KBS Pro MBF-010 Review

The KBS Large MBF-010 differentiates itself from the rest of the lineup by its consistent ability to make the best-looking and tasting white and wheat breads around. It has a wide, but not large, footprint and comes with 17 functions and 17 recipes.

Performance Comparison

White Bread

The KBS Large turned out beautiful and delicious loaves of white bread during our testing. The bread came out of this machine with beautifully domed, uniform-shaped tops. The crusts were remarkably consistent, with just minor color differentiation between the edges and centers of each side. It had a very pleasant crunch and a perfect medium brown color.

The interior of the white bread was remarkably even, with just the right sized air pockets throughout, making this white bread soft and wonderful. Across the board, our testing team loved the flavor of this bread, describing it as “light and airy” and “smooth tasting”. We also love the shape of this loaf, which embodies what we want for sandwich-making.

Wheat Bread

Here again, the KBS Large knocked it out of the park with a scrumptious wheat bread recipe. The crust was a gorgeous medium shade and the most evenly colored of all the contenders. Though the dome was slightly less perfect on these loaves, it still achieved a very satisfying rise: not too big or too flat. Even before cutting into it, we were impressed by how delicious this wheat bread looked.

Inside, the KBS Large dazzled us once again with just-right, large air pockets throughout. Though the edges and bottom were denser than the center and top, it wasn't spongy at all. Our blind panel of taste testers agreed this wheat bread was the best-tasting one in our lineup, with an airy feeling, perfectly crunchy crust, and a well-rounded flavor.

Gluten Free Bread

Unfortunately, when it comes to gluten-free bread, the KBS Large couldn't compete. Its manual includes a gluten-free bread recipe — which includes half “gluten-free flour” (unspecified) and half corn flour — but the resulting loaf had far too much flour and not enough water to mix properly, rendering it utterly inedible.

Though you can play with customizing your own recipes, we expect the ones that come with each bread machine to work, and this one doesn't. In this and most other recipes, we also noticed an interesting mixture of metric and imperial measurements. Some of the wording is unclear and leaves too much unsaid — such as what kind of yeast is “yeast powder” and what is "pure milk"? With some dedicated trial and error, it's possible that the KBS Large could make a passable gluten-free loaf, but this one just doesn't do it.

Convenience

The KBS Large display is large and backlit, with digital buttons to select your preferred function. The screen is full of information, letting you know what you've selected and what's going on inside the machine. Some of the print is a bit small though, and may induce squinting for some folks. It also makes a rather loud noise every time you press its buttons. Though it is compact from front to back (8.5 inches), this model is rather wide (13.5 inches), which isn't always the ideal shape for small countertops. With the lid open, it's 20.5 inches tall.

The whole machine weighs 13.6 pounds, putting it at about average among the models we tested. It carries most of its weight on the right side beneath the interface and lacks any handles, though this wasn't a big hindrance to us being able to move it around. It has more functions than and is one of very few models we tested that has a yogurt option (though we only tested bread-making abilities). However, it also has just 17 recipes — one for every function, which is the least number of recipes in our lineup.

Yeast Free Bread

The KBS Large is one of just two models we tested that has an automatic fruit and nut dispenser, and it shows. We added mini chocolate chips to our recipe, and it did a good job of distributing them evenly throughout our bread. However, that's the best thing we can say about the KBS Large yeast-free bread recipe. It came out of the machine with a dramatically sunken top that ensured the middle of the loaf was U-shaped.

Most of the models we tested don't make great yeast-free breads or cakes, but this one is worse than most. If the resulting loaf had just been odd looking, we could have gotten past that. But several spots in the center were barely cooked, and as we ate our way out from the center, the loaf became more and more dry and unpleasant. While we appreciate the ability to make a cakey loaf in the KBS Large, we aren't impressed with how it turned out.

Should You Buy the KBS Large MBF-010?

The KBS Large is an excellent choice if you want delicious and attractive white and wheat breads to whip up sandwiches. No other model we tested could beat the KBS Large in these two areas. However, if you're hoping to make some gluten-free bread or yeast-free cakes, the KBS Large could have done better in both of these areas and comes with very limited recipes, leaving you to experiment on your own.

What Other Bread Machines Should You Consider?

For the best white and wheat breads to make sandwiches, the KBS Large MBF-010 is unmatched. Though this may be a rather limited set of abilities, it's the ones we want most when reaching for a bread machine. If you want more variety in your baking abilities, the Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus makes nearly as good white and wheat bread, and the best gluten-free and yeast-free breads of any we tested — though it comes at a premium price. The Elite Gourmet Maxi-Matic Programmable is another solid option for good wheat bread, decent white bread, and at a more affordable price.