page). It measures 18 x 12.2 x 15 inches, and weighs 18 pounds.
The Cuisinart CBK-100 can make up to a 2-pound loaf of bread. There are 12 programmed settings. Three crust settings and a 13-hour delay start feature. The lid, pan and paddle are removable for easy cleaning.
Performance
It’s easy to use the Cuisinart CBK-100. All you have to do is add the ingredients, and the machine mixes, kneads, lets it rise, and bakes it.
With the Cuisinart CBK-100 you can choose between 3 different loaf sizes: 1lb, 1.5lbs, and 2lbs. The handles are safe to handle while in operation. There are also three different crust options: light, medium, and dark.
The “rapid bake” setting works to bake your bread in an hour.
You can make a lot of different bread types including gluten-free for people with gluten sensitivity (which affects about one-percent of people). There is an option to add in nuts. When there is just eight minutes left in the bread making process you can add nuts or dried fruits.
Depending of the type of bread that you make, baking times could take anywhere from 2-4 hours. The warranty is good for 90 days.
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What Do the Customers Think?
There are many reviews for the Cuisinart CBK-100. The customers seem to love it. Although it comes with mostly high praise, there were some complaints.
Customers mostly complained about durability issues. There are reports of broken paddles. You see, while most of the machine is made of metal, the paddle (the part that mixes the dough) is made out of a not-so-durable plastic. Then there are reports of the non-stick coating peeling off, and even malfunctioning touchpads.
There weren’t many poor reviews. And because of that, I do not think that the negative reviews represent critical underlying problems. Most of them seem to be rare problems that pop up. This can happen with any product. Overall this seems to be a pretty good quality bread machine, and maybe the best bread machine under $100.
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OSTER CKSTBRTW20 2-POUND EXPRESSBAKE BREADMAKER
Description
If the Oster CKSTBRTW20 isn’t the best bread machine under $100, it’s certainly one of the most popular. It measures 13.8 x 13 x 14.1 inches and weighs about eight pounds. When I researched it, it was the number one selling bread maker on Amazon. It is capable of making a two-pound loaf. There are nine bread settings, three crust settings, and an express bake setting.
Performance
This horizontal bread machine is capable of baking a fresh loaf of bread start to finish in under an hour using the Expressbake setting. There isn’t a gluten-free setting, but you can make gluten-free bread using the “wheat bread” option.
The large lcd screen makes operation very easy and shows you each stage of the bread making process. When the baking cycle is almost done, your machine will beep. This lets you know that it is time to add nuts and fruit if you wish.
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What Do the Customers Think?
There are a ton of user reviews and general customer feedback available for the Oster CKSTBRTW20. Overall, it is well received by the customers.
When sifting through the reviews, what stood out to me the most was the number of customers that were not only satisfied with the performance of this machine but also surprised. A number of customers attested the long term durability. This translates to long-term value.
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HAMILTON BEACH HOMEBAKER 29882 BREADMAKER
Description
The Hamilton Beach HomeBaker 29882 is the least expensive bread machine on this list. It measures 12.4 x 16.4 x 12.8 inches and weighs about 16 pounds. It has 12 bread settings including gluten-free, jam and cake. It comes with a 12-month limited warranty.
Performance
Just like the other two on this list, baking is easy, just add the ingredients, select the settings you want, and let it work.
Unlike the other two bread makers on this list, the Hamilton Beach HomeBaker 29882 is a vertical bread maker. Also, the Hamilton Beach HomeBaker does not beep before baking finishes.
It does however beep during the second kneading. If you want to add nuts, herbs, cheeses, fruit, etc. you have to during this time or you can time it and add your goodies when there is just 60 minutes left.
If you want to bake a loaf of bread quickly, then just select the express bake setting. You’ll have fresh bread in just 58 minutes.
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What Do the Customers Think?
The Hamilton Beach HomeBaker 29882 has lots of reviews. Most of those reviews were from customers that were very happy with their purchase. Although, there were some negative reviews. Most of them pointed to durability issues. Overall there was nothing that would scare me off.
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Which One Should You Buy?
To some extent, the best bread machine under $100 is subject to opinion. You might value a bread machine with more bread settings while others emphasize proven long-term durability. I read through a lot of product descriptions. I sifted through 100’s reviews, and in my opinion, the Oster CKSTBRTW20 is the best choice on this list.
The other options on this page are good, but they just don’t compare to the Oster in terms of consistent performance or durability. Between them are thousands of positive reviews, but the Oster has near consensus for best value.
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