NIX KITCHEN // FIVE LOAVES, ONE LITTLE PANASONIC — The Ultimate SD-PN100 Bread Collection
Five brilliant homemade breads, one compact Panasonic. From proper farmhouse white and wholesome wholemeal to fruit bread, crusty French bread and luxurious buttery brioche, NIX KITCHEN explores five recipes made specifically for the SD-PN100, complete with exact measurements, machine programmes, baking tips and serving ideas.
NIX // KITCHEN / THE BREAD COLLECTION
Five completely different loaves. One surprisingly capable little bread maker. And that glorious smell of freshly baked bread filling the kitchen.
There are few things in life quite as satisfying as proper homemade bread. Not the supermarket stuff that seems to last for weeks, but a loaf made from flour, yeast, water and a handful of everyday ingredients.
My little Panasonic SD-PN100 is an interesting bit of kitchen technology. It takes the traditional business of making bread and handles the kneading, proving and baking in one compact machine.
And I've been exploring just how much variety you can get from it.
This NIX KITCHEN collection brings together five recipes specifically measured for the SD-PN100: a proper white loaf, country wholemeal, fruity breakfast bread, French-style bread and a seriously indulgent brioche.
The quantities and machine programmes are based on Panasonic's published instructions. The aim is simple: keep the recipes accurate, the method straightforward and the results worth getting excited about.
- Classic Farmhouse White — the everyday hero.
- Country Wholemeal — wholesome and satisfying.
- Traditional Fruit Loaf — breakfast perfection.
- French Country Bread — simple, rustic elegance.
- Golden Butter Brioche — the luxury option.
MEET THE LITTLE BREAD MAKER
Panasonic has managed to squeeze an impressive selection of baking programmes into the SD-PN100.
It can make everyday bread, wholemeal bread, brioche and French-style bread. There are also rapid programmes, dough settings, gluten-free programmes and a jam function.
But its biggest strength is consistency. The machine controls the various stages of bread making while I get on with something else.
There is one essential point to remember: this is a compact bread maker. Recipes designed for larger 400g, 500g or 600g flour batches should not simply be tipped into it.
The five recipes below have been selected from the smaller PN100 quantities.
THE IMPORTANT INGREDIENT ORDER
For the five wheat-based recipes in this article, Panasonic specifies:
- Dry yeast goes into the bottom of the bread pan.
- Cover the yeast with the measured flour.
- Add the remaining dry ingredients and butter.
- Pour in the measured liquids last.
Keep the yeast away from the kneading spindle where possible. Use the proper measuring spoon and digital kitchen scales.
Important: Keep the stated ingredient quantities unchanged for your first bake. Once you've established a reliable loaf, experiment carefully.
CLASSIC FARMHOUSE WHITE
MENU 1 — BASIC4 HR–4 HR 10SMALL LOAF
We start with the bread that every bread maker should be able to produce beautifully: a good, honest white loaf.
This is the workhorse of the collection. Sandwiches, morning toast, cheese on toast, bacon sandwiches and thick slabs covered in butter. If there's one bread worth perfecting, it's this one.
What I like about a traditional white loaf is its simplicity. No complicated ingredients, no elaborate preparation and no need to turn the kitchen into a flour-covered disaster zone.
INGREDIENTS — ONE PN100 LOAF
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Dry yeast | 1 tsp |
| Strong white bread flour | 250g |
| Butter | 15g |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp |
| Salt | 1 tsp |
| Water | 170ml |
METHOD
- Fit the kneading blade into the bread pan.
- Add the yeast, followed by the flour.
- Add butter, sugar and salt.
- Pour in 170ml water.
- Lock the bread pan into the machine.
- Select Menu 1 — Basic.
- Choose your preferred crust colour.
- Press Start and let the machine work.
- Remove the finished loaf using oven gloves and cool on a wire rack before slicing.
The loaf that proves the old-fashioned basics are still the best.
THE NIX VERDICT
The obvious everyday candidate. I'd use this for proper thick toast with salted butter, a generous cheese sandwich or a bacon butty. Nothing clever needed.
WATCH — PANASONIC WHITE BREAD
COUNTRY WHOLEMEAL
MENU 4 — WHOLE WHEAT5 HOURS50/50 FLOUR BLEND
Wholemeal bread has a character all of its own. A deeper flavour, a satisfying bite and the sort of texture that makes a thick slice feel like a proper meal.
This particular recipe combines strong wholemeal flour with strong white flour, producing a 50/50 loaf rather than a completely wholemeal one.
That's a sensible balance. The white flour helps produce a softer crumb while the wholemeal gives it that wholesome, slightly nutty character.
INGREDIENTS
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Dry yeast | 1 tsp |
| Strong wholemeal bread flour | 125g |
| Strong white bread flour | 125g |
| Butter | 15g |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp |
| Salt | 1 tsp |
| Water | 190ml |
METHOD
- Fit the kneading blade.
- Add dry yeast.
- Cover with both flours.
- Add butter, sugar and salt.
- Pour in the water.
- Select Menu 4 — Whole Wheat.
- Press Start.
- After five hours, remove and cool the loaf.
The longer programme is deliberate. Wholemeal flour behaves differently from refined white flour, and the machine allows extra time for the dough to develop.
THE NIX VERDICT
I'd put this one alongside homemade soup, toasted with a little butter or used for a mature Cheddar and chutney sandwich.
It's the sort of bread that makes a simple lunch seem rather more substantial.
WATCH — PANASONIC WHOLEMEAL BREAD
TRADITIONAL FRUIT LOAF
MENU 3 — BASIC RAISIN4 HR–4 HR 10MANUAL FRUIT ADDITION
Now we're getting into proper breakfast territory.
Fruit bread is one of those wonderful old-fashioned things that deserves a comeback. Lightly toasted, generously buttered and eaten with a decent mug of tea, it is hard to beat.
This is a simple raisin loaf rather than a heavily spiced tea cake. The fruit brings little pockets of sweetness throughout the bread.
It also introduces one of the PN100's useful features: the machine tells you when it's time to add extra ingredients.
INGREDIENTS
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Dry yeast | 1 tsp |
| Strong white bread flour | 250g |
| Butter | 15g |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp |
| Salt | 1 tsp |
| Water | 170ml |
| Raisins | 50g |
METHOD
- Add yeast, flour, butter, sugar, salt and water in the specified order.
- Keep the 50g raisins aside.
- Select Menu 3 — Basic Raisin.
- Start the machine.
- Listen for the ingredient-addition beep, normally around 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 35 minutes into the programme.
- Open the lid and add the raisins, cut into pieces of approximately 5mm where needed.
- Press Start again to continue.
- When finished, remove and cool the loaf.
The PN100 does not automatically dispense the raisins in this recipe. Add them at the machine's signal, not at the beginning.
THE NIX VERDICT
This is my pick for breakfast or an afternoon treat. Toast it lightly and let a little salted butter melt into the surface.
If I'm feeling particularly extravagant, a little orange marmalade wouldn't go amiss either.
Simple pleasures. They don't need reinventing.
FRENCH COUNTRY BREAD
MENU 7 — FRENCH5 HOURSFOUR INGREDIENTS
Sometimes the best recipes are the ones that use the fewest ingredients.
This French-style bread is a perfect example. Flour, water, salt and yeast. That's it.
There is no butter, no sugar and no elaborate list of extras. The bread develops its character through the machine's longer French programme.
Expect something less rich than the white loaf, with a more traditional bread flavour and a firmer crust.
It is worth remembering that the PN100 produces its own small, pan-shaped loaf. It doesn't magically turn the dough into a baguette, however French the programme might be!
INGREDIENTS
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Dry yeast | ¾ tsp |
| Strong white bread flour | 250g |
| Salt | 1 tsp |
| Water | 170ml |
METHOD
- Install the kneading blade.
- Add yeast to the pan.
- Cover with the strong white flour.
- Add salt.
- Pour in 170ml water.
- Select Menu 7 — French.
- Press Start.
- Allow the five-hour programme to finish.
- Remove the loaf carefully and cool on a rack.
THE NIX VERDICT
This is the bread I'd serve alongside a bowl of homemade tomato soup, a cheese board or a proper rustic stew.
Four ingredients, a long baking programme and absolutely no unnecessary fuss.
It is a reminder that good bread doesn't need a shopping list the length of your arm.
GOLDEN BUTTER BRIOCHE
MENU 6 — BRIOCHE3 HR 15RICH & BUTTERY
And finally, the show-off.
Brioche is a different proposition from everyday bread. Richer, softer, sweeter and loaded with butter, this is the loaf for when a standard slice of toast simply won't do.
The recipe contains egg, milk powder, sugar and plenty of butter. Those additions change the character of the dough and help produce the distinctive soft, enriched texture.
The interesting part is that not all the butter goes in at once.
Panasonic's brioche programme has a manual addition stage, giving the initial dough a chance to develop before the remaining butter is incorporated.
INGREDIENTS
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Dry yeast | ¾ tsp |
| Strong white bread flour | 200g |
| Butter — initial addition | 30g |
| Sugar | 2 tbsp |
| Skimmed milk powder | 1 tbsp |
| Salt | ¾ tsp |
| 1 medium egg + 1 egg yolk + water, beaten together | 140ml total |
| Butter — later addition | 40g |
THE EGG MIXTURE MATTERS
Beat one medium egg with one additional egg yolk, then add enough water to make 140ml of liquid in total.
Do not add 140ml of water on top of the eggs. The combined mixture must measure 140ml.
METHOD
- Fit the kneading blade.
- Add the dry yeast, then the flour.
- Add 30g chilled butter, cut into approximately 2–3cm cubes.
- Add sugar, milk powder and salt.
- Pour in the prepared 140ml egg-and-water mixture.
- Keep the remaining 40g of chilled butter aside, cut into approximately 1–2cm cubes.
- Select Menu 6 — Brioche and press Start.
- Wait for the manual-addition beep, approximately 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes after starting.
- Add the remaining 40g butter and press Start to continue.
- At the end of the programme, carefully remove the loaf and let it cool.
Don't add all 70g of butter at the beginning. The recipe deliberately splits it into two additions.
THE NIX VERDICT
French toast. Thick slices with jam. A wonderfully indulgent breakfast. Or simply a slice eaten fresh with a cup of coffee.
If this comes out as well as the ingredient list suggests, it could be a dangerous thing to have sitting on the kitchen worktop.
Self-control might be required. I wouldn't bank on it.
THE FIVE-LOAF COMPARISON
Five breads, five different uses, and five rather good reasons to keep a bag of strong bread flour in the cupboard.
| Bread | Programme | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Farmhouse White | 01 | 4h–4h 10 |
| Country Wholemeal | 04 | 5h |
| Fruit Loaf | 03 | 4h–4h 10 |
| French Country | 07 | 5h |
| Butter Brioche | 06 | 3h 15 |
SEVEN WAYS TO GET BETTER BREAD
01 // WEIGH EVERYTHING
Digital scales are your best friend. A few grams can make a difference when working with small batches of dough.
02 // USE STRONG BREAD FLOUR
Strong flour has the protein needed to develop the gluten structure of yeast bread. Ordinary plain flour isn't always a suitable replacement.
03 // USE THE CORRECT YEAST
Choose dried yeast suitable for bread makers and follow the measured quantity. Different yeast products are not always interchangeable on a teaspoon-for-teaspoon basis.
04 // RESPECT THE INGREDIENT ORDER
The PN100 specifies yeast first, flour next, followed by other ingredients and finally liquids for these recipes.
05 // DON'T IGNORE THE BEEP
The fruit loaf and brioche both need ingredients added during the cycle. Keep those extras ready before pressing Start.
06 // LET THE BREAD COOL
Fresh bread can be difficult to cut cleanly while hot. Cooling allows the crumb to firm up and makes slicing easier.
07 // RECORD YOUR RESULTS
Write down the recipe, flour brand, yeast, crust setting and result. That way a good loaf becomes a repeatable recipe rather than a lucky accident.
WHAT ABOUT TAKING BREAD AWAY IN VANILLA?
One of the things I like about making smaller loaves is that they can be practical when you're away in the campervan.
I'm not suggesting running a full bread-making cycle from an off-grid power supply without checking the energy demand. But baking at home before leaving makes plenty of sense.
A fresh loaf, a decent cheese, a tin of soup and the freedom to stop somewhere with a view. That's a pretty good lunch.
The wholemeal would be my choice for soup, the white for sandwiches, and the fruit loaf for breakfast with the kettle on.
Store bread appropriately, and freeze any surplus slices before travelling if you want them to last longer.
THE NEXT EXPERIMENTS
Once these five have been tested, there are plenty more possibilities.
I'd like to explore a proper seeded loaf, something with malted flour, a cheese-and-herb bread, and perhaps a version with a little more attitude than the standard supermarket offering.
But those deserve their own carefully measured recipes rather than guesses thrown into the pan.
THE FINAL SLICE
There's something pleasantly old-fashioned about baking bread. People have been doing it for thousands of years, and the basic ingredients haven't really changed.
What has changed is the technology.
The Panasonic SD-PN100 takes a traditional process and makes it surprisingly accessible. Measure the ingredients, choose the right programme and let the machine do what it was designed to do.
Five recipes. Five quite different results. All from one compact little machine.
For everyday practicality, my starting point would be the farmhouse white. For something more substantial, wholemeal. For breakfast, the fruit loaf. For simple rustic food, French. And for sheer indulgence, brioche.
There's only one problem with homemade bread.
Once you've got used to that smell coming from the kitchen, the supermarket stuff has a lot to live up to.
NIX // KITCHEN
Five loaves. One machine. Proper homemade bread.
Recipe measurements and programmes checked against Panasonic SD-PN100 published operating instructions. The recipes are presented for home testing; individual results depend on ingredients and conditions.
