Don't make this too hot, otherwise it will rise and the bubble will burst! Just buy yourself one, you know you knead it, and it's going to prove itself useful.

To get going you'll need standard cooking equipment like scales, measuring spoons and measuring jugs (though I weigh my water, because it's easiest to weigh it straight into the breadmaking pan).

You'll need a pair of oven gloves when getting the loaf out, plus a heat resistant surface to put it on whilst in the tin (I put it on a plastic chopping board, it now has a nice round mark where it melted). I always leave the loaf to cool for 5 mins before tipping out onto a wire rack. Unless you're planning on eating the loaf in one sitting, you'll need a bread bin, the best I've found is the Joseph Joseph wood lid one, but it's expensive (I'm sure mine was cheap from Costco, I'd never pay £50 for a bread bin) I think the wood lid helps with humidity.

As for flour, I tend to use the premium mill ground variety, Bacheldre or Shipton Mill usually, from experience the flours ground by water mill seem to be better, but that might be luck. I tend to buy 16-25kg sacks to keep the cost down. Yeast - I always use Doves Farm, I've got a Lakeland within walking distance so easy to get from their, doesn't seem to be any more expensive than a supermarket.

If you're cooking in a utility room, you may find the bread rises less, so during the colder months, where the utility room is often sub 10 degrees C, I add an extra half teaspoon of yeast.

The cost of a load works out at roughly the price of a good sliced loaf, since it's a whole lot better, it's worth it, plus throw in a few sesame, pumpkin or sunflower (hulled) seeds and you've baked a loaf of artisan bread, and saved yourself a packet.

My machine makes 3 or 4 loaves a week and usually a pizza dough and has done for 5+ years. I tend to use the machine for loaves, although the dough cycles are great if busy, I prefer to use my mother-in-laws 40 year old Kenwood chef, to prepare dough for oven cooking, which in my opinion makes for a better roll.

Don't be afraid to use the fast bake either, with some flours I've found the 3 hour fast bake produces a better loaf, than the standard 5 hour wholemeal.

Also, rather than have tall slices, I cut the loaf in half top to bottom, then slice each half from one end, this way you have better sized slices for toasting.

If my bread machine packed in, I'd be thinking about a replacement immediately, though thankfully I do have a spare. In my house only the fridge and freezer are more important.

mike

My calculations suggest they're roughly the same, based on the assumptions that most of the weight of a loaf is the flour and using the cheapest ingredients (except yeast) from Tesco.

Bread machine recipe

600g flour £0.25
25g marg./butter £0.05
yeast (assuming Doves Farm) £0.08
water, salt, sugar (rounded up sugar is around 1/2p) £0.01
Electricity around 1/2 unit £0.08, rapid setting usually around 1/3 unit.

Total = £0.47 for 600g loaf, equivalent to £0.65 for a 800g loaf.

From Tesco the cheapest 800g loaf is £0.40, Kingsmill for £0.50.

Once you start to use more expensive ingredients, unless you buy in bulk, the same price difference will remain, but you have to remember, it's fresh, tastes better, and because it's denser, you'll use relatively less of your toppings on your sandwiches, making it probably as cheap in the long run.

mike

I've always wanted a breadmaker. But the wife has denied me one because we had a very small kitchen. Fortunately for me we moved and we now have a utility and a big kitchen - so her argument doesn't apply anymore. I'm not even gonna tell her

Awesome price! Heat given gladly :smile:

Excellent price for this

amazing price, thanks!

Don't make this too hot, otherwise it will rise and the bubble will burst! Just buy yourself one, you know you knead it, and it's going to prove itself useful.

Been waiting for the price of this to drop to around £100.
Ordered!

What size refuse sack does this bin take?

Easily the best bread makers out there, had my Panasonic about 10 years and still going strong. Cannot recommend them highly enough. This is a decent price for this one too, very tempted to replace.....

Odd though. The amazon page title is 2511b but "in the box" says 2511k

Anyone recommend a nice sourdough starter?

As used by Call me Dave?

Will I save any money in throwing £80 odd at a bread-maker… on top of ingredients and 4 hours worth of electricity?
Not hating … but genuinely interested, I would love to buy it if I could justify the cost

Regarding the K Lettering at the end, it could also be that black in Japanese is Kuro.

Wow, I didn't know you could do sourdough in a bread machine. This was one of the key reasons stopping me buying a bread machine as I assumed the only way to get sourdough was old school baking. If anyone has any newbie guides on this I'd be be very grateful.

To be honest, I don't use my machine to bake bread anymore, haven't done for years. I just use the dough programmes and then form it myself into rolls / baps / loaves and bake in the normal oven. Not sure how this does sourdough as my older model doesn't have that feature. Mine does have similar "culture" recipes in the book which means you making dough the day before, leaving it in the machine and then adding more stuff to it and setting it off on another programme.

I've always wanted a breadmaker. But the wife has denied me one because we had a very small kitchen. Fortunately for me we moved and we now have a utility and a big kitchen - so her argument doesn't apply anymore. I'm not even gonna tell her

great machines, mine panni works 6years now with 1to2 loafs per week no probs. if it breaks one day, buying same brand straight away. have some heat

What other accessories would people suggest that makes their lives a bit easier with the machine? Wire rack or tins? Storage containers?

For baking loaves I always use the 4.5 hour Italian program.

For the yeast I recommend Doves Farm Quick Yeast 125g yeast £1.26 from Lakeland or Ocado
https://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Doves-Farm-Quick-Yeast/17257011
It's less fiddly than the little sachets.
or Morrisons sell fresh yeast for 50p for 4 blocks which you can divide each one into into 4
None of the supermarkets near me give away fresh yeast any more.

At this price I'm picking one up as a birthday present for a friend (who was really impressed when I took a fresh-baked loaf from my Panny 2512 over). Honestly thought mine would be relegated to a cupboard after a few weeks but months later and it's in regular use baking great bread.

For slicing loaves, I use a well sharpened 20cm cooks knife.
I've used electric knives and bread knives and find the chefs knife is best.

It was reduced to £60 from amazon when I bought it last year but unfortunately had to return it as wife wasn't happy with it hogging crammed kitchen space. :disappointed:

Ordered, thanks OP! Been on the lookout for a good deal on bread makers since the turn of the year.

​I just learned me something

I find the only thing you need is a measuring scale, because a measuring spoon and a measuring cup are provided, and you simply put the bread pan on the scales and tip weighed ingredients straight in.

Also, there's no need to wash the bread pan - the few crumbs left over after the loaf is tipped out will just be harmlessly incorporated into the next one.

Interesting to hear you find that it can't regulate its temperature properly in very cold rooms. My kitchen doesn't get quite that cold.

Bread maker bread does go stale very quickly - it's the price you pay for it being so fresh to begin with. I leave a loaf uncovered for a day to keep the crust crispy and then after that cover it loosely to stop it drying out too much.

I do find the rectangular shape of these machines annoying, because when sitting on a worktop you can't open the lid without it hitting wall cupboards. Their old squarer design was more sensible. Fortunately I've got somewhere to keep it permanently where this isn't an issue. The measuring cup and spoon live inside it - once it's cool!

​Sir you truly are the Yoda of bread machine baking. hats off.

I have an older version which has been used every week for a few years. It is fab!

Am tempted to buy this one as it has extra features and keep my old as a spare, or lend it to my mum ;o)

Pity it is not the white version though.

Good point about the measuring equipment, mine all got put away in the loft when it arrived, because I do a lot of cooking, I never used them.

I prefer to wash the pan, because you put the dry ingredients in first, the paddle is potentially going to have hard, crisp and dried bread stuck to it, this has the potential to scratch the pan, whether it does I don't know - I've always cleaned it. Mine is scratched anyway from using linseeds, sesame seeds etc.

I've had 7 bread machines in my time, and the Panasonic is the only one with no foibles. My first was a £300 Hinari bought around 1995, I know because the Argos it came from was next door to a Texas Homecare, they've been gone a long time.

The one thing that is noticeable about the Panasonic, is the length of cooking time, the 'rapid' bake is the same time as the standard bake on my last none Panasonic - it's worth the wait. It's a shame they don't make twin paddle versions, my old Morphy Richards made great shaped loaves, because of this, but since 'discovering' the technique of cutting the loaf in half, it's more or less mitigated.

mike

Anyone have any thoughts on it not having the yeast dispenser?
Previously, I had considered one of these Panasonics, due to the timer function.
Anyone confirm that dumping the yeast in at the same time produces a decent loaf when using the timer function?

Good idea, unless you're using the timer, as the yeast has to be kept away from the water. In that case, just exclude the yeast from the mixture.

Oh dear. I haven't noticed any scratching and I use all those types of seeds too. Must take a closer look.
I was lucky to choose Panasonic first time I guess, although to make it last for 15 years I had to do some repairs. The insulation started cracking on the mains lead where it entered the unit, so I shortened it. The "one-time" thermal fuse started intermittently opening during baking - hard one to diagnose, that. 50p replacement. And then the paddle pulley started slipping. A layer of self-amalgamating tape on the pulley increased its diameter and hence the belt tension very slightly and surprisingly provided a durable repair.

My calculations suggest they're roughly the same, based on the assumptions that most of the weight of a loaf is the flour and using the cheapest ingredients (except yeast) from Tesco.

Bread machine recipe

600g flour £0.25
25g marg./butter £0.05
yeast (assuming Doves Farm) £0.08
water, salt, sugar (rounded up sugar is around 1/2p) £0.01
Electricity around 1/2 unit £0.08, rapid setting usually around 1/3 unit.

Total = £0.47 for 600g loaf, equivalent to £0.65 for a 800g loaf.

From Tesco the cheapest 800g loaf is £0.40, Kingsmill for £0.50.

Once you start to use more expensive ingredients, unless you buy in bulk, the same price difference will remain, but you have to remember, it's fresh, tastes better, and because it's denser, you'll use relatively less of your toppings on your sandwiches, making it probably as cheap in the long run.

mike

Does nobody else just chuck a packet of bread mix in theirs with the right amount of water? At 99p from Waitrose they don't exactly break the bank and it's much less hassle than mixing all the ingredients. Not as artisinal, I guess.

I know - - but some of the Panasonics have a yeast dispenser - hence my question .....

I can guarantee that for 99% of the people who will buy this it will just sit somewhere in your kitchen being unused within a week!

Just ordered one, thanks for the heads up. Let's hope it's as good as my G3 Ferrari Pizza Oven which is a twice weekly used kitchen gadget.

I do use the timer sometimes and there haven't been any problems so far. I suppose since the yeast is distributed around the mixture there's very little in contact with the water, but like you say adding a bit of yeast on the top would be a good way around this if it is a problem.

The yeast goes in first, with all the flour on top, so as long as you pour the water in sensibly the yeast will stay fry for hours.

I have never had problems using the timer on its longest.

Good point.

I found it took a bit of trial and error to get the quantities right, so there were a few disappointing loaves to get through. Once you get the recipe down it's very easy to use and worth it (I think).

I have an older model. Panasonic are the King's of bread makers. Once you have made a loaf it won't end up with the sandwich maker in the cupboard

To be fair I know one person (or rather know of one person) who didn't use their machine and he gave it to me, so I could make gluten free bread in a non-contaminated machine (for my wife), our other Panasonic is used 5 days out of 7, often twice a day. I know of many people who own Panasonic machines and do use them regularly, on the other hand I know of a lot of people with other branded bread machines at the back of the kitchen cupboard.

This is one of those machines, that once you get and put a little effort learning what you like, you'll never go back to ordinary bread from the supermarket. It's not hard, bread is so few ingredients, you don't need to win Masterchef or British Bake Off, to be able to make a very nice loaf, the Pansonic recipes pretty much work without alteration and produce some of the best machine bread available, even the French bread tastes just like a baguette even though it comes out loaf shaped.

I don't see the point in packet mixes, plus they don't always work as well as the tried and tested recipes in your booklet.

mike

Literally discussing buying one of these earlier today and HUKD comes up trumps yet again!! Ordered and can't wait to ditch the supermarket bread later this week :smiley:

Just spotted this and ordered with 40 mins to spare!!! Been after a good black one for ages as other appliances are black too. Thank you.

Is this Panasonic backward compatible with my collection?

Download the manual for the recipes and save yerself the money and pop it in the oven.

If you were to click on the link now you will see the breadmaker is now the #1 bestseller in home. I'd be interested to know how many they sold yesterday and how many were sold due to HUKD because like me I'm sure most people didn't get out of bed on a Monday morning desperate to buy a breadmaker but ended up with one anyway. HUKD is part of my morning staple of sites to have a flick through and without it I would have missed out on this.

Damn! missed it! Any other reccomendations?

I don't use mine much - but only because the bread's too nice and I eat far too much of it once I've made some. Perhaps it would bet better if I locked away the butter.

Has anyone received it yet? The wife still has no idea. Just gonna put it on the workbench and say no more about it

Results just in. I followed the whole wheat bread recipe and it has come out perfectly . I'd never baked a loaf before in my life. Tastes fantastic :smiley:

Is anyone else still waiting for dispatch?
Would contact Amazon to chase up but when I ve done similar before they have claimed out of stock and cancelled, loathe to be forced to buy again when the price has doubled.

Mine has just arrived. Just thinking what to do first.

Same! I woke up annoyed because it said despatched and that it would arrive on Monday, next minute I get a knock at the door and it was here! So happy to get it earlier. Just completed some pizzas which we have have just devoured. It really is so easy to use although the instructions and recipes are a touch confusing.

I think they would have been better having recipes in a separate leaflet.

I posted a deal here for some decent flour for your breadmakers guys.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/various-good-quality-flour-cotswold-crunch-aldi-instore-1-59-1-5kg-2409097#post27523812