Lakeland Digital Breadmaker review

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What were our first impressions of the Lakeland breadmaker?

The Lakeland breadmaker is a lovely looking, sturdy machine with a shiny black and stainless-steel finish. We were particularly impressed with the great viewing window in the lid, which lets you keep an eye on how a bake is progressing. The control panel on the machine likewise is large, with a clear LED screen with simple, straightforward touch buttons and the menu numbers also listed on the lid.

There is a comprehensive range of 12 programmes to choose from including many breads, pizza dough, gluten-free and cake. The bread comes in a range of sizes and crust colours.

Should you set the timer function for fresh bread at breakfast time and fancy a lie-in, a keep-warm function will keep your bread warm for an extra hour, so you can enjoy more time in bed.

How easy is the Lakeland breadmaker to use?

The instruction book with the machine is very straightforward and well explained. Still, for a beginner, we recommend reading it thoroughly before starting the first loaf as some very important information around yeast and other ingredients is buried in the book.

On starting up the machine, we found the preheating as recommended on first use a little alarming as there was a lot of smoke from the machine – a few calls to Lakeland informed us this is normal on first use. On further tests, it never happened again. One final grumble, the measuring cup is way too small and hard to read, so it was easier to use other measures.

Once we were up and running, all further instructions were clear and self-explanatory on loading the ingredients, and selecting the programme, loaf size and crust colour with the clear LED display was easy.

There are various whirring noises from the machine periodically as it works its way through the programme, but otherwise this is a quiet machine.

There is no automatic dispenser on this machine for adding extra ingredients such as nuts and seeds, so the machine emits 10 loud beeps when it’s time to add them which is a little startling, as are a further 10 blasts at the end of baking.

Three hours later, opening the lid, there was a white 900g loaf with a golden crust.

Verdict

The bread from the Lakeland breadmaker was delicious. The crumb was tight yet soft to touch, with a golden firm (not crusty) crust and very tasty. Using the timer programme at night, the loud beeps it emits may be disturbing, and the viewing window of the machine was our favourite on the test. However, for the price, quality and number of programmes, this is a super machine.

Available from Lakeland (£99.99)

Lakeland digital breadmaker specifications:
Machine size: 36 x 25 x 29.5 cm
Power: 550W
Programmes: 12 pre-programmed
Delay function: yes
Viewing window: yes
Display: LED
Crust colour adjustment: yes
Loaf size (s): 700 or 900g
Keep warm function: Yes
Guarantee: 3 years

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This review was last updated in November 2020. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.

Do you have a breadmaker or do you prefer to go back to basics and trust your natural instinct? We’d like to hear your thoughts…