The rising cost of a loaf of bread was the major reason I decided to get a breadmaker, each time I went shopping it was more and more, you get the picture.

The Kenwood machine was £49 at John Lewis, though I now know you can get it direct from Kenwood website for around £45.

I couldn't wait to try this out so quickly scanned the recipe book for ingredients I would need.

The machine has a non stick breadpan into which you (simply) measure all the ingredients in to. This has to be in a certain order as in the recipe book as the yeast is the last to go in as if you leave it on the timer overnight it could mix and start to ferment if it mixes with the liquids.

It comes with a very handy measuring tool which slides along to the measurement needed ie teaspoon or tablespoon.

As I was keen to start I went for the 58 min fast bake loaf. I did find it hard to see the controls as the digital box was very tiny. It set off knending and mixing and was a bit noisy, at first when it stopped I thought it had broken but then realised the bread has to rise and prove (duh). It has a handy window in the lid which I was constantly peeping in to look at it's progress. The smell is lovely and it kind of creeps through the house.

The results for a first loaf were very encouraging, it had risen well and looked a nice golden colour. Getting it out of the tin was easy, though where the paddle had been made a hole. It seemed an eternity waiting for it to cool down but after about 30 minutes we had lovely bread and jam, yum! The texture was kind of cakey, sweeter than normal bread and kind of yellowy in colour.

I then progressed onto wholemeal, seeded, granary and ordinary white bread. The results of the longer to bake load were not very good and I have produced lots of breese blocks! I tried reducing the amount of liquid but to no avail.

Having looked at the troubleshooting section in the handbook there are loads of possibilities which lead me to believe it's not as easy as it should be even though I weighed the ingredients very carefully, which is apparently the 'key'.

Having said that I have made lots of the rapid bake loaves which give consistent results.

It has programmes that can make jam and some tea loaves and bread like citrus and walnut loaf of which I've yet to try. Gluten free recipes are also available for those who need gluten free bread.

You can make loaves in sizes of 500g 750g and 1kg and adjust the crust browing, the machine will keep the bread warm for up to 1 hour. The breadpan is non stick so I usually find the only dough to clean out is that which has stuck around the removeable metal paddle so a quick wash usually suffices, I have not put this into my dishwasher as it is a bit of an awkward shape and looking at the mechanism on the botton I don't think it would be suitable.

The machine itself is quite compact and fits nicely in one of my units.

I think I will have to keep on trying until I hit on the 'perfect loaf'!