Kenwood BM350 Stainless Steel Breadmaker

Product Information

Unusual design touches include retro-ish styling, fan-assisted cooking and even an adjustable spoon.

It offers a 58-minute rapid bake function, 15 standard baking programmes and a further five that you can set yourself, to time each baking stage - pre-heating, kneading, rising and baking. Prog times:white 3 hours, wholemeal 3 hours 40 mins based on large sized loaf with medium crust colour. I can't see that I have repositioned the pan differently to the previous occasions but it just went through what seems to be the final stage of kneading without it popping out so, fingers crossed, but, and it's a shame, it now seems to me that leaving it to run without supervision is taking a "bit" of a chance. The first 500g loaf is in preparation as I type this and so far, I've had to reposition the pan 3 times as it lifts and pops out of it's proper position when kneading which leaves the motor running but without the blade doing anything. The recipes use metric units and I get a measuring spoon referring to tablespoons and (I think) teaspoons as units.This concern grew to grave disapointment after my first attempt at making a loaf turned out rubbish (a brick - didn't rise). Also found as a previous reviewer that the receipe for basic loaf did not work, used the one I had previously used in my Morphy Richards machine which worked well. Kamut flour sometimes requires more liquid than wheat flour so adjust the water if necessary, to ensure the dough is not too stiff. I did one on programme 2 as recommended and it took hours, the next time I accidentally pressed the quick bake function and it was ready in an hour and tasted just as good.

The problem of the bread pan popping out was solved by bending the clips, but with the side effect of making it quite awkward to remove.

There’s also a prominent ‘eco’ button, which will bake a loaf in less than 1 ½ hours; ‘eco’ because a shorter baking time will use less power.

If I do not disperse the yeast into warm water, my bread will always, yes, always come out hard as a rock or wet in the middle of the bread. Take advantage of the 15-hour delay timer or, if you're short of time, the 85-minute ECO bake programme is one of the fastest around, saving you time and money. So I tried again and followed the receipe for basic white they supply - the result was even worse than the first attempt. Big on flavour and simple to make, this delicious soda bread makes a nice change from sandwiches come lunch time. I’ve had seven years of noisy clanking sounds, mixer paddles getting stuck in the loaf, bread not rising.The love-or-loathe design is unusual, white with a retro-style handle for the lid, reminiscent of a 1950s fridge.