Panasonic SD-257WXC Automatic Breadmaker with Gluten Free Program

I am a big fan of panasonic breadmakers. This is actually our third, and don't worry, they don't wear out quickly! I swapped the first one we had for my parents which had the raisin dropper and that one lasted us for many years at a rate of about 1 loaf every other day... If we had taken better care of it (As in the instructions) it would have lasted even longer.

So - for those of you who have older models, these are the most noticeable improvements.
1) The raisin dropper now opens to the side so it doesn't leave a big dent in the top of the bread.
2) The pan has super special non stick coating which actually really really works - very little bread stuck anywhere.
3) There is a brioche programme - delicious.
4) Much less sugar used, slightly less salt, no Vit. C powder and no milk powder for standard loaves - much easier to store the ingredients with so few of them.
5) Handy little place in the lid to store the tbsp/tsp measurers - no more hunting through kitchen drawers to locate them.

The best thing about all panasonic breadmakers is the reliability of the recipes. If you do what it says in the instruction book then you get a good loaf of bread, it's quick and easy to do and the quickest loaf of bread takes less than 2 hours to bake. It takes no more than 5 minutes to add all the ingredients to the pan if you have them on hand and press go.

Would highly recommend both this brand of breadmaker and this particular one.

Happy Baking :)

i have had a morphy richard's Morphy Richards 48248 Compact Breadmaker Graphitewhich was ok but packed in after 12 months so that went in the bin - did try and get a replacement part as it was still under guarantee but nothing came of it and waited for months.

so i thought i'd splash out on this one instead, and i'm so happy with it. it makes much nicer bread than my previous and the cycles are much quieter.

i like the bake only option for bread but you do need to line the tin which is a bit fiddly so i bought a re-usable liner from lakeland ltd.

my favourite up to now is a white bread with poppy, linseed and sesame seeds also the french bread is yummy but the only downfall i'm getting through loads of calorific butter!

i also love the fact that the kneading blade stays in the bread pan - the morphy richards one, i was fishing it out for ages which leaves a big hole in the bottom.

Knowing people who've bought breadmakers but gradually got out of the habit of using it because supermarket bread is more convenient, we didn't realise how addictive getting a breadmaker would be. Now we've got one, we're not going back to supermarket bread, ever.

Above everything else, it's just so easy to use. Ingredients in, press a couple of buttons, press 'start', come back in a few hours, there's your loaf. There's a timer on it so you can pop the ingredients in in the evening, set the timer, and wake up to freshly baked bread for breakfast.

It's also more than a breadmaker. As I type this I'm tucking into a hazelnut and honey loaf cake, also done in this Panasonic. When we've finished that I'm going to try a cherry & marizpan cake. Besides cake it also does brioche, malt loaf, rye, French, Italian, brioche, gluten-free, dough-making, hot cross buns, croissants, Viennese rolls, gingerbreads, soda bread, and that's just selected highlights from the list. While it's not strictly the breadmaking device's fault, the whole process might be rather fattening.

It's a sturdy, rather heavy block of a device that looks a bit like a dustbin but with buttons on it. The inner tray comes out very easily and is extremely easy to clean (with clear instructions in the manual), which was one of my main worries.

In our small kitchen we were able to squeeze it in next to our microwave. When it's baking you're supposed to leave adequate ventilation around the device. Make sure you've got enough room for it, as it is quite a lot bigger than the loaf of bread it makes.

Don't throw away the instruction manual! Partly because it's got some interesting information about how bread-making actually works, but mainly because only the first bit of the manual is the actual instructions- the rest is a very thorough recipe book, containing ingredients lists and instructions for dozens of different varieties of loaves, buns, cakes, all of which can be made very simply. (The one 'ingredient' they forget to mention is grease-proof paper- make sure you get a stock of it in for the cakes).

If you put in the wrong ingredients, or the wrong amount of ingredients, the results can be disappointing- it doesn't lend itself much to 'experimenting' with trying to invent your own recipes, which have tended to be a bit heavy and flat. But if you stick to the recipes, the results tend to be very good. The bread is generally a little bit heavier and denser than supermarket breads, but not by much and we like it.

One minor gripe- not important enough for it to be less than 5 starts- is that it doesn't have an 'off' switch, you have to unplug it at the wall or wait for it to turn off automatically, which can lead to over-baking on the timer function. If you've got switches on your power sockets and can easily reach them that's fine but if the plug's in an awkward place, that would be rather inconvenient.

The difference between the SD-257 and cheaper SD-256 model is that the 257 can do rye bread (it has a special stirrer) and has a special 'raisin nut dispenser' so it can control when your extra bits get dropped in. If you're only planning to make simple loaves with it, then the SD-256 is all you need.