Cuisinart Compact Automatic Bread Maker Review 2023

The Cuisinart Compact Automatic Bread Maker was my best value pick from my larger tested review of the best bread machines. Ahead learn more about this compact bread maker and why I believe it’s a great option for most home bakers.

In the pantheon of bread shapes, nothing brings back a sense of ’90s nostalgia like a vertical, boxy loaf with a gaping hole at the bottom. And as I found in testing nine machines and baking over 20 loaves, the wonky stylings of machine-made bread can be visually unappealing. While I recommend the Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker as my top pick, for anyone looking to spend less than $150 (the Virtuoso Plus costs almost $400), the Cuisinart Compact Automatic Bread Maker is a stellar alternative. After rigorously putting it through the grind in my kitchen, I was impressed with the machine’s versatility, powerful motor and ability to churn out great-tasting loaves in three sizes and crust shades.

The Cuisinart Compact Automatic Bread Maker is one of the sleekest machines on the market, with a ... [+] relatively petite footprint.

This is not to say that the Cuisinart Bread Maker turned out picture-perfect artisan-style loaves, but for bread out of a machine, each loaf I made—from a whole wheat bread to a cinnamon swirl loaf—was well baked, had a nice crumb structure and held up to sandwiches and toast for at least a week. My favorite bread to make in the Cuisinart was a French white bread recipe from the accompanying booklet that resulted in a loaf with a nostalgic spongy interior and, to my surprise, stayed relatively moist and fresh for a week’s worth of meals. And if you enjoy augmenting your loaf with dried fruit and seeds, the Cuisinart’s powerful motor and kneading paddles ensure ingredients are well distributed. It was also the best-looking machine I tested and looked great on my countertop. Plus, it’s one of the sleekest machines on the market, with a relatively petite footprint. Ahead, learn more about the Cuisinart Bread Maker’s features and why it impressed me.

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Midway through baking a loaf of whole wheat sandwich bread, my Cuisinart Compact Bread Maker began to beep, letting me know it was time to take out the kneading paddle. Albeit a minor feature, it totally elevated my experience using this bread machine. (There was still a slight divot in the bottom of my loaf, but I noticed it only because I was looking very closely). Surprisingly, removable paddles aren’t a common feature with most bread machines, and during my testing process, I found that machines that functioned in tandem with the baker allowing for slight customizations (such as the Cuisinart’s paddle removal and beeping notification to add in mix-ins) made for an overall better experience and better-tasting loaves.

This bread machine also offers an “ultra-fast” bake option that bakes bread in under 2 hours. I appreciated this helpful feature, which would be great for anyone who prefers baking their loaves right before mealtimes.

Given the sheer number of tasks you are asking a bread machine to perform—kneading, proofing, resting and baking—it’s no surprise that most machines feel bulky and big on the countertop. The Cuisinart Compact Automatic Bread Maker is marketed as a compact bread machine and lives up to its title: It’s slim enough to sit on countertops without hogging up too much space, and while it’s tall, it comfortably slides underneath most cabinets. It weighs just over 12 pounds (relatively lightweight for a bread machine), which means you can easily lift it in and out of cabinets, and the brushed stainless steel exterior is sleek, modern and easy on the eyes.

The clean control panel has four large buttons and two smaller ones for adjusting the time for the bake-only program and delay start timer. And the 12 preprogrammed options are clearly listed on the lid. While I found that the Cuisinart Compact Automatic Bread Maker wasn’t as customizable as my overall winning pick, the Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus, once you get into a rhythm of making a certain kind of bread over and over, you can adapt the recipe to suit your taste buds.

I used the Cuisinart Compact Automatic Bread Maker to bake three loaves of bred, including a loaf of ... [+] Panettone.

From French-style lean breads to nutty whole wheat loaves, the Cuisinart recipe booklet gives an in-depth look at what this highly capable machine can handle. Not only does it lean on classics like basic white loaves, but home bakers are also given clear directions on baking fancier loaves like brioches and panettone, as well as loaves with mix-ins like chocolate cherry bread and herby focaccias. I found it rather satisfying to be producing such a large variety of loaves without putting in hardly any effort. Plus, several of the recipes can be baked using the “ultra-fast” feature (just add rapid-rise yeast).

Most of the relatively affordable machines I tested offered similar functionalities, but none of them were quite as adept at making bread as the Cuisinart Compact Automatic Bread Maker. While some machines produced loaves that were wonky, with rippled crusts or an unsatisfactory crumb texture, the Cuisinart turned out great-tasting loaves without the dreaded hole in the bottom. Size-wise, the Cuisinart was one of the most compact machines I tested. It’s perfect for anyone who doesn’t have a whole lot of countertop space, although it does take up vertical space if you plan on storing it in a cabinet.

The Cuisinart Compact Automatic Bread Maker also has 12 preprogrammed menu options, three crust shades and the ability to choose from three loaf sizes (1-, 1.5- and 2-pound loaves). Given its price, I was rather impressed. (Just for reference, my overall top pick only had the option to bake 2-pound loaves.) The machine also offers an “ultra-fast” option for when you need bread in under two hours, which is a pretty nifty feature considering most other machines took a lot longer.

Over the course of three weeks, I tested over 20 bread recipes in nine different bread machines and found the Cuisinart Compact Automatic Bread Maker to be the absolute best value bread machine. To keep the testing process consistent, I used each machine’s individual recipe booklet to pick recipes and defaulted to a white bread recipe, a whole wheat loaf recipe and a bonus third recipe picked at random to test each machine’s additional functionality, like breads with mix-ins or gluten-free sweet bread. The Cuisinart delivered on all three fronts, and all the loaves I baked were aesthetically pleasing, held up sandwich ingredients well and tasted great even after being frozen.

In addition to how well each loaf turned out, I took note of my overall experience, the ease of use and the look and feel of the machines, including the countertop space they took up, design details (like collapsible paddles and a handy beeping function) and the ability to customize loaves to suit dietary needs.

I have been writing about food—with a specific focus on bread—for over seven years, and I have been baking loaves from scratch for just as long. My work has appeared in publications like Taste Cooking, Eater and Bon Appétit. I currently bake and sell bread from my home on the weekends using a Nero 400 deck oven that I have set up as a cottage bakery. I have in-depth knowledge and understanding of what makes a good loaf of bread, what ingredients should be used and how the start-to-finish process from flour to finished loaf should go. My sourdough starter has been going in some form for over eight years now, and it has followed me around the country.

Up until I began this test, I had never used a bread machine, which is why I enlisted three experts for this story, who know a thing or two not only about baking bread but also about using bread machines in particular: PJ Hamel, a food blogger and recipe developer for King Arthur Flour, who frequently uses her bread machine for kneading dough; Jane Bonacci, co-author of The Gluten-Free Bread Machine Cookbook: 175 Recipes for Splendid Breads and Delicious Dishes to Make with Them, who finds bread machines to be exceptionally useful for people with dietary restrictions, as gluten-free breads can be costly at the grocery store; and Marsha Perry, founder of the recipe blog Bread Machine Diva, who has been baking with a bread machine for over 20 years and who catalogs her experiments on her website.

Though most bread machines advertise themselves as having recipes for breads with add-ins (think cinnamon raisin bread or walnut bread), the Cuisinart Compact Automatic Bread Maker made making breads with nuts and fruits the simplest. While I was making the Cuisinart recipe for panettone, a loud beeping sound let me know when it was time to add my mixed currants and raisins, and though the resulting loaf was far from what I’d consider a traditional panettone, it had the flavor and texture of a denser raisin bread with aniseed added. There’s a reason why Cuisinart’s recipe booklet has a photo of a raisin loaf on its cover—this machine is capable of handling mix-ins well, with loaves that are well developed even with fruits added.

Several machines I tested for this piece offered a delayed baking setting, and the Cuisinart’s 13-hour delay setting is one that would be handy for the kind of person who loves to wake up to the smell of fresh bread (aka everyone). It’s a simple setting that you can program: Just add your ingredients to the pan before you go to bed, and in 13 hours there will be a fresh loaf waiting for you. The only factor worth noting is that the brand recommends skipping recipes that call for perishable ingredients like milk, eggs, cheese and yogurt when using the delayed timer setting feature, as you don’t want those things sitting in a pan all night. A pro tip: Make their French lean bread the night before, and you won’t be disappointed.