The best thing since sliced bread: Anne Shooter tests the latest bread makersSome years ago, my parents bought me a breadmaker as a gift. How exciting, I thought, as I opened it. But the ugly thing - which had cost more than £100 - was incredibly heavy and took up a whole kitchen cupboard.Making bread was a messy, time-consuming business resulting in a solid, tasteless brick of bread.After guiltily gathering dust on top of a wardrobe, it eventually found its way to a charity shop where, presumably, it was picked up by some other hopeful soul before going through the whole sorry cycle once more.These days, it turns out, bread makers are a whole lot better.

• Russell Hobbs Breadmaker 1787 Manual High School Denver
• Russell Hobbs Breadmaker 1787 Manual High School Denver Co
• Russell Hobbs Breadmaker 1787 Manual High School Indianapolis

They're light, compact and cost as little as £23.99, with even the best being under £100.They are so easy to use that it almost feels like cheating to say you've made the bread yourself. Simply chuck the ingredients into the bread pan in the order given, close the lid, press a couple of buttons and wait a few hours.Plus the bread is generally very good - and in some cases, utterly delicious. And who wouldn't love the smell of gently baking dough filling the house?Some breadmakers allow you to set a timer so your warm loaf is ready just in time for breakfast. Others have dispensers to add nuts, raisins or chocolate chips during cooking.Today's breadmakers allow you to choose the size of your loaf and how dark you'd like the crust to be. Some can mix cakes and pizza dough, fresh pasta or even make jam.Financially, buying a breadmaker also makes a lot of sense, especially when you consider that buying a large white crusty loaf from the Finest range in Tesco's bakery costs £1.29.Compare this to baking your own crusty white loaf at home: strong white bread flour (500g) - 17p, yeast (1 tsp) - 5p, sugar (2 tsp) - 1p, salt (2 tsp) - 1p, butter (25g) - 8p. That's a total of just 32p.Health-wise, there are also benefits.

Baking your own means no additives or preservatives. Panasonic SD-255, £99.99, panasonic.co.ukPANASONIC SD-255, £99.99, PANASONIC.CO.UKThis is a smart, fairly compact machine, with a conventional loafshaped tin that easily twists into and out of its casing.It's light, yet solid enough that when kneading it did not vibrate and move around the work surface like some others. Also unlike others, it was almost silent when working.It comes with straightforward instructions and is easy to use with good, clear recipes. The Panasonic is the only machine to require dry ingredients first, followed by water, as opposed to the other way round, and recommends using butter as the fat element rather than oil.

Plus there was no need for dried milk powder, which some recipes require. After four hours it produced a delicious, soft, well-risen farmhouse loaf with a golden brown crust that kept its shape as it cooled, and was still perfect 24 hours later.I also used the machine for wholemeal bread, which was perfect too.VERDICT: Simple and delicious enough to convert you to homebaked. Cookworks Signature, £23.99, ArgosCOOKWORKS SIGNATURE, £23.99, ARGOSA cheap, very neat, small machine with an incredibly useful handle to lift it, and a cable-tidy at the back. A large window gives excellent visibility so you can see what's going on the whole time.The bread pan, which twists into place, is upright, rather than horizontal, so the resulting bread was a neat, cuboid shape, useful for making sandwiches but less appealing than a traditional farmhouse loaf.It was very easy to use with lots of features, like a keep-warm cycle and a 13-hour timer. A basic loaf took less than three hours to make. But it was noisy when kneading and shook like mad.The resulting loaf was not good.

The crust was not crusty, and it crinkled as it cooled. The loaf was solid with lots of air bubbles, like a large, heavy crumpet. The next day it was even more spongy.VERDICT: Worth spending more money for a better machine 2/5. Antony Worrall Thompson by Breville, £99.49, ArgosANTONY WORRALL THOMPSON BY BREVILLE, £99.49, AMAZON.CO.UKLots of jumping around the kitchen while making annoying loud noises - a bit like Antony himself, some might say.

Russell Hobbs Breadmaker 1787 Manual High School Denver

But goodness, what a lot of features!It has 68 baking and dough options, a 15-hour pre- set timer. It can save all your favourite recipes, will make jam, has a special sweetbread function with lots of recipes for breads you'd never even considered before (pina colada bread, anyone?). You can also use it to bake cakes.My basic white loaf was short and squat with a pale top (cue more gags about AWT) and the bread was rather dense. The next day it was heavier still.The Panasonic is less flashy but makes better bread.VERDICT: Stick to the TV shows, Wozza 3/5. Morphy Richards Fastbake, £59.99, Morphyrichards.comMORPHY RICHARDS FASTBAKE, £59.99, MORPHYRICHARDS.COMA very smart machine that had a sticker on the front advertising a clever gimmick that means the kneading arm retracts while it is baking, so you shouldn't end up with a hole in the base of your loaf.This is a good idea as most home-baked loaves end up with big holes in the bottom (where the blade sits).

This one only has a finger-sized hole about an inch deep, and is easy to use, with clearly marked buttons. The bread was made in an upright tin, so made an oblong loaf with a good dark, crisp crust. But it was too dense and even heavier the following day.VERDICT: Not worth getting too excited about the dough hook 3/5. Kenwood BM250, £44.99, Kenwoodworld.comKENWOOD BM250, £44.99, KENWOODWORLD.COMThis is a white, light machine with a good viewing window and better accessories than its rivals - the measuring cup is a decent size and it has a clever spoon measurers making preparation simple and accurate. However, it was noisy and its buttons have symbols rather than words which meant lots of referring to the instruction manual. Plus, the loaf size options were only in kilos, not pounds.

But all this paled into insignificance when the machine produced a well-risen loaf with dark sides and a paler top crust. The bread was very light and soft with a good flavour, and was still great the following day.VERDICT: Very good value 4/5. Prima ABM 31 3lb, £79.99, buyprima.comPRIMA ABM 31 3lb, £79.99, BUYPRIMA.COMI'm slightly biased when it comes to Prima breadmakers, as my mother has an old one she adores that is heavy, clunky and a nightmare to clean - although it makes good bread.But this one is far more modern, is light and easy to clean and can make a whacking great 3lb loaf. It's simple to use, with settings to make all sorts of bread, as well as cake and jam, and it beeps to tell you when to add extras, such as herbs or raisins.It has a 16-hour pre- set timer and you can see what's going on through a large viewing window.My bread was well risen, with good dark sides and a golden top. It was delicious - chewy but soft - and cut easily into thin slices for sandwiches.

Just as good the next day.VERDICT: 5/5. Russell Hobbs Breadman Healthy Options, £99.99, HarrodsRUSSELL HOBBS BREADMAN HEALTHY OPTIONS, £99.99, HARRODSThis is a cleverly marketed product, aimed at people wanting to eat 'healthy' bread. It comes with useful, wipe-clean recipe cards for all sorts of breads, including low-carb, high-fibre, fat-free and low-calorie varieties. It's an attractive chrome machine and easy to use. But it was so noisy I thought it was broken, but that seems to be what it is like most of the time.The loaf looked pale and squat and was on the firm side, but I did try out another recipe, for banana, cherry and walnut bread - delicious.VERDICT: Worth the racket 4/5.

Tesco BMO8, £39.97, Tesco.comTESCO BMO8, £39.97, TESCO.COMA neat, chrome machine with clear instructions that is very straightforward to use, this kneaded very quietly and didn't jump about despite being light.It has a manageable ten programmes, including an ultra-fast setting which makes and bakes a loaf in under an hour. There's also a jammaking setting, as well as a cake setting where it effectively becomes a mixer, not actually cooking the cake, which seems a bit pointless.My first attempt was a disaster, as I opened the lid during cooking at what was clearly the wrong stage, so the loaf was totally sunken. But the next time was much better with a neat, if rather chewy, loaf.VERDICT: 3/5.

Russell Hobbs Breadmaker 1787 Manual High School Denver Co

Russell Hobbs Breadmaker 1787 Manual High School Indianapolis

Fed up with store bought bread loaded with salt? Why not make your own loaves at home with a bread maker? You’re in charge of the recipe, so you can make white, brown, gluten-free, whatever you want, anytime of day.

The breadmakers we have in our range are available in different sizes and have different functions; some are even suitable to make cakes and jam! Many also have quick bake settings and timers so you can wake up in the morning to the amazing small of freshly baked bread. Is there any better way to start the day than with a breakfast made with your favourite warm and crusty bread?If you find yourself wanting to make more of your own food at home then a is a must for any kitchen. With one of these you can whip up dough, smoothies, soups, and shred, slice, and grind ingredients with ease. If your focus is mainly on smoothies and liquid foods then a might be more useful as they are designed specifically for that task.If hot drinks are your thing then we have all the appliances you could need to make incredible at home just like you get in a fancy cafe.

While we stock, we also have the more exotic accessories for the caffeine worshippers. Grind your own beans with your own and you can get the blend you want, whether that’s coarse or fine. Once you’ve got your perfect blend you can brew your dream cup of coffee with one of our many coffee machines or cafetieres.