I love waking up to the smell of homemade Bread. There is nothing better than the aroma of fresh bread wafting from the kitchen. It helps to wake the grumpiest person in our household with a smile. Making bread can be a laborious task and it needs a lot of time and patience. To make bread from scratch, a lot of stages are required such as mixing, kneading, proving, kneading again and proving again before the final bake. Although it can be therapeutic, one needs a lot of spare time before you can savour the freshly baked bread.

If like me you too enjoy fresh homemade bread but don't really have the time to bake it, what you need is a bread maker. There are many bread makers available to buy on the market, but I particularly like the Panasonic range. The bread makers are simple and easy to use with many integrated features such as a temperature sensor that adjusts programmes processes according to the surrounding temperature. They have 33 programmes, a nut and raisin dispenser that evenly distributes fruit and nut throughout the bread. The added facility of a digital timer that can be preset up to 13 hours is really excellent as it enables you to programme the bread maker the night before so that you can wake up to a fresh loaf of bread.

Included with the bread maker are accessories that help you create and measure the ingredients correctly. The variety of programs can create a basic loaf or you can make speciality breads without too much complications.

The bread makers come in 6 different models and there is a choice of colours; black, white or chrome, making them suitable for any style of kitchen.