Panasonic SD-YR2540 Fully Automatic Bread maker, with Yeast/Raisin & Nuts Dispenser, 32 Programmes, 4 Gluten-Free Mode, Dual Temperature Sensors, 13 Hours Digital Timer, Stainless

I had never made bread by hand. I’ve always wanted to but lacked the confidence to try. I believe this stems from my bitter childhood experiences with authoritarian home economic teachers who would shout and punish you for the slightest mistakes made which has in turn left me to fear anything to do with cooking. But when I put my mind to it I can follow simple recipes, and with a hankering to try my hand at bread making whilst avoiding my lack of knowledge of how to make dough, I decided a bread making machine was the way to go. So, I went for the plunge and brought the best model out there, the Panasonic YR2540. I can confidently make bread whilst avoiding the laborious mixing, kneading, proving, and baking as this can be all done by my bread machine. All I have to do is weigh out a few simple ingredients and let the machine do all the work.My confidence in baking has drastically improved since I got this machine. I can now make many types of bread with maximum flavour and minimal fuss, or stress. This machine has over 30 settings allowing you to make whole choice of breads from simple white and traditional wholemeal loafs to speciality breads made with flours such as spelt and rye, gluten free, and all manner of flavoured breads. It also has a cake mixing and cake backing settings allowing you to make all types of cakes. You can also use ready made bread mix and cake mix that you can buy from the supermarkets. This model also has an automatic yeast dispenser, and a fruit and nut dispenser. Plus, it has a timer so you can wake up to the smell of freshly made bread.The instruction booklet has many recipes. These are also available on the Panasonic website which are good but the recipes are not that easy to follow as aimed more for the American market. There is however a conversion chart on the website which helps you to convert US named flour types to UK ones. I tend to follow recipes provided in a really good book called “Brilliant Breadmaking In Your Bread Machine” by Catherine Atkinson, which is easier to follow as the recipe ingredients and measurements are for the UK market.Overall, I highly recommend the Panasonic YR2540 bread machine as its one of the best. Now I can fill my home with the wonderful aroma of freshly backed bread!The only negative point was the delivery as it arrived without being inside a delivery box. I don’t like this because I don’t want anyone seeing what’s been delivered to me. An outer box helps to protect the original box which in my case arrived with the corners crushed in. Luckily the item within the original packaging wasn’t damaged!Update 20/06/25. This bread maker also has a jam setting, so today I made jam for the very first time which turned out really well. If you search Google for Jam recipes you will find a number specifically for bread machines.

I’m now making bread multiple times a week, and the machine itself is brilliant and easy to use – white loaves come out soft, fresh, and tasty every time. My only gripe is that the included recipe book has recipes with a lot of sugar, which isn’t typical for British bread. I tend to ignore those and follow advice from Facebook groups and online communities, which has given much better results. The breadmaker is very easy to use, but stick to recipes that suit your taste!

This machine is an excellent piece of kit, producing pretty much everything “Loaf” and everything “Kneaded and Proved” if you want Rolls or Baguettes, and in doing so this machine pretty much removes all of the hard work in making dough, leaving you just to bake it! It’s a pity it doesn't have a range of trays that you can insert into the machine for other bread shapes, but thats a minor issue as the lack of such trays is really just an inconvenience in the process.It’s central core is the loaf and it does this brilliantly basically add the ingredients set the size, bake colour and timer and abracadabra great tasting breads when you want it; with a cost per loaf of about 50 percent of that of the shop bought loaf. That’s not to say it will save you money as the £200ish price tag will take some time to recover, but warm fresh bread everyday without any preservatives or additives is a compensation that goes a long way in payback for that overhead!It fits into my Kitchen very nicely and is about the same size as a microwave, is easy to maintain and clean. Its digital readout is self explanatory and with menu options printed alongside for reference.So if you like fresh bread and can swallow the machine cost for what is clearly well designed and built and turns out great results you can purchase this with confidence…

Does the job well but the instructions firstly could be laid out better, and made much easier and clearer to follow. The instructions for wholemeal bread need additional water and additional yeast.