For various types of bread, the Magic Chef bread maker has all the settings and cycle you need for making plain white and specialty breads. The normal cycle for plain bread is about three hours from start to finish, but you can also use a fast back option for a one pound loaf, but the time is not a lot less - only about 40 minutes. For the specialty breads, such as French bread, you do need to consult the automatic bread maker recipe book that comes with the Magic Chef to get the correct baking time. This bread maker is perfect for all your baking needs - even for cakes.
There are three crust settings you can choose - "i", "p" and "h". the "i" setting is for a light crust for basic white bread, "p" is for a medium color crust and "h" is for a dark crust that you would have with rye and whole wheat bread. You also have the option of using a delay timer, which means you can add in the flour, yeast and whatever ingredients you need and set the machine for 13 hours in advance. You can prepare everything at night and wake up to the scent of fresh home-made bread in the morning or set it before you go to work and have a fresh loaf for dinner.
If you use a recipe that calls for different ingredients to be added at different times, the machine will beep to let you know when you can make the additions. With this feature you can make raisin bread with the raisins being distributed evenly and they do not get crushed in the mixing process or sinking to the bottom of the loaf. There is also a keep warm feature that will keep the loaf of bread warm for you for an hour. The machine will not automatically turn off until this cycle is finished so you don't need to rush to take the bread out of the pan as soon as it is done.
Cleaning the Magic Chef is a simple process. The outside wipes off with a damp cloth and the baking pan inside has a non-stick coating that you can clean with a paper towel. You can take the pan out and wash it with a cloth, but you should not submerge it in water. You can also wash the kneading paddle by hand, but this is safe to put in the dishwasher.