1. Nothing happens when you press start
I’ve seen this question come up a few times: why doesn’t the machine do anything when I press start? It’s because most programmes begin with a rest, followed by the knead, rise and bake. The rest, knead and rise times can all change, depending on room temperature. On a hot day, time is taken away from the rise and added to the rest, so the dough doesn't overproof. On a cold day, the dough gets a shorter rest and a longer rise, so loaves should be fairly consistent, despite the weather.
2. Your pan can scuff even if you're careful
I've got a separate blog post on this, but in short, my bread pan's scuffed. I thought it was because of my off-manual sourdough loaves, but it's a common problem, even with Panasonic's own recipes. I purchased a second pan for my YR2540. It’s never even seen a sourdough but is now showing the same signs of wear.
Older machines, like the ZB2512, and the smaller SD-PN100 don't seem to have this problem. What you can avoid are the deep scratches that go right through the non-stick coating. Basically, don’t use anything to dislodge a stuck loaf, even a soft plastic spatula. Instead, leave the bread for 5 to 10 minutes, and it’ll eventually come out.
Side note on the pan: occasionally you might hear a squeak while the machine is kneading. It's common, and I find it depends on the programme I'm using.
3. There are two Facebook groups, and they contain a wealth of information
I’m not sure why there are two, but they’re Panasonic bread maker UK Recipes & Technical and Panasonic Bread Maker Recipe Group UK & Ireland. If the wholemeal loaves in the manual haven't worked for you, the group admins have shared more reliable recipes. It’s where I discovered vital wheat gluten, which stopped my 100% rye loaves from sinking. And it’s how I found out I’m not the only one with a scuffed pan.
4. The new manual is disappointing
The newer machines come with a manual that covers three models, and it's seriously lacking in recipes. My ZB2512 manual had wholemeal loaves at 50, 70 and 100%, so you could cross-reference and experiment with confidence. Anyone who hasn’t owned an older machine is missing out on loads of great recipes.
The new manual has cut down the instructions for the sourdough programme too. Disclaimer: it's not a true sourdough, but for very little effort, you get a deeply flavoured loaf with a chewy crust. The old manual dedicated three full pages to this recipe. The new one squeezes it onto half a page, with the starter ingredients on page 23 and the bread on page 21. Not many bread makers have a programme that effectively cheats a sourdough by using yoghurt and yeast. Panasonic should shout about it from the rooftops; instead they’ve split up the recipe, making it confusing and hard to follow.
Here’s the PDF of the ZB2512 manual; the recipes should work in a newer machine, but the programme numbers may differ.
5. The dispenser can drop things on the element
The dispenser is handy because you don't have to hang around to add inclusions. You're not supposed to add more than 150 g, but I’ve gone as high as 175 g. If you overfill, you’ll need to check that the ingredients have made it into the pan. Cheese and chocolate will supposedly “stick… and not fall”, but I’ve had no issues. Just coat anything sticky in a teaspoon of flour so it drops in cleanly.
Occasionally, though, an ingredient will miss the pan. I made a cheese and jalapeño loaf and smelled something burning. A jalapeño had landed on the element, so I stopped the programme and knocked it off with a wooden spoon. Stopping was a mistake, because you can't restart the programme. You have to use “bake-only” instead, and it won't start until the machine cools below 40°C. The display showed a U50 error for around 15 minutes. The dough was happy to wait, and the loaf turned out great, but next time I'll leave the programme running, dislodge the ingredient, and remove it once the programme finishes.
If you're not around, you'll end up with a scorch mark. It's only cosmetic, but I haven’t been able to remove it. I now stay nearby when I'm baking with inclusions and don’t use them with an overnight timer. I wish they'd set the dispenser more centrally instead of towards the back of the lid.
This isn’t strictly a moan
Despite my gripes, I do love this machine. It's my most fun kitchen appliance, and these are just the things I wish I'd known. I still get cross when I peer into my bread pan and see the scuff marks, but I’m trying to see the bigger picture of delicious, minimal-ingredient, fibre-packed bread. A full review is in the works, but for now, there are a bunch of recipes on the blog, including the fake yoghurt sourdough.
