A Toastmaster bread machine is cheap to buy. This combined with their standard features makes these appliances attractive to buyers. But there are other cheap bread makes on the market and these can be a better bet than a Toastmaster. Here's a reviews of the two best sellers.

Just because they're cheap doesn't mean you have to sacrifice a lot of functionality; you'll be surprised at the amount features that come as standard on a Toastmaster breadmaker. The following appliances both do a good job at baking bread and many consumers are happy with their overall performance. The following review is for two models currently available from the Toastmaster range - the TBR15 and the TBR20 - and how they compare with a rival brand.

The Toastmaster TBR15 Bread Machine

This appliance currently retails for around $40 plus. It comes with an 80 minute quick bake cycle and can bake a loaf as large as 1.5lbs. You get a large viewing window and its pretty compact at 13"h x 13"w x 11.75"d. It comes with a fairly impressive list of 8 cycles; basic, whole wheat, French, Sweet, fast bake, Quick Bread, dough and bake. These are pretty much going to satisfy all but those that take home baking very seriously.

The cost of the TBR15 puts it in competition with the Sunbeam 5891 bread machine. The Sunbeam also comes with a quick bake - only 58 minutes, so it's quicker. Also, it's more versatile as it can bake either 1.5 or 2lb loaves. It also beats the TBR15 when it comes to the choice of cycles; there are 12 in all - including one for making jam.

Both machines have their drawbacks, the biggest being that they can sometimes fail to mix all the ingredients together so you end up with floury corners on the loaf - unless you manually intervene during the first mixing stage. But, this is a fairly common complaint with horizontal bread machines that use only one mixing paddle; even more expensive brands have this problem.

The Toastmaster TBR15 does have one main plus point over the Sunbeam 5891; its instruction book is far superior. It would be fair to say that the Sunbeam is pretty hopeless as it gives contradictory advice and has a very limited recipe list.

But, if you're going to be spending this little on a bread maker, you're best choice is the Sunbeam.

The Toastmaster TBR20 Bread Machine

This is a slightly more expensive machine and it currently retails at $55 plus. It can bake either 1, 1.5 or 2lb loaves. You also get a delay timer of 13 hours and a touchpad with digital readout. However, you still only get the 8 programs available on the TBR15 model. Its closest competition is the Oster 5838 ExpressBake bread machine. The Oster retails for around $10 - $20 more. It can also bake 1, 1.5 and 2lb loaves and has a 13 hour delay bake option. But it out does the Toastmaster on the selection of cycles that are available; the Oster has 18 cycles.

It's a close call as to which is the better appliance. Personally, I prefer the Oster breadmaker but both models perform equally well and the TBR20 is cheaper. If you're satisfied with the 8 cycles then the Toastmaster bread maker is probably the best option.

Both the TBR15 and the TBR20 Toastmaster bread machine are low priced but good appliances that get a decent rating on many customer reviews. But I would say forget about the TBR15; either upgrade to the TBR20 or buy the Sunbeam bread machine instead.

Follow the links for the Toastmaster bread machine and bread machine ratings on leading models like the Sunbeam, Breadman and Oster bread machine.