Bread maker
A bread machine or breadmaker is a home appliance for baking bread. It consists of a bread pan with a paddle mounted in the center, in a small special-purpose oven, with a control panel. While most bread machines have different cycles for different kinds of dough (including straight white bread, whole grain, European-style (sometimes labeled "French"), and dough-only for pizza dough and shaped loaves baked in the oven), many also have a timer to allow the bread machine to activate without operator attendance, and some high-end models allow the user to program a custom cycle.
Unlike conventional dough recipes, recipes for some breadmakers often call for milk powder instead of milk and also for citric acid when making brown or wholemeal bread.
We have a Panasonic SD 253 and it's never let us down.
Faulty Panasonic SD253 breadmaker - bread does not rise
After many years (5 or 6?) bread made in this breadmaker would no longer rise properly, we tried new flour and yeast to no avail. After speaking to a friend who had the same breadmaker and was suffering bread rising problems with his Panasonic SD 2502, I thought it was time for a replacement (Panasonic SD-ZB2502 automatic breadmaker. After 4 rising failures with the same recipe on the Panasonic SD253, the first attempt with the SZ-B2505 worked perfectly using an the same recipe and the same ingredients.
I'm very mechanically -minded and have worked repairing similar items to this in the past, yet I can't think what could be causing the problem as the unit warms the dough and cooks the bread correctly. I can't imagine that the program / software could change and I've stripped lubricated all the moving parts and they appear to be move freely with plenty of power. However, faulty, it must be.
A typical breadmaker recipe
And if you have never used a breadmaker before, here is a typical breadmaker recipe for a large white loaf:
- 1 teaspoon dried yeast
- 500g strong white flour
- 25 g butter
- 1.5 tablespoons of milk powder
- 1.5 tablespoons of [sugar]]
- 1.5 teaspoons of salt
- 350 ml water (or 350g water if weighing is easier)
Tip all of the above into the basket. Select: Bake, Large, Crust preference (light or dark) and then Start.
4 hours later, perfectly baked bread. It is as simple as that!
See also
- We have a recipe section that is devoted to breadmaker recipes
- Panasonic SD253 Instructions.pdf - Australian & not great quality - better than none though.