I too have just purchased a panasonic breadmaker the SD256. And I must say I have had no problems at all.  I follow the recipe in the book to the letter, the ingredients is put into the pan in the order given, as an example:-(yeast-flour-sugar-butter-salt-water {no need to warm the water}) I can even delay the making, up to 13hours, and it works, I have not bought a loaf of bread since purchasing my bread maker, if this is no help to you I suggest you go back to the manufacturers, it could be a rouge breadmaker ( another thought, are you using all of the packet of yeast? as you only need 1 or 1 1/2 teaspoons not the full or even half of the 7g packet) good luck

sorry you are having no luck with your breadmaker, Persevere with panasonic or perhaps the retailer you purchased it from, if you can.  It is an excellent breadmaker, I have had mine for 5 weeks now. and have made at least 3 loaves a week, my husband likes his sandwiches, I am now doing the sandwich loaves at the bottom of page 21 in the instruction booklet, the brown was really nice and the french loaf on page 20 is really nice too.  have also done  the Malted fruit loaf on page 17. I have even done the gingerbread cake and the fruit tea bread on page 31 although it is difficult to line the pan, nevertheless the result was really nice too. once again good luck. I HAVE JUST REMEMBERED, I DID HAVE ONE MISHAP WITH ONE OF MY LOAVES, I USED ALLISON DRIED ACTIVE YEAST, IN A TIN, BUT IT WAS FOR HAND BAKING. I MUST REMEMBER, TO LOOK AT THE YEAST PACKET AND MAKE SURE IT IS FOR MACHINE BAKING. I CAN ONLY FIND THIS YEAST IN SACHETS. ///(*-*)\\\

Last edited by susav (12-04-2011 11:10:28)

I've also got a problem with my Panasonic machine (SD2501) and wonder if anyone has any suggestions. I've had this machine for 10 months and up until a month ago have been baking beautiful loaves of all sorts - wholemeal, fruit, seed, white, rapid etc.
Last month however things started to go awry. My loaves just don't rise the same. I always make the XL loaves (when available) and these used to rise above the level of the pan, now all my loaves barely reach the top and are probably about half the height they used to be.
I decided the batch of yeast (fast action for bread makers) must have become too old so I bought a new batch and have now tried several batches as well as sachets. I've tried different flours (I'd always just used the cheap Tesco own brand strong flour but have now tried the branded versions), I've tried adding a little more and a little less water to no avail - each loaf comes out similarly vertically challenged. Recently I've weighed out the water on my scales as they have a liquid setting but I've even gone and dug out the original measuring cup and spoon to see if perhaps there was a difference
My favourite program was always the French but this mornings attempt is a flat loaf with one enormous air bubble at the top.
Taste is still fine but it is so much heavier as it is so dense.
Has anyone any ideas?

Not so. The only ingredients which are essential in a bread machine are yeast, flour and water. Salt is desirable but not essential. Sugar is entirely optional, as are things such as fat/oil, milk powder and vitamin C, which are often listed in recipes.

Sugar is not essential in any breadmaking. The only things which are utterly essential in all breadmaking are some form of flour and a liquid of some sort. Usually water.

No argument there. But that doesn't make it essential, just commonly used. All of those recipes will still work without the sugar and, in most cases, you'd be hard put to tell the difference.

I'm sorry that you think that correcting misinformation is 'being picky'. Personally, I look on it as being helpful.

Would that I did but, not only do I not know everything, unlike some people, I don't try to pretend that I do, either.

Update : Today's wholemeal has worked a treat!! No idea what was different - I've endured a month of poorly risen loaves and then over the last couple of days things have definitely improved. Same yeast, back to my own brand flour and my usual measures. Will monitor and report back

I've been using Panasonic machines for about 7 years and am now on my second one, having worn out the basin and paddle on the first, baking 2 or three loaves a week, mostly granary.  I have never had a failure with these machines, apart from when I forgot to add yeast, or put in the paddle.

Last week I bought a machine on Ebay listed as 'spares or repair' for less than the cost of a new paddle, so that I can cannibalise it when my current machine wears out.  I tested it and the motor and heater seemed to be working so I thought I would try baking a loaf.  I got the same results as you did JeanieB.  The top of the loaf (medium size) reached barely to half way up the sides and the top was sunken.  Same recipe, same ingredients as I normally use, so this is definitely a machine-related problem.

I tried swapping the pan and paddle to my main machine and the bread was fine, so they are not the problem (I was wondering whether the previous owner had cleaned it with bleach of something which would interfere with the yeast).  So it is the machine itself.  Digital electronics normally either work or don't, so it's not that.  Same with the heater and  motor.  I haven't tracked it down any further, but my guess would be the thermostat.

I suggest that you take it back to the retailer if it is still in warranty and ask them to replace or repair it.  Your purchase contract is with the retailer, not the manufacturer and it is their responsibility to deal with defective goods.  Don't let them fob you off.  It used to work and now it doesn't - you don't have to be able to explain why.  The same applies if you bought it online or by mail order, even from an Ebay trader.

If you are in the UK and out of warranty you can still demand a repair, replacement or partial refund which reflects the use you have had out of the machine.  Under the Sale of Goods Act the supplier has to rectify any faults which occur before the machine reaches the reasonably expected lifespan (excluding general wear and tear), which might be up to 6 years.   There is a good account of your rights here:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shoppi … s-exchange

I hope that you get a replacement machine - they really are excellent bits of kit.

(Correction:  I should have said "temperature control system" rather than "thermostat" as the temperature is held at different levels at different phases of the programme, so the machine doesn't have a conventional thermostat.)

Last edited by EarlyRising (07-07-2012 11:44:09)

I've used fast bake for my machine occasionally and it has worked well, just not as good as allowing the full programme to run.  I usually use the French programme for white and the wholemeal for brown.

@JeanieB:

Sometimes results may vary if you use different brands of ingredients, and recipes never seem to mention brands, so here's what I use for my loaves, which have never failed for me (all from our local Waitrose supermarket, if you are in the UK, apart from the vitamin C):

French white loaf

1 teaspoon of Quick Yeast (Dove's)
400g extra strong Canadian white flour (Waitrose)
1 tsp Table Salt (Waitrose Essentials)
15g Olive Spread  (Waitrose Essentials)
290 ml luke-warm water (tap)

Set Medium size, French bake (6 hours)

* You could use butter instead of Olive Spread - I did for years but can't taste the difference in the final product, and the spread is healthier.

Granary loaf

3/4 teaspoon of Quick Yeast (Dove's)
100g extra strong Canadian white flour (Waitrose)
300g Granary Bread Flour (Hovis)
3/4 tsp Table Salt (Waitrose Essentials)
I tsp Granulated Sugar (Tate & Lyle)
1 pinch Vitamin C Powder (Linus brand, from local chemist)
15g Olive Spread  (Waitrose Essentials)
280 ml luke-warm water (tap)

Set Medium size, Wholewheat bake (5hr)

* The vitamin C is not essential but helps the loaf to rise. 
* Again, you could use butter instead of Olive Spread. 
* Using some white flour gives a lighter loaf than if you use all granary flour.

The only other variable is water hardness.  I would say that ours is medium-soft.  That is to say that we do get some lime deposits in our kettle but don't really need to descale it, and it is relatively easy to rinse soap residues from hands.  Very hard or very soft water can affect breadmaking and there is a good discussion of it here:
http://www.triangularwave.com/BakeryEffects.htm

If you have very hard water then addition of some citric acid (from your local chemist) may help.  Acetic acid (mentioned in the article) is vinegar, so you would probably not want to use that, but you could try a spoonful or two of natural yoghurt (for the lactic acid) - adjust the water amount to allow for the extra liquid.

If you have very soft water, you could try adding extra salt or some yeast food such as sugar or molasses.

If neither of these recipes work properly for you, your water is neither very hard or soft, and you are following the machine instructions then it must be a machine problem (unless you are doing something additional which you haven't mentioned)

Do let us know how you get on.

(Note: tsp = TEAspoon, not TABLEspoon)

Both are good (and good for you).  I do find a slight difference in the texture between oil and spread and marginally prefer the spread.  3 tablespoons of oil would be about 45 grams which is 3 times what I use, but I imagine that you would get a lovely olivey flavour, especially in white bread.  The difference in the amount of fat we use shows how forgiving these machines are when they are working properly.

Have tried again to make a decent loaf, this time the French loaf. As always I followed the recipe precisely but the loaf was stuck to the tin. I had to prise it out with a plastic spatula!
Not a very successful effort! Why is it that if you follow the instructions to the letter the loaf still fails?

I have a panasonic breadmaker that produced perfect loaves for 10 months and then disaster struck. Loaf after loaf came out like a half risen brick. In the end I bought a packet mix and that came out fine so it proved it wasn't the machine it must be something that I was or wasn't doing. I changed all the ingredients and took extra care that I was giving the pan that turn to the right when putting it on the machine to 'lock' it in. Anyway since then we're back to perfect loaves again. Can only suggest that people having trouble try the above ans see what happens. Hope this helps

Hi, I'm new to the forum and really interested to read this thread.  I've got a Panasonic SD255 which has been working perfectly for the last 2 years.  It has recently produced loaves that haven't risen properly and others (honey and sunflower) where the seeds are all pooled in the bottom corner of the loaf.  I guess that would indicate that it isn't mixing properly at some point - but have tried cleaning the paddle attachment again and it seems to go round fine without problem.  I am still using the same yeast / flours etc as before so can't work out why it has suddenly started producing these heavier yeastier loaves.  I'm always careful with the measurements / order etc so nothing like that has changed. Would welcome thoughts from others on what I can do to get my lovely loaves back!!  Thanks in advance.