Easy to use, makes lovely bread (Panasonic SD253)

Member Name: houndour

Product:	Panasonic SD253
Date:	13/11/08 (265 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very easy to use

Disadvantages: The gingerbread didn't turn out very well

I bought the Panasonic SD253 18 months ago for about £90.

What's in the box?
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A breadmaker with the bread pan and blade, a measuring cup, a measuring spoon and a recipe book.

My experiences of different breads I've made:

Bread (like a sandwich loaf)
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I've made white bread, brown bread, wholemeal bread and half and half bread. It says in the recipes to use Strong flour. Although I think Strong White flour gives better results, I think for day to day and if you're on a budget then Value/Basics/Smart Price plain white flour is OK. I find the bread to be good enough for sandwiches for 2 days, and after that only good for toast. I've also found the best way to store it is to leave it out with the cut side down. In a bag it tends to go 'soft'. It's hard to explain.

When the bread is no good for eating fresh, I slice the rest up and freeze for toast.

I tend to make medium size bread on fast bake which for white bread is 2 hours. I find the bread to be nicer if it's done for the full time (4 hours), but I generally do this for if I have guests.

Pizza Dough
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We now make our own pizzas. I always use Strong white flour for pizza dough and roll it out thin on a baking tray. The pizza bases turn out lovely. I always use olive oil instead of butter though.

Dough for rolls
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There's a dough setting so you can make rolls. The rolls freeze really well if they actually make it to the freezer before getting eaten.

Dough for croissants
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I tried this once but it was too much hard work for my liking.

Cakes
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There are some recipes for cakes. However, I won't be trying anymore after I followed the Gingerbread recipe. It just didn't seem to cook. I think I'll stick to making cakes in the oven.

Bread with nuts/fruit in
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There is also a nut/raisin dispenser which means you can put the dried ingredients into it and the machine will automatically release them into the dough at the right time. I've not actually used this feature myself, so cannot comment on it.

Ease of use
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I read the instruction book from cover to cover before I used this breadmaker. It has lots of useful information, such as a troubleshooting section for if your bread does not come out as expected. It also explains the reasons why the certain ingredients are used which is good to know.

In terms of switching the machine on and operating it, I think it's very intuitive. You simply select the bread type, (e.g. basic, wholewheat, french, italian, sandwich, pizza, bake only or gluten free), then the type of bake (e.g fast bake for white), the size of bread you want, and the darkness of the crust.

Noise
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It does make a clunking noise when it's beating the dough mixture, but it's only for a while. Most of the time it's resting, or cooking so it's silent then.

Cleaning
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I think it's very easy to clean. The bread pan itself is a non-stick type material, so I just wash it with a sponge. If I've just mixed dough, I find it easier to let the bits of dough left in the pan to dry out, then they just brush off easily.

Sometimes a bit of flour gets on the element and around the bottom under the bread pan. I just wipe with a damp sponge occasionally.

Size and storage
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It is fairly big. But I'm a firm believer of not keeping gadgets in the cupboard. If they are hidden away I don't use them. I keep mine on the work top, but I do use it every other day.

It measures approximately 14.5 inches tall, about 9 inches in depth and just over 13 inches in width. You also need to consider the clearance for opening the lid, as at my previous property I couldn't open it fully as the cupboards on the wall were too low. With the lid open it's just over 21 inches high.

Negatives
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At the time of buying it only comes in white - I had really wanted a chrome effect breadmaker to go with my other kitchen appliances, but the good reviews persuaded me to get this one despite it not coming in chrome.

The only other problem I have, is I'm quite forgetful and there has been a few times the alarm goes off to let you know it's ready and I'm in the middle of something and I don't remove the bread straight away - I forget and then half hour later the bread has been sweating in the pan...it still tastes OK, but the crust goes more soft and chewy. I think it'd be handy to have a beep every 5 minutes after it's finished until you physically press a button on the machine.

Overall, I would highly recommend the Panasonic breadmaker, it's very easy, takes a few minutes to bung the ingredients in, and you get lovely fresh bread with ingredients that you know have gone in. The only problem is trying to stop yourself from eating the whole loaf while it's still warm :)

Summary: Fresh bread at your fingertips

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