Panasonic SD-2500WXC Compact Breadmaker with Gluten Free Programme, White

Like many people in mid August I was looking to buy the Panasonic SD-2500 WXC Breadmaker for £59.99 after Amazon price matched Tesco. By the time my Nectar vouchers were processed the item had sold out and was back to its regular price. John Lewis was matching Amazon and Tesco but as soon as both were sold out they in turn put their price back up. I wasn't prepared to pay full price so took a gamble on Amazon's 'Warehouse Deal' where there were three 'used' available. I ordered the one priced at £55 and shown as 'Like New'. Turns out that it was in fact brand new and only the box being opened made it a used item. All items were still in their bags, unopened. Absolute bargain at £55 and delivered the next day as I'm a 'Prime' customer. I've been using the SD 2500 regularly since I received it and like most others have had great results with minimal effort. Regular White, Rapid White and 50% Wholemeal have all turned out perfect. I even used a sour dough Ciabatta recipe from a book I have and the result was fantastic-baked two loaves in the oven after the machine made the sour dough starter. My Ciabatta was perfect, crispy outside and chewy inside with the characteristic holey appearance we expect. I have only used good quality flour and yeast (brand name, not supermarket's own) but others appear to be getting similar results from 'own label' ingredients. There are a few unfavorable reviews for this machine but for the life of me I don't know why. I've owned other brand Breadmakers whose results can best be described as 'unpredictable'. The SD 2500 consistently turns out great tasting bread that has perfect texture. I will not be buying bread from the supermarkets ever again-the results are that good. It is a very simple process, follow the instructions/recipes and you'll be making great tasting bread knowing all of the ingredients it took to make it. No preservatives or chemicals has to be a bonus. Having had success with white, 50% wholemeal and sour dough, I will be trying many of the other recipes-including jams and compotes. I would definitely buy this machine again and (don't tell Amazon) I would pay the higher price now I know the results I get. It is well made, easy to use and the timer function is a doddle to use so fresh bread is waiting for us when we get up in the morning. Cleaning the SD 2500 is easy. The kneading blade always comes out of the bread without the need to oil it. The non-stick surface is exactly that, non-stick so it is a 30 second job to wash and dry it. I guess the only issue is the volume of the timer when the bread is ready and others have mentioned it as being very quiet. That is the only negative for me and even that is no problem as I use my kitchen timer to go off at the same time as the SD 2500. A minor irritation so don't let that put you off if you're thinking of buying this model of breadmaker because in my opinion that is the only negative.

This is my first bread maker (I've tried to make it by hand but I don't think I have the patience for all that kneading as it never seems to come out right). Friends who use them all recommended Panasonic so I then narrowed it down to the 2511 as it had the ambient temperature feature (I have the bread maker in a side porch area which is quite cold) and had the nut dispenser (which I admit, I haven't used yet but hope to soon). So far so good! Nice tasty bread, good for 2 days then you could probably get toast from it on the 3rd day though as it's so easy to make, we've just been making the smaller loaf but more often. I've only made basic white or wholemeal loaves but results have been good (no bricks!) and it only takes a few minutes to weigh and measure the ingredients then press start (or set the timer ...I like the timer function a lot). Quite simple to use (excellent step by step booklet with it showing recipes and the order you put them into the machine along with the programme you need to select - hard to go wrong). It's reasonably quiet in operation - you really only hear it when it's kneading and even in our bungalow, as long as the door is closed to the room where it is working we don't hear it running at night. Easy to clean between uses too, which is a novelty with most kitchen gadgets! If I'm being picky, the paddle obviously leaves a little slit in the bottom of the loaf but it is reasonably small and usually restricted to one, maybe two slices so not really an issue as it doesn't stop you using them, they just have a little cut in them. It's a big beast though - unless you've got a big kitchen you'll probably want to stash it away somewhere when not in use as it does take up a fair bit of worktop space. I've no regrets buying it and it's certainly getting plenty of use in the first few weeks - hoping to experiment a bit more with some of the other recipes over the next few months.

I am now only reviewing expensive items and ones that are particularly good or particularly bad, happily this breadmaker is particularly good. Previously I made our bread by hand - though I have tried another breadmaker in the past - but lately it was becoming more of a chore than a pleasure so based on other reviews and with some trepidation I bought the Panasonic and I am very glad I did. I chose this model because I didn't need the automatic seed/nut dispenser which seems to be a problem. On those few occasions when I need added ingredients it's no problem to add them by hand - though the instructions could be a bit clearer on this point. Using it is a breeze and should present no problems. With the exception previously mentioned the instructions are clear and easy to follow. Cleaning is very quick & easy and so far we've never had the paddle stuck in the loaf, it does get stuck hard on the spindle but a little hot water frees it. So what about the end result? Firstly you need quality flour to produce a quality loaf and I'm pleased to see Amazon now supply Bacheldre Mill flour, a good organic stone ground flour with an excellent flavour. Mostly I use half & half unbleached white & wholemeal. If a quality handmade loaf is rated 10/10 then a loaf from the Panasonic is 9.5/10 on taste and 8/10 on appearance, on that basis I would rate the best supermarket loaf 5/10. A small loaf uses 400gm flour (about 53p a loaf) and is a nice size for 2 people. We have used various recipes, making a stollen, brioche and a spicy fruit loaf and all were simplicity itself to make. I read somewhere that a breadmaker was one of those gadgets that people buy but rarely use, this certainly won't happen with our Panasonic. If you enjoy really good bread and other yeast bakery the Panasonic should give endless satisfaction and eating pleasure. UPDATE 31/08/2013. This breadmaker has been in constant use (about 4 times a week) coming up for 2 years and has performed faultlessly during that time. The loaf has always come out cleanly from the tin, the paddle has never stuck in the loaf and the baking tin is as good now as the day it was brought. The paddle does get stuck to the spindle but pouring a little hot water in the tin as per instructions solves that little problem. Just one caveat; do NOT use cheap supermarket bread flour, if you do the resultant loaf has the size and consistency of a brick!

A health report in 2013 said that the main culprits for salt in our diet are breakfast cereals and bread. So why do supermarkets keep putting salt in their bread? 'Because people like it like that,' they say. Well I like my bread fresh and salt-free, which is why I love my Panasonic SD-2500. There's a lot of nonsense said about bread needing salt for it to rise. It doesn't. If you use a good strong bread-making flour, just leave out the salt and the sugar and it will work just fine. For flour, I find the Allinson strong white flour gives good results every time. Some of the supermarket brands are good too, and a lot cheaper, but you have to experiment a bit as to which are good and which are not. The yeast is important too. I like the Allinson Easy Bake dried yeast that comes loose in a green 100g pot - use a rounded teaspoon per loaf. Here's my recipe for the perfect salt-free loaf - works for me every time. This is for a medium loaf - don't do more than you'll eat in a day or two - you can easily make another fresh loaf when you need it. Put the ingredients in the breadmaker in this order: a sploosh of olive oil (about one tablespoon - all this does is make the dough workable and easy to tip the loaf out at the end), 280ml of tepid water (30 seconds in the microwave to make it tepid will do - don't make it too hot or you'll kill the yeast), 400g of strong bread flour with 1 teaspoon of dried bread-making yeast stirred into it. Your yeasty flour is now sitting on top of your oily water. Put the breadmaker on menu #2 (rapid loaf), set it for medium size, and click on Start. 1 h 55 mins later it'll beep when ready. Tip it out, let it cool for 20 mins, and enjoy fresh warm bread. Super-easy, and works for me every time. You don't even have to clean the pan - the non-stick means just a quick wipe-round with a bit of kitchen roll to pick up any crumbs, and you're done. To adjust the above for a large loaf, use 500g flour, 350ml water, and do it on the 'L' setting instead of 'M'. Great gadget, and at about 40p a loaf it'll even pay its way. Also good for salt-free pizza bases, tear-and-share bread, challah bread, etc etc.

I use my bread maker a lot (2-3 times per week usually) and have used several models over the years. The Panasonic SD2511W is one of the best I've used, although it does have a couple of quirks. Pros - 1. Very good and consistent results across a range of recipes. 2. Huge range of recipes and programmes catering for rye, gluten free, spelt and sour-dough breads as well as more usual varieties. Well written and easy to follow manual with lots of recipes. 3. Simple to set up, programme and clean. 4. Excellent non-stick coating meaning that, although like all bread machines it leaves a hole in the bottom of the bread, I've had no issues with cooked bread sticking to the paddle and tearing chunks out of the bottom of the loaves. 5. Extremely quiet! You hardly notice this machine when it is mixing and kneading, far quieter than any other bread machine I've owned before. 6. It's definitely worth paying a little more for a machine like this with an automatic ingredient dispenser for adding fruit and nuts, very handy feature. Cons- 1. It's quite a tall machine, if you're short like me it can be a little awkward lifting the bread pan in and out when the machine is on a worktop. 2. Although it is marketed as having crust colour control this is only available in a limited number of programmes. For example, it isn't available on any of the wholewheat bread programmes which seems a strange decision by the manufacturer. I like a slightly darker crust and I'd got used to this function being available on my previous machine. 3. The advertised 'Cake' mode is a little misleading. On other machines I've owned, the cake mode actually used the machine's paddle to mix and beat the ingredients before baking the cake. This meant you could throw a cake together quickly and with minimum mess by putting everything straight in the machine and getting it to do all the work. The 'cake' mode on the Panasonic merely bakes the cake, you have to do all the mixing yourself in a separate bowl so quite what the advantage of using the bread machine here is instead of a regular oven and baking tin isn't clear to me. On the whole though this seems an excellent machine that is easy to recommend!

I’ve been using this breadmaker around twice a week for 18 months now. I prefer the bread to most of the mass produced stuff you can buy in the supermarkets, though I do still occasionally buy a loaf when I’ve forgotten to make enough for my needs – or just fancy a change. I tend to just make standard white or wholemeal loaves using organic flour and I’m quite happy with the results, though there are one or two things worth pointing out. None of these would stop me from buying this again. As others have mentioned there is a random uneven rise. This occurs with most loaves – other than with rye flour and that’s probably because it’s so heavy doesn’t rise much at either end and emerges with a flat top. You can bake three different loaf sizes, but the only difference is the height of the loaf because they are all baked in the same pan so the only way to get bigger is up. With white loaves I always use the maximum of the three crust browning settings. The crust doesn’t brown the way it does in the oven and seems to be a separate operation – maybe a heat boost at the very end of baking. I love the timer, but I wish it had an internal clock so I could just tell it what time I wanted the bread ready instead of having to figure out how many hours & minutes from when I turn the machine on. So, if you want your loaf ready for 8 o’clock in the morning, and it’s 10:20pm when you turn it on, you have to set the timer for 9h 40m. The timer, by the way, works in ten minute intervals. I did use it to make some sweet buns once. For this you do the initial mix and prove in the breadmaker. Then the dough is tipped out and you shape the bread/buns however you want, but you have to sort the second rise out yourself. They tasted great the day they were baked, but even though I froze what I couldn’t eat, they didn’t taste as good as something similar I made completely by hand. Not sure why there would be any difference. I’ve also used made use of the fruit dispenser on a couple of occasions and that is a very nice addition if you like to make other than basic bread. It does offer the option of cake baking, but I see no advantage here and the cake is going to be an odd shape because the bread pan is not the shape of a standard bread tin. The menu system is based on numbers, The numbers correspond to recipes in the very large instruction booklet. You really need to plan on keeping this safe, because you’ll pretty much need to refer to it every time you bake. I would have liked some easy method of using other bread recipes than those included, because I find it’s really difficult to figure out what menu number to use for a recipe from some other source. I think my main niggle is that, even with the smallest loaf, the bread is too tall to fit in my toaster, so if toast is your thing, then make sure you’ve got one with a slot that will handle tall thick slices. But by far the biggest problem that I’ve had with this breadmaker is that I’ve put on a stone in weight since I bought it. None of this stops me enjoying the basic loaves I regularly bake. The bread is great for sandwiches on the day of baking, and stored in a plastic bag when cold, it does me for toast for three days. There’s just me so I don’t get through a lot of bread, but I’m sure a family would use a loaf or two a day without any problems. Highly recommended.

We've used several manufacturer's bread makers, but Panasonic are consistently excellent, and this machine is no exception, beating many other more expensive machines. It also has a smaller footprint and is lighter than my Morphy Richards Fastbake. The extensive range of recipes includes gluten-free, brioche, some cakes and jams, as well as French and Italian style loaves and several speciality breads. Most of the bread programmes also feature a timer-delay function, so you can set it in the evening and wake up to fresh bread in the morning. There is a comprehensive recipe collection in the manual, which is supplied as hard-copy with the breadmaker. It is also available online in quite a few languages on the Panasonic website. It's important to note that with the Panasonic machines one adds the dry ingredients to the pan first, unlike the majority of others where you add the wet ingredients first. The downside on the consistency of results is that cooking times are often longer because the machine rests the ingredients whilst it optimises the conditions. It's well insulated, aiding not just the consistency but also means that the machine is quieter than all the others that I've used and the outside doesn't get hot to the touch. The lid is opaque, again aiding insulation, but this means you can't look inside as it's working. You really mustn't be tempted to peek inside once it has started unless you want to risk ruining your loaf. There are a couple of handy tabs on either side of the lid so that it is easy to open, one on either side so you can open either left- or right-handed. Unlike the higher models, this machine won't make full rye bread but it will bake a partial rye. We made a rye and spelt loaf, which worked really well. Loaves come out quite tall and you can make a medium, large or extra-large loaf, there is no small loaf setting but we found that the medium loaf was suitable when we wanted a small loaf.

I Do wish I had got this bradmaker sooner, instead I got my self a cheaper maker from a different manufactuer which did the job ok but was a bit of a faff ! Not so with this one far from it, my first effort was a bread mix with my previous maker it took 4 hours to make so (in my typical fashion !!!) put my mix in as told to in the manual then looked and set the menu only to find it only took 2 hours not the 4 + I was expecting a very quick trip to the shops Saturday morning and arrived to a wonderfully smelling house and a perfectly cooked loaf. My Mom was so impressed she whisked the loaf off to her house and I had to bake my self another :) It was so easy I have also baked "from scratch" a fab wholemeal loaf which did not taste of sawdust. I have not tried the timer yet but seems very easy to use if you want your bread cooked for a particular time.(Update timer easy to use calculate how many hours later you want your bread ready say you wanted your bread ready @7 am & it was 9 pm you would put the timer to 10 very easy) I know this is on the expensive side in comparison to some other breadmakers but I wish i had not wasted time and money on a cheaper one and just got this one at the start, I am looking forward to many happy baking days with lots of different breads, cakes etc. Last but not least the bread has not stuck once in the pan or on the paddle and I am really impressed with the instuction manual easy to follow lots of great recipies to try, one tip do use good strong flour the rest is happy eating