Panasonic SD-2501 Questions & Answers (page 4 of 10)

You can buy a sourdough starter from any good bread speciality shop. In WA Big Bubble is great and has lots of alternative flour mixes. It may be, that like me it is bleached white flour is the problem for your son. I recommend you try the preservative free mixes and maybe buy a pack of of alternative flour mixes (they come with yeast ) and try them out. I have never tried making yeast free (unleavened bread) there is a recipe in the instruction book!

Hi Dee, I must admit I didn't take any notice until you asked, .so I checked mine it didn't light up as say but I had no trouble reading it.
If your concerned about it maybe you should contact Panasonic to find out, perhaps that's why you have to pay for the pricey one to get more bells and whistles but I have to say its a great product maybe you could a brighter light where you are using it . cheers Annie

Thanks for your reply. I am very happy with the quality of the bread, but do miss my illuminated display and glass viewing window in the lid of my old Breville machine.
Thanks Dee

Sounds like the dough is over rising - this can cause the loaf to collapse and make it more dense. If you're using my basic recipe I tend not to add salt - you may want to add a pinch. You can also try reducing the amount of yeast you're using - not all yeasts are the same, so maybe drop it by a quarter of a teaspoon and make sure the yeast isn't mixing with the liquids during the initial resting phase. The liquid from the sundried tomatoes, assuming they are in oil, might not help with the moistness - can also try drying them on paper towel first.

Other thing you can do is increase the amount of flour, but I'd do the above (a little salt, a little less yeast making sure it doesn't contact the liquid early, and dry the tomato before using) first.

Good luck!

Thank you, I'll let you know how I go. Sally S

Hi Sally, in my experience too much yeast is likely from what you describe.
Yeast is very different in quality, is different at sea level to altitude and is different with everyday temperature.
Reduce by 1/4 teaspoon at a time.
Using high quality flour is; in my opinion, paramount and I use very warm water, sometimes straight from the kettle.
I add approx 1/2 cup of good olive oil to every loaf over and above the recipe. The improvement is incredible and you normally enjoy sandwich bread on the second day of baking.
All the best.
Sam. Canterbury NZ

Yes you can

Yes. No problem. Although any temperature variation as a result of opening the lid may cause your loaf not to cook properly and banging the lid closed may cause the loaf not to rise properly

Sorry, can't help you there. I haven't ever made panettone.

Hi, just follow the Aus recipe.

Yes. I find this happens from time to time. I put it down to the fact that I measure my butter by eye and my water content can vary by 10-20mls. I also push the machine a bit harder by using 650g flour and 500mls of water. I also only use 1tsp of yeast and a combo of flour; 500g wheat flour and 150g of either rye or spelt. Hope that helps!

Is it a setting where you can change the crust? We have never had a problem.

Hi. No idea. I don't use pre-mixed. I don't think the machine is really designed for that. The ingredient order for non pre-mixed says that the yeast must go in first, then flour and lastly water. On some of the menu options, you can choose loaf size. Would this help? If the bread is not overly dense, then I would suggest the pan is capable of more pre-mixed ingredients. Sorry I couldn't help more.

Thanks, I guess I will have to try the recipe in the handbook.

No. Not that I'm aware of. I know what you mean though, as it's very hard to hear.

I set my watch alarm. Can’t hear the beeping from the bread maker either

Thank you! I now know it's not just my machine - most annoying 'tho - a design fault I presume.

Hi Brian. The manual says to put in the order ingredients are listed. So yeast first then flour etc.

As the instructions say, yeast first, sprinkled on the bottom the all of the dry mix then the warm water. I have had great results mixing the sugar and water together before pouring into the mix.

I am so happy with my bread maker and the pan is very stable and pretty strong I highly recommend this machine. My bread has come out perfect every time and I love making pizza doe out of it.

I too, reviewed one and not a good machine. The pan on this one seems solid enough. Don’t know if it will take the actions of the Trojan horse but seems to be fit for purpose and easy to clean

Thanks for your answers - really appreciate it. Have taken the plunge and bought one. Checked the breadpan first - seems really strong.

It’s only happened to me once but I made a small hook from the end of a coat hanger. With this I was able to pul it out. If you make sure you push it down all the way it doesn’t seem to stick as much. Hop this helps

Beekay, thanks will try if this happens again.

One solution is to stop the machine right after the kneading stage, and just before the rising stage to remove the paddle.

I’ve used both the bread kits from the supermarket and recipes from the book and all turned out beautiful. Just add yeast 1st then dry ingredient then warm water. Perfect every time

I have only used store bought bread mixes they have turned out awesome every time. It makes great pizza doe as well and you can buy the pizza bread kits from shops. Just follow instructions on box and push number 22 on the machine 45 minutes later lovely pizza doe ready to go.

First time use here too. Mine rested for hours! With me wondering why it has to rest so long when it hasn't done anything yet. 6 hours later (french bread setting) I had THE most glorious crunchy crusty loaf that crumbled crispy bits all over the board and crackled as it was cut. As a french loaf should. I was amazed. So whatever the reason.....it worked.

The book has something in it about variations according to ambient temperature. So the only thing I can "guess" is that it brings everything inside to the perfect start temperature, gently and over time?

Hey I use it for gf bread. I use a bread mix called bakers magic gf flour. I buy online and it is free delivery in australia for x 6 packets. A loaf costs $5.50 and it is very yum. I use it on the 14 setting. I can add cinnamon and extra sugar and sultanas and get a lovely raisin bread as well. It is great. Happy breading!

I just purchased an SD2501 today and after one loaf I noticed that the paddle was VERY loose (didn't take notice of it at the beginning) - ie if you put the paddle on the spindle (loaf tin out of the machine) and wind around until you reach 12 o'clock, the paddle has enough slop on the shaft to be able to turn it back to about 8 -10 (minutes) to 12 o'clock without moving the shaft - This seems to be an intentional design feature in that when the paddle is at either end of its travel it can't be lifted out and therefore it will normally not get stuck in the bread. However, this much slop will cause wear over time - hopefully to the paddle and not the spindle

Check the amount of free travel in your machine and if it's more than the above, check for wear on the spindle and paddle - Maybe a new paddle will be required

Hope this helps

Use a pastry paddle in the food processor instead. Or just make a mound of flour on a board and drop your eggs in the middle and fold in by hand. It takes minutes.

We bought Panasonic SD-2501 when we were told that our daughter could be gluten intolerant. Fortunately, she is not, but we found out only after paying over $200 for the only breadmaker that promises gluten-free bread. I tried a lot of recipes from the book, but so far it did not manage one nice loaf. Some looked OK but did not taste nice - too sweet and generally tasteless. Others did not rise evenly or did not mix all the flour in. Some recipes ended up as bricks (same flour, same yeast, works in conventional oven). Then I thought I'll try to use premix. Unfortunately, there are no proper instruction how to do it. Just now I tried the Lauke mix. Well... the finished loaf is barely half a tin high, but what is worse, it did not bake. After 5 hours (well over one hour t the beginning "resting" - i.e. doing absolutely nothing, but there is no option of skipping it) the bottom and 1/3 of the sides of the loaf ended barely light yellow, the top simply raw. There is no way that you can add baking time in the machine, because the machine won't work again until it cools under 40°C. I finished baking the bread in the conventional oven at 200°C for another 30 minutes! I have no idea if I was unlucky to buy a dud machine, but from the reviews, I can see I would not be the only one. Of course I am going to contact the company, but from what I read here I, do not expect much help from them.