Morphy Richards Premium Plus 48319 Breadmaker, Stainless Steel

I have had this bread machine for a couple of weeks now, and can heartily recommend it.

It looks very smart in its stainless steel and black (although the metal attracts fingerprints quite easily). It is fairly substantial, taking up more work-surface space than my previous bread maker, but is not too heavy to move around if there isn't enough space to give it a permanent home.

The bread is nicely cooked, with a better crust than my previous machine. I suspect all bread machine do pretty much the same things as each other (whizz a paddle round for a bit in a non-stick pan, then activate a heating coil around the pan, with some rest periods in between as needed), and therefore all produce pretty similar bread, given the same ingredients.

Apart from their capacity, different machines are therefore probably distinguished from each other more on secondary details than their baking capabilities. Here, the Morphy Richards is a bit of a mixed story, with some nice features and some slightly odd quirks.

On the plus side, I like the look of the machine. Also good are the nut and fruit dispenser, and the fact that a table of the different program modes is printed on the lid of the maker (e.g. "2 = wholemeal" etc.), saving you from having to rummage around for the instruction manual every time you want to try something different. The instruction manual also has a good selection of recipes.

I was, however, disappointed that the manual is no more than a stapled A4 bundle of white pages, which arrived somewhat crumpled in this instance. A nice spiral-bound book with colour photos is an opportunity missed, I feel, given that it is effectively a recipe book, as well as a user manual. I was also disappointed to discover that the link to download the PDF version of the manual on Morphy Richard's website is currently broken.

Also on the negative side, the collapsing mechanism of the paddle, which is supposed to let it fold flat against the bottom of the tin before the baking begins, doesn't really work very well. The first loaf I tried resulted in the blade being stuck in the bread, without having collapsed. Digging the metal blade out while it is still burning hot isn't easy! That said, my previous bread maker didn't even try to have a collapsing mechanism, so I don't want to judge Morphy Richards too harshly for trying.

My more serious gripe (and hence 4 out 5 stars) is the user interface: the LCD screen backlight turns off very quickly, making the display tricky to read when the machine is in operation; the display also only contains fairly minimal information. Given the low cost of LCD panels these days, it wouldn't seem too difficult to fit one that provides decent text information, or even full recipe details. (My thirty-quid mp3-player has a better display.)

Also, the buttons are rather unintuitive. Having to hold a green tick for three full seconds to make the machine start (with nothing to indicate that such a long press is required) isn't great design to my mind. There is a light on/off function, which involves pressing a button with a light-bulb icon on it, but all four buttons vaguely resemble light bulbs, which had me rather confused for a while (given that the viewing window is often covered in condensation, the light function isn't actually all that useful though).

So, there are a few niggles, but overall this is a very capable machine, which carries out its primary function of making bread very well (I can't comment on its touted jam-making abilities!).

Recommended.

As a complete breadmaker novice prior to getting this product, I liked the idea of getting one, but had no idea what to look for, how much effort the actual bread making would involve, or even if the breadmaker would suffer the fate of most kitchen gadgets and end up banished to the back of a rarely-opened cupboard. Fortunately, right from the start, the product has proven easy to use, with the results pleasing friends, family and housemates alike.

In terms of size, the breadmaker is a bit on the bulky side- I have it on top of a low shelving unit, but I imagine it might be a bit overpowering if placed on a work surface at standard height. The unit is operated by four buttons on the front, with an LED screen indicating selected program, baking progress and time remaining. It's all very simple to use, but a read through the manual is recommend before getting started, as there are a couple of subtleties to getting things working correctly, such as knowing that you have to hold down the start button for three seconds once you've selected your program to activate the breadmaker

Other features include a light so that you can see into the breadmaker as it does its thing (although the window often gets steamed up), a delay timer that lets you put the ingredients in the night before and have the bread freshly baked when you get up the next morning, a fruit and nut dispenser that automatically takes care of adding larger items to the mix so you don't have to remember to do and a 'keep warm' setting that, unsurprisingly, keeps the bread for up to an hour after it has finished baking.

Well then, enough about all these extra features, what about the basic function- to make bread? As I said earlier, I'm no expert in the field of breadmakers, but certainly this one has more than lived up to my expectations. Operation is very simple- put in ingredients and come back three hours later to find that bread has magically appeared, and the results are always delicious- my personal favourite being the granary loaf. The breadmaker comes with its own booklet of recipes which cover all the basics and many interesting variations (including gluten-free), but there is of course the option to devise your own recipes or use shop-bought bread mixes- in fact, the breadmaker comes with customisable settings so that you can set your own timings.

And it's not just ready-baked loaves either- the breadmaker will also whip up dough for rolls, croissants and the like, whilst more unexpected options include jams, pasta and even rice pudding! There's certainly no shortage of options, and whether you choose to experiment or just stick with your favourite recipes, the breadmaker should see no shortage of use.

Of course, few things are perfect, and on that note I do have a few niggles with this item. Although the 'unique collapsible blade' is supposed to fall flat and be easily removable from the bottom of the bread after cooking, it does often get stuck in the loaf anyway- not a big deal but something you have to be aware of when you start slicing. The other issue is that, after the bread has finished baking, the 'keep warm' timer starts counting back up to one hour, and unless you hang around watching it, it can be hard to tell whether it's still in the final baking phase (timer counting down) or has finished and is now in the 'keep warm' phase (timer counting up). Considering that the LED screen has little icons to differentiate between kneading, rising and baking phases, surely it could have done the same for 'keep warm'.

These few issues aside, this breadmaker is a great piece of kit, and I've thoroughly enjoyed making (and eating) a whole variety of different breads. It's simple and delicious- what more could you ask for?

This bread maker does everything you'd like a bread maker to do.

It is simple to use with an intuitive interface.
It bakes good bread, the best I have had from a bread maker, in reasonable time.
It is quiet in operation.

It come with a number of fancy functions I haven't tested, such as a berry tray and delyaed baking but for simple bread making it solid, efficient perfection.