Kenwood BM256

The instructions are impossible to understand. The damn beeping sound drives me crazy. The selection on the buttons just don;t work!

Felt the Kenwood BM256 manual was confusing and took too long to understand. Because of the faulty bread basket we sent the machine back and received our money back.

The Kenwood BM256 does what it says on the box and does it well,that is if you use your common and do try to work out the manual.

Dreadful machine. Does not do the name justice at all. I can't find any redeeming features at all. In fact the inside of the lid has gone rusty around the edges after only 2 weeks use.

I was all set to buy the Panasonic 253 as all the reviews say that it's the daddy of all breadmakers, however, it's huge and not so pretty, and as I was in John Lewis, preparing to take the Panasonic to the till, I spotted this Kenwood. It is very cute, smaller than the panasonic in cream metal with quite a retro 50's styling which looks nicer in my kitchen than a massive white plastic thing.

I didn't want to go on looks alone however, so I spoke to the Breadmaker Demonstrator (don't you love John Lewis's!) and she told me that the 256 was new in, it had all the features of the Panasonic, but it baked more quickly and was almost half the price.

I was almost sold, but to clinch it, she has just that moment taken a loaf out the model she was testing, and I tried some - delicious. She also told me that she had used Kenwood breadmakers for 10 years, and I think someone who demonstrates them for a living should be a good judge!

I have used mine every other day or so for a month or more now, and I love it. I love that I can adjust the salt and other ingredients. I made cake last weekend (banana and cinnamon with dates and walnuts - yum). The recipes in the book are easy to follow and tasty, and I've started experimenting with my own.

I work full time, and all i do is pop the ingredients in when I get in from work, and before bedtime the loaf is ready, cooling overnight to make sandwiches in the morning. At weekend I use the timer and we wake to the smell of fresh bread.... wonderful! It's so easy that I would rather make a small loaf every other day than a large one less frequently!

I would be happy to recommend this breadmaker, I think it looks more attractive than most - which is quite important when you remember that the key thing with breadmakers is that you should leave them out on the worktop - if you hide it away in a cupboard it won't get used! It performs well and it smells yummy!