Cuisinart CBK 200 Bread Maker Review

All about the Cuisinart CBK-200 Convection Bread Maker

Are you someone who likes to eat fresh bread for breakfast but doesn’t even know how to make one or doesn’t have the time and patience to bake? Worry no more! With the advanced engineering skills of bread makers today, everything seems to be possible.

A bread maker that is quite gaining popularity in the market these days is the new Cuisinart CBK-200 2-Pound Convection Automatic Bread Maker. It undeniably makes baking fresh bread such a breeze, minus the hassles of baking in a conventional stone oven.

A 680-watt bread maker, this appliance adjusts the timing and speed automatically without you having to constantly worry on getting the bread burnt. Another interesting feature is the convection fan which circulates the air while baking to ensure that heat is equally distributed.

The Cuisinart CBK-200 2-Pound Convection Automatic Bread Maker is also packed with menu options and dough settings which let you create bread that has the same quality with those made by professional bakers and those you often see at bakeries.

It even has options which help you create various loaf sizes and crust colors according to your own preference. With just a single touch on the buttons, you can now bid goodbye to those days when baking bread was still a complicated process.

Cuisinart CBK-200 Features and Specifications

• 15 minute pause function
• Audible tone for when kneading paddle can be removed
• Alert for when nuts and fruit may be added
• Audible tone when bread is baked and also at the end of the warm cycle
• 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
• Glass viewing window
• Measuring spoon and cup are included
• Measures 18 by 12-1/5 by 14-7/8 inches; 3-year limited warranty
• Product Dimensions: 18 x 12.2 x 15.2 inches ; 21.7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 22 pounds

16 Menu Options

The Cuisinart CBK-200 offers 16 menu programs, but it does not allow you to program your own custom cycles. Experienced bread machine bakers might miss having the power to reprogram or tweak certain settings such as the rising or kneading cycles. Ordinary bakers might not mind using the factory settings.

The instruction manual provides a timetable for each program that even takes into account the crust color and loaf size. It provides times for the preheat, knead, rise and bake steps. It also shows the specific times when audible tones will sound to either throw in fruit or for removing the paddle.

Pause Function

The stop/pause button pauses a cycle for 15 minutes if pressed once. The bread maker will automatically resume the bread program cycle after 15 minutes has elapsed. If you want to resume the cycle before the 15 minutes are up, then you may press the start button. The pause feature might come in handy when you want the dough to rise just a few minutes longer before the baking cycle starts.

You need to press and hold the stop/pause button for three seconds if you want to stop a bread program. If you make a mistake with the loaf selection or otherwise, you do not have to unplug the machine and wait around for more than 15 minutes to reset it. Use the stop button and start over again by selecting the correct control panel settings and then pressing the start button.

Power Failure Backup

If the power goes off while the machine is busy, then the bread maker will keep the current bread making cycle in its memory for up to 15 minutes. If the power returns before that period of grace is over, the machine will resume the process from memory.

Please note that unplugging the bread machine to cancel a menu program is not the best way. You need to wait for 15 minutes until it loses its memory (by which time you might have lost your temper) before plugging it back in and starting again. Rather use the stop button: press and hold for about three seconds until the bread machine stops. Then you can choose new menu options.

Mix-Ins Audible Tone

A series of audible signals (4 sets of 5 beeps each) remind you to add mix-ins near the end of the second kneading cycle. It is on by default on most bread programs except for low carb, quick bread, gluten free and last minute loaf. If you want to deactivate the signal, press the mix-ins button once before you press the start button. The mix-ins LED light will turn off to show that it has been cancelled.

Remove Paddle Audible Tone

The second audible signal (three sets of six beeps each) reminds you to remove the kneading paddle. It happens just before the last rise cycle when the mixing and kneading has been completed. Removing the kneading blade decreases the hole in the bottom bread loaf. The paddle shaft will still leave a small round hole.

The best way to remove the paddle is to press the pause button once so the machine will rest for 15 minutes. This gives you time to open the lid, take out the bread pan, remove the dough, remove the paddle, put the dough back, replace the bread pan and close the lid.

You may then press the start button to let the bread machine continue immediately with the baking cycle or simply wait for the pause period to end and the bread machine to resume. If this sounds like too much trouble, then you may leave the paddle in the pan and remove it from the finished bread. It is your choice.

End Bake Audible Tone

The bread maker will beep ten times to let you know it has finished baking the bread. It now keeps the bread warm for 60 minutes, at the end of which twelve beeps will sound to mark its completion. The keep warm cycle prevents the bread from getting too soft from moisture, but it is best to take it out as quickly as you can and let it cool on a baking rack. The bread crust will probably get a little darker if you leave it in too long.

Loaf Size

Press the loaf button to select the loaf size that matches your bread machine recipe: 1, 1.5 or 2 pounds. The Cuisinart CBK-200 is set by default to a 2-pound loaf size. The gluten free and low carb menu options do not allow you to choose a 1-pound loaf size. You cannot set the loaf size on the bake-only program.

Crust Colors

Crust color options are limited to the familiar three: light, medium or dark. The Cuisinart CBK-200 is set by default to a medium crust color. Sweet bread crusts tend to brown more easily because they contain more sugar and fat than other bread types. It would be best to choose a light crust color when baking a sweet bread, otherwise it might get too dark.

Delay Start Timer

It is important not to use perishable ingredients such as eggs or dairy products when you want to bake a bread using the 12-hour delay start timer. The ingredients might start to spoil before the bread is baked. If a recipe requires milk or eggs, then you might substitute it with dry milk powder or dried egg powder so that you may still use the delay start timer.

Cuisinart CBK-200 Customer Reviews

Generally, most people who bought the Cuisinart CBK-200 2-Pound Convection Automatic Bread Maker gave nothing but positive feedback and high ratings on the product.

They have expressed utmost satisfaction over the bread maker’s performance and even mentioned that it was worth the investment since you get repeated satisfaction-guaranteed results each time you use it.

However, a few people claim that this machine doesn’t work in spite of properly adhering to the given instructions. Overall, this piece of technology remains to be brilliantly superior over its contemporaries.

Wrapping up with the Cuisinart CBK-200 Convection Bread Maker