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Providing myriad options, this automatic bread maker embodies the marvels of 21st century electronic convenience and choice. Yes, it mixes, kneads, rises, and bakes bread in three loaf sizes up to 2-1/2 pounds. But its digital controls go much further, offering settings for white, whole wheat, multigrain, and French (crisp crust, open texture) breads, each made according to what's best for that particular style. Other settings permit rapid baking and baking sandwich bread with a soft crust. For raisin (or other dried-fruit) bread, a beeper signals when to add the fruit so it's not crushed during kneading. Crust color--dark or light--can be selected as well. The machine automatically adds yeast at the proper time from a dispenser on the unit's lid. It also bakes non-yeast, quick breads-- like banana and gingerbread--and sweet cakes. And it mixes, kneads, and rises doughs for pizza, focaccia, croissants, and other pastries without baking them. A timer permits the machine to be programmed up to 13 hours in advance so fresh bread or cake is available for breakfast or dinner. For cleanup convenience, the baking pan is nonstick. Clad in metal and packing 550 watts of power, the machine measures 14 inches wide, 13.5 inches high, and 9 inches deep. Its instruction booklet is exceptionally easy to understand and includes recipes for 40 breads and doughs along with an insightful guide to baking basics and illustrated tips for making pastries. --Fred Brack
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 Panasonic Rules |
| Review Date: April 23, 2002 |
| Reviewer: Anthony T. Curtiss, Woodbury, Minnesota USA |
| You get what you pay for in this world and the Panasonic SD-YD250 is a perfect example. Quiet as a mouse. No jumping around the counter and whining and improperly mixing as a Breadman we purchased (and returned) did. Had another Panasonic for 8 years. Decided to replace it when the pan seal failed and we checked out the cost of a replacemtnt pan (not realizing we could replace just the paddle mechanism/seal.) Thought we could get by on the cheap with the Breadman. Wrong. If you are looking for a rock solid, flexible unit that turns out a perfect loaf time after time (up to 2.5 lbs), this is your bread machine. The automatic yeast dispenser is a great feature, particulary if you use the timer. Spend the [money]. |
No problem with the Oz and really outdoes the Philips
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| Review Date: June 13, 2003 |
| Reviewer: Timothy Spears, Albuquerque, NM USA |
| I purchased this machine as a replacement for a Philips bread machine I've had for a couple of years. It's the third bread machine I've purchased for myself, and had bought its predecessor (the SD-250) for my Parents some time ago. My Philips packed up (the bread tin broke away from its base), and they don't make spares, so I have to throw the whole machine in the bin - definitely won't buy another Philips anything. My parents have been most impressed with the Panasonic, and it's been personally recommended to me by other people, so after reading all the reviews on Amazon.com I decided to buy one. So, to the point, I'm thoroughly impressed with this machine. It is solid and quiet. I took the first loaf I made with it and sliced it to find an absolutely even loaf (even from the 1:55 rapid mode). All the other machines I've had have had some level of streaking or unevenness in the bread. As for all the other criticism of the recipe book for its use of weight rather than volume measurements for flour, it is a far more accurate way of measuring flour for any baking. Also the manual has since been updated (no doubt as a result of these criticisms), and now shows the approximate volume equivalents in all the recipes. |
One of the best
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| Review Date: December 6, 2004 |
| Reviewer: esanta, San Jose, CA USA |
The SD-YD250 does not revolutionize bread makers, but it has significantly better features than most of its competition:
- Thick pan: even rising and baking, good crust
- Thin, flat blade: the loaf slides out and you don't need to fish the blade in it.
- Yeast dispenser: contributes to a very even loaf, and makes timer operation more reliable by preventing early yeast activation
- Whisper quiet operation: even while kneading wholewheat loaves this machine's noise level is amazingly low. The loudest noise you'll hear during the whole process is a few clacks from the yeast dispenser.
- Recipes give volume (easier) and weight (more accurate) amounts for flour.
- Supports slightly larger loaves than most machines (2 1/2 instead of 2 lbs)
Having used other machines before I was surprised how effortlessly baked loaves slide out of the pan, probably because of the flat blade and the good quality pan.
Also, the crust color is perfectly even from top to bottom, whereas on most other machines I've used the crust is darker at the bottom near the heating element and lighter at the top, another benefit of the thicker, better quality pan.
Finally, Panasonic makes spare parts available.
This is a well-rounded, high quality machine at a very reasonable price. You will not be disappointed. |
Panasonic SD-YD250 RULES!...
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| Review Date: February 15, 2003 |
| Reviewer: Don F., MI United States |
| This is our second bread machine. The first was from American Harvest (two-loaf machine). Our first one was a real struggle to get to work, even though when it did the loaves came out shaped like traditional bread loaves thanks to the shaped bread pans (albeit unevenly baked). With that one my wife always had to play with the recipes, perform trial-and-error breads, besides the downtime we put up with for repairs. As it turned up we ended up using the machine very rarely. Finally when a paddle gave out for one of the pans we decided enough was enough and decided to get a new one. I did a lot of research and this Panasonic seemed to have the best reviews. We were not disappointed. Our very first loaf was an XL 100% Whole Wheat made with our own home-milled wheat. We used their recipe from the Panasonic book. Thanks to another reviewer we used the formula noted in that review (DRY OUNCES multiplied by .2184) and, just to make sure it was on target, we referenced another chart we found on the internet ... to come up with the dry weights to cups conversion (that's the only complaint I have is their using dry weights, instead of cups in the accompanying cookbook). As it turned out, we erred on the side of the first formula (DRY OUNCES multiplied by .2184). Furthermore, we even dared -- our first time using this machine -- to modify slightly the Panasonic recipe for the 100% Whole Wheat bread by replacing molasses with honey and by adding 1 TBSP of wheat gluten (will try 2 TPSP's next time to try to get it to rise more, however, it still rose good for such a heavy bread... about 1.25 - 1.5 times the height of an oven-baked loaf). We even put the ingredients in last night and ran the timer to the 13 hour limit and the next morning at the appointed time we were blessed with fresh-baked Whole Wheat bread and honey for breakfast. (Egg bread is on its way as of this writing...) This machine works so great and makes such great bread you can't keep it coming fast enough. It is extremely quiet and the yeast dispenser is I believe part of the secret for its accuracy in breadmaking. If you are thinking of getting a bread machine you can't go wrong with this one. It is fantastic and so easy to use. Our first machine seemed such a challenge to get to work that I spent little time helping my wife with the breadmaking (unless it was to repair the machine when it was broke). With this one, we both love to use it. Panasonic really takes the trophy for this truly CHAMPION bread machine! |
Quiet and efficient - but parts are pricey
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| Review Date: February 8, 2005 |
| Reviewer: Baker Mom, |
Originally posted February 2005:
I just acquired this machine and have only used it twice, both on the Pizza Dough setting. My impressions are mostly based on my comparison to the Breadman (TR777-SPR) that this replaces.
The pan for the Panasonic is deeper and not as long as the pan on the Breadman. It's also heavier and feels more durable. One reason I purchased the Breadman is that I liked the idea of a horizontal loaf; however, in practice I found that the ingredients frequently didn't mix. I'd have to use a rubber spatula to push dry ingredients from the corners of the pan into the center--not a big deal, but not very convenient. Since I use my bread machine most often to make dough, the horizontal loaf isn't a major factor for me.
The Panasonic is extremely quiet! With a normal household noise level, I don't even hear it until the end-of-cycle beep.
I also noticed that the Panasonic seems to get the ingredients mixed within the first few minutes. Neither of my previous machines was so quick. I'm sure the pan shape helps. I wonder if it also has something to do with the different sequence of loading the pan (dry ingredients before liquid, instead of liquid first).
The yeast dispenser is a good idea, especially in delayed-start mode. This keeps the yeast dry and separate from the other ingredients until mixing is underway.
The instruction booklet for the Panasonic isn't the most user-friendly I've ever seen, but I appreciate the fact that it has cycle breakdowns. For example, it doesn't tell you only that the Pizza Dough cycle is 45 minutes long; it tells you that the cycle includes 10-15 minutes of kneading, 10-15 minutes of rising, approximately 10 minutes of kneading, and approximately 10 minutes of rising.
Some cycle times, according to the instruction booklet:
Basic: 4 hours (includes 30-60 minutes of rest time)
Basic Rapid: 1 hour 55 minutes (no rest)
French bread: 6 hours (incl. 40 min to 1 hr 55 min of rest)
Basic dough: 2 hr 20 min (incl. 30-50 min of rest)
French dough: 3 hr 35 min (incl. 40 min to 1 hr 35 min rest)
Pizza dough: 45 minutes (no rest)
Update (June 2006): I have now been using this machine for more than a year, and I'm still happy with it. I rarely let it bake the bread, but use it about twice a week to make dough for pizza or French bread. The results are consistently good unless I mess up the measurements.
Update (September 2006): After 1-3/4 years of using this machine regularly (at least two or three times every week), it's starting to show signs of wear. The motor struggles at times, and the kneading blade doesn't fit tightly on the spindle. (It has too much "wiggle" to be as effective as it should be.) I did some quick searches online and found that the replacement blade costs $23 plus $5 shipping! In contrast, the blade for another brand of machine is $7. This just might be the downside of this machine! If I could change my rating, I'd lower it from five stars to four, for this reason.
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