What is the best Breadmaker to buy?

nastyphoenix

Hi folks

I have been thinking about getting a breadmaker and wanted to know what would be the best one to get for under £100. Also, is it worth it or is it just another kitchen gadget that doesn’t get used? 

I was going to get the Morphy Richards but I watched a YouTube video which said it wasn’t very good. The Panasonic looked great but it’s quite a bit more expensive. 

Any advice much appreciated 

Farway

I've had a few over the years and it has to be Panasonic because it just works every time. Perhaps you can find a second hand one?

There are a couple right now on  e- bay around 50 quid mark, maybe lower if looking harder than I was

Worth it depends, for saving money, not if you normally buy cheap sliced bread about 50p a loaf and then use expensive branded bread making flour around £2 for 1.5 Kg.

However using something like Asda bread flour, currently 60p a 1.5kg  bag [3 loaves] it’s comparable plus the convenience & taste, with free fresh baking bread smell throughout the house. May cost more because fresh loaves seem to vanish rapidly

Bigjenny

Panasonic every time, I bought mine seconhand, try ebay as Farway suggested, Facebook Marketplace, or Gumtree. If you like it you can always buy a new one, if not you can sell it on.

nastyphoenix

I had heard that Panasonic were pretty amazing 

Wraithlady

Panasonic are the Rolls Royce of breadmakers, but do be aware they are rather larger and taller than the average breadmaker (having a small kitchen with not a lot of counter space makes getting one impractical for me). I've had a Fastbake Morphy Richards for a good number of years and (apart from having to replace the pan recently) no mechanical problems. Haven't seen the Youtube video, but I surmise that is just one person's opinion - if every review was saying they're bad, then I might have taken notice (I did check out the reviews afaik - nothing spooked me)

The Lakeland own-brand is also pretty good

comeandgo

I’ve the Lakeland own brand, it’s no problem.  Had to replace the little paddle thing after a few years but bought it individually on the Internet for a few pounds.

YorksLass

My first one was a Russell Hobbs, not bad but was quite bulky.  My current one is a Fastbake Morphy Richards that tucks away neatly in an unused corner of the worktop under a corner cupboard.  Makes lovely bread and is simple to use.

Elisheba

Take note of the hidden costs.  Just looked up a Panasonic on Argos and it was 550w.  Standard new tariff for electricity seems to be 21p/kwh*.  A cycle normally runs for about 2 1/2 hours.  So thats about 29p in electricity, and I think that is before tax which is 5%, so about 32p for a loaf.  Add the 20p for flour, and a few pence - say 3p for yeast, sugar, oil and salt, that's 55p a loaf.  Not bad and its decent bread, but your cheapest shop loaf is about 55p and you will be able to get the slices thinner so it will go further - so you are barely breaking even and the machine will never pay for itself.

Also electricity costs will be going up in April, and that's with the cheapest flour which may go up as well.  So it may not even break even soon enough.

*figures are all rounded up to nearest penny so this is not exact

Effician

I would say invest a little time in learning to make it by hand, we use a heated gardening propagator for a proofer as we have one anyway but there are other ways .

Once you have the hang of it it becomes easy to knock up a loaf or buns/rolls or even pizza bases with the same basic recipe.

Sandtree

Elisheba said:

Take note of the hidden costs.  Just looked up a Panasonic on Argos and it was 550w.  Standard new tariff for electricity seems to be 21p/kwh*.  A cycle normally runs for about 2 1/2 hours.  So thats about 29p in electricity, and I think that is before tax which is 5%, so about 32p for a loaf.  Add the 20p for flour, and a few pence - say 3p for yeast, sugar, oil and salt, that's 55p a loaf.  Not bad and its decent bread, but your cheapest shop loaf is about 55p and you will be able to get the slices thinner so it will go further - so you are barely breaking even and the machine will never pay for itself.

Also electricity costs will be going up in April, and that's with the cheapest flour which may go up as well.  So it may not even break even soon enough.

*figures are all rounded up to nearest penny so this is not exact

A good call however I would be concerned if the breadmaker is running at full power for 2.5 hours! Proving should be a tiny fraction of its maximum power but represent a notable amount of the time.

As to the overall question... personally found it a toy that didnt get used much (ours was Kenwood) and hence was donated. I bake bread probably 1-2 times a month (now not WFH all the time) and have much more flexibility of what we bake by using a mixer and oven than a breadmaker. 

bouicca21

I had a bread maker for a long time but didn’t replace it when it finally went to breadmaker heaven.  

I am useless at making bread by hand - it’s all in the kneading and I’m !!!!!! at it.  My solution was to buy a KitchenAid mixer, the one that comes with 9 speeds and a range of stuff including dough hooks. It’s expensive but solid (downside is that it’s heavy - some people might prefer the version with a stand so as not to have to hold it).

 I am now making great bread, absolutely delicious.  Kneading with those dough hooks gives brilliant results.

edited to add: I should have said that the bread I’m making now is way better than the breadmaker version.