Hamilton Beach HomeBaker Review

The Hamilton Beach HomeBaker is notable only for its low cost, not for any measure of its performance. It scored right around average in every test we put it through. It's lightweight, but with a bulky footprint and comes with 12 functions and 30 recipes.

Performance Comparison

White Bread

Right out of the gate, the Hamilton white bread was just fine. It formed a pointed dome but was left looking a tad “stringy” across a majority of the loaf. The crust was very light in color and quite soft but still produced a good crunch that belied its undercooked coloration. Inside, the crumb was too dense, with very few larger air pockets and a noticeably thicker crust extending about an inch into the interior. Our taste tester panel also noticed this high density and rated this bread edible but not exciting in flavor.

Wheat Bread

The Hamilton Beach had many of the same pitfalls we experienced making its white bread when we made wheat bread from its recipe book. The top dome was tall but drooped asymmetrically to one side. While the bottom of the loaf turned out a medium golden brown, the sides and top were increasingly lighter. Inside, this bread was also too dense, with a thick concentration around the crust. All our flavor panelists noted this density and felt this bread has an odd flavor that is hard to define but not unpleasant.

Gluten Free Bread

The gluten-free bread from the Hamilton turned out better than its white and wheat breads — at least on the outside. It still didn't wow us, but it makes a good crust for gluten-free bread (which is notorious for not having a developed, crunchy crust) and a better overall structure. It came out in a shape that also makes for good sandwich bread. Our taste testers were divided about this bread's flavor. Some found its single teaspoon of apple cider vinegar too strong, overpowering its flavor. Others thought it was fine but a bit bland. Ultimately, it looked better than it tasted.

Convenience

The HomeBaker has a small window and a small display with limited options. It comes with 12 functions but lacks other options we like to have, like the ability to pause the process, a status telling you what the machine is doing right that moment, or functionally separated information that's easier to read. You can change the bake time but not the temperature, and you can choose between 1.5 or 2-pound loaves.

It's lightweight but has a larger footprint than most, making it a bulky kitchen addition. The included recipe book leaves out a lot of information that's practical for bread-making, such as the purpose of adding oils, fats, and butter. It has plenty of other useful troubleshooting tips though, which we appreciate. We're not in love with how scrunched its recipes are, fitting up to four on a half-sheet of paper, making it harder to follow.

Yeast Free Bread

Our favorite feature of the Beach HomeBaker is its cake setting. This function is wildly convenient for the busy cake baker. Simply grab a box of your favorite cake from the store, and toss it and its required ingredients into the machine to run. It turned out exactly as expected, which we're very happy with. We did struggle to cook our cake all the way through, but overall it was pretty tasty and a definite fan favorite among our flavor judges. However, the Hamilton struggled to adequately distribute mini chocolate chips, allowing about two-thirds of them to sink straight to the bottom of the cake.

Should You Buy the Hamilton Beach HomeBaker?

The Hamilton Beach is one of the least expensive bread machines in our tests. While that low price is alluring, it could have performed better in several of our tests to earn a recommendation. We do like that we can throw our favorite cake mix into it — but we can do that in the oven too, without having to buy a whole separate appliance.

What Other Bread Machines Should You Consider?

Even with its shockingly low price tag, the Hamilton Beach HomeBaker isn't a great value buy. If you need to stick to a budget, we recommend the Elite Gourmet Maxi-Matic Programmable instead, which makes pretty good white and wheat breads at a similar price point.