The Hamilton Beach 29882 Homebaker is an inexpensive bread maker. It is a good choice for beginners or for the budget-conscious shopper. This Hamilton Beach bread maker has a black plastic exterior, plastic buttons, nonstick bread pan and 12 preprogrammed cycles. Here is my review of its features, advantages and disadvantages.
Hamilton Beach 29882: Key Features
- 1.5 or 2-pound loaf size setting, available on specific program cycles.
- 12 preprogrammed cycles.
- 5-minute power interruption protection.
- Control panel with buttons and display.
- Delay timer (up to 13 hours).
- Keep warm function.
- Light, medium or dark crust color setting available on first seven cycles.
- Nonstick bread pan.
- Removable kneading paddle (plus one spare kneading paddle).
- Start/Stop button.
- Viewing window in lid.
Kneading Paddles
This bread maker comes with one kneading paddle for using and a spare kneading paddle for safekeeping. This means that you already have a replacement kneading paddle if something happens to the first one. It is good to have an extra paddle in case of an emergency.
Nonstick Bread Pan
The bread pan has a nonstick coating, so the bread will not stick to it. Easy to clean, but take care not to scratch it. The bread pan is more wide than it is deep. It produces a tall, rectangular loaf that looks like a bread machine loaf. You place the bread pan in the bread maker by twisting and locking it in a clockwise direction. Unlock and remove it by twisting the pan in a counterclockwise direction.
Bread Machine Buttons
The cycle button is used to select one of the preprogrammed cycles. Here are the options:
1. Basic
2. French
3. Gluten Free
4. Quick
5. Sweet
6. 1.5lb. Express
7. 2.0lb. Express
8. Dough
9. Jam
10. Cake
11. Whole Grain
12. Bake
Press the crust color button to choose a light, medium or dark crust shade. It is not available for cycles 8 to 12 so you cannot use it on the cake, bake or whole grain cycle. It is obvious that you do not need a nice crust on the dough or jam cycle.
The loaf size button offers only 2 size options: 1.5 pounds or 2 pounds. The size cannot be changed on the following cycles: Quick, 1.5lb Express, 2lb Express, Dough, Jam, Cake and Bake.
The delay timer will delay the start of a bread program. You cannot use it in conjunction with the express cycles or the jam cooking cycle. Remember not to use a recipe that includes dairy or other ingredients that can spoil when left in the bread pan for hours.
The small display screen displays the cycle number, the time remaining in the cycle, and small black triangles under the corresponding crust and loaf size.
Press the start/stop button once to start the bread maker after you have finished selecting the cycle, crust color and loaf size. It will beep once, the time on the display will flash, and then it will continue making what it was told to make. If you made a mistake with your selection, press and hold the start/stop button for at least 2 seconds to cancel the current cycle.
What is that noise?
The 10 beeps you hear after the second kneading cycle reminds you to add extra ingredients such as fruit or nuts if the recipe requires this. The bread machine does not have an automatic fruit and nut dispenser.
The bread maker will give another 10 beeps and switch to the keep warm cycle (for up to one hour) at the end of the baking cycle. Press the start/stop button once to cancel the keep warm cycle and to stop the machine.
Hamilton Beach 29882: Advantages And Disadvantages
- Cleaning the bread maker is easy, and the paddle and pan are dishwasher-safe.
- It has a specific cycle for making gluten-free bread.
- It is an inexpensive introduction to the world of bread makers.
- You can use the dough cycle to prepare pizza dough.
- It is an inexpensive bread maker, so its construction is not of the highest quality.
- It produces a vertical, rectangular bread machine loaf and not a long horizontal bakery loaf.
- The machine is tall and deep and eats up counter space.
- The viewing window might fog up during the rising and baking cycles until you cannot see through it.
- There is no audible signal that reminds you to remove the paddle before the baking cycle starts.
Conclusion
The Hamilton Beach 29882 Homebaker seems to be a good, affordable bread machine. Most owners seem to be happy with its performance and enjoy the bread it bakes. It is not a complicated machine to learn and use.
Nonetheless, the Hamilton Beach 29882 it is not the best bread machine in the world and its construction quality is not superb. Yet, this is not what the Hamilton Beach bread machine is all about. It is about being an affordable and standard bread machine which does its baking without winning any awards.
However, I recently saw on the Hamilton Beach website that the 29882 model is no longer available. Furthermore, I noticed that there is now another model that might have taken its place: it is the Hamilton Beach 29982, which also offers the user 12 menu programs (I saw this model on Amazon – paid link).