The best thing since, er, sliced bread.

I'd heard a lot about breadmakers recently and despite being tempted by a Panasonic breadmaker with fruit/nut dispensers I plumped for this model when given the chance to try it, and I have bought Karen Saunders' book; Breadmaker Bible as although this machine comes with a recipe book, I like to experiment. As an aside, I do thoroughly recommend the extra book, which is available on this very site. I have made a banana, chocolate and walnut loaf, a cinammon and raisin loaf, and a normal wholemeal loaf, all of which came out perfectly. I didn't know how well the ingredients (I mean the nuts, etc) would be distributed but it worked well and they were smattered throughout the loaves. It was easy to get the hang of how to use the machine, and also easy to take apart and clean relevant bits. I have not yet tried to make jam, but I look forward to giving it a go and seeing how this breadmaker makes jam. Much as a previous reviewer has said, it is heavy and large and does take up space, so be aware of this if you have limited storage/a small kitchen, and if you're only making ordinary loaves, then you would be fine with a cheaper option. It looks very classy and modern though and should match most kitchens.