Original LoafPicker feature diagram. Product references appear below. Not a product photograph.THE FIT AT A GLANCE
At a glance
An owner or exact older-offer shopper wanting eligible ordinary size choices and supervised Rise and Bake.
No dispenser or saved complete custom cycle; GF quantities are recipe yields and do not support delay.
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This is the earlier 29885-series Artisan family
The Hamilton Beach 29885, red 29886 and white 29887 are genuine earlier Artisan Dough and Bread Maker models. The manufacturer identifies all three in its 840281201 guide. They should be distinguished from later codes such as 29985 and 29987. A shared Artisan name does not make the older and newer product numbers interchangeable.
This family is useful to an owner or someone assessing a specific older offer. The manufacturer marks the inspected 29886 and 29887 pages as no longer available direct. That does not establish the condition or stock of a separate seller's unit. Check the exact label, included pan and paddle, and appropriate guide before comparing an older offer with a currently documented alternative.
Ordinary size selection applies to four bread courses
The 1 lb, 1½ lb and 2 lb selector is available on Basic, French, Whole Grain and Sweet. The same four courses support crust selection and delayed preparation. That gives useful household flexibility without proving that every menu task can be resized. Choose the relevant formula and matching control setting before starting.
A small ordinary recipe can suit a household eating bread fresh, while a larger formula can suit lunches and freezing. The ability to choose a size is only useful if you have a compatible recipe and a plan for the resulting bread. Do not use the smallest button to compensate for an oversized quantity already in the pan.
GF recipes are separate from selectable GF sizes
The maker's guide supplies GF formulas labeled 1½ lb and 2 lb. However, the size-control instructions do not include the GF course among the four eligible selectable programs. Those recipe labels describe documented yields rather than establishing two different user-selected GF cycle sizes.
This distinction matters when your requirement is a fixed or selectable capacity. A baker happy to follow a supplied GF formula can assess the relevant yield. Someone requiring a particular selected schedule should compare a machine that documents that control directly. Follow ingredient quantities and the dedicated GF method, and keep ingredient and cross-contact decisions separate from the course label.
Artisan Dough helps with a process you finish
Artisan Dough provides a long cool-rise process, after which you shape and bake the dough in an oven. The guide directs the use of cool ingredients for that process. It is useful to someone who enjoys finishing a shaped loaf but wants the machine to handle preparation and the prescribed rise.
It is not a promise that an arbitrary natural-starter formula will complete automatically. The readiness of a starter-based dough is a separate assessment from the preset clock. Use the intended formula and quantity, and decide whether you want a fixed recipe routine or a process you will supervise and adjust.
Separate Rise and Bake do not form a saved custom program
The menu includes a separate Rise task, with time adjustable up to six hours, and a Bake task for suitably prepared dough or additional baking. Those are useful controls when you are present to decide when to move between stages. They provide more scope than a bread-only preset menu.
The handoff remains your responsibility. A set of separate tasks is different from entering and retaining a complete personal knead-rise-bake sequence. If your main buying requirement is a stored custom fermentation schedule, compare a machine with a documented complete-cycle editor. Do not count the fourteen named programs as fourteen personal recipe memories.
Express and Quick describe different recipes
The 1½ lb Express process is listed at 1 hour 20 minutes; the 2 lb Express process is listed at 1 hour 55 minutes. The manual describes a different result from the normal Basic process. These are separate size-specific methods rather than an across-the-board claim of sub-hour bread.
Quick is intended for recipes using chemical leavening rather than yeast. That is different from accelerating an ordinary yeast loaf. Choose the recipe and task together instead of comparing speed from the program name alone. A baker who mostly follows a regular bread schedule may gain more from an appropriate timer routine than from the shorter alternative.
Timer restrictions and manual additions
The maximum timer period is fifteen hours including the breadmaking cycle, but only Basic, French, Whole Grain and Sweet are listed for delay. GF and Artisan Dough should not inherit that capability from the general maximum. Also follow the warning against leaving dairy, eggs and other perishables waiting in the pan.
Suitable additions require a manual return at the signal; an automatic dispenser is not established by the documented parts and operating method. If unattended additions are essential, choose another confirmed model. For ordinary plain bread or a baker usually nearby, that limitation may be acceptable, provided it fits the way the machine will actually be used.
Colors, suffixes and checking an older offer
The red and white maker pages explicitly identify 29886 and 29887, while the original product release identifies 29885. A seller-added suffix still deserves a label check. Do not create a new capacity, electrical rating or parts compatibility solely from letters appended in an offer title.
The shared guide lists a 120 V, 60 Hz, 650 W family. Confirm the actual unit's rating and condition, especially its nonstick pan and correct blade. Follow the exact cleaning instructions and allow safe lid and hot-pan access. A countertop measurement from a newer Artisan page should not be borrowed to promise that an older model fits.
Our buying decision
Consider this earlier family for eligible ordinary loaf-size flexibility, separate supervised Rise and Bake, and the prescribed Artisan Dough process. Its limits are manual additions, recipe-yield GF quantities and delayed start on only four ordinary courses. Compare it with a later model by exact control behavior and the condition of the particular offer. The correct choice comes from the bread and routine you need, rather than from a similar family name.
Documented specifications
- Model
- 29885 / 29886 / 29887
- General loaf sizes
- 1 lb, 1.5 lb, 2 lb
- Dedicated GF course
- Yes
- GF capacity basis
- Maker guide supplies 1½ and 2 lb GF formulas; the LOAF selector is available only on four ordinary courses
- Automatic add-ins
- No
- Complete adjustable cycle
- No
- Body dimensions
- Not confirmed in the primary sources used here