Customer Reviews

Panasonic SD-YD250 Automatic Bread Maker

5 star:		(682)
4 star:		(139)
3 star:		(37)
2 star:		(42)
1 star:		(82)

 

 

[Between 4 and 4.5 stars]

The Panasonic SD-YD250 is pretty much the state of the art in bread machine technology in mid-2003. It's one of the larger units around with a 2.5 lb. loaf capacity. This size will also eat up your counter or cupboard space: you need just under 14" of width and height, and 10" of depth, so keep that in mind when you order.

The bread consistency is excellent. It's even pretty good in the "rapid" mode, though the results are a bit better in the standard bake mode so that's what I generally use. Also, the "rapid" mode for whole wheat or multigrain bread is 3 hours (vs. 5 hours standard), so it's not like you can start the machine at the beginning of a meal and expect completed bread before you leave the table. The fastest full cycle -- "rapid" bake mode for white bread -- is 1hr 55min.

The SD-YD250 is quieter than most earlier bread makers; however, you'll still hear the clicking and whirring as it mixes and kneads the dough. It's a neat idea to wake up to the smell of freshly-baked bread but the machine isn't quiet enough to run in the bedroom unless you're a VERY sound sleeper.

The options for this machine include the following:
o basic/rapid bake
o immediate start/timer delay
o white/whole wheat/multigrain
o sandwich (soft crust)
o crust color light/medium/dark
o raisin (pause and beep to add fruit or nuts)
o dough knead without bake
o bake without dough knead

Note that not all of these options can be combined. For instance: you only get crust color selection for white bread, and sandwich mode for white and whole wheat; multigrain bread always has a dark, tough crust (although the bread inside the crust is moist and well-textured).

The container inside really is nonstick (based on my not-so-lengthy use since I bought it) and the kneading blade does very little damage to the finished loaf. Ease of use and cleanup are both excellent.

Bread results are quite sensitive to variations in the ingredients in either weight, consistency, or age. Always use fresh BREAD flour and fresh yeast (bread machine yeast recommended) and the right amount of salt, sugar, and flour. The recipes in the included book specify flour weight in units like 16 3/4 oz., so it's HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you get a digital kitchen scale for good results. Note that this will require still more counter space.

Summary: a very good machine, but you'll need a fair amount of counter space and attention to details to get the best results from it.

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].

This is just for the record, and to prepare you for a disappointment if you have my bad luck. My first Panasonic breadmaker gave me about 12 years of good service and just slowly died of old age; I had no complaints. I was just sorry to see it go. I bought this new model breadmaker (SD-YD250) last December (2005). It has been producing SUPERB bread (about two a week, wheat or cinnamon-raisin). I have been immensely pleased with this machine. But now it has just suddenly failed. The manual is useless when it comes to trouble-shooting, and the website is a gigantic run-around: I think there is no help at all for Panasonic breadmakers on the Panasonic web site, though it takes some time to find this fact out. But now I am getting quite a run-around trying to get some action on the warranty. I am disappointed with Panasonic. I had thought they were a better company. It could be that I am just a very unlucky person, but I thought I would put my experience on record.... (Panasonic automatically sends me to a repair facility which says it does not repair breadmakers, and also says I should contact Panasonic....I am locked in a loop!)

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.

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.

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!

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.<g>

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.

After killing two cheaper bread machines, I found the Panasonic here on Amazon, with its very positive reviews. We bought it in 2002, and we've been making 3 to 4 loaves per week with it since. I can't believe how well it has lasted, and the bread we make is still excellent.

We took it with us to France when we moved here in 2003, and we regularly amaze French guests who can't believe our delicious bread didn't come from a nearby boulangerie. It even still looks like new. I add various whole grains (including wheat berries, quinoa, sunflower seeds), which have somewhat marred the non-stick surface around the paddle and on the paddle edges, but there's no problem with bread sticking. It's always easy to clean the tub.

It was a quiet machine in 2002, and it's still a quiet machine today, after making us nearly 1000 loaves of bread. The only thing that might wake you up about it doing its job is the smell of hot fresh bed wafting into the bedrooms. Yum.

As with any bread machine, small variations in leavening, flour types, and water can make a big difference in how well it rises. To experiment with different mixes, don't stray far off your beaten path of success. That's worked for me. My only big flop was trying to make my own sourdough leavening the old-fashioned way. I got extremely tasty sourdough that was only 3 inches tall. LOL.

There's only one additional feature I would like to have, and that would be to be able to make that dark, heavy, dense German "Roggenvollkornbrot" with it. Whenever I drive to Germany I buy a dozen and toss them in the freezer. If anybody knows how I can make German bread in a Panasonic, please send me email.

I still hear horror stories from friends about fickle, fragile, noisy bread machines, especially here in France. But our Panasonic just keeps going like an Eveready Bunny. I don't know if Panasonic sells a 220v version here in Europe yet, but they should !

UPDATE January 2008: The Panasonic is still going and going ... no problems!

This is my second bread maker. I bought Cuisinart's one last year and had used it for about a year. I had no idea how different each bread maker was at that point.

Cuisinart's one has obviously some problems:

1. Bread tends to be darker so quickly and becomes hard.

2. It is very noisy during kneading cycle as I can not hear the music from the audio.

3. Paddle is caught in the bread and hard to remove it if you do not remove it before baking cycle starts.

4. Some basic cycle have no "Pre-heat" cycle. It means I need to prepare exactly appropriate temperature water to make yeast work nicely. But it is very hard and sometimes I fail.

5. The design of the case is not great. Some unmixed ingredients are left on the corners and baked as it is if I do not mix it using a spatula.

One of my friends owns Panasonic bread maker and showed it to me. I was so surprised at it as the thickness of the case is very different. She has never had such a problem which I have had. Then I decided to get Panasonic one although my first one is still working. The bread maker was delivered in 2 days. I tried same recipe which I often used for Cuisinart's. The bread came out amazingly nice and much nicer than the one from Cuisinart. Bread is nicely blown, crispy outside and soft, fluffy inside. It is just perfect. I guess these difference come from mainly these things:

1. The case is very thick so that bread can not be brown so quickly and keep the inside of bread soft and flavorful.

2. "Pre heat" cycle adjust the temperature of water well. I do not have to make appropriate temperature's water any more.

3. This machine has the special room for yeast. It works very well to keep yeast away from the water particularly using the timer.

I think I never back to Cuisinart although I miss some points (Sophisticated design or the window on the rid which I can see inside of the case through) of Cuisinart a little bit. I highly recommend this bread maker.

Update posted January 08, 2011:
Still working, still happy. At some point the rather heavy, metal grate cover for a recessed can ceiling light fell on top of the machine and left a gouge in the plastic over the power switch. But the push button switch underneath the plastic still works so the machine still functions. Worst problem is that I really need to give the machine another thorough cleaning. This time I'll try harder to not get water in the electronics or switches ...

Update posted January 10, 2009:
I still have this machine and it is still working. I thought for a while I had broken it when I got some water inside it while cleaning off the accumulation of black residue on the aluminum oven cavity which built up after (my) extended use. But wonder of wonders after letting the machine sit and dry out for a week or so, it started working normally again.

I continue to be very happy with the machine and I am hoping it will last several more years into the future.

Original comments posted November 13, 2004:
Bought this at the end of October when a rebate offer made the price competitive with the Breadman TR2200C Ultimate. Should I have gone with the Breadman instead? Beats me.

Here are the pro's for the Panasonic as I see them. As others have mentioned, I am impressed by the quality of the breadpan. Not only is it solid, but the kneader mounting shaft is designed to be replaced - attaches with screws, not rivets. This makes it theoretically possible to repair if the gasket fails. (OTOH, the current price for the (new) replacement part appears to be around 1/2 what I paid for the machine. But maybe you could do better on eBay?)

I've had good luck with the recipes I've tried and haven't produced any true duds yet ... a couple of marginals, but nothing that was unusable/inedible. One does have to be careful when experimenting to check the consistency of the dough as it kneads. There is no window on this machine, but you can (should) lift the cover while kneading a recipe you haven't tried before to make sure the flour to moisture mix is correct. One of the things I really like about the machine is that it provides mild heat while the dough is rising. (Some of us simply do NOT have a "warm place" for dough to rise).

What do I like least about the machine? The fact that all the cycles are hard-coded and cannot be modified. It's nice that the machine has a preliminary "rest" cycle which allows the ingredients to warm to room temperature. But it's also irritating that you MUST go through this cycle even when you know it is not needed. It would also be nice to be able to program an extra rise cycle or to change the length of any of the cycles.

However, this machine is simply not intended to allow you to do those sorts of things. If control is important to you, then maybe you want to consider the Breadman Ultimate (or the Zojirushi if price is not a concern for you). This Panasonic is much more of a load it and leave it affair. And as such, it is working quite well for me. If that's all you want in a bread machine then I think you'll be happy with this one.