We looked at bread machines with up to 16 different settings, each with kneading, rising, and baking times adjusted to suit a particular type of bread (or cake or jam). But not everyone needs salt-free bread or wants to make pasta dough in their bread machine. For most people, the most essential settings are: basic (or white) bread, whole-wheat bread, sweet bread, and dough. A gluten-free setting is also important if that’s what you plan on using your machine for, since gluten-free bread requires more kneading and less rising than any wheat bread. Hamel and Perry both recommend getting a machine that also allows you to program your own cycles, but that may be useful only if you like to tinker with recipes. Another important feature is a delay timer, so you can load the machine with ingredients and set it to start baking a few hours before you wake up in the morning, or as soon as you get home from work.