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 centre, 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 bread makers often call for milk powder instead of milk and also for Vitamin C (ascorbic acid or E300), 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 253, 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. After much consideration, it is very likely to have been a problem with the lid-seal as noted by a recent Swedish visitor.

Similar problem

I read your note about your faulty Panasonic where the bread didn't rise. I had a similar problem with another bread maker because the lid didn't close properly. It was something wrong with the sealing around the lid. Regards/Olle, Sweden

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  Our trusty, now faulty, much used bread machine

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  The replacement unit: Panasonic SD-ZB2502 automatic breadmaker (2014)

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  Standard dough paddle, Panasonic models

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  Rye dough paddle, Panasonic models

Check the yeast you are using

Not all tins and packets of yeast are suitable for a breadmaker. For instance the very common Allinson's Dried Active Yeast is not suitable for breadmakers unless it is activated first. See here for a full explanation.

A typical breadmaker recipe

And if you have never used a bread maker 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!

Panasonic SD-ZB2502 bread maker, dough too wet

I have been experimenting with all of our breadmaker recipes recently, just to check they still worked perfectly with the new model breadmaker. Being lazy, I left the rye dough paddle in the bread maker when making normal loaves and discovered that this resulted in a very wet dough mix. I'm not sure what the technical reason for this would be, but I would guess that the dough gets over-mixed because of the slots and this dramatically alters its properties. The dough (and bread mix) was as though I had added another 20 ml water extra. In short: don't use the rye paddle for normal loaves!

See also

• About 60 interesting breadmaker recipes
• Panasonic SD253 Instructions.pdf - Australian & not great quality - better than none though.
• Panasonic SD-ZB2502 automatic breadmaker
• File:Panasonic-SD-Z82502-user-manual.pdf
• Allinsons Dried Active Yeast is not suitable for breadmakers
• How to activate Allinsons Dried Active Yeast

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