Two strikes and you're out! (Morphy Richards 48280 Fast Bake)

Member Name: windwhisperer

Product:	Morphy Richards 48280 Fast Bake
Date:	21/12/08 (381 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of settings including a dough maker.

Disadvantages: Large and cumbersome.

Unfortunately my experiences with this particular bread maker haven't been very successful.

Prior to purchasing I did make bread by hand, but decided that a bread maker would make a nice little time saving gadget.
I actually saw this one recommended in Which magazine, and, since it was in my price bracket, I bought one.

The first, I believe I bought from Asda, but it had a mind of it's own and no matter what stage it was at n the process it would always return to mixing mode again at some inconvenient point and render the bread useless.
That one was shipped back to the shop but I didn't deter and got another.

Although not quite as wicked minded as the first, this one never seemed to bake the bread properly. The crust would turn brown but further down the loaf I ended up with a white, pasty, rather ill-looking loaf.
The machine wasn't returned and I did persevere with most of the settings to see if it would improve matters, but it never did.

After moving house it was confined to its box but on removal I discovered the mixing paddle had gone missing.
Here I found that Morphy Richards don't quite live up to their customer service reputation either.
I went on line and found, what I thought, was the correct one. Telephoned and ordered it and it was shipped out very quickly.
Unfortunately it was the wrong paddle - apparently there are lots of different ones and unless you supply them with the serial number of your machine it very possibly won't fit.
I did telephone and request another but apparently it was 'my fault,' because I didn't ask the customer service representative's advice. Well, okay, a bit my fault I suspect, but if you ever need to order spares do remember to ask their representatives everything - that way you cannot be held responsible for any errors.

All the above aside, I still use the bread maker but on the dough making setting only. It's still handy and saves a lot of the initial messy hassle in mixing the dough and you can then remove it and do as you will - teacakes, rolls etc.

So, no, my experiences mean that I cannot really recommend this product. It comes in at around £30-£35, so isn't expensive if you know you are the kind of person who buys gadgets and then consigns them to the deepest, darkest cupboard.

It does up to a 2lb loaf, so good for a family and the settings are nice and clear to see on the front.

It is a large piece of kit though and not one I would want to be dragging out of the cupboard to use on a regular basis, so I would check out where you would keep it first.

Had mine worked and cooked the bread as I liked to see, I would have found the product easy to use, have easy instructions and be relatively easy to clean, provided you remember to wipe the inside of the casing on a regular basis, and for the money, I would have been quite pleased.

Summary: A reasonably priced machine but mine had an attitude problem

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