Sage Custom Loaf™ Breadmaker BBM800BSSUK

Before I start with the Sage Custom Loaf breadmaker review, I do have some experience with bread makers in the past. I had an unbranded one that I’d bought from Tesco and had for many years.

Whilst it performed well with basic loaves, it did take me many, many failed attempts to get a loaf to rise properly. I wasted a lot of flour and yeast during this time, getting the recipe and temperature of the water right.

Eventually I managed to find a formula which worked in the machine, which basically revolved around having the water at the correct temperature, otherwise the yeast just wouldn’t play ball.

I was extremely excited to get a premium bread maker, although I was nervous in case I experienced the same issues getting a loaf to rise. Read on, to find out if I was right to be nervous…

The packaging used by Sage was good at restricting movement of the bread maker in transit, as well as protecting the brushed stainless steel surfaces from scratches. As a result, the product was in pristine condition when I removed it from the box, ready for use.

I was pleased to see that the internal packaging was cardboard-based, meaning it was fully recyclable.

I think the Custom Loaf bread maker by Sage looks great. It’s a brushed stainless steel colour, which I feel looks really smart and fits well in our kitchen theme.

The control panel looks very clear, with lots of information relayed through the LED screen, using dark letters over a light background. It’s easy to select options through the rotary dial, and to press the buttons to select options. They respond really well.

The whole bread maker comes protected in plastic. Plus the LED screen has an easy to peel sticker to protect it, with graphics showing what the screen will look like in use.

Easy-to-peel blue tape is used to secure openings during transit. In addition, the bread pan has cardboard protection over the kneading blades that are held in bubble wrap. These are all protected by a plastic covering. These all need to be removed before use.

Stored in bubble wrap attached to the handle of the bread pan, the kneading blades are well protected within the bread maker. There are two kneading blades, a collapsible blade for loaves of bread, and a fixed blade used for jam making.

Within the breadmaker there is a heating element surrounding the edge of the space. In the centre is a circular mechanism for the bread pan to slot into.

Underneath the bread pan is a rotatable bar, which needs to be slotted into the mechanism at the bottom of the breadmaker main space. It fits in easily, but you may take a few attempts to get it to slot in perfectly.

Once in place you can slot the kneading blade onto the small rod protruding from the bottom of the bread pan. The rod has a half-moon shape, which is mirrored by the kneading blade, meaning it slots snugly into position.

The kneading blade for bread is a very clever piece of kit. It is collapsable, meaning once it has finished its job of kneading the dough, it is able to be collapsed by the breadmaker. This means that you don’t have a large hole in the middle of the loaf caused by the blade. You do still get a small hole, but not as big as breadmakers without a collapsible blade.

Whilst this is a great feature, it does make for a kneading blade that has some gaps within the mechanism. This means it needs a good clean after use to clear old bread out from within, allowing the kneading blade to move freely.

As yet, I am still to work out the best way of easily doing this. I soak the blade to soften the bread mixture within, then use some tiny bottle cleaning brushes to get into the gaps. It still takes me a little while to clean to my satisfaction.

It was incredibly easy to use the Sage Custom Loaf breadmaker to produce my first loaf of bread. The rotary dial to control selections was easy to use, rotating to highlight an option, then pressing the dial to select the chosen option.

I chose to make a spelt loaf, which is an old grain which required a brown loaf setting to be chosen. I selected a quick option, which took just over 2 hours to bake. This loaf (shown left) was a small one, with a medium crust bake. It was a perfect size, texture and taste!

Following the recipe, I added the ingredients to the pan in the correct order (which is very important). Of course, make sure you’ve got the kneading blade in place before adding the ingredients!

The correct order was: Water, vegetable oil, salt, sugar, flour then yeast. The water is recommended to be at 27 Celsius, so you will need a thermometer to make sure it’s correct. My recipe required 360ml of water, which I zapped in the microwave for about 40 seconds to get it to the correct temperature. This is important to ensure the yeast is active, but not overly so.

Shown in the left here is another loaf I made, using strong white bread flour. It was a much large loaf, but could still be baked in the same timeframe, just over 2 hours. It was equally as tasty as the first spelt loaf, and had a great crumb when sliced.