The Breadman TR520 bread maker is able to bake a 1, 1.5 or 2-pound bread loaf in its nonstick baking pan. It is not an expensive appliance, it is affordable and seems to be good enough overall. Here is a review of its features, advantages and disadvantages.
Breadman TR520: List Of Features
- 13-hour delay timer.
- 3 crust shades: light, medium or dark.
- 8 programs for making bread, dough or baking only.
- Audible signal for adding fruit and nuts.
- Its dimensions are 13.5 x 13.5 x 12 inches.
- Loaf sizes supported: 1, 1.5 and 2-pound loaves.
- Nonstick baking pan.
- Push-button control panel with a digital display.
- Removable lid with viewing window.
Breadman TR520: Overview
The outside of the Breadman TR520 is white plastic. It has a push-button control panel with white text on a yellow background (yikes!), a digital display, eight program functions and a viewing window in its removable lid. It comes with a 2-year limited warranty.
The Breadman TR520 is not difficult to use. You can choose a loaf size from 1 pound to up to 2 pounds that fits your favorite recipe. Choose a crust shade that looks right: dark, medium or light. Choose from one of the eight available bread/dough options: basic, fast bake, French, whole wheat, sweet, quick bread, dough and bake only.
The 13-hour delay timer adds more to the basic functions, giving you the option to set the timer for up to 13 hours for bread that is baked and ready at breakfast or dinner. It also features a fruit-and-nut signal beep, for when you may add extra ingredients to the bread dough.
Advantages
- It is an inexpensive bread maker.
- The nonstick baking pan is easy to clean.
- 13-hour delay timer works good for delayed-start baking.
- You can use the dough program to prepare your own pizza dough.
- It reduces the effort needed to make bread when compared to manual baking.
Disadvantages
- It does not have a pause button for pausing a cycle.
- You cannot program your own custom baking program.
- The single kneading paddle leaves a hole in the bottom of the finished bread loaf.
- During the mixing cycle, you must check for unmixed flour in the corners of the pan.
- You need to use precise measurements, otherwise the bread loaf might turn out wrong.
- The control panel has white text on a yellow background, which makes it difficult to read.
Conclusion
Bread machines might never produce a bread loaf that rivals the taste and texture of a hand-kneaded and oven-baked artisan bread, but it makes up for this by handling most of the bread making process without your help.
Kneading dough by hand produces a better texture than a bread machine paddle is capable of achieving, but most people will not worry about that. The end result is often better than the bread loaves available at the supermarket.
The Breadman TR520 bread machine does not have any advanced options such as the ability to program your own custom bread program or a pause button, but it has all the usual bread machine features as well as a delay timer function.
In conclusion, the Breadman TR520 is an inexpensive and basic bread maker that does its job well enough. Too bad about its ugly control panel. White text on a yellow background is not a good combination. Be that as it may, control panel colors might not be such a problem anyway, since the TR520 is an old bread maker model that is no longer be available on the market.
Other Breadman Bread Makers
If you do not like this particular Breadman bread machine, why not try a different Breadman bread maker? You could try a different Breadman bread machine if you can still find one that is still available.
For example, the Breadman TR2500BC has a convection fan in the baking chamber as well as an automatic fruit and nut dispenser. It even has a gluten-free setting for making gluten-free bread loaves.
Then again, if you want a bread maker with an automatic fruit dispenser and two collapsible kneading paddles, then you could take a look at the Breadman BK2000B.
Finally, there is also the Breadman BK1050S 2-lb bread maker. It has a collapsible kneading paddle and fourteen baking functions.
Yet, all the Breadman machines that I mentioned above are no longer available to purchase. It is a disappointing situation that those Breadman models have disappeared from view. The only Breadman model that might still be available is the Breadman BK1200SS, which is a 2-pound bread maker with a stainless steel exterior. You can read my BK1200SS review right here.