West Bend Bread Maker Review

Is the West Bend Hi Rise 41410 Bread Maker Worth Buying?

Do you love bread as much as we do?

Do you hate that you have to go to a bakery or grocery store every time you want fresh bread?

What if I told you that you could make it healthier and cheaper at home?

With a bread machine, it’ll be super easy to bake at home… any time of the day!

Sounds great? It is!

But, you might have one problem. You might not know which bread machine to buy.

Here, we’re going to review one of the most popular bread machines – the West Bend 41410 Hi Rise Bread Maker. We’re going to look into its functions, benefits, and downsides. This will help you determine if it’s worth buying or not.

So let’s get to it!

The Functions of West Bend Bread Maker

There are 5 basic functions to this bread machine. These are pre-programmed settings, crust settings, size settings, delay timer, and a keep warm setting.

Let’s take a closer look at each.

1. Pre-Programmed Settings 

Are you planning on baking the same thing over and over again?

Probably not!

You’ll want to be able to bake many types of bread. 

Well, this is where the pre-programmed settings come in. This function allows you to bake a whole array of bread loaves!

With West Bend 41410 Hi Rise 2 Pound Bread Maker, you get 12 of these settings. Basic (white bread), French bread, whole wheat bread, sandwich, super rapid, gluten-free, mix, pizza dough, basic pasta dough, cake, jam, and bake. 

If you’re new to bread machines, all of these features might confuse you. What’s it all for?

Let’s give you a quick rundown on each programmable setting. 

1. Basic – use this if your recipe is mostly bread flour for white bread. 
2. French – use this if you want your loaves light and white like French bread or garlic bread. 
3. Whole Wheat – use this for recipes that need 50% whole wheat flour for the dough. 
4. Sweet – use this when you want to put fillings in your dough, like raisins or nuts. This setting has a special beep, telling you when the best time to add in the fillings is. 
5. Super rapid – use this if you’re in a hurry and you want your loaf done in a jiffy. It takes less than 2 hours, which is already quick when it comes to baking. 
6. Sandwich – use this if you’re planning on making sandwiches. It makes a light loaf of bread with a thin crust, perfect for any type of sandwich. 
7. Gluten-free – use this for gluten-free bread. 
8. Mix – use this to mix the dough with no bread machine yeast. 
9. Dough – use this to knead all the ingredients to make a perfect dough. It doesn’t bake the dough after, just mixes it. 
10. Cake – use this for yeast cake recipes or box cake mixtures. 
11. Jam – use this to make jam and marmalade. 
12. Bake – use this to bake right away. It doesn’t knead or rise the dough, it has no bread-making process, just baking in the hot bread pan. 

So there you have it. Now you know how to use all these great pre-programmed functions from this bread machine. 

2. Crust Color Settings

With the West Bend bread Bread Maker, you have an option to choose 3 bread crust color settings.

Do you like your crust color light, medium, or dark?

It doesn’t matter what you prefer, you can get it with this West Bend bread machine.

Or, if you like, you can alternate it. One day your curst color is light and fluffy. The next day you can make it dark and more crunchy.

What if you don’t select any crust setting? The default is medium.

3. Loaf Size Settings

You also get to choose your desired loaf size between 3 loaf sizes.

If you look at the best bread makers, you’ll notice that most of them have 3 loaf size options.

So what makes the West Bend Bread Maker stand out among the rest?

It’s that you can go a step bigger.

Usually, you’ll get 1 lb loaf, 1.5lbs, and 2lbs loaf sizes. But the West Bend Bread Maker offers 1.5 lb, 2 lb, and a 2.5 lb loaf size. That difference between 2 lb and 2.5 lb may not seem like a big deal, but half a pound is pretty significant when you’re baking for a group of people!

This means you can bake for yourself, for your family, or for a dinner party.

4. Delay Timer

Then, there’s the delay timer.

The delay timer function allows you to have freshly baked bread waiting for you whenever you come home or wake up.

How is that possible?

The delay timer delays the baking process to a certain time.

For example, if you want to wake up to already-baked, fresh bread, place the ingredients the night before. Select a pre-programmed setting. Then set the delay timer to when you want it to start baking.

Say, it’ll take 3 hours of baking time to bake your loaf. You wake up at 7. Set the delayed-start timer to turn on at 4 so that when you wake up, it’s freshly baked.

Can you see why this is such a great function?

The maximum time delay that the West Bend 41410 Bread Maker has is a whopping 13 hours!

That’s pretty significant.

5. Keep Warm Setting 

One of the best things that come from eating fresh bread is eating it warm. 

It can be so frustrating when you forget you’re baking and, when you do remember, it’s cold and not warm anymore. 

With the keep warm setting, you never have to experience that ever again!  

This is because once the loaf finishes baking, the “keep warm” setting turns on right away. Your loaf will stay warm and toasty in the bread pan until you remove it or turn the bread maker off. 

And don’t worry, your bread won’t bake further with this setting. It’s specifically designed for the hot bread pan to cool down so when it’s done making bread, it won’t keep baking it. It’ll be hot enough just to keep the bread warm.

So these were the 5 functions you can expect from West Bend 41410 Bread Maker. 

Some of the best features of the West Bend Bread Maker

Besides all those great functions, you get a whole lot of benefits as well. 

The first benefit is that this bread maker has a 5-minute power interruption protection. 

If the electricity ever goes out for a short while, this appliance will remember where it left off. It’ll only remember within 5-minutes, though. Longer than that and you’ll have to start the bread-making process over again. 

Another benefit is that it bakes horizontal bread instead of vertically. Baking a horizontal loaf is better for 2 reasons. 

One is that there’s a bigger opening for pouring in the ingredients. Another is that it’ll be easier to remove from the baking pan once it’s done. 

What else? You’ll get a lot of helpful accessories along with the West Bend. 

There’s a measuring cup, measuring spoon, horizontal bread pan, and two kneading blades. The most helpful of all is the instruction manual. 

Don’t know what to bake? Refer to the manual’s recipes!

Don’t understand how to use this bread maker? Refer to the manual!

Want to know how to troubleshoot the bread maker? Refer to the manual!

The dual kneading blades are a great benefit in itself. This kneads the dough in the bread pan for a perfect loaf. 

Its sleek and somewhat futuristic look won’t give you sore eyes. You can proudly display it on your kitchen counter. 

And the best part is that it comes at a very reasonable price. Especially if you compare it to other bread machines on the market.

The Downsides to the West Bend Bread Maker

With the price you’re paying, you can’t expect this bread machine to be perfect. In fact, it does have some downsides. 

The biggest one is that it feels rather flimsy. Yes, that’s right, the bread machine itself doesn’t feel very sturdy and the bread pan feels like it might fall apart!

Not only that, its light material vibrates a lot during the kneading cycle. And even after using it for quite a while, it still gives off a loud rattling sound. It’s pretty normal for bread machines to make a lot of noise during the kneading of the dough cycle, especially the second kneading cycle. After all, part of the bread-making process is for those two kneading blades to beat the dough relentlessly in that bread pan. Still, it can be surprising how loud this bread maker gets.

Its beeping is also rather loud. You definitely won’t miss it when it tells you to put in the add-ins or when the bread is finished. It’s not necessarily a bad thing if you have a big house and you need to step away from the bread maker, but it’s still loud nonetheless.

Again, not the best choice if you’re looking for a quiet bread machine. 

What else? It doesn’t allow you to be creative. 

Of course, all the pre-programmed settings are great. But you won’t be able to tweak it to create your own recipe. So maybe not a good choice if you’re an expert baker that likes to experiment with your loaves. 

Finally, there are a few bad eggs. 

If you happen to get one of these, you shouldn’t worry too much. It comes with a 1-year warranty, which you can use to replace it with a good one. But it’s still a hassle if that happens.

Wrapping up with the West Bend Bread Maker 

Is the West Bend Bread Maker worth buying?

We think it’s a good bread maker for beginners, but maybe not the best bread maker for those who have been baking in a bread machine for a while.

This West Bend Bread Maker comes with a gluten-free setting, a bread pan, a measuring spoon, a measuring cup, LCD display, and plenty of settings to help you bake delicious bread.

However, it’s all up to you. You already know its functions, benefits, and downsides. You can now answer the question yourself on whether it’s worth buying or not.