My second bread machine (52 loaves so far) from Williams-Sonoma is of the
horizontal configuration.
It does a fine job, and I am very pleased with it. By the way, my initial
machine, also from Williams-Sonoma, is of the vertical design, and is still
going strong.....704 loaves to date!
A tip I saw in the King Arthur catalogue about minimizing the large gap
made by the kneading blade in the bottom of the finished machine-baked loaf
was a simple one: remove the kneading blade from the machine at the start
of the final rise.
(Obviously, one must be at home to do this.....perhaps set a timer to the
right time, to pull out the dough, pop out the blade, and return the dough
to the machine.)
Happy Baking!
Carolyn Dandalides