I had been toying with the idea of buying a breadmaker for some months, so had carried out a fair bit of research into various makes & models - the Kenwood BM200 seemed like a reasonable product which would suit my requirements at a fair price (I think I managed to find it for £55 from Argos).

The machine itself has been brilliant so far & has stood up to being used on a weekly basis for the last six months, always producing a large enough sized loaf for me which tastes great. The machine itself comes with easy to follow instructions & also some recipes to try, but it also works just as well with packet bread mixes, which couldn't be simpler; add water & some butter if required, to the bread mix & leave for 2 1/2 hours for the machine to work it's magic!

There is one negative to the machine, which I suppose can't be avoided but it is quite a noisy contraption at the start of the cycle when the ingredients are being mixed, but this doesn't last for more than about 20 minutes.

The machine also offers a good function for timing your loaf to be ready when convenient for you - there is a 16 hour memory so you can set up the machine to produce a loaf for when you wake up, or get in from work for example.

I am pleased I made the purchase of this machine; it certainly hasn't been one of those gadgets which you buy, use once & then shove in a cupboard somewhere - it's become an indispensible kitchen item for me!