When it comes to home and kitchen appliances, Philips is without a doubt a huge brand name. Surprisingly Philips have not really ventured into the world of bread makers until quite recently. The market is quite saturated at the moment with many different makes and models to choose from. However Philips have now decided to add their models into the mix, so how do they compete against the competition? Keep reading to find out more.
Product Features:
The model we are going to have a look at today is the HD9045. This is certainly a more premium bread maker, as it comes with a bit of a hefty price tag of around $300. As one should expect, you do get quite a few features, but more on that in a moment. Let’s start off by taking a closer look at the design. There are two varieties of this model – the black and silver trim (pictured in this review) and the white variety. Both look quite nice, but our vote would have to go to the sleek and stylish black model as it certainly stands out. The bulk of it is black in color, while the control panel area features a silver trim. This makes for a lovely contrast, and it certainly stands out.
The control panel is situated about a third of the way up on the front of the machine. This is a bit of an unusual design as most controls are situated on the very top of the machine. It is certainly not a bad design at all however, as it does make the machine seem a bit smaller. The top has a large viewing window which allows you to keep an eye on your food. On the bottom are four non slip feet to make sure the machine is kept in place while it works its magic. It also has a non slip handle to make moving it around a breeze. Overall it is a modern looking design, and we certainly can’t fault it in any way.
With this Philips bread model you can make two different loaf sizes – the smaller 750g and the medium sized 1000g. There is also the standard three different crust options to choose from, and it has a built in timer which can be set up to 13 hours. There are 14 different recipes included with this particular model. You have your standard ones including white, rapid white, whole wheat, rapid whole wheat, french, sweet, gluten free, rye and super rapid. There are also recipes for dough, pasta dough, easter cake, and jam. When you are making specialty breads, there is a beep alert to let you know when you need to add the additional ingredients.
One of the main advertised features is that it is very quiet. Operating sounds have been measured at under 55 decibels according to Philips, so this is a great feature if you love to wake up to fresh bread without being kept awake by noisy bread makers! The included measuring cup and spoon are a nice addition, and make measuring the correct quantities easy to do. Whilst cooking, the bread machine stays cool to the touch. If you have kids then this is a great safety feature to have. Lastly there is also a recipe guide included which provides many different recipes to test out.
Now the main question is how well does it work? The answer is very well from what we have read. This machine makes a superb loaf of bread according to many different sources. If you choose the super rapid option then you can have a loaf of bread in about an hour. Now when it comes to testing bread machines, that is the fastest we have heard of any machine making a loaf of bread. While it should be obvious that the bread that is made in super rapid mode is not as tasty as the standard loaf of bread it makes, it still does taste really good apparently.
It has also been reported that the rest of the bread baking modes perform equally as well, all producing a fine variety of breads without any real hassles. The crust control has been confirmed to work very well, and you get the feeling that Philips really did a lot of testing to ensure that the results achieved with this model were exceptional. In terms of performance this is as good as any other bread maker we have heard about, so points must go to Philips for putting out a real winner.
User Manual: You can find a copy of the users manual over here.
Pros:
- Great design
- Lots of options / recipes
- Very quiet
- Cool to the touch exterior
- Nice recipe booklet
- Makes lovely bread
Cons:
- Pricey
Summary:
The Philips HD9045 bread maker certainly is very promising. It looks great, come with a variety of different recipes, and the results speak for themselves. The only drawback is the price, but Philips is a very reputable brand at the end of the day. If you can afford one, then the Philips HD9045 is a fine choice.
| Our Rating: |
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| 4.5 |