The Sturdiwheat Golden Grain was the first bread tested and dried out (crack in loaf) by the last day of testing, though it is still representative of size and crust thickness

 

Panasonic SD-YD250
Cycle setting	*Whole wheat, large
Ease of programming	Moderate
Length of cycle	*5 hours/4 hours
Temp of Water	100° F
Ease of removing bread from pan	Very Easy
Appearance of bread	Poor/Below average
Price	$131

*Two different settings were used to try to improve crust(see notes below).

Test Score:  2 Stars

Test Notes:

This machine did not perform well on this test.  The first two loaves baked in the Panasonic came out with a thick blackened crust.  These loaves were baked on the whole wheat setting(5 hours!) as a large loaf and the darkness of the crust was not selectable. The last two loaves were baked on the basic setting(4 hours) with large loaf and light crust selected.  This did somewhat improve the crust on the Garlic Basil and Ole’s Wild Rice but since the cycle needed tweaking to prevent burning the crust(you can see the very thick crust on the Golden Grain in the picture above), it did not score well on this test.  It might score better in our next test when we experiment with different settings.

We are currently testing several of the top selling bread machines and will be posting the results in the very near future.  Here is a list of the machines included in the first round of tests:

• Panasonic Bread Bakery SD-YD250
• Breadman Pro TR875
• Breadman Ultimate Plus
• Breadman Corner Bakery TR888
• Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme BBCC-X20
• West Bend 41026
• Cuisinart CBK-200

Please post suggestions of models you would like to see us test in the next round.