If you want quality bread making, at a reasonable price, then this is the bread maker for you. Priced at just £60, which is around half the price of most bread makers, it’s easy to set up and use.

Well designed and small enough to tuck under a cupboard or keep on your workspace, it won’t look out of place in your kitchen.

A well thought out design, it clearly shows you the cooking process, with its easy-to-use buttons and big display window. With 12 settings you can take on not just bread recipes, but sweets and cakes too, and with very little effort.

We tested the bread maker on its design and how atheistically pleasing it looked in our kitchen, while of course testing it on how well it cooked a loaf of bread – whether it was gluten free, white or wholemeal.

We also tested it on its other settings, including how well it made jam and sweet offerings. The quality of cooking was then valued against its price.

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Russell Hobbs 23620 compact bread maker

Buy now £60, Dunelm.com

Power: 600W
Dimensions: 29cm x 32cm x 30cm
Capacity: Up to 2.2lb loaf
Settings: 12

Design

As the name suggests, it is one of the most compact models on the market – small enough to keep on the work surface and to pop into a corner, while the lightness also means you can move it around with ease.

Its sleek black design includes a curved top with a viewing window – we loved the large window which allowed us to look at our bread or dough rising, a great add on, especially when we were worried our loaf wasn’t rising. The top of the bread maker, just in front of the lid, also displays the 12 settings and has a small LCD display. Easy to use, the settings are clearly set out, while the lid, with a small side handle, opens easily when you’re done cooking.

Inside you’ll find an easy to lift out pan, which cleverly clicks in and out. You’ll also find a paddle, which we found stress-free to attach to the bottom of the pan and pull out once we were ready to clean it. The non-slip feet at the bottom of the machine also keep it steady, while the convenient pictures on the model, which indicated bread and crust size, lit up on the LCD screen. We also found the timer useful – which indicated cooking time and stages of bread making.

Performance

The one key trait, which makes this bread maker stand out is the fast bake settings – two in total. Sometimes it’s great to pop the ingredients in and watch as it slowly gets mixed, kneaded and baked – but other times you just want a quick loaf of bread with your lunch. We did exactly that when we realised we’d forgotten to buy some bread and were impressed with the results – well risen bread in under an hour.

The other 10 settings allow you to cook whole wheat or gluten-free bread, cakes and even jam. We did find the instruction manual a little hit and miss, but once we tried some of the breads with our own measurements, we got better results.

The first attempt, basic white bread, failed to rise properly, but as we could check it through the window, we adapted the ingredients slightly for our second try and after four hours we had well-risen, soft and tasty bread. When it was mixing and kneading, we did find the model slightly loud, but nothing that disrupted us for too long. Our next attempt was on the cake setting – we made a lemon cake, which was slightly flat on the top, but tasted just like being cooked in the oven.

We went on to use the wholemeal setting too, with a darker crust and on the largest loaf setting – and although it did rise slightly over the tin it was well cooked and soft in the middle. We also got creative and made some jam, and we loved watching it whizz our fruit around while it created an amazing smell. However, we didn’t like the mess it made – it splattered jam all over the lid and inside of the bread maker, which was quite hard to clean.

Unlike some of the other models on the market it has no nut and seed dispenser – but with the 12 settings we didn’t really think it was needed. The delayed timer gives you up to 13 hours, meaning you can pop all the ingredients into the bread maker before you go to bed. We timed it so it was ready to eat just as we work up on a Sunday morning – you can’t beat that fresh bread smell.

Lastly, we loved how easy it was to clean (apart from when you make jam) with some soapy water and a rinse. The paddle took a bit more scrubbing, but it came out shiny too – ready for the next loaf or cake.

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The verdict: Russell Hobbs 23620 compact bread maker

Although it’s one of the cheapest models on the market, it doesn’t reflect this in its design or performance. With its curved lines and compact shape, the Russell Hobbs 23620 bread maker won’t look out of place in your kitchen, while you also won’t struggle to store it.

For £60, we found the performance of the bread maker, with a few little hiccups, impressive, making store-worthy bread and tasty cakes. The fast bake option makes it a real winner – bread in under an hour is a lifesaver.

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Russell Hobbs 23620 compact bread maker review: Can the £60 appliance rise to the challenge?

Throwing together soft, store-worthy loaves was a piece of cake