Breadmaking machines

Alun

Anyone have one of these? Are they any good? And what are the things I should look out for, since the prices seem to range from about €60 for the cheapest up to over €160 for the most expensive.

Supercell

Yep!!, I have a Panasonic SD-253 and absolutely love it!!

The bread it makes is only fantabulous and it comes with a great recipie book with many many beautiful recipies, the smell when its cooking has to be sniffed to be believed

Best of all its so simple to use, just chuck in the ingrediants, choose the apropriate cooking program for that recipie and let it work its magic.

There is nothing like freshly made bread warm to the touch and butter!! agghh getting hungry now.

I read up a bit on the interweb on models and the Panasonic one I bought got pretty good reviews , which I also would give, its great, wouldn't buy any bread now at all.

Its nice knowing exactly whats gone into the food you eat, i like making brown bread with extra linseeds and bran in there for roughage and omega 3, it works out great.
Ahh found a linky

http://www.jungle.ie/HG-11052591-B00008WFDI-Panasonic_SD253_Breadmaker_with_Nut_Dispenser

Read the reviews, I'd agree with them too, its a fab machine!

Alun

The Panasonic SD-253 is, coincidentally, the one at the top of the price range ... €161.99 at Argos. Any idea what it is that separates this one from all the others, since the specs all seem very similar? I know what to look for when comparing things like cars, cameras, computers ... but bread machines

Supercell

Probably the price people are willing to pay more than anything else.

I have a friend in work that has a breadmaker also (some other make and model) and hates his, he says the bread is hard and doughy all the time, yet mine never ever is.

Like life, you get out what you put in for I suppose, pretty sure I didn't pay 160 euro when I got mine a year or so ago - more like 120. Anyhow, if you want guaranteed great bread made at home then the I recommend the SD-253 , maybe there is something newer out by now though, google is the answer.

What to look out for : timed cooking.
Most makers have two modes slow and fast - slow is about 6 hours or more to allow the yeast to rise etc and in theory gives a better bread, tbh I can't tell the difference, though my m8 in work tells me that the fast method on his maker just gives him rocks. Being able to tell the maker to start cooking in the middle of the night is great, just bung the ingrediants in before you go to bed and as you awake groggy eyed the most wonderful smell is wafting in from the kitchen..its very very nice to wake up to, and of course the freshly made bread is even nicer on the tongue!

Alun

Thanks for that. The SD-253 is certainly the one I've seen the most praise for when I've googled on "breadmaker recommendations", apart from an American brand that I've never heard of, and probably can't get either. One thing I've found that I didn't know is that some breadmakers leave a "hole" in the bottom of the loaf where the kneading thingy pokes up, and some don't. Does the SD-253 do this?

Supercell

Yes it does, doesn't bother me in the slightest, the quality of the end product far outweighs this cosmetic imperfection.

Blub2k4

I have a Morphy Richards that was closer to 100 and it is fine.
I do have a disaster every once in a while but I'm not sure if that is the recipes or the machine, I suspect the recipes.

A nice feature is going to bed on a Saturday night and setting it to be finished by 9:00 on a Sunday morning, you get up on Sunday to the smell of fresh bread.....mmmmmmmm.

Alun

Well, I went out and bought the Panasonic SD-253 machine today, and it's baking its first loaf as we speak ...

One thing though, many of the recipes in the supplied recipe book call for milk powder. Now, milk powder is something I fondly (not) remember from my student days (lumps in your tea anyone?), but I can't recall seeing it on the shelves here, not that I've really looked. Is this what they mean? Marvel or something like that?

Supercell

I never used it to be honest, just use normal milk instead.

tk123

You can get the skimmed milk powder in Aldi!

boxoid

Alun wrote:

Anyone have one of these? Are they any good? And what are the things I should look out for, since the prices seem to range from about €60 for the cheapest up to over €160 for the most expensive.

get married, best bread making machine ever.

Alun

boxoid wrote:

get married, best bread making machine ever.

I'm already married, and I'm the only one allowed in my kitchen

Shabadu

boxoid wrote:

get married, best bread making machine ever.

Boxoid, taken alone, I would have looked at this post as a light hearted joke. However when taken in conjunction with this post I'm inclined to believe you have a trolling streak.

Please refrain from trolling in this forum.