the best bread maker I've ever had

In the past twelve years I've managed a grand total of three weeks without a working bread maker (when making olive bread, be sure that the olives you are using are pitted!). This machine recently replaced a Russell Hobbs model that was getting a little squeaky in use. I've by no means explored all its possibilities, but I have never had a bread machine as good as this before.

I generally prefer to use the dough setting, as I prefer to shape the loaf myself, but I have tried"going all the way" with this machine and apart from the hole in the base where the paddle was, the results are barely distinguishable from a conventional oven baked loaf.

Even on the dough setting it takes longer than my last bread maker, but the extra time makes for a much better loaf. I was used to my standard granary loaf being a bit of a house brick, but it's now turning out with a much lighter texture without a change of recipe. I use Bacheldre's malted wholemeal flour and add about 50 grams of oats, and it turns out only slightly denser than a white loaf.

I am seriously impressed with this machine: buy with confidence!

(edited same day for typo)

Indispensible

I was not sure about breadmakers until I saw a report in Which? magazine featuring them. Not only did it reckon that a large loaf cost little more than 50p, but that it also tasted much better. This being one of the recommended models I decided to give it a try.

I was certainly not disappointed; the bread it makes is far superior to any supermarket bread. The only possible complaint is that it does not keep as well, or so I believe, the bread is never around long enough tot find out!

As for the actual making of the bread it could not be easier, just bung the ingredients in and the breakmaker does the rest; even the warnings about being precise when measuring the ingredients seem to be overstated, the bread always comes out well however casual I am about measuring.

If I have a complaint about this model it is that the accompany recipe booklet is rather short on recipes; but there are plenty of sources for recipes including the internet; and half the fun is experimenting with different ideas.

In con conclusion, this has to rate as one of the best kitchen gadgets I've bought.

Want the best breakmaker? Here's how to get it for a fiver

Christmas is coming so save your cash! Why purchase something you can get for a fiver.

Go to YourBreadmaker.co.cc and sign up. Complete ONE offer - I would recommend Gala Bingo (you know, the one Sharon Osborne advertises for on tv),as this is cheap and fun (and you might win some money in the process!)

If you really don't want to spend, there is a free Lovefilm trial.

All companies are well known so there is no risk involved- give it a go! I got my Breadmaker and many other things this way, so don't miss out.

I was a sceptic once but now I am SO glad I gave it a chance. B8C approved this system on their Newsnight programme a while back.

Many items to choose from and they send your gift Free of charge.

Machine great, recipes less so...

Bought this about a month ago to replace a 6-year old well-used Breville machine which we finally wore out (leaky pan and no longer non-stick). Mainly chose this on price as the Panasonic ratings were good but machines a bit more pricey and some seem to have reliability issues.

Brief pros and cons at the end for those who don't want to read the whole review.

We like home-made bread because of the taste and less salt, sugar etc. Very happy with results so far but I'm not using the recipes in the manual as they all seem to have far too much sugar. I found a basic white recipe in"The Complete Bread Machine Cookbook" which works perfectly every time, details below. This also worked fine in my old machine but I used the dough setting and baked in the oven because of it sticking in the pan. I've also used a recipe from my old machine's book for cheesy herby bread, again, perfect results.

500g bread flour (works with 500g white, 300g brown/200g white, half brown/half white, 300g white/200g granary, 300g white/200g seed & grain - and probably other variations too)
1 sachet dried yeast (I use Sainsbury's) which is 2 tsp
2 tsp caster sugar (yes, teaspoons)
1.5 tsp salt
2 tbsp skimmed milk powder
2 tbsp oil (olive or sunflower both work fine)
325 ml water (book recipe says 300ml, but 325ml works better)

Using the Basic setting, 2lb loaf, light crust, every loaf has been perfect irrespective of which flour variations I use. I always use the"light" colour setting - even"medium" is a very dark crust. The main reason I like this recipe is that it's a whole yeast sachet so there's no faffing around measuring the yeast!

Other features of the machine: you can buy replacement pans, so this is a plus over my old machine. Used the jam recipe and results are good and tasty. French recipe worked well too, but you really need proper French flour, which I don't have.

So to the pros and cons:

Pros
Decent value for money;
Not fan-assisted so silent when actually baking;
Nice paddle design, doesn't leave too big a hole in the base of the loaf;
I like that it can do cakes and jam (and the apple & raspberry is delicious);
Perfect results every time (using the above recipe);
Viewing window is a help - who can resist looking at what's going on?
Pan is nice and deep, so less likely to be spillages over the side in the mixing process (none for me so far).

Cons
bread pan quite light and thin so may not last - we'll see;
recipes that come with it are not that healthy, recommend finding others and trying them out;
recipes use"cups" as measurements - a real pain as you can only see the markings against a dark background; like other reviewers, I measured into grams and millilitres. I don't use the cup at all.

In summary, I like it and having used it almost every day for a month, am very happy with the results. Nice and cheap, and personally, would recommend it but not necessarily with their own recipes as they're too sweet for us. 4 stars only because of the recipes and measuring thereof, on results alone it would be a 5.

Amazing.....

Would just like to say to anyone who still hasn't quite made up their mind - buy this one now!!
I have had mine for three months now and have only bought one supermarket loaf in that time which tasted gross by comparison to the Panasonic's loaves.
I have a family of four incl. 2 teenage boys and so use this machine every day (sometimes twice a day!) - I set it on the timer when I go to bed and come down to perfect bread. It has never disappointed and I reckon I've already made back the money spent on the machine.
I have never made bread before now but thought I would buy this to see what all the fuss was about - I did think it might end up in the shed with the footspa but it is never out of use and is amazing.
(Don't bother paying the extra for the nut dispenser though - you probably won't use it!)

Want the best breakmaker? Here's how to get it for a fiver

Christmas is coming so save your cash! Why purchase something you can get for a fiver.

Go to YourBreadmaker.co.cc and sign up. Complete ONE offer - I would recommend Gala Bingo (you know, the one Sharon Osborne advertises for on tv),as this is cheap and fun (and you might win some money in the process!)

If you really don't want to spend, there is a free Lovefilm trial.

All companies are well known so there is no risk involved- give it a go! I got my Breadmaker and many other things this way, so don't miss out.

I was a sceptic once but now I am SO glad I gave it a chance. B8C approved this system on their Newsnight programme a while back.

Many items to choose from and they send your gift Free of charge.

Great bread, a few little issues, but not bad for the money.

I bought this to replace my old Morphy Richards specifically for the traditional oblong/vertical loaf shape as I didn't like the thought of having a bread"tower". If Morphy Richards had made a machine with a traditional shape loaf, I must confess I would have bought that without question.
At first I was not terribly impressed, as it had a lot to live up to. On the down side, the clips holding the pan in place do seem kind of flimsy and it has come out of position twice, its also pretty noisy and the recipes were all very different to my old breadmaker. Additionally there is no delay function on the dough programme, which is annoying when you want to go out and come back to pizza base mix late at night!
However, on the plus side, using both my old and new recipes I have now made many many loaves of bread which do seem to rise more than with my old machine and are lovely and soft inside.
As with all breadmakers you have to be quite careful with the measurements, so I don't understand why Kenwood can't provide a cup that has printed mililitres in 10s rather than 50s but as I use my old Morphy Richards cup this is not a problem for me but would be annoying if not.
On the whole, if you are looking for a traditional shaped loaf then I don't think you can go far wrong with this machine for the money even with its little pitfalls.

Well made and best breadmaker i've owned.

Yes, the buttons are in german but god, it's worth it! The loaf is a loaf shape (!) un like any other breadmaker i can find at least on Amazon and we had a morphy richards before the compact one, and it did well apart from the kneading was a struggle for it with wholemeal flour and the bread pan would also un twist itself with the effort leaving bread cooked in a bread pan not properly anchored and at an angle. Not so here. It locks in by clicking in downwards. It's sturdy and quietly kneads the strongest of wholemeal flours with no complaints. The bread turned out just as nice as with our old bread maker, actually nicer with the same recipe just times one and a half. The bleeps aren't as loud as the Morphy Richards was too, just right infact...i think this is a very well constructed machine!

The Machine broke down after two years and it is not repairable

I too had the same problems. It broke down after 2 years and Breville does not repair it. So, we now have to throw it away (?) as no one can fix it. Do not buy this machine if you want one that last!

Want the best breakmaker? Here's how to get it for a fiver

Christmas is coming so save your cash! Why purchase something you can get for a fiver.

Go to YourBreadmaker.co.cc and sign up. Complete ONE offer - I would recommend Gala Bingo (you know, the one Sharon Osborne advertises for on tv),as this is cheap and fun (and you might win some money in the process!)

If you really don't want to spend, there is a free Lovefilm trial.

All companies are well known so there is no risk involved- give it a go! I got my Breadmaker and many other things this way, so don't miss out.

I was a sceptic once but now I am SO glad I gave it a chance. B8C approved this system on their Newsnight programme a while back.

Many items to choose from and they send your gift Free of charge.

Don't like the bleeping

I have made two loaves and they both came out OK.

There are a few issues however. Firstly the when the bread is baked the bread hooks will be stuck inside your loaf and you will have to cut them out.

Second. It makes the most horrendous high pitched bleeping sound. For every button press on the panel there is a BBBLLLEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPP. Why it has to do this for every button is a mystery to me. This is the 21st century and I don't need to be bleeped at, to confirm that I've just pressed a button. Then during the kneading phase there are 10 consecutive BBBLLLEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPP's, why I don't know, it's not even at the end of the kneading phase. Then when the baking is over there are 10 more BBBLLLEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPP's and it BBBLLLEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPP's at you periodically for the next hour. For somebody that wants to have this machine running during the night, to take advantage of the cheaper tariff, this is a pain because I'm going to have a bleeper going off all night disturbing me and the neighbours.

I want to know how I can turn this bleep off, so I can make cheap bread.

Thirdly, the programming capabilities are not what I expected. My main issue is that"bake" cycle runs for 80 minutes, and is not changeable. Well, if a loaf of bread takes 65 minutes maximum, it means I am going to end up with burned bread if I use the bake option, how useless is that. Why a user defined baking time can't be set it beyond me.

Want the best breakmaker? Here's how to get it for a fiver

Christmas is coming so save your cash! Why purchase something you can get for a fiver.

Go to YourBreadmaker.co.cc and sign up. Complete ONE offer - I would recommend Gala Bingo (you know, the one Sharon Osborne advertises for on tv),as this is cheap and fun (and you might win some money in the process!)

If you really don't want to spend, there is a free Lovefilm trial.

All companies are well known so there is no risk involved- give it a go! I got my Breadmaker and many other things this way, so don't miss out.

I was a sceptic once but now I am SO glad I gave it a chance. B8C approved this system on their Newsnight programme a while back.

Many items to choose from and they send your gift Free of charge.

Easy to use, and produces great bread

This is my first bread maker, and I am impressed. It produces a great tasting loaf with about 10 minutes preparation. The loaf it produces tastes much better than any supermarket packaged loaf, and the smell of fresh bread is great.

The instruction manual is informative, with lots of recipes for different types of bread and dough. We found the recommended amount of sugar to be a touch too much, but adding a little less gives the same results. Follow the instructions and you will have a great tasting, great looking loaf.

For the price, I have no complaints.

Breadmaker

Overall very good the only complaint I have is the silver coating on the outside is starting to bubble and flake off I have lots of other appliances (silver) and this hasn't happened to them.

Want the best breakmaker? Here's how to get it for a fiver

Christmas is coming so save your cash! Why purchase something you can get for a fiver.

Go to YourBreadmaker.co.cc and sign up. Complete ONE offer - I would recommend Gala Bingo (you know, the one Sharon Osborne advertises for on tv),as this is cheap and fun (and you might win some money in the process!)

If you really don't want to spend, there is a free Lovefilm trial.

All companies are well known so there is no risk involved- give it a go! I got my Breadmaker and many other things this way, so don't miss out.

I was a sceptic once but now I am SO glad I gave it a chance. B8C approved this system on their Newsnight programme a while back.

Many items to choose from and they send your gift Free of charge.