A Review of My Panasonic Bread Machine

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been going a little crazy with the bread machine recipes.

Ever since I got my bread machine four months ago we’ve continually had some type of bread, pastry, or pizza around the house or in the freezer. I love the ease of dumping a few ingredients into the machine, pushing a few buttons, and being able to walk away and have fresh bread four hours later. I also love how easy it is to make dough for recipes as well. Lastly, I love that I control what ingredients are in our bread. Lets compare two recipes, shall we?

Sara Lee Whole Wheat Bread Ingredients (source):

Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Wheat Gluten, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Yeast,Honey, Contains 2% or Less of Each of the Following: Calcium Sulfate, Sugar,Butter (Cream, Salt), Vegetable Oil (Soybean and/or Cottonseed Oils), Salt, Dough Conditioners (May Contain One or More of the Following: Mono – and Diglycerides, Ethoxylated Mono – and Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Calcium Peroxide, Datem, Ascorbic Acid, Azodicarbonamide, Enzymes), Calcium Propionate (Preservative), Distilled Vinegar, Guar Gum, Yeast Nutrients (Monocalcium Phosphate, Calcium Sulfate, Ammonium Sulfate), Corn Starch, Soy Lecithin, Soy Flour.

Honey Wheat Bread (made in the bread machine):

Water, Whole Wheat Flour, White Flour, Honey, Dry Milk, Salt, and Yeast

While I do love me some Sara Lee bread (and occasionally still come home with a loaf from the store), we have primarily moved to making our own. After comparing the lists above, I feel even more confirmed in that choice.

Like I said before, I’ve been sharing bread machine recipes on this site and with friends left and right. However, I haven’t shared what kind of machine I’m actually using. I’ve had quite a few people askme so I thought I’d share a little about my machine of choice and why I like it.

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A Review of the Panasonic SD-YD250 Automatic Bread Maker

In case you want to skip over the video, here are my talking points:

I went with a middle of the road model. I didn’t want to spend a crazy amount of money on a machine, especially before I knew if I’d like it or not but I also didn’t want to get a cheap one that wouldn’t perform well. Based on Amazon reviews, I went with the Panasonic SD-YD250 Bread Maker with Yeast Dispenser.

Why  I Like My Machine:

• It has lots of customizable settings. (See image below)

• The yeast dispenser is on top and adds it to the ingredients at the right time so you don’t have to worry about messing it up. 
• The bread pan has a non-stick surface so the bread slides out easily after done baking.
• It has a power-interruption protection that allows the baking process to resume even when there’s an interruption in power for approximately 10 minutes or less.
• You don’t have to worry too much about the temperature of ingredients as you add them into the bread pan. The machine has a “rest” time in which it sits still in the beginning of the process to allow temperatures to warm/cool.
• I haven’t used this feature yet but have read that it has a delayed start timer. This allows for the possibility of waking up to fresh bread in the morning or starting a batch of dough when I not home and having it ready to roll out and bake at the right time.

Cons:

• I wish there was a way to see it. However, I know that the design of a non-viewable lid allows for better baking.
• I wish there was a way to bypass the initial “rest” period of each cycle in order to make it go faster.
• I haven’t had to troubleshoot at all but have read that there isn’t much help if you need to.

The only other negative thing I have to say about this way of making bread is that the bread doesn’t stay fresh long. This is because it doesn’t have all the preservatives and additives that keep grocery store bread seemingly fresh. I haven’t found a way to keep it moist and yummy for more than a few days. However, I usually end up freezing the bread we don’t use. Rolls work well for reheating and I have used the leftover from loaves to make baked french toast or homemade bread crumbs for recipes like meatball subs, chicken parmesan, crispy baked drumsticks.

All that being said, I can personally say that I recommend the Panasonic Bread Maker. Hope you are inspired to get one yourself and start making some yummy bread recipes!