Product Description
Fresh bread doesn't get any fresher-or easier-than this. Cuisinart offers expert engneering in smooth brushed stainless to deliver a sensational-looking convection bread maker that automatically adjusts speed and timing, and circulates air while baking. Exclusive low carb, cluten-free, and artisan dough settings are just 3 of 16 preset menu options available with the touch of a button. Cuisinart adds 3 crust colors and 3 loaf sizes, to give bread lovers a choice of over 100 bread, dough, cake-and even jam-combinations.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #134202 in Kitchen & Housewares
- Size: 2 LB
- Color: Bushes Stainless
- Brand: Cuisinart
- Model: CBK-200
- Released on: 2005-05-01
- Dimensions: 20.50 pounds
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-inch; 90-day limited warranty
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
35 of 37 people found the following review helpful.
By Little John
I'm by no means an expert at baking bread, although for a number of years I owned a Zojirushi bread machine with a vertical pan (their entry level model at the time). Unfortunately, that machine never produced consistent results for me, so when it broke I disposed of it and took a hiatus from bread baking. However, when I spotted this reconditioned Cuisinart priced at $59.99 on Amazon, plus a $10 discount for paying with a Buy It Now account and free shipping, I couldn't resist. My final cost was under $50, and for that price this is a deal you simply can't beat. New ones go for around $130, and as this unit was reconditioned by Cuisinart, only real difference is the length of the warranty (90 days vs. 3 years).
This bread machine is on the large size for a small kitchen appliance and is not convenient to move in and out of cabinets; you really have to leave this one on the counter at all time. Fortunately the Cuisinart features a beautiful stainless and black retro design, so it looks great in my transitional style kitchen. It fits neatly under my standard height cabinets, and is easy to move around on the countertop.
I have baked at least half a dozen loaves so far, and made a similar number of doughs for pizza and bagels. While every result hasn't been perfect, part of the reason is learning the idiosyncrasies of this machine and figuring out how to modify recipes to get the results I want. For me, who is inquisitive and experimental in the kitchen, it's not a drawback, but rather a challenge that I enjoy. And once I have both factors down for a particular bread, the Cuisinart produces beautiful well risen loafs. It just requires a learning curve to get the machine to make what you want.
There are something like 16 different programs and each one can be further modified for light, medium, or dark crust, and for 1, 1.5, and 2 pound loaves. There are warnings buzzers for adding mix-ins before the first rise, and for removing the kneading paddle before the final rise (which also allows you to shape the loaf and apply desired toppings). The only feature lacking is the ability to program and save custom cycles. However, the manual includes a detailed table that specifies exactly which cycles are included in each program, and how many minutes each cycle takes for the combination of program number, loaf size, and crust setting. The information is really valuable in figuring out what's going on, and for modifying recipes, especially since I have been trying out a number of different flours in my baking to achieve high fiber low carbohydrate breads that taste great. It also tells you at exactly what time the warning buzzers ring for each cycle, so you don't have stand around
Generally my experience has been that the crust setting works best at the light; even on medium I found it burned the bottom half of the loaf. There's a small window on top that lets you check on the progress of your bread; unfortunately there's no light so it can be difficult to see the inside. The bread pan shape is a taller than a standard loaf, but still shaped more horizontal than vertical; I personally like the shape of the finished loaf. There's only one kneading paddle, but I haven't had any problems with ingredients failing to mix in, although I monitored the process fairly closely at first until I was sure that I had the right ratio of water to flour. Also, it's best to remove the baking pan from the machine before adding the ingredients, and then snap it back in place when ready to bake; this minimizes the chance of spilling ingredients into some of the nooks and crannies of the machine, which can be hard to clean.
Overall, this machine was an incredible deal for $50; it's a slam dunk in that price range. Considering all of the functions, the beautiful design, and the good performance, I would say the Cuisinart bread machine is probably superior to any machine priced under $100. Even with a street price of $130 for a new unit, I think this Cuisinart is fairly priced and probably compares favorably to most competitors.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
By SLC Utah
I got burned and it just keeps on burning.
But at least, I learned from getting burned.
Lesson One: Prestigious Cuisinart Brand Name Not Always Good
Cuisinart will dump a bad product on trusting customers like me...and you.
Lesson Two: Bigger Model Numbers Are Not Always Better
Sometimes 100 is better than 200. Compare for example the Cuisinart bread maker; the lesser named but better designed and built CBK-100 is much better than the flawed CBK-200
Lesson Three: Special Convection Cooking Feature Does Not Mean Better Cooking
Cuisinart added a noisy fan and called it Convection...yet it is no feature...bread still does not brown evenly or, more precisely...burn evenly.
Nevertheless, putting a fan in this breadmaker was inspirational lightning striking for a second time, coming after the epochal moment somebody figured a baseball cap could use a fan too...and the propeller beanie was born!
However, I believe it was the other way around, it was a guy wearing a propeller beanie that designed the Cuisinart CBK-200.
Lesson Four: Stick with the bread maker you know and don't even look at her tarted up sister.
Oh, I wish I still stayed with my CBK-100 instead of getting seduced by this awful CBK-200. Like swapping a dependable 34B for a 38DD (even more than TWO model sizes up), and she couldn't cook either. So the punishment for buying this breadmaker is the same for the guy who sleeps with his wife's sister; forever after living with regret, wasted flour and burnt dry bread.
Lesson Five: Cuisinart CBK-200 Makes Baking Bread An Ordeal
Cuisinart said it was fool proof.... but here I am.
This Bread Maker Is Only Fool Proof If You Are Not Fool Enough To Buy It.
This bread maker must be watched and the bread must be removed before it turns into a dry, dark brown topped black bottomed brick. This bread maker was hard wired and programmed at the factory to burn bread. There is simply no way to beat the engineer/designer/propeller-head who made this thing. It cooks too hot, and you must remove the bread 5-6 minutes before the end of cycle to get a usable loaf. Worse still, the "keep warm" feature continues to cook the bread after the baking cycle has finished to ensure the loaf you forgot to remove early is punished without pity or remorse (at least I could not find these settings in the manual).
I do believe the keep warm "feature" is even hotter than the baking cycle. Either way, if you are fool enough to buy this machine Cuisinart calls "fool proof"...you will be a prisoner to every loaf you make and cannot ever leave this bread maker unattended.
Also, though the lesser CBK-100 bread pan locks easily and securely into the bread maker, this higher model cursed bread maker must be squidged and snapped into place. To add surprise to grief, the bread pan randomly pops out of place when kneading small or medium size loaves, sounding like you left a spoon in the garbage disposal. However the bread pan ONLY pops out randomly when baking small or medium loaves...when baking the large 32oz loaf, it ALWAYS pops out of place.
I Purchased this as refurb after my much used and loved Cuisinart CBK-100 went bust. (I bought the Cuisinart CBK-100 after I could not afford to replace my busted Zojirushi).
I bought my first CBK-200 as a refurb and returned it after it burned every loaf. I returned it for a second replacement refurb and it too burned bread. I complained as I was facing costs for return shipping that almost totaled the price of the machine. Two refurb bread makers and both burnt bread...I was as hot and burnt as the bread.
The Amazon vendor took my complaints to Cuisinart. (Abes of Maine was great for that.)
Cuisinart promised to send me a Brand New Machine!!! (Cuisinart was great for that.)
The new machine delivered. (Home when the package arrived, I was great for that.)
The new machine burnt the bread the exact same way. (Well, consistency is a kind of greatness.)
Final Lesson: Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you...But this bread maker always burns bread.
17 of 21 people found the following review helpful.
By Bruce Wood
Almost perfect loaves of bread everytime. Only possible drawback is the size of the machine as it is a bit larger than most. The crust settings is best at the light setting unless you want it really crusty!
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