Sunbeam Bakehouse BM4500
VerifiedMPNs: 2079, 35902763 and BM4500106 reviews
I’ve had this machine for a few years, I’ve probably made 60 loaves of fruit bread, I can honestly say I haven’t been happy with any. They don’t rise properly, the paddle falls over and you basically have to lift it up whilst putting in ingredients. I’ve tried the lauke pre mix and other flours, thinking it was the problem, after seeing all these reviews I now realise it’s the machine. Don’t buy. Show details
Pretty good – I bake on the gluten free menu around 1-2 loaves per week. I’ve had the bread maker now for about 1 year. I no longer add the ingredients directly to the tin because I found the kneading blade to be too much hassle. Most of the time it would fall over even after I’d pick it up again. The main issue was that I had to dig it out of the bread once it… Read more
was baked. It comes with a tool to do this easily however, it was very tedious to clean the kneading blade each time. Instead I took that blade out and I prepare the bread as a bowl of wet ingredients and a bowl of dry ingredients then I knead it myself, all I do is sift and fold in the dry ingredients to the wet, then bake it. Essentially, I have a bread oven. But it takes me the same amount of time to knead it myself as it was taking me to clean up after so it’s fine. I’m unsure why, but I am not able to change the crust setting in the gluten free menu, only the size. I was given a different recipe from a friend who has an earlier Sunbeam B M model and I like that recipe better than the ones on offer in the book. I have had to make quite a few adjustments to the books recipes, but once I get it right, it does bake great bread and it’s much healthier for the family than the store bought bread, so I’m pleased we’ve got it. There is a fruit and nut drawer that opens during the baking process to mix in for fruit bread etc, I haven’t found it very effective, the GF fruit bread recipe in the book it very thick/ tough and the fruit just sits on top and falls off when you are slicing the bread. Instead I’ve been having to mix it in myself. I’m still playing with the fruit bread recipe measures to get a better consistency that I like. I do find the troubleshooting guide in the accompanying recipe book to be helpful as it’s quite thorough. It would be good if there was a forum for people interested in trying recipe changes to share tips etc. Overall, I’m pleased with my purchase and I would probably buy it again, it depends on the longevity which obviously I don’t know yet as it’s only been a year. My friend influenced my purchase as hers is still going after 10 years so that’s good to know.
Hello Makensi, Thank you for sharing your current… Read more
Biggest waste of money I've ever spent – It doesn't mix properly. It doesn't cook properly. And it has a very flimsy top door hinge. The paddle keeps falling over.i took it back and tried 2nd machine. It failed also. Show details
In fact I'm finding all sunbeam products are faulty, use to only use sunbeam in the kitchen, now it's everything but
Reviews with attachments
Likely user error but bread keeps sinking on regular mode – I made our first loaf in this machine using the turbo setting as we were in a hurry, and it came out perfectly! Instructions were clear, and the bread maker seemed to perform well. The flip down paddle mixer is great and has avoided huge holes in the middle of loaves. The hinge on the lid is a little flimsy and causes it to bang on the side of the… Read more
panel with the controls on closing it sometimes, but otherwise the machine seems solid.
I've since tried the "normal" white loaf cycle (3hrs or so), and every time the loaf has sunk by the time the cycle is finished. The dough seems to form nicely, not too sticky or dry, and rises beautifully during the cycle (looks like a full, uncooked loaf) at about the 56min remaining mark (see picture looking through window).
By about 30 minutes remaining the loaf has sunk, and then stays like that for the rest of the cycle. I tried less yeast on this most recent attempt (1tsp instead of 1.5tsp mentioned in the recipe that came with the breadmaker), but same result.
Water is luke warm, all other measurements are precise (scales and measuring spoons), the blade is in the upright position, but they still sink. Using Tandaco Dry Yeast, and measuring with 1tsp and 1/2tsp spoons, putting it in a little divot on top of the flour etc and putting everything in using the order specified in the recipe.
To the machines credit, the bread still tastes okay.
Any advice would be appreciated cause I'm at a loss after trying tweaks to the recipe 4 times now. Thanks!
Fault with blade – I have a Sunbeam Bakehouse machine which is only 3 months old and after a few bakes which were perfect the blade started to come of in every loaf and it would be in the centre of the loaf after baking. I found out the the coating on the blade was coming of and going into the bread and with no non stick coating the dough stuck yo the blade and pulled it off. Show details
Hello Bob, Thank you for sharing your current experience,… Read more
Nowhere near as good as the old ones ! – Sorry Sunbeam I like your products and always choose a Sunbeam appliance when I need one but on this occasion I went wrong. This breadmaker is dismal. First off the recipes in the book provide just flat out don’t work. The first time I used it the bread didn’t rise and was dense and not cooked properly the second time was exactly the same so I… Read more
tried it a third time and got the same result. I have changed my yeast, flour and other ingredients still with no success. I have resorted to using recipes from my Mum and Dads 20 year old bake house machine which worked well for the next 3 loaves. I have now put a loaf on this morning and part way through the machine has just suddenly stopped mixing and has started making an awful squealing noise. I turned it off and turned it back on and that seemed to fix the problem and then the machine just did the same again. This time it corrected itself and started again but the bread that has baked has become a dense undercooked flat loaf. I also tried a seperate loaf on the rapid cycle and that loaf failed also. This product is really disappointing and is a far cry from the excellent bread I get from my parents 20 year old Bakehouse. I bought this Bakehosue specifically on the good results of the old one. Unfortunately it doesn’t even come close to producing decent bread. One thing I noticed is that the current recipe book tells you to put the water in first and all the ingredients in the opposite order to what the old recipe book my parents one uses does. I’m not sure if Sunbeam printed this wrong but the yeast should always go in first. We are now swapping this one for a Panasonic breadmaker
Positive reviews
Love it! – An excellent bread maker. The only issue I have is the extremely loud beeping (or siren) that goes off when it is time to add fruit or nuts. It wakes the whole house if we have it set to come on at night. Other than that it is a terrific machine. Show details
I like it. Well made. Smart – I have only had BM4500 2 months now. Always had a Panasonic. I love how easy this is to clean. The bread has all been perfect. Soft better taste. People who say they have sunken bread, it their ingredients. Their measurements. Don’t condemn the machine, Show details
Bread Maker with reliable recipes – Love this bread maker machine, looking for a Gluten free option and this machine delivers that. Fantastic recipe book and a quality machine that works really well. All the options are amazing like the fruit and nut dispenser very happy with my purchase! Show details · 1
Negative reviews
Works great - BUT DO NOT BUY – EDIT: This is a year on edit. I've had the machine for quite some time and while it worked well and didn't have any issues I cannot recommend this unit any more. A friend borrowed the machine and managed to lose the mixing paddle. This isn't the fault of Sunbeam. BUT it is impossible to purchase another one. I've bought off market ones on ebay but… Read more
Sunbeam changed the driveshaft fitting so that none of them fit. I've contacted 6 different Sunbeam spare parts places and all have advised me that they cannot even order replacement paddle. It's a simple spare part and I can only assume that sunbeam do not have it as a spare because they know you will need to buy a new entire machine. I despise these tactics, so i would recommend buying a different bread maker that actually has spares. Stay away from sunbeam and their dodgy practices.
I now have a useless machine because I can't order a cheap $5 part.
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Have had the machine for a few months now and made many things. People saying it makes crappy loafs are measuring wrong. I've done it myself. You need to pay attention in the early stages, the first 10-20 minutes to make sure you haven't added too much water or flour (if you mess up the yeast or anything else thats on you). If you make sure the paddle is up once it starts (it can be knocked down while dumping ingredients in), it will remain upright. Just do a bit of checking in the first 20 minutes and you will not have any of the mistakes people are posting here. And they are mistakes. I've had the most beautiful fluffy loafs and terrible sunken stodgy messes. Be accurate on your measurements and check it, that's all you need. It also makes amazing pizza dough, and i'm going to be a fatty because of it.
WASTE OF MONEY DO NOT BUY – i wish i read reviews before buying!!! brought a few days ago brand new as i wanted to have fresh made bread for christmas. have made 6 loaves on multiple different settings and all have failed!!! have tried following recipe that comes with bread machine. have tried pre made Laucke bread mix in machine. ALL have failed!! we were going crazy… Read more
wondering what we were doing wrong.... until i read the reviews on this page. seems it's not us... and it's the machine. sunbeam this machine is disgraceful! i would like a refund please. of course store won't refund due to it being used.
very disappointing!!! DO NOT BUY
Hi chelsea, Sorry to hear of your bad experience with the… Read more
Frustrated – I bought this breadmaker model BM4500 in December 2019 as a Christmas present to myself after my 20 year old Breville finally gave up the ghost. The first half a dozen times the bread was lovely. After that forget it. The blade end up either in the middle, the top or the corner of the bread. Started to research replacement parts and they are… Read more
discontinued. Bad form Sunbeam, when this particular model is still being widely sold. $161 down the drain.
Recent reviews
Blade broke. Stumbles. Doesn't stay up at all. Used twice – The blade broke which does the mixing. Only used the bread maker twice. Extremely disappointed. I've heard this can be a common issue. The blade can become loose and just break. It no longer stands up. Always falls. When Sunbeam see this, could they very kindly message me and I'll provide my address so they can send me a new blade. Everything else… Read more
is perfectly fine. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!
UPDATE********** Decided to pack it and will be taking it back for an exchange of something else. So many people below have complained about how the blade is very flimsy and always collapses. Screw that. Never purchasing another Sunbeam product again. And the irony is, I could have purchased another bread maker that was equally as nice, and cheaper, but went with the Sunbeam because of the good brand name, MATE what a joke!!!!!!!!!! Never again.
UPDATE x2********** Took it back to Myer. Got a full refund back to my card. Even after already having it for around 3 months. They said it's a very common issue. And there you have it. If you EVER needed a further reason to avoid than that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello Johnny, Thank you for contacting us about your… Read more
Find out how Sunbeam Bakehouse BM4500 compares to other Bread Makers
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Read the reviews before you buy – I wish I’d read reviews before buying the Sunbeam Bakehouse. I’ve had 2 breadmakers (Breville) before and like the other reviewers, I’m pretty experienced in the kitchen. This is crap compared to the others I’ve owned. The paddle often goes flat, it NEVER mixes evenly and I have to help mix in the edges manually. It needs to have two paddles… Read more
instead of just one in the middle…one just doesn’t cut it. I use a bread maker mostly for making dough and pasta but have tried baking bread in it a few times. Bread doesn’t brown evenly and gets stuck in the tin. I’m tossing it out sadly.
Junk – I bought one of these a few years ago when my old breville finally gave up after years of service. I couldn't get it to work reliably and ended up getting another breville after a short time. The sunbeam has been sitting in the bottom of a laundry cupboard ever since. One day I'll get around to throwing it out. Show details
Worst Breadmaker I have ever had – The paddle collapses all the time. I have tried different recipes but they all come out the same. Flat and doughy. Have made bread for years, this is the worst
Machine went from Good to Bad – Hi i just got a sunbeam from Briscoes Manakau July 3rd. The first sunbeam made 4 nice garlic herb loaf, then the loaf after came out stodgy and brown took the machine back cause of an strange grinding noise. the new machine has made nothing but stodgy brown loaf. i have only made basic menu one garlic and herb loaf with a few white loaf mixed all came out stodgy and brown. Show details
Still sold >>>and no parts available>>>tis is about BM4500 !!!! – Works fine and has a big pan. I am now using it mostly to make dough for bread rolls. Last week toward the end of th dough making time the circuit safety popped. I was not baking --just mixing. Unplugged and reset the safety switch. All good. Plugged the Sunbeam in and switched on - still OK, the I switched to BAKING -- safety popped. Multimeter… Read more
check -- heating coil short!! After two days and phoning all service agents I could not get another heating element -- not available anymore!!. I can still mix - but have to stop after 1 hour. It seems the bread maker will warm up the dough at the last phase of proving.
sorry -- something went wrong -- the review is about BM4500
Worst bread maker Sunbeam Bakehouse – Purchased from Kitchen Warehouse January 2021, Perth. I am an experienced cook and have owned 2 bread makers in the past and often made bread by hand. This one purchased is the worst I have used - which I have used 6 times in case I got the instructions wrong! The reason for buying another bread-maker is that I am time-poor and an automated… Read more
machine should be ideal. Each of the six times of using the machine, the bread came out burnt, it smelled burnt 30 minutes before the cycle had finished; the blade was embedded half way up the loaf on 4 of the occasions, the consistency of the cooked loaf each time was dense. I am not a regular review writer, but taking this machine back to Kitchen Warehouse is inconvenient and would achieve nothing - they will not refund me. Sunbeam, after reading all of these reviews, you should do a recall and refund, back to the drawing board. The inconvenience of buying appliances that don't meet standard or expectations are not user fault regardless of your customer care replies. I would like a refund asap and will copy this review onto your website to customer complaints. Please don't ask me to take a new appliance for repairs - refund only, with a forward-cost of postage included. Ada
Hello Ada, Thank you for sharing your current experience… Read more
Disappointed – As yet have not made a good looking loaf - very ragged on tops. Have made sure blade was upright at beginning but looked flat when pulled from baked loaf. Have followed recipe for sourdough (menu 5) (image 1). Also tried Barossa Sourdough Rye premix from Laucke, following all instructions - result is image 2. Have also tried Rustic Rye (menu 9) with similar results. Looks like I have to go back to making bread completely by hand. Show details
Wouldn't mind getting my money back on this bit of junk so that I can afford to pay for a Panasonic one
This is the worst bread maker I have ever used – This is the second bread maker I have ever had. Before I had a brevill bread maker and it never failed. The Sunbeam has never worked since I have had it. I only make French bread without turbo. It is a simple recipe and always worked on the Breville, never on the Sunbeam BM4500. I am using the correct quality and quantity of ingredients. Show details
Only worked for 3 weeks – After 3 weeks of wonderful bread it suddenly stopped heating on the second rise. It then baked the cold, sunk dough = a horrible loaf. See pic attached with the same recipe when the bread maker was working and after the rise cycle stopped heating. Also the paddle is very fiddly to keep upright, which is essential for all functions. And you need… Read more
to REALLY clean the paddle or you get black oil through your bread. Replaced by Sunbeam - great service! However having now read other reviews online it will probably die again.
Find out how Sunbeam Bakehouse BM4500 compares to other Bread Makers
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One design flaw – Design flaw with blade falling off shaft (as others mentioned for two years). This happened after first few days. This is folding style paddle - good idea, but so-so in reality, way better than a huge hole in loaf! Half hour pre-warming function is annoying, loaf always fails on menu 3, rises great at first, not on final stage. Menu 1 works well… Read more
enough, not as nice as previous Breville, Aldi. (Sunbeam has already committed to replacement - thanks) Otherwise machine looks & works fine. Small loaf mixes fine, non-stick pan, long kneeding, quiet enough. I love breadmakers, but they can demand a lot of experimentation to get a nice loaf.
Hello Ian, Thank you for sharing your current experience,… Read more
Useless – Product was fantastic to start with now every loaf comes out sunken in middle and very dense. Thought i was useless but i have changed every variable, water amount/temp, yeast, flour, sugar, salt, bread improver, etc starting to believe Product is faulty. Unfortunately purchased through Chrisco so not sure of my options Show details
It’s a shame, I really wanted to like it but it was an absolute piece of rubbish! – We purchased this bread maker because we have gone into self isolation due to coronavirus, it was the only machine available at JB hi-fi at the time so we thought we would give it a go! We tried eight different recipes and the bread would always deep down in the middle and would never rise properly compare to other brands that we’ve seen out of… Read more
other breadmakers. After 2 1/2 weeks we gave up and return the machine as we did not even get one decent loaf of bread out of it, we thought maybe we were making it wrong and we also tried using different ingredients but nothing we could do would make a decent loaf of bread. Upon returning this machine JB hi-fi had a display Panasonic breadmaker on the shelf and it’s only cost me $40 to upgrade to a Panasonic machine, what an absolute difference!!!The first life of bread that came out of a new Panasonic machine look like it came out of a magazine it was absolutely perfect exclamation! Do yourself a favour and do not purchase this machine even though you have no other choices you will be better off with no breadmaker than this piece of rubbish some bean bread maker!!!
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Timer Delay won’t work – Bought this machine a couple of years ago as a replacement Sunbeam bread maker, which was absolutely brilliant. This one BM4500 is crapola !! After reading these reviews I decided to add mine. One time out of about three, the bread is a success. Not good enough. Three times I have tried to “Time Delay “ following the directions in the booklet and… Read more
with witnesses and three times it starts mixing straight away. This machine is a piece of junk and I’ll be looking to buy a cheapie Aldi machine when they’re on sale next. If I’m doing something wrong, any help will be greatly appreciated. Several days later : before this review was posted, I was sent a message asking if I would prefer mediation before posting my review and if I was happy I might change/edit my review. I said yes. Well that’s been a waste of time. I got an email of acknowledgement asking what was wrong. Haven’t heard anything else until another message today addressed to my husband !! And even then is was useless. After this experience I would never buy another sunbeam bread maker. They’re not cheap but they should be. They’re rubbish
Hello Barb H, So sorry to hear about your experience with… Read more
Failure bread every time! – I wish I had have read the reviews before purchasing this waste of space/time/energy/money. Doesn't matter what I do or what recipe I try, they all end up small windowless buildings. The times I think a good loaf might be finally going to happen because there is actually some height/rising occurring it's short-lived and collapses. Unfortunately it… Read more
took me several months to get around to even using/trialing the machine so it's now out of warranty. The other thing to note for NZ purchasers is there are plenty of recipes in the book then towards the end there's a heading "NZ Recipes" and there's only 4 recipes for bread, don't buy this machine! Find a better one and read reviews first!
Rubbish machine – This product is rubbish ..as we get near end time bread appears to be rising but when it finishes the bread sinks in the centre ..have varied all elements yeast water etc..same result..my friend brought cheap breville one for $20 hers never fails same recipe Show details
Hello Xtine930, All our products have a 12 month warranty… Read more (+1 reply)
Bread has been perfect – So far loving my breadmaker. The loaves I've made have come out beautiful. I have done 4 so far, 1 with fruit. Only one loaf wasn't so great, a little too dense and didn't rise as much but I was experimenting with the turbo function. The bread didn't rise as much as other loaves I had made. Show details · 1
Blade coming out and sticky dough – Got my bread maker yesterday,was super excited to test it.The mixing blade comes out while mixing Baked another 2 today and it’s the same. Why is this happening? The dough is also sticky,and I’m measuring exact. Not happy Show details
Hi Chanel, Thank you for contacting Sunbeam. It does vary… Read more (+2 replies)
this is the worse bread maker I have used couldn't get a good loaf hubby tried he couldn't either ...rubbish – settings were good but sadly nothing else bread never turned out make brown fruit and white none turned out awful changed my flour yeast still the same blade kepted falling over more trouble than it worth Show details
Hi judith, Sorry to hear of your experience with the… Read more
Don't purchase! – If you are thinking of buying this machine, save yourself some time and don't bother going to the store to buy one, just send your money straight to Sunbeam and don't get the breadmaker. You'll be in the same situation - less money in your pocket and not able to make bread in a machine. To be fair, i have been able to make plain white bread with… Read more
some success, hence the one star. But, if you attempt to make anything that resembles wholemeal or grain, you are in for continued disappointment. The bread collapses and never works. I've had the machine for a few years and try again every 6 months or so, in the faint hope that it may suddenly miraculously work! My most recent experience, i purchased a box of pre-mixed bread, with four packs (loaves) inside. All four failed. I've tried every tip in the manual and online. I used less yeast, more yeast, brand new yeast, less water, more water, warmer and cooler water. 3 of the 4 collapsed. The 4th didn't collapse, but didn't rise correctly and was too dense. It doesn't matter what i do, this machine won't bake bread and instead sucks your money away.
Hi jwbates, So sorry to hear this. Not sure why it would… Read more
One Design Flaw – This makes awesome bread. It's a great machine, best of those I have had. However there is one rather large design flaw. The kneading blade is loose, and often comes up off the shaft slightly when first kneading, this can be hard to see, but what happens is the shaft rotates, but of course the blade doesn't, and you end up with a small, dense… Read more
loaf. I have tried all sorts, including replacements, but the same thing happens, packing it with foil etc but none work. It needs a clip or some such. As I say design flaw and of course a rather major one. It's the entire point of a machine, the kneading. Zero response from NZ Sunbeam about it, they don't bother responding to customers over here.
Hi Pctek, Thank you for contacting Sunbeam and for the… Read more (+1 reply)
Not worth the hype – After quite a bit of excitement over the purchase of this bread machine, I was disappointed to find my bread containing numerous specks of what seemed like black element. The black coating of the bottom of the bread tin had been scraped by the rotating blades during the mixing stage. After ensuring the blades were secured in the correct position,… Read more
I can conclude that the blades were faulty. Not only would this black coating be unpleasant to consume, but it is unsafe due to the synthetic chemical properties it contains. This left me with no option but to discard the bread which had undergone processing for quite a while. After the second attempt at baking a loaf of white bread, the same issue occurred. After consuming a small and clean section of the bread, I found the texture to be quite firm unlike the texture of loaves purchased from the bakery or supermarket. The product also consumes a large amount of electricity seeing that it requires a running time of about three hours, depending of the type of bread that is made. I believe this product was not worth the hype and hope everyone else who purchases it has a better experience than I did. Will not be purchasing this product again.
Hi Amy, So sorry to hear. Hope you took the Breadmaker… Read more
A bit disappointing – While I have had nothing but success with my machine, my son recently purchased one of his own. He has had more failures than successes & is very disappointed with the product. He has used the recipes in the included book as well as packaged mixes. He is going to return it for a refund as he is definitely not happy with it. Show details
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Hi Jenbicton, Thank you for sharing your experience… Read more