Our trusty old Panasonic SD253 has suddenly dropped the horizontal bars
from the LCD display of the baking time, making it virtually impossible
to use. Everything else still works, but you have to know that a loaf
takes (say) 5hrs, and then add your overnight delay time using one
keypress per 10 mins, so this is going to get deeply tedious.

Nothing out there seems to proclaim itself as the successor to the
SD253, so I'm in the market for something useful. The only must-haves are:

* rectangular loaf, not square
* delay timer
* nut/raisin dispenser
* ability to handle rye or spelt without shattering the drive shaft
(you may detect the voice of experience here :-)
* variety of loaf sizes
* dough-only program

An observation window would be nice but not essential. I'm not
interested in using it to make jam or ice-cream but I am open to any
useful additions.

Peter

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On Wed, 27 Mar 2019 22:57:09 +0000, Peter Flynn <peter@silmaril.ie>
wrote:

On 27/03/2019 21:10, Boron Elgar wrote:
[snip]

Hit the nearest Salvation Army or Goodwill. Take your smartphone
with you and check the features of whatever you see. You can usually
get one for dirt cheap. Experiment for your $10.

Interesting idea. I'm not sure our local equivalents of those
institutions (St VdeP and assorted charities) even have breadmakers, but
this sounds good to check out, thanks.

P

After I posted, I seemed to recall that you were not from Left Pondia. Apologies.

I do not think most breadmakers made these days are as sturdy as they
were designed for even 10 years ago. Granted they have many more
electronic bells and whistles, though.

I adore wandering 2nds hand stores and any of them that carries
household goods here in New Jersey, tends to have a few on hand. Only
other item with such ubiquity is Mr. Coffee machines.

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On Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:47:28 +0000, Peter Flynn <peter@silmaril.ie>
wrote:

Our trusty old Panasonic SD253 has suddenly dropped the horizontal bars
from the LCD display of the baking time, making it virtually impossible
to use. Everything else still works, but you have to know that a loaf
takes (say) 5hrs, and then add your overnight delay time using one
keypress per 10 mins, so this is going to get deeply tedious.

Nothing out there seems to proclaim itself as the successor to the
SD253, so I'm in the market for something useful. The only must-haves are:

* rectangular loaf, not square
* delay timer
* nut/raisin dispenser
* ability to handle rye or spelt without shattering the drive shaft
(you may detect the voice of experience here :-)
* variety of loaf sizes
* dough-only program

An observation window would be nice but not essential. I'm not
interested in using it to make jam or ice-cream but I am open to any
useful additions.

Peter

Hit the nearest Salvation Army or Goodwill. Take your smartphone with
you and check the features of whatever you see. You can usually get
one for dirt cheap. Experiment for your $10.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 27/03/2019 21:10, Boron Elgar wrote:
[snip]

Hit the nearest Salvation Army or Goodwill. Take your smartphone
with you and check the features of whatever you see. You can usually
get one for dirt cheap. Experiment for your $10.

Interesting idea. I'm not sure our local equivalents of those
institutions (St VdeP and assorted charities) even have breadmakers, but
this sounds good to check out, thanks.

P

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 27/03/2019 23:50, Boron Elgar wrote:

On Wed, 27 Mar 2019 22:57:09 +0000, Peter Flynn <peter@silmaril.ie>
wrote:

On 27/03/2019 21:10, Boron Elgar wrote:
[snip]

Hit the nearest Salvation Army or Goodwill. Take your smartphone
with you and check the features of whatever you see. You can usually
get one for dirt cheap. Experiment for your $10.

Interesting idea. I'm not sure our local equivalents of those
institutions (St VdeP and assorted charities) even have breadmakers, but
this sounds good to check out, thanks.

P

After I posted, I seemed to recall that you were not from Left Pondia. Apologies.

None needed.

Turns out charity stores here don't take electrical goods because of the
risk of being sued by someone electrocuting themselves or others. No
amount of disclaimers will stop an Irish judge from assigning vast sums
in compensation against people who deal in faulty or damaged goods.

I do not think most breadmakers made these days are as sturdy as they
were designed for even 10 years ago. Granted they have many more
electronic bells and whistles, though.

That is also a problem with most goods. We're slowly moving back to the
1950s when it was thought to be terribly clever to make goods containing
one irreplaceable part which wore out long before the rest, to force a
new purchase. The 3D printer may outwit them yet, though.

I adore wandering 2nds hand stores and any of them that carries
household goods here in New Jersey, tends to have a few on hand. Only
other item with such ubiquity is Mr. Coffee machines.

I do so in other countries (France especially).

P

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thu, 28 Mar 2019 19:57:57 +0000, Peter Flynn <peter@silmaril.ie>
wrote:

On 27/03/2019 23:50, Boron Elgar wrote:

On Wed, 27 Mar 2019 22:57:09 +0000, Peter Flynn <peter@silmaril.ie>
wrote:

On 27/03/2019 21:10, Boron Elgar wrote:
[snip]

Hit the nearest Salvation Army or Goodwill. Take your smartphone
with you and check the features of whatever you see. You can usually
get one for dirt cheap. Experiment for your $10.

Interesting idea. I'm not sure our local equivalents of those
institutions (St VdeP and assorted charities) even have breadmakers, but >>> this sounds good to check out, thanks.

P

After I posted, I seemed to recall that you were not from Left Pondia.
Apologies.

None needed.

Turns out charity stores here don't take electrical goods because of the
risk of being sued by someone electrocuting themselves or others. No
amount of disclaimers will stop an Irish judge from assigning vast sums
in compensation against people who deal in faulty or damaged goods.

That is quite understandable. Logical, even.

I do not think most breadmakers made these days are as sturdy as they
were designed for even 10 years ago. Granted they have many more
electronic bells and whistles, though.

That is also a problem with most goods. We're slowly moving back to the
1950s when it was thought to be terribly clever to make goods containing
one irreplaceable part which wore out long before the rest, to force a
new purchase. The 3D printer may outwit them yet, though.

I adore wandering 2nds hand stores and any of them that carries
household goods here in New Jersey, tends to have a few on hand. Only
other item with such ubiquity is Mr. Coffee machines.

I do so in other countries (France especially).

During most travels I try to hit 2nd hand goods store and used
bookstores. There is something about them that give me an interesting
cultural view.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 27/03/2019 13:47, Peter Flynn wrote:

[...]
Nothing out there seems to proclaim itself as the successor to the
SD253, so I'm in the market for something useful. The only must-haves are:

Thank you for various bits of help. I've narrowed it down to two:

Lakeland BreadMaker Plus, which is big and boxy but comes with a stand
for smaller baking trays, and a customisable program, which I would find useful. Mixed reviews comparing it to the Panasonic 251/2/3 though. https://www.lakeland.co.uk/17892

Panasonic SD-2501 WXC, which is the closest direct successor I found,
but weirdly rotated 90° so the control panel is on the end not the side.
Main USP is the gluten-free program, but I don't have a requirement for
this.
https://www.lakeland.co.uk/15352

P

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On 28/04/2019 00:34, Peter Flynn wrote:

Lakeland BreadMaker Plus, which is big and boxy but comes with a
stand for smaller baking trays, and a customisable program, which I
would find useful. Mixed reviews comparing it to the Panasonic
251/2/3 though. https://www.lakeland.co.uk/17892

I took the leap and bought this the other day. Haven't used it yet, just
done their prep work of washing the tin and putting it into a 10-min
bake cycle, presumably to burn off dust and stuff.

First impressions:

Upsides: Nicely made, clear screen, good instruction book, detachable
digital scales, more compact than my old Panasonic (I was wrong about
'big and boxy'), well laid out and easy to use.

Downsides: no on/off switch — you have to unplug or use a switched wall-socket. Both are impractical for me, as the wall-socket is behind
the machine. The tin is flimsier than the Panasonic's, being made from
pressed steel instead of what looks like die-cast. Both are foolish,
amateurish cost-cutters: I would happily have paid another €10 or so.

Major diff: the instructions say to load the tin with the salt and
liquid FIRST, THEN flour and sugar and fat, and FINALLY the yeast (on
top), to prevent the yeast contacting the liquid or salt prematurely.
The Panasonic — for identical reasons — said yeast FIRST, then flour and sugar and fat and salt, and FINALLY the liquid on top (the flour forming
a blocking layer). I'll try both: the Panasonic method always worked.

A review in _Which?_ magazine said the delayed-action (overnight)
wholewheat loaf was disappointing. I emailed Lakeland about this and
they said they don't recommend doing wholewheat overnight anyway. But
the Panasonic did it fine, so I'll experiment.

It also apparently makes jam.

Peter

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