This Cuisinart Bread Maker On Sale At Costco Is A Total Steal

Chances are you probably picked up a few new recipes during the first part of the pandemic. After all, what better way to spend the seemingly endless quarantine than baking up some homemade bread? If, however, you managed to resist the urge to buy a bunch of baking gear, but are still missing a real bread maker in your kitchen, Costco's latest deal might be the Christmas present you've been waiting for.

According to Instagrammer @costcodeals, you can pick up the Cuisinart compact bread maker for just $69.99 at Costco for the next two days (via Instagram). This gives you until 12/24 to get this bread maker $20 off Costco's usual price, wrap it, and place it under the tree for yourself, or a beloved baker in your life. According to the Canadian Costco website, two out of three reviewers recommend the machine for mixing and proofing their dough (though they also recommend using your own recipes rather than the ones in the booklet that comes with the bread maker). However, that's just the tip of the iceberg regarding the features of this particular model.

This compact bread machine, which retails for $109.95 on the Cuisinart website, lets you choose from a variety of crust color and loaf size options and can even be used to make jams and sauces to go with your bread (via Cuisinart). It also has a 13-hour delay-start timer so you can do the work of baking at night and then wake up to the smell of freshly-baked bread ready for your breakfast. Plus, it weighs less than 11 pounds and doesn't take up too much counter space, at just 10.25 x 13.25 x 11.25 inches, making it ideal for smaller kitchens.

However, if you're really serious about your bread and looking to make an investment, the Cuisinart compact bread baker might not be the right machine for you. This model didn't make any "best bread machines of 2020" lists. For instance, Business Insider critiqued its small loaf settings for making dense, thicker-crusted bread than desired. However, its reviews on both the Cuisinart website and on Amazon are largely positive, especially for the price (via Amazon). So, with the added sale from Costco, it becomes an even better value for the money if you're looking to up your bread baking game, but not so much that you're willing to spend $340 on a Zojirushi model (via CNET).