A bread making machine or breadmaker is a home appliance for baking bread. It consists of a bread pan (or "tin"), at the bottom of which are one or more built-in paddles, mounted in the center of a small special-purpose oven. The machine is usually controlled by a built-in computer using settings input via a control panel. Most bread machines have different cycles for different kinds of dough—including white bread, whole grain, European-style (sometimes labelled "French"), and dough-only (for pizza dough and shaped loaves to be baked in a conventional oven). Many also have a timer to allow the bread machine to function without operator input, and some high-end models allow the user to program a custom cycle. History Although bread machines for mass production had been previously made for industrial use, the first self-contained breadmaker for household use was released in Japan in 1986 by the Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (now Panasonic) based on research by project engineers and software developer Ikuko Tanaka, who trained with the head baker at Osaka International Hotel to learn how to optimally knead bread; this machine had special ribs inside it. A decade later the machines had become popular in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. While not viable for commercial use due to the fixed loaf shape and the limited duty cycle, bread machines are suitable for home use, producing their best results when dealing with kneaded doughs. Use and features To create a loaf of bread, ingredients are measured into the bread pan in a specified order (usually liquids first, with solid ingredients layered on top) and the pan is then placed in the breadmaker. The order of ingredients is important because the instant yeast used in bread machines is activated by contact with water, so the yeast and the water must be kept apart until the program starts. The machine takes a few hours to make a loaf of bread. The ingredients are first rested and brought up to optimal temperature. The ingredients are then turned into a dough by stirring with a paddle. The dough is then proofed using temperature control and then baked. Once the bread has been baked, the pan is removed from the breadmaker. The shape of the finished loaf is often considered unusual, with many early bread machines producing a vertically oriented, square or cylindrical loaf very different from commercial breads; however, more