Best bread makers for creating bakery-quality loaves at home
If you like the idea of making your own bread but never get around to doing it, this handy device could be the answer.
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Hi, my name is Dani, and I’m a bread enthusiast.
In my opinion enjoying a freshly baked slice is one of life’s simple pleasures. I always have to stop myself from buying another loaf when I pass the local bakery, and at the beginning of lockdown, you better believe that I was one of those people who tried (and failed) at creating their own sourdough starter.
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As I discovered, baking bread by hand is quite the ordeal. It’s an intensive process that can take more than 24 hours, and who has that kind of time on their hands? When you get the tricky method right the rewards are brilliant — that just-baked aroma wafting through the house — but getting it wrong is downright depressing.
Fortunately, there’s a wonderful machine that can speed up the process and take out the guesswork: enter, the bread maker.
BEST BREAD MAKERS
From compact models to intuitive options that help you customise your loaves, there are plenty of bread makers to choose from. Here, is our roundup of top picks, so you can find the perfect one for you.
BREAD MAKER FOR SOURDOUGH
Panasonic SD-ZB2512KST Fully Automated Bread Maker, Amazon Australia, $329 (RRP $439)
With 33 baking and dough modes, including one specifically for sourdough, this Panasonic bread maker is easily our top pick. Create everything from rustic and gluten-free loaves to scones. An automatic ingredient dispenser adds yeast, fruits and nuts at the optimal time, and the easy interface lets you choose a light, medium or dark crust, and a medium, large, or extra-large loaf and there is a timer for a delayed start.
Reviewers agreed it’s worth the investment, with one giving it five stars and writing “This bread maker gave excellent results first time. We haven’t had store bought bread since this arrived … and not just bread … the machine is very versatile”.
COMPACT BREAD MAKER
Breville The Bread Baker, The Good Guys, $159
Allowing you to create sweet and savoury loaves at the touch of a button, Breville’s Bread Baker does all the hard work for you. An automatic fruit and nut dispenser helps you get creative, and the 15-hour timer means you can wake to the smell of freshly baked bread.
“Since we brought this bread maker we have stopped buying bread from the shop because making bread with this is so much nicer. Plus the money we are saving not buying bread is noticeable. With no mess and three easy steps you have a fresh loaf of bread in two hours”.
CHEAP BREAD MAKERS
Sunbeam BM2500 Compact Bakehouse Bread Maker, Betta Home Living, $119
A smaller and cheaper unit to fit your benchtop and your budget, the Sunbeam Compact Bakehouse still packs in plenty of helpful features. A beeper lets you know the perfect time to add mix-ins, and there’s also designated dough settings for loaves you want to bake in the oven (think focaccia and pizza) and pasta settings too.
“I absolutely love this bread machine because it is very user friendly. The user manual is handy and we are experimenting a different recipe each time we use it. Highly recommended” wrote one happy reviewer.
Smith & Nobel Multifunction Bread Maker, Harris Scarfe, $119.99
With this Smith & Nobel appliance, you can choose from three loaf sizes and adjust the browning of the crust to your liking. There are 12 preset programs for creating everything from French bread, to cake, to yoghurt, and a 13 hour programmable timer. It includes a measuring cup and spoons and hook.
It’s had good reviews, with one user calling it the “best bread oven we’ve owned, and we have owned a few”.
MULTI-PURPOSE BREAD MAKER
Breville The Custom Loaf Pro Bread Maker, Amazon Australia, $359.99
Not only is the Breville Custom Loaf Pro an intuitive and versatile machine, with its sleek stainless steel and LCD design, it’s also one of the prettiest. It features plenty of manual and automatic programs (including those for pasta, jam, and gluten-free bread), as well as nine that you can customise. There’s an automatic fruit and nut dispenser, a collapsible kneading blade that folds away to make room for your loaf to rise, and a 13-hour delay start timer.
“I replaced an old Breville bread maker (an excellent, simple machine) with this, specifically because you can adjust every aspect of a program, or create custom ones. That means I can ‘set and forget’ it,” wrote one five-star reviewer. “I bake a lot of bread so for me the high price is worth it. The pan is larger than I had before so I can either bake bigger loaves or have longer, flatter ones. Well made and has plenty of features.”
Sunbeam BM4500 Bakehouse Bread Maker, The Good Guys, $169
The more advanced version of the previously mentioned Sunbeam Bakehouse, this one allows you to create bigger loaves. It has a collapsible mixing blade, a 70-minute turbo setting, an automatic fruit and nut dispenser and options to create artisanal dough for baking in conventional ovens, if you wish. You can also use it to create your own jam – yum!
A five-star reviewer commented “Easy to use and clean, many brilliant recipes in the instruction manual … Being able to select how you want the crust is also a great idea, I have made many different styles of loaves so far and trying different types of flour as well”.
GLUTEN-FREE BREAD MAKER
Panasonic Bread Maker SD-2501, Amazon Australia, $249
The Panasonic SD-2501 features a specific 100 per cent gluten-free program that makes it a breeze to bake your own coeliac-friendly loaves. It also has a specialty mode for spelt bread, an automatic fruit and nut dispenser, and a jam setting. Choose from three different crust colours and loaf sizes, and use the 13 hour digital timer to enjoy just-baked bread exactly when you want it.
“Amazing! Bread maker works extremely well, even with low FODMAP flour,” wrote one happy buyer. “For someone who can’t buy regular bread this bread maker has became a super important appliance in the kitchen.”
BEST TORTILLA FLAT BREAD MAKER
Serrano 20cm Premium Tortilla Press, Harvey Norman, $24
Making bread at home isn’t limited to creating your very own loaves – you can make your own flat breads, too! The Serrano Tortilla Press is suitable for tortillas and pastries and is made from a heavy cast aluminium alloy with a durable chrome finish. It’s easy to clean and dishwasher safe.
HOW DO I CHOOSE A BREAD MAKER?
Here are a few factors to take into consideration when choosing your bread maker:
• Loaf size: Larger households may require a machine capable of making bigger loaves.
• Budget: Expensive machines may feature more intuitive functions, but those on a smaller budget can choose streamlined models that still offer the basic settings you need.
• Dietary requirements: Some machines come with designated gluten-free settings
• Machine size: Consider a smaller unit if you’re short on storage space.
• Delay timer: Machines with a timer allow you to add the ingredients then delay the baking until a time that suits you best.
• Preset functions: Some models come with a wide variety of preset functions for different types of loaves, if you want more than just a regular white bread.
• Automated functions: Models with automatic dispensers mean you can add fruits, nuts and other mix-ins, as well as yeast, at just the right time to ensure your loaf works perfectly.
ARE BREAD MAKERS WORTH IT?
If you’re someone who enjoys making bread, but doesn’t love the hefty time investment they require, they can definitely reduce the hard work and time it takes and provide more reliable results.
HOW MANY DAYS DOES HOMEMADE BREAD LAST?
Homemade bread will last about three to four days at room temperature, or six to seven days in the fridge (although this may dry it out slightly). You can also slice and then freeze your freshly baked loaves, and toast them up in the freezer for bread that is tasty and fresh for up to three months.
Keep up the at-home cooking with the best pasta machines for delicious DIY Italian. Then, check out the top-rated pressure cookers that take the guesswork out of dinner.
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