Best Bread Makers

This machine is so easy to use. I was a total newbie to baking, but even my first loaf came out perfectly golden and fluffy inside. Since then, I’ve… Read more

tried the rye setting and even the dough setting for homemade pizza nights. It handles everything like a champ.

I love that I can throw in the ingredients the night before and wake up to the smell of fresh bread in the morning. It’s like living in a bakery.

I regularly bake a loaf every 2 days and have done so for the last 14 odd years. I started with Brevilles entry level but it made terrible bread and… Read more

walked itself off the bench into oblivion. I then switched to Panasonic SD-2501 which was flawless and lasted 7 years before the electronics died. I replaced it with a Panasonic SD-R2530WST which although noisy mixing lower hydration dough worked fine for 72% for 6 or so years until the non-stick surface deteriorated.

As the pan and paddle are so expensive I just bought another Panasonic SD-R2530WST but I quickly had to return it within weeks due to extremely high pitched screaming noises when mixing. The replacement Panasonic SD-R2530WST also did the same thing so I ended up returning that as well.

Sick of Panasonics clear poor quality I ended up replacing it with a Breville Custom Loaf Pro which after 4 months of working flawlessly developed a severe loud knocking noise only when mixing anti-clockwise. Still under warranty I got another replacement but that is also knocking badly during mixing anti-clockwise after only 5 months of making 65% hydration bread.

It appears to me that The Breville Custom Loaf Pro has a severe design fault and I think the belt is possibly stretching after 45 odd loaves are made and when spinning anti-clockwise a very loud knocking noise will develop as the belt slips. You can see evidence of this issue on Youtube so its quite common.

Unfortunately I believe this machine is a gimmick and not designed for anyone serious about making lots of loaves. With what I have experienced now I'm convinced a good quality bread machine no longer exists and the discontinued Panasonic SD-2501 was the last good quality one made.

I will inevitably return this one as well and just put the money towards a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer with Lift Bowl then use my oven. Corporate greed has killed the bread machine. RIP bread machine.

Best thing since, well sliced bread – I have had two other bread machines in the past and hated both of them with a passion. One big thing I hated was the fact that the loaves always came… Read more

out with really pale crusts no matter what setting, and the other thing was that the blade always got stuck in the loaf (which led to our last machine becoming redundant, as I threw a loaf out with the blades, oopps).

Once the panic buying hit our area at the start of the pandemic we were unable to buy any types of bread from any of our local shops at all, and so the research commenced into making bread at home. I searched for hours on what would be our best option.

Take one, Bread by hand. Take two, take three urrggh I have had enough, I am done with this we don't need bread right?

So, hours of reading reviews on what bread machines were available (which were nil) and between the ones people were selling on Ebay that sold for more used then brand new, I had almost given up. Until I found one on Amazon, behold the Panasonic SD-ZB2512. Oh my I was worried about how excited I was to have it finally delivered, on unboxing and setting it up for the first time I was impressed on how very sleek, modern and functional the machine was.

Flash forward to present times, I have now had the pure pleasure of using this machine weekly for over a year and I am still impressed at the quality of the bread this little tacker puts out. We make bread, pizza dough, rustic scones, cakes, sourdough starter, sourdough and other base doughs. This machine has never has never let me down and has proven itself to be a solid investment.

PROS - - beautiful loaves with perfect density and crusts - lots of programs to make multiple breads, doughs and other sweet treats - looks good - easy to use - easy to clean - blade stay in the bucket (pan) - bucket is super easy to clean - Yeast dispenser allows the yeast to be added at the perfect time - comes with easy to follow recipes - Comes with measuring spoons and water / sourdough start containers

CONS- - Is quite large - is getting up there in price - I dislike how some yeast can become lodged around the control panel (does not effect use, just annoying) - occasionally it scare me when it releases the yeast, as it clicks quite loudly

we have new bread whenever we want it – we are very pleased with our new bread maker. It is quite easy to use and makes a beautiful loaf. Show details

Workhorse breadmaker with flaws – Had the Lumina Breadmaker for nearly 10 years now. It replaced my terminally broken 8yo Breville BB350. I make a 50/50 mix of plain white and… Read more

multigrain loaves with the occasional fruit/specialty loaf. Initially used Lauke Crusty White bread-mix with wholegrain additions but now bake using Wallaby bakers flour.

Pros: Easy to use, Seemingly bulletproof Simple programming (clone of the BB350?). Cons: Bread paddles practically always stick to the rotor shafts unless you grease, oil them before baking. The top of the loaf never browns no matter what crust setting you select.

I never received a kneading blade in mine so it doesnt work

Disappointed – I used my machine for the first time today. I attempted to bake a wholegrain loaf from a Lauke bread mix. I noticed that there wasn't a smaller size… Read more

listed for this setting. I went ahead with measuring the ingredients but was surprised to see the manual showed three teaspoons of yeast. My previous Breville never needed more than one and a half teaspoons. I kept to the recipe and found the dough had risen so much that it had pushed the lid of the machine open. What a mess. This was just before the baking started. I took out the pan, removed some dough, cleaned up the considerable mess and put the pan back in onto bake. I will be interested to see how this turns out. Other reviewers have mentioned the lack of measuring quantities. I will convert to grams and millilitres.

I bought this bread maker having had a Breville unit some 15-20 years ago. Having had a Panasonic SD 2501 (which lasted over 10 years), then a… Read more

cheapie which I wasn't happy with), I thought I'd go back to Breville.

Results a re more consistent than the cheapie I had before, but still disappointing. The motor is weak so it has to spin fast and be geared down. I'm not concerned about the noise, but by the fact that it doesn't have the torque to mix the dough properly. I need to reduce the water content of all the bread recipes I use by 25-30mL, otherwise it's a bit mushy during the mixing process. In short, it's cheap, but it's made to that price by cutting back on motor power.

It "works" but I feel limited by its mixing ability. Thus, I have to "upgrade" to a more powerful unit.

Don’t waste your money – I am used to bread making as I often make my own bread. I thought this Panasonic with fruit and nut dispenser would be a great time saver for when… Read more

guests come over. I bought it on 14/4/2023 for $279. Used only intermittently (when guests over) and stored carefully. It failed 20 months later on the first week of December 2024. The bread came out misshapen and flat. It didn’t rise. The yeast and ingredients all fresh and in date. I used the supplied measuring tools and an accurate kitchen scale for flour. I tried 4 more loaves with different settings, different flour types and recipes (from the included booklet). Abject failure. Same issue. Really disappointed. Don’t waste your money on this breadmaker. It made nice bread when working but a breadmaker should last longer than 20 months of intermittent use. Conversely, I bought a family member the KMART Breadmaker as a gift at the same time as I bought this Panasonic (at a significantly cheaper price of well under $100) and it is still working well.

I'm very dissapointed, not recommended – The program for dough isn't working properly, I can't use it Show details

I use this 3-4 times a week and love it, but what I love more is knowing my family is eating healthy bread that I know exactly what's inside. I've… Read more

tried many of the recipes but what I love most is the Basic Menu 1 or 2 and I make the Light, Medium sized loaf (the smallest loaf) or it is too high for my toaster. I strictly follow the recipe for the amount of flour and water but add a little more powdered milk, sugar, butter and yeast. It takes less than 3 minutes to put on a loaf.

I quickly learnt that the most important ratio is flour to water. I always weigh my flour.

I ONLY use organic flour, if you are in Australia you can buy this: https://goodness.com.au

Because the bread is not loaded with preservatives etc it doesn't last as long (2-3 days in the summer), which is not a problem when making smaller loaves and it's so easy to make more.

There's a bit of a fight for the crust when it first comes out of the machine, so crispy, we usually dont wait for the bread to cool down lol, too eager. I always place it on a drying rack with a net over, letting the natural air cool the bread.

I often set the bread to make fresh overnight and we wake in the morning to the smell of fresh bread for lunches wafting through the house. You set the timer to how many hours before you want your bread to finish eg 10pm at night is 9hrs for 7am fresh bread (Basic Menu 1).

Never leave the bread in the machine when it's finished or it goes a bit soft/soggy and shrinks. I've had a fail when I forgot to put back the mixer at the bottom of the basin; I've had a fail when this wasn't cleaned properly of leftover baked bread and then failed to turn and mix properly. I've also had many fails when I've forgotten the yeast.

I love the Dough (Soft Rolls / Baps) Recipe, I've learned to cut these into a minimum of 10 rolls as they rise really well and 8 is too big.

My husband makes his Pizza bases, so much easier for him. Pizza are his 'Italian' speciality.

After baking, I've learnt to wrap my tea towel (as shown in my pics) to avoid burns (I've had a few lol) and I immediately drench the tub in cold water, wash the mixer and put back in the machine to dry.

I've had my machine for nearly 2 years, I don't think it has saved me any money, but the bread is delicious and it has become the most important piece of equipment in my kitchen.

Crusty artisan bread yes, but not much flexibility for the premium price – Initially I was amazed at this machine, it definitely ticks the 'Artisan bread' box, perfectly in fact. But over time you realise, with bread,… Read more

variety is the key. Sometimes you just want a normal shaped loaf. Sometimes you don't want a super crusty ball of bread. After a while you want to modify the settings to your liking (you can't). Sometimes you want to set an 8 hour timer and have the seeds, raisins and nuts dispense into the dough automatically at 3am (you can only put the timer on plain bread). Yes it has other settings like pizza, dough and jam, but I find these never turn out as good as other machines (that are cheaper) or hand making. So in summary, if you only love artisan bread and are willing to pay the premium price, this machine is magical, if you want all types of normal bread and dough, then there are other models that are better at this (and cheaper).

Horrible – I have 2 here that my Wife bought and the drive lugs that engage with the bread pan drive broke off,I repaired them and used the first one for a… Read more

couple months and then the display/keyboard failed,so onto the second one and then same thing was working fine the next time went to use it the display/keyboard did same as the first,what pieces of junk.On top of that they never made anywhere near as good a loaf as the 15 year old breville they replaced despite trying multiple adjustments to mix and settings.

Paid $14.50 but worthless – 1st loaf came out reasonable after I fought to get it out, had to turn machine on side and shake like crazy and pull hard. 2nd loaf i used a packet… Read more

mix and it came out about 4cm high and a solid block( tossed it in bin). 3rd loaf stopped 45 minutes into cycle so had to restart from beginning, then would not open under any circumstances , had to use an electric screwdriver to remove the bottom and move the belt a few revolutions , plus lots of muscles and shaking it like crazy. Bread was fair when removed. 4th loaf required door to be wedged shut as program kept pausing and door was shaking all over the place, then when cooked came out like burnt heavy pebbles , see picture. 5th loaf came out pale ( despite being cooked on dark) and not well risen, wet and sticky with lumps of dry flour on it. Tried to review on their website but clearly they WON'T POST ANY REVIEWS that are HONEST AND UNFLATTERING. Paid $14.50 plus $19.90 postage plus wasted many hours and ingredients. I've given up on this defective machine and ordered a Panasonic. The pictures are of so called completely cooked loaves.

Just awful – I follow all instructions and have failed to have a decent loaf of bread. Loaves come out mostly undercooked, or fail to rise much, or are badly… Read more

lopsided at one end, or have the paddles stuck inside them. I would not recommend this machine at all. My son has a Kmart variety which was much cheaper and gives way better results, I have been using the correct level of viable yeast, using the weight required of whole meal flour to plain. I am very disappointed in this product,