Bread maker help please

[prison break fan]

I make my own bread, but as I cook on a solid fuel Rayburn the temperature is very unreliable. I have had several disasters lately and am tempted with the idea of a bread making maachine. I would be very interested to hear your experiences and also which is the best make. Many thanks in advance. pbf.

[oldjerry]

Don't like a big hole in the bottom of me loaf personally,but Mrs OJ rates them(that may just be a verdict on my hand made sftuff).Even if you go for one ,the Rayburn prob wants sorting,they should be controllable and brill for bread.

[prison break fan]

Know what you mean about the Rayburn, but I think it is me, depends what I burn, Poverty dictates it's pallets at the moment! pbf.

[spider8]

We use the Panasonic SD-254 breadmaker and can recommend it as it's easy to use - even for me! It isn't cheap but we like the bread it makes and have got used to the hole. We've found that if you remove the loaf from the pan as soon as it beeps (it's ready) then the paddle is left behind easily and the hole isn't too big. Leave it in until it's cooled and it's much harder to remove, surgery is required and a bigger hole made. Our fav bread - at the moment - is a seeded loaf, nice texture and seeds to 'pop' between your teeth. Yes, the smell of freshly baked bread without the work is just grand for lazy bu**gers like us!

[Milims]

I've been thru a number of them and so far the Panasonic has been the best. It's not a cheap model but it lasts a long time and you can make various sizes of loaf according to your needs. I use them all the time - I currently have two - the other one is for making cake!

[janemiss]

I have had various breadmakers, a morphy richards one, a cookworks one and a breville one. The breville one was the best one, until my daughter bought me a Panasonic SD 257, and ive got to say its brilliant, i use it every day and wouldnt have any other kind now. It is easy to use and never fails to produce an excellent loaf. Not cheap, usually over £100 unless you can drop on one in the sales but worth every penny. Hope this helps. jane

[greenorelse]

My reservations about breadmakers are many but the most off-putting is one word - teflon. The pans end up with the teflon worn off. Where has it gone?

[Percy]

I was given a bread maker about three years ago by my inlaws, used it a couple of times and now sits in the shed. Could not prefer it over making it by hand, anyway, dare I say, there is something about getting your fingers into it when making fresh bread, or should i see a doctor???

[Susie]

Panasonic SD-255. I love mine more than I love most people.

[yvette]

Yes, got to say I love our Panasonic too. I do make bread by hand sometimes when I fancy, but having the breadmaker means I get fresh bread whose ingredients I can control even when I am too tired/busy/lazy to make it by hand. I use it for pizza dough too, and my husband likes experiementing with different kinds of flour so we get lots of interesting results. Never had a flop...except when I forgot to add the yeast! And of course, that was when my mother was staying!

[eco-mick]

If you go for a breadmaker..

always get a panny model (Panasonic)

Pref a SD-254/255/256 or 257 :D

Well worth their weight.

[Millymollymandy]

Panasonic! No idea what model it is but it has the seed/raisin tray. Been using it about 3-4 times a week for about 4 or 5 years now and I am very happy with it.

The only thing I don't understand about it, and is not explained in the manual or recipe given, is just what exactly is the rye paddle for. For example, when you make the 'French loaf' as given in the recipe which has a small amount of rye flour, do you change to the rye paddle? It doesn't say. It seems strange not to give an actual rye bread recipe and tell you to use the paddle for it. I only ever used it once and am not sure where it even is now!

Also have had several catastrophes where nuts and seeds have failed to drop into the dough mix from the seed tray, but that's only happened about 3 times out of umpteen!

[prison break fan]

Thankyou all so much, Panasonic is obviously the way to go!! pbf.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

We bought a Panasonic about 9 years ago and, to be fair, it has worked very reliably.

That said, I returned to hand bread making all the time about a year ago because I never really liked the flavour that much. It's a personal preference, but I found that the bread was a bit "industrial" in taste.

I bake about 5/6 loaves a week and during the winter do this in the Godin wood-fired stove. It is a more difficult proposition to control, but I have to say the results can be brilliant.

[becks77]

I had killed about 4 or 5 "cheap" bread makers in less years, then managed to get a deal on a Panasonic(sorry dont know the numbers) that was about 5 years ago, not a hint of trouble dont even notice a hole in the bottom. However if Panasonic not available would recommend the typical loaf shaped tin type(does that make sense?) not one of the upright varieties much more economical as the hole (again if you notice it) only affects one or 2 slices whereas on the uprights it affects more of the loaf and in the middle so you get polo bread!!!!