Rick's b.log - entry 2025/06/15

Cake fail!

I made some chocolate muffins (they're cooling) and I have taken 75g out of the fridge to soften for making the instamatic cheesecake.

I popped into a local supermarket this morning in order to get some sweets for tomorrow. Better to do that than to try to remember to get them tomorrow when I'll be in a hurry.

Vide grenier

I saw a English family I know and they were selling a bread maker for €10. The story was that it had been used once and never again, and since it was taking up so much space they wanted to be rid of it.

Panasonic SD-253 Bread Maker

Yet another breadmaker!

Looking inside, I think it has been used more than once, but not that much more. Just by somebody who has no idea of how to use a breadmaker. There is evidence of abrasion on the inside of the tub, as if it was washed with the scouring side of the sponge, and there's a gouge in the mixing paddle as if somebody failed to get the thing out. In fact, as I bought it, the paddle was stuck fast inside the machine. This was sorted by leaving it for a few minutes in warm water, which is exactly what the instruction manual says.

This is what NOT to do.

I think, to be honest, it was lightly used by somebody who simply didn't understand how to use a breadmaker and didn't read the instructions. I wonder about that stain down the back as to what's the story there, was it a massive fail instead of a loaf of bread?

What happened here?

This breadmaker is a Panasonic SD-253 which looks like it was released in 2010, despite a styling that is quite a bit more retro-looking than that. It offers an automatic gunk dispenser for dropping in nuts and grains at the right point while mixing the dough. It works with solid ingredients, so sadly wouldn't be suitable for cheese or chocolate. Oh well.

The grain dispenser with the flap open.

The first thing I needed to do was clean the machine. It had been stuck on a shelf for quite a while. So, obviously...

The controller motherboard.

The main chip is a custom 64 pin Panasonic microcontroller that is marked MN1561601J2. A lot of the pins are going to be for driving the LCD. Otherwise, it's most likely going to be yet another 8051 based device. Making bread doesn't need a lot of computational power so an old 8 bit core will be more than enough.
The other side is buttons, resistors, and wire links. I didn't strip it down more as that would mean messing with the LCD and I didn't want to do that.

As is common with bread makers, the control is split between a microcontroller board that looks after everything and communicates with the user, and a second board that handles switching the mains-powered devices - namely the motor and heater. And in this case, a solenoid for the dispenser.

The power/control board.

Because this is a Japanese design and not some random rebadged Chinesery, it was pleasing to see that somebody had actually thought about routine maintenance. Eight screws, one in each rubber foot and one between each pair of feet, and the bottom cover came away allowing easy access to the motor and drive belt.

The motor and drive belt.

After the machine has been cleaned and I had given the mixing pot a good wash, it was time to sterilise everything. The simplest way to do this was to set the bake programme and let it heat up.

The heater element works.

Of course I was going to test it!
I had some bread mix, so I measured out 350ml of water (I think), 8g of salt, 500g of flour mix, a packet of dried yeast, and 10g of sunflower oil. I put this into the device and set it to regular white bread, large size (500g), light crust. It told me four hours. It seems that whatever options you pick on the basic white bread, it's always four hours. So I pressed Start and let it get on with it.

What is notable is that the instruction booklet that I found online said to put the ingredients into the pan in reverse order - namely the yeast, then the flour, then the water... However I did it in the normal order (water then flour then yeast) because that is what was written on the packet. I'm not sure the order actually makes that much difference, it's just that you must keep the yeast away from water until kneading starts, and it seems to me that putting the water in first makes it harder for the yeast to get wet too early.

It rested for half an hour to bring itself up to 30°C, then it kneaded for a lengthy half hour starting gently and ending with bashing the dough around.

Dough needing kneading.

It then sat for about an hour for rising and the dough did rise quite nicely. Then it kneading just a little, and sat for another near-hour to rise up again.. After that, time to bake. I think that was about forty minutes.

The result? A huge hunk of bread that I had trouble fitting into my slicer. Maybe I ought to invest in a bread knife for situations like this? ☺

The bread is too big for my slicer.

The bread is now sliced and in the freezer. I think I'm going to have to toast them one by one. That'll be interesting.

I like the many customisation options of my Lidl breadmaker, but with dual mixing paddles, it is designed for large families and not single people.

So this breadmaker did a decent large loaf slowly. In fact, I think the lack of speed may be key as this is one of the best turnouts that I have had from a breadmaker. And a nice quick snack is to pop a piece into the toaster and then slap on some marge, just like this.

Computer for scale (I didn't have a banana).

Another clock

My new clock.

I put an AA cell into it and... nothing. Dead as a dodo.

I stripped down the mechanism and quickly found the problem.

Battery corrosion is annoying.

I cleaned up the gunk, but it looked like one of the copper traces had corroded, so I bridged it with a piece of wire. But that didn't help, I suspect the other contact may be damaged and this is starting to get annoying.

Well, it was worth a try.

Time to drag out my Plan B. As a person with a low key obsession for clocks, there ought not be a surprise that I can just reach over to the shelf and lay my hands on a replacement mechanism with hands.

Rolling out Plan B.

Fitting it was simplicity.

A new clock.

Yes, that's a spiderweb on the left there. I only recently vacuumed up several that had set up near to the bug lamp (just off to the left) but clearly the little crawly buggers are wanting to give me an erect middle leg. Or something. However spiders insult each other.

This is not finished. When I saw this I thought of having it stained more like a mid-oak sort of colour. I think I'm going to have to do some tests to see if it is real wood or coated chipboard. I have a suspicion that it is real wood, but I'd need to confirm before I hit it with sandpaper. ☺
If it is, then just sand away the darkness and revarnish it a lighter colour like I imagined when I saw it, though there's a niggle in the back of my mind asking if it would look good to leave alternate petals dark and only lighten up the others and the centre. What do you think?

Oh, and with people at the vide grenier and cyclists and a crowded supermarket and five days of work about to happen, you can rest assured that my social battery is reading yellow right now.

I have just finished making the cheesecake topping, so that's now in the fridge to set. I can't be bothered to cook anything today as I'm shattered, so I think I'll just make myself a hearty bowl of Country Store (muesli) and call it a day.

A bowl of cheesecake topping.

Your comments:

Please note that while I check this page every so often, I am not able to control what users write; therefore I disclaim all liability for unpleasant and/or infringing and/or defamatory material. Undesired content will be removed as soon as it is noticed. By leaving a comment, you agree not to post material that is illegal or in bad taste, and you should be aware that the time and your IP address are both recorded, should it be necessary to find out who you are. Oh, and don't bother trying to inline HTML. I'm not that stupid! ☺
As of February 2025, commenting is no longer available to UK residents, following the implementation of the vague and overly broad Online Safety Act. You must tick the box below to verify that you are not a UK resident, and you expressly agree if you are in fact a UK resident that you will indemnify me (Richard Murray), as well as the person maintaining my site (Rob O'Donnell), the hosting providers, and so on. It's a shitty law, complain to your MP.
It's not that I don't want to hear from my British friends, it's because your country makes stupid laws.
 
You can now follow comment additions with the comment RSS feed. This is distinct from the b.log RSS feed, so you can subscribe to one or both as you wish.

A tree-dwelling mammal, 16th June 2025, 00:25

Not sure what's worse. The Lycra Nazi type of cyclist, or the 'ninja cyclist' that we get around here.    You know the sort? Rides around in all black, on a black bike with no lights? Then darts off the pavement straight in front of your car?    Also, I thought Cake was a made-up drug from Czechoslovakia?

Add a comment (v0.12) [help?] . . . try the comment feed!
		Your name
		Your email	(optional)
		Validation	Are you real? Please type 30222 backwards.
		UK resident	Check to verify that you are NOT a UK resident.
		Your comment