Hot and ready (Panasonic SD206 Automatic Breadmaker)

Name: Newfloridian

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Product:	Panasonic SD206 Automatic Breadmaker
Date:	04/09/03 (1865 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Perfection every time, Fresh bread, fresh house, Simplicity

Disadvantages: None

I bought my bread maker four years ago almost on a whim. We borrowed a machine from a friend, made two loaves and were hooked! It must be stated here and now that even in 2003 such apparatus is nowhere near as common gracing kitchens the UK as they are in the US, although sales have been accelerating if the stacks of boxes of the various devices to be found in the department stores is anything to go by. This was probably due to the price (back then my Panasonic cost me about £160 - equivalent $ 240) but today you can pick a machine up for half that or even less. In any event we have much less experience of baking bread 'the modern way' at home in Britain.

The bread maker is basically a steel tank with a hinged lid. Open this and inside there is a chamber that takes a removable baking pan that sits on an agitator spindle and above an electric element. Unlike some models there is no viewing window on the top but there is a steam vent which can get VERY hot. There is a small LCD control panel with push buttons to make selections from an operations menu (flour type, size, crust). This model produces loaves of one, one and a half and two pound sizes. It has a thirteen hour timer. It also advocated the 'Yeast in first, liquid in last' approach to adding ingredients.

After my wife?s initial scepticism (oh yes! It's me that is master of the bread maker!) we have fallen into a customary routine three or four evenings a week: finish the nightcap, put out the cat, put on the bread maker - timer mode, clean teeth and retire. We then awake to the beeps and the smell of fresh baked bread. Even the children have become enthusiastic and will now eat more than just the processed white sliced supermarket pap.

We rarely see the all-inclusive bread kits (Eagle Mills etc) which are popular in the States. However supermarkets have increasingly stocked the basic ingredients over the last two years or so. We can now find a wide variety of str
ong white, extra str
ong white, soft white, wholemeal and granary flour. We have even occasionally found some of the rare spelt flours. (I shall post a review of these flours as soon as it has been enabled)

The Panasonic machine comes with a good but slim recipe book and in practice we have not had to stray much beyond its confines. We have only had two disasters (one when the paddle came off part way through the mixing cycle and one when I inadvertently put in too much flour). This reinforces the truth that you should follow the recipe and measure accurately the ingredients.

We have tried a few of the more exotic breads. Our favourite is the tomato foccacia made sun dried tomatoes. I tend to add up to double the amount of tomatoes at the raisin beep and also supplement the tomatoes with antipasto mushrooms. Just as successful has been the malt loaf - succulent sultanas and sticky malt. The only disappointment was the French loaf. It did come out with a hard crispy crust but for such a small loaf the six hour cooking time seemed a little excessive.

This has been our most brilliant, and most used kitchen accessory. It has now more than paid for itself in its production. After more than four years of constant use, the pan looks a little battered and scorched but the loaves still do not stick. The paddle is perhaps a little slack on the spindle.

Interestingly we bought a Breadman machine for our villa in the US. We couldn't resist one at $69.99

If you don't have one, buy one. If you can't bring yourself to do that, find a friend who has one and persuade him to give you a slice of fresh baked.

My favourite recipe for Tomato Foccacia bread is as follows:
(This has been modified from the generic receipe given in the Panasonic guide book)

Yeast 1 tsp
Strong White Flour 375 g
Wholemeal Flour 50 g
Sugar 1 tblsp
Salt 1 tsp
Passata 240 ml
Water 40 ml
Tomato puree 
9;good squeeze'
Sun dried tomatoes 200 g (coarsely chopped)
Dried basil

Use the Basic Raisin Bake Mode - add the sun dried tomatoes with the beep. This makes a medium loaf. I use the darker of the crust settings.

Summary: