Neretva PE8866GR Bread Machine: Full Review

The Neretva PE8866GR bread machine is an affordable and attractive option for home bakers looking to make fresh breads easily. This bread maker features a sleek stainless steel design and roomy interior that can handle loaves up to 2 pounds in size. With 12 pre-programmed settings and a 13-hour delay timer, the Neretva provides flexibility for customizing your bread recipes and timing. The bread machine kneads dough, allows it to rise, and bakes the loaf, simplifying the process so you don't have to babysit the dough. It also has settings for making jam and pasta dough, expanding its versatility beyond just bread. While it may not have some of the advanced features of pricier models, the Neretva PE8866GR delivers satisfactory performance and quality loaves for the price. This bread machine review covers its design, features, ease of use, bread quality, noise level, and other factors to consider before buying.

Design and Appearance

The Neretva PE8866GR bread machine has a sleek and modern design with a stainless steel exterior and black accents. It measures approximately 14 x 8 x 11 inches, making it a compact size that won't take up too much counter space.

The stainless steel outer body gives it a polished, professional look that would fit well in most kitchen decors. The black detail along the control panel provides nice contrast. This machine only comes in the stainless steel and black color scheme.

Some notable design features are the large viewing window, which allows you to watch the bread as it bakes. There is also an interior light that illuminates the bread pan for better visibility. The top panel lifts up for easy access to the bread pan. Overall, the Neretva bread maker has an attractive, user-friendly design.

Another great option is the Zojirushi BB-HAC10. This bread machine is known for its compact size and user-friendly features, making it ideal for small kitchens or smaller households. It can make 1-pound loaves, which is perfect for those who don’t need a lot of bread at once. The Zojirushi BB-HAC10 also features multiple settings for different kinds of bread, dough, and even jam. Its compact footprint ensures that it doesn’t occupy too much counter space, making it a perfect addition to any kitchen.

Features

The Neretva PE8866GR bread machine comes equipped with a variety of features to handle all your bread baking needs.

• Number of Settings/Cycles - This bread maker has 12 different settings to choose from including basic, French, whole wheat, sweet, ultra-fast, cake, dough, jam, and more. There are enough program options to satisfy any type of bread you want to make.

• Delay Timer - The delay timer allows you to program up to 13 hours in advance for when you want the bread to be baked. This gives you flexibility to have fresh bread ready whenever you need it.

• Keep Warm - Once your bread is baked, the keep warm function kicks in to hold the temperature for up to 60 minutes. This prevents your bread from cooling too quickly before it's ready to be taken out and enjoyed.

For those interested in exploring a different model, consider the Kitchen in the box BM01. This bread machine offers a variety of innovative features designed to make bread baking easy and efficient. It boasts multiple pre-set programs and a user-friendly interface, ensuring that both novice and experienced bakers can enjoy the process. With its sleek design and reliable performance, the Kitchen in the box BM01 is an excellent addition to any kitchen.

Ease of Use

The Neretva bread maker is designed to be very user-friendly. The control panel is simple and intuitive, with buttons to select the bread type, crust color, and loaf size. There are 12 preset programs, so you can easily make basic breads like white, whole wheat, French, sweet, and more. The LCD display counts down the baking time and shows each step of the baking process.

Programming the bread maker is straightforward. Just add your ingredients to the non-stick bread pan, select the desired settings, and press start. The machine does the work of mixing, kneading, rising, and baking. An audible beep lets you know when the cycle is complete.

Clean up is simple since the bread pan and kneading paddle are dishwasher safe. The stainless steel housing just needs a quick wipe down. Some users do wish the bread pan was a bit easier to remove and complained about ingredients getting between the pan and the machine. But otherwise, the Neretva bread maker is praised for being easy to use from start to finish.

Bread Quality

The Neretva bread machine produces loaves with excellent texture and taste. The bread comes out with a soft, moist interior that is light and airy. The texture is consistent from loaf to loaf. The machine kneads the dough very thoroughly, developing the gluten well, which contributes to the light and fluffy texture.

The bread has a delicious homemade taste. The flavors are well-balanced and the sweetness level is just right. It does not taste overly yeasty or have any strange aftertastes. The machine does an excellent job of baking the bread to the perfect doneness, so the interior tastes lightly toasted without being dried out.

The crust comes out with a lovely golden brown color and a nice crispiness on the outside. It has a subtle sweetness and a satisfying chew. The thickness of the crust is also ideal, not too hard or tough. Overall, the crust complements the soft interior well for a pleasing contrast of textures.

The excellent bread quality from this machine rivals loaves made completely by hand. Both the texture and taste are hard to distinguish from artisan bakery bread.

Reliability

The Neretva Bread Machine has proven to be a very reliable appliance that can handle frequent use over an extended period of time. Many owners comment that it has kept working smoothly even after making bread multiple times per week for over a year.

The sturdy construction and quality materials contribute to the longevity of this bread maker. The stainless steel body and nonstick inner pan are durable and easy to clean. The motor and internal parts are able to withstand heavy dough loads and long kneading cycles without any issues.

Neretva offers a 1-year limited warranty on the bread machine, which provides protection against defects in materials or workmanship. While it's not the longest warranty available, it does cover the most critical period of ownership when problems are most likely to occur if there are flaws in the manufacturing.

Overall, the reliability record of the Neretva Bread Machine is excellent. Owners can feel confident using this appliance regularly without it breaking down prematurely. It's built to provide many years of bread making.

Noise Level

The Neretva bread machine runs fairly quiet, especially considering its power and performance capabilities. While it makes some noise during the kneading cycle, it's not overly loud or distracting. The sound produced while kneading is mainly the motor running and mechanical noises from the bread pan moving around. It's comparable in volume to a kitchen stand mixer on medium speed.

Once the baking cycle starts, the noise reduces significantly. There is just a very faint hum coming from the heater and fan running inside. You can easily have conversations, watch TV, or listen to music without the Neretva bread machine disturbing you. Some users even place it in bedrooms or nurseries since the baking phase generates minimal noise.

Overall, the Neretva won't wake sleeping family members or disrupt your household activities. The kneading stage understandably produces some sound, but the baking phase is impressively quiet. This machine finds a good balance between power and noise level for an appliance of this type. Most users find it no louder than necessary and appreciate the relative silence while their bread is baking.

Accessories

The Neretva PE8866GR bread machine comes with a number of accessories that make the bread making process easier.

Included with the machine is a measuring cup and spoon set that allows you to accurately measure out the ingredients for your bread recipes. The set includes a 1 cup measuring cup, 1/2 cup measuring cup, 1/3 cup measuring cup, and 1 tablespoon measuring spoon. The cups and spoon are made of durable plastic that won't bend or warp over time with repeated use and washing. Having a dedicated set of measuring tools for your bread machine ensures you add the right proportions of ingredients for the best results.

Also included is a hook for safely removing the bread pan from the machine once the baking cycle is complete. The hook fits into a loop on the bread pan to lift it up and out of the hot interior of the machine. This allows you to avoid burning your fingers when handling the hot pan.

The bread machine comes with an instruction manual and recipe book as well. The manual provides clear directions on operating the machine, cleaning and care, and troubleshooting tips. The recipe book includes recipes for basic breads as well as sweet breads, pizza dough, jams, cakes and more to take advantage of the many functions of the appliance.

Overall, the accessories included with the Neretva bread maker help streamline the bread making process from start to finish.

Price and Value

The Neretva PE8866GR bread machine offers excellent value for money given its features and performance. While not the cheapest bread machine available, it is very reasonably priced for a machine of this caliber.

The 2lb loaf size is a good compromise between 1lb and 2.5lb, making it suitable for an average family without wasting ingredients. It can also make jam and pasta dough, further adding value from the machine's versatility.

Compared to more expensive models, the Neretva doesn't compromise much on features or bread quality. It has a range of bake cycles, customizable settings, a viewing window, and a non-stick bread pan. The loaves produced are evenly baked with a nice crust and texture.

For those wanting a bread machine with plenty of options that can consistently produce high quality loaves, the Neretva PE8866GR represents a worthwhile investment. While more expensive machines exist, this model provides excellent capabilities and results without the premium price tag.

Overall, the Neretva bread machine delivers very good value, matching the performance and features of more costly models at a reasonable price point. For most home bakers it has everything needed to make delicious bread on a regular basis.

Pros and Cons

The Neretva bread machine has several noteworthy pros and cons to consider before purchasing:

Pros

• Large bread making capacity up to 2.2 lbs
• Sturdy stainless steel build for durability
• Easy to use control panel with 13 pre-set programs
• Non-stick interior for easy cleaning
• Can make a variety of breads like white, whole wheat, French, gluten-free
• Has delay timer for flexibility in scheduling
• Kneading paddle and measuring cup included
• 1 year warranty provided

Cons

• Higher price point compared to other models
• Reviews suggest yeast dispenser is poorly designed
• No window to view bread baking
• Must unplug machine to reset after power outage
• Kneading paddle can get stuck in bread
• Louise noise while kneading dough

The positives such as large capacity, stainless steel construction, and versatility in bread types counterbalance negatives like the high price, poorly designed accessories, and noise issues. Overall, the Neretva bread maker is a quality machine but has some flaws to consider before purchasing.