Sage the Custom Loaf Bread Maker Review

Sage the Custom Loaf Bread Maker Review
https://youtu.be/ffzvrMrl2NI

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Having tried quite a few breadmakers over the years, I have to say that this one, the ‎Sage the Custom Loaf Bread Maker. is the best yet, although also the most expensive at £249.95. The same machine is also available under the Breville and Heston Blumenthal brands.

In the box you get the breadmaker itself, the nonstick lined baking pan, a plastic jam making blade, a hinged metal bread making blade, and a user guide. Build quality is all first class as to be expected at this price point with everything exuding a quality feel to it. The user guide is large, nicely printed, comprehensive and easy to read. An equally well written bread making recipe book can be downloaded from the Sage website, but no printed version is included in the box, a real pity.

The 41.7 x 24.4 x 33.8 cm,7.8 Kilograms machine will make three sizes of loaf up to 1.25 kg in weight with three crust browning settings which is the same as with every other bread machine I have used. It offers fewer automatic cooking programs - less than on many rivals - but is the only machine I have tried which offers a custom setting allowing the user to set and save their kneading, baking and resting parameters. The preset programs can be modified as well as additional fine tuning made to allow for crust browning and loaf seizes. The machine's automatic programs include some I have not encountered before: Custom, Basic, Basic Rapid, Wholewheat, Wholewheat Rapid, Gluten Free, Crusty Loaf, Sweet, Yeast Free, Bake Only and Jam.

This machine is better designed and better constructed than any other I have yet tried, with a stainless steel body that certainly looks better and distinctly posher than the rivals. The metal casing does get hot, so take care and the body does sound a bit tinny sometimes, so it is not all good. The viewing window is larger than average and big enough to actually see what is going on inside and, another first for me, there is an internal light so the baking process can be easily observed.

All the controls are on the right hand side and consist of a large backlit LCD panel with metal buttons around it for metric/imperial units, beeper on/off, internal light (press and hold to view), Delay Start, Modify, Cancel, Start/Pause and a large rotary dial for options (rotate to scroll, press to select. They are all non-touch, proper click buttons.

This is by far the easiest bread making machine to operate I have yet tried. There is a large backlit LCD screen showing a list of the available programs, rotate the main dial to select the desired program and press to confirm, any options to it are then available such as Rapid or dough type and again press to confirm, if appropriate you can then select the crust type (3 levels of browning) and loaf size (4 sizes) up to 1.25Kg/2.5ibs. Press the Start/Pause button to start the program or to pause it before baking starts. There are additional buttons to modify, delay or cancel a program before operation.

The main selling point for me is the informative and useful backlit LCD and the ease of use that it gives. Cheaper machines have a small non-backlit display that is hard to read and harder still to use. The display here is bright and clear with all the functions clearly named and as the baking process progresses you can see on the screen which stage you are at. Also, I was pleased to see that when I accidentally started the machine by mistake I was able to stop it and begin again, not a feature often found on the cheaper rivals. Likewise, it has a 60-minute power interruption recovery feature which could be handy if the device is unplugged by mistake. At 13 hours the delay start timer is longer than with most rivals which makes it easier to set the machine up in advance to make a loaf automatically. Like most bread machines it has a one hour keep warm facility, to keep the bread warm after baking finishes. Other unique features are the kneading blade which folds flat at the end of the kneading process to prevent the hole made in the loaf when the blade is withdrawn and the baking pan viewing light.

The machine comes with a two-year warranty from SAGE with spares available for purchase - not cheap at £59 for the bread pan and £18 for the folding blade.

I should say that I am not yet fully convinced that the bread made by this machine is any better than that made by the cheaper ones. The bread making process with this machine is much more enjoyable and worry free than with previous devices. Yet the result I feel is not necessarily nicer than that made with a machine costing a quarter of the price

This is a high end bread making machine, well made and cleverly designed that makes excellent bread easily and with a minimum of fuss and bother.

Music: YouTube Audio Library: Woodshedder - Quincas Moreira