Panasonic Bread Maker

[Furkin]

Panasonic Bread-maker SD255

My 3rd (& last) Panasonic machine has started to throw out rubbish bread.
It seems to bake alright, to my desired colour (well,,,, almost - I'd love it darker) but doesn’t fully rise. I put it down to age,,, but it hasn’t been used a lot.
I’ve tried Basic (Lg & Med) & French.

I initially thought it might be the supermarket flour – so I changed brand. It didn’t help. I then I thought it might be the yeast – so I changed brand – ditto.
None of this made any difference.

Yesterday though, I was in the kitchen whilst is was ‘working’ and heard it labouring whilst in kneading mode.
When I looked inside, I could see that whilst the motor was running its cycle, the paddle was only running for part of that cycle.
To my limited mind, this shows that the dough isn’t being kneaded properly – hence my problem.

I didn’t know what drove the paddle, so now have it apart. I see that its belt driven. Everything looks & smells in good order & very clean. I don’t think anything is burnt, catching, scraping etc. The paddle & spindle seem to be free to rotate.

I see that we can’t adjust the belt tension & I was wondering if they ‘give’ after a time ? If so, is it a common fault ?

It is out of warranty, but I don’t want to dump another Panasonic piece of carp. If I can fix it - I will, but will need help & advice please.

If there isn't a 'fix' - wheres the best place to get a belt please - assuming you guys think it will work - I don't want to throw good money after bad.

No blame attached to anything or anyone if things go bad. Its ‘Poo or bust’ time.

Thanks for reading this.

 

[regsmyth]

There's a bit in the manual about the kneader shaft becoming stiff and needing replacing.
You might be able to get the manual on line if you've not got it.

 

[Furkin]

many thanks Reg,
I'll look for the on-line manual, but as in my OP, the spindle is quite free running. It was one of the first things that I checked.

I may have it sorted - but need to test it Sat/Sun.

If it works, I'll put details on here for others, because it will help in thousands of other applications of a similar nature.

f

 

[regsmyth]

Sounds mysterious.
The suspense!...

 

[EightyTwo]

I have exactly the same problem! I tried adding more water and it seems to rise enough but then collapses in the middle. I end up with a loaf with a flat or sunken top. The bread under the top is very light and airy (and a bugger to slice!). More yeast doesn't seem to help either.

I, too, noticed that the paddle was struggling to nead the dough. I never wash the bucket and the spindle seemed a little stiff. I freed it up but the problem remains.

I'd be really pleased to hear of a solution - we use the machine 2 or 3 times a week.

 

[EightyTwo]

I had another go - I stripped the machine and removed the drive belt. I cleaned the belt and pulleys with lighter fluid and re-assembled it. I made another loaf last night and it stilled turned out flat.

I gave the pan a good soak tonight to try and make sure that the spindle is free enough. I noticed that it sounds a little rough when I turned it...

Next loaf due over the weekend.

@Furkin Did you have any joy?

 

[EightyTwo]

Still rubbish...

 

[EightyTwo]

Tried a rapid white, light crust loaf tonight and it worked fine!

Now, if only I could make it work with 50% wholemeal...

 

[EightyTwo]

I just ran the Whole Wheat, Rapid option and this has worked too.

How are you getting on, Furkin?

 

[Furkin]

Hi folks,
So sorry for the delay. I've been in the hospital and convalescing. For some reason – bread making wasn’t at the top of my priority list.

In the meantime, I got a message from Panasonic Bread making department saying: (para) “it’s now’t to do with us – there was a bad wheat production last year”.
I have no idea about where our wheat comes from nowadays, I lost track after my uncles campaign to stop the Worlds wheat/flour industry being dominated by one man – the Canadian = Garfield Weston – oooops, sidetracked !

I had purposely used flour from 4 different stores – though, as I have no idea where their stocks came from, might have been the same supplier.
My results were the same. I also tried 3 different yeasts – all to Noah Vale.

I had virtually made my mind up to buy another machine (& brand), but as I was waiting for the hospital appointment, I wasn’t in a rush.

It was sheer luck that I heard my machine going a bit wrong.
I suspected the running gear was at fault, so I stripped it down to see if I could adjust it. I can’t. The running belt seemed to be slipping on either the paddle drive, or the motor – which is more likely.

The belt is ribbed (for ones pleasure I assume !?) along its length on the inside. The pulley on the paddle drive is plastic, and it doesn’t seem to be all that slippy. The pulley on the motor is not only metal, it does seem very slippy.

Reg: I had heard that putting an elastic band on the paddle pulley would make it very slightly bigger diameter & therefore circumference. When I thought more about this, I assumed that the elastic would also give better grip, both to the pulley, and the belt. My mind was made up, so I went along that route. I scrounged a wide band from my postman (elastic – not the red ones, as they are made to biodegrade - or so Royal Mail tell us !?). I was now anxious to have another go.

I listened for the kneading to labour, as this was my initial pointer to the problem. It seemed 100% better, so I waited for the outcome.
Blast – it was as bad as before. I think (must stop doing that !) that the belt might be slipping on the steel pulley on the motor, but as its also ribbed, I have no idea how to make it grippier (!?) - any ideas please ?

I made a loaf yesterday & put almost double the yeast as I should, & it did come out a bit better, but I’m sure it isn’t mixed/blended/kneaded properly, as there is a bit of a funny taste (that I can’t really describe).

82: As you will tell, I’m no expert, but from the outset, I thought your problem might be ‘recipe’ related – maybe on the liquid side.

All I can do is wish you luck – or wait until Panasonic say the wheat production is better (who will they blame things on then, I wonder ?!)

 

[EightyTwo]

So sorry to hear you've been in the war(d)s!

You'll have read my previous posts... Well, I just ran another fifty/fifty loaf on Whole Wheat, Rapid (3 hours) using my standard recipe with a little more yeast (like the book says) and it's turned out fine!!

Recipe: 250g wholemeal, 250g white, 1 1/2 tsp yeast, 2 tsp sugar, 1 1/2 tsp salt, about 25 g butter, 320-330 g warm water

I might try adding seeds to the mix 'cos you can't do Rapid and Raisin together...

My wheat came from Canada... Sorry
Get well soon.

 

[Furkin]

Glad things are getting better.

I used to get seeded flour from the supermarket, but they stopped selling it a couple of years ago. I just added a few ounces to a full loaf.

I have pumpkin seeds, pine nuts and flaked almonds, seseme & poppy seeds. I throw a few of either in now and then.

I also add half a chopped onion - sometimes I fry them a little, sometimes raw. I tried garlic (love garlic and garlic bread) but for some reason, I don't like it in fresh bread.

I'll Percy Veer for a while before making my mind up what to do.

all the best

 

[EightyTwo]

I just ran another loaf on WHOLE WHEAT RAPID. I used my standard recipe with 330g of water and I threw in a handful of mixed seeds (sunflower, brown linseeds, seasame, poppy, pinhead oatmeal). It looks great and is currently cooling on the rack b4 being made into next week's packed lunches.

Assuming this is as good as it looks, I'm sticking with the rapid option!

 

[Furkin]

That sounds great.

I've never used that feature. I usually do basic French (6 hours !?) or Basic white.

I used to do the fruit loaf in the winter (loverly toasted) ,,,,,, for some reason I didn't bother this time.

I also did a dough mix, to bake in the oven. I prefer a darker crust than machines can do - but it didn't rise too well. Not tried since.

Carry on the good work.

 

[EightyTwo]

It's been a while, I know, but I think I've sussed it!

All was going okay with the RAPID option for a while but then these loaves started to turn out flat too. In despatation, I decided to strip down the spindle in the bottom of the bread pan. I discovered that there was an O-ring of well-cooked bread goo just below the inner seal. I chipped this off and cleaned everything up. Then I lubricated the whole shebang with lard (I thought that oil would get too runny when it got hot) and reassembled it all.

So far, so good!

It's been fine for about a month and I've just run a full 5 hour, whole wheat, raisin option (seeds) loaf using only just enough yeast and this has worked perfectly too!! That's the first time in about six months...

More posts later..?