Bready {Review}

This is a very long over due review of the Bready Machine. I always write honest reviews on this blog, if I like a product or love a product I will tell you, I’ll also tell you if I’m not a fan of a product. I know there are a few reviews that I had posted for companies that for some reason I can not find on my blog – not sure if there was a glitch in the system, but that just means I need to go back and type up another review for them.

Have any of you heard of this machine? I had not heard of it until I was contacted by them asking if I would like to do a review. I said yes (I don’t always say yes to doing reviews) thinking that this would be a great opportunity to try a new (or at least new to me) type of bread machine for gluten-free bread. I should have known from the start that this wasn’t going to go over very well. I was contacted by the company, as I mentioned before, and when I responded saying yes, it was several weeks before I had heard back again. When I responded back to that e-mail it was the same issue, no response for weeks, and this response came when a extremely large box arrived on my door step.

I managed to bring the box in side and thought, wow there must be a ton of packaging in here! Nope, it was mostly the machine. A machine that would definitely not fit on my counter by any means. The only place I could manage to fit this machine was either on the floor in my dining room or on my dining room table…which it took up about a 1/4 of!  This was not your standard bread machine. For starters it was rather large (con), you can only use their pre-packaged mixes (con), to start the mix process you scan the package (pro & con, I’ll explain in a bit), the packaged mixes are clipped into the machine and it automatically mixes according to the pre-sets from the scan.

Here is a little information from their website on how the Bready works:

Bready is a revolutionary baking system designed specifically for people with Celiac disease and gluten intolerance. It is the easiest solution for getting fresh, great-tasting, moist, gluten-free breads and cakes in your home, school or office without worrying about contamination issues. Bready is referred to as a system because it combines a robotic baking appliance and a Mix Bag™ to deliver bakery-quality loaves without intervention or mess, all in a closed environment. Invented and developed by Swedish engineers, Bready is a true departure from existing bread machines. It uses a radio-frequency scan to program the perfect kneading, resting, rising and baking protocol for each individual bread or cake. The results are what you’d expect to find at your favorite bakery—long, shapely, ample loaves with perfect texture. Plus, there’s no paddle to remove so there’s no gaping hole in the bottom of your bread. How To Use Bready Scan the Bready Mix Bag by showing it to the robot’s control panel. A beep and ‘OK’ assures you all the baking instructions are programmed. Attach the bag inside the robot, adding liquids and yeast. Insert bread pan and shut the door. Push Start. The rest is automatic. The dough will knead inside the Mix Bag until it is gently transferred out of the bag and into the bake pan where it rises and bakes. The empty bag winds around a roller for disposal later. A garnish mode allows you to add a topping or score the bread if you choose. The robot will beep when the loaf, cake or dough is ready.

Sounds great right? Well I have to disagree this time. It may just be that I received a faulty machine but over all I’m not a fan of this product for many reasons:

1) To start with the machine didn’t work. I thought I would try one of their bread mixes, so I watched their dvd (instead of an instruction manual) and followed the directions. However, the bag got stuck and almost burst inside the machine. I called customer service and they didn’t know what to tell me. They said they would try to find an answer and get back to me…they didn’t. So here are Bryan and I staring at this machine trying to figure out if the bag is going to explode in our house or not. So we played surgeons. We carefully cut the bag and held a bowl underneath to prevent any dripping, etc. We had to try and unwind the plastic from the rods inside that the bag locks onto…not an easy task I tell you. After that first attempt we thought we would give it another shot. Watched the DVD over again, and followed it step by step. The same thing happened…out comes the scissors and bowl, and away went the machine. Another call to customer service explaining what happened and I asked for a return label. We waited for four months, with several phone calls and e-mails to the company. If Bryan had his way this machine would have been destroyed with baseball bats (Office Space style) and unceremoniously dumped in the trash*, but I did not own this machine so I couldn’t let him do that.

2) The customer service and communication were a mess -see above story.

3) I do not like the fact that you have to use only their mixes.

4) The cost is between $350.00 (includes several mixes) and $360.00 (includes several mixes and a baking pan).

5) Each Bready mix costs around $9.00 – which is a lot of money for a loaf of bread.

Overall I was very disappointed in the customer service communication and the machines quality. If I am going to spend around $350.00 on a machine I would like it to work, and to be able to use which ever mix or from scratch recipe that I choose. There are so many great mixes, and recipes out there for gluten-free breads that people can make at home. There are also other great bread machines out there if you are interested in buying one that come with a gluten-free setting. And if you aren’t interested in making your own bread, there are great companies out there that produce some fantastic gluten-free and allergy friendly breads.

This is one product I would never buy or recommend.

*This is Bryan’s exact language and opinion and does not necessarily represent the opinion of the author of this blog.