Bread machines

[lez]

I am just getting into breadmaking and quite enjoying it at the mo. Work does spoil the time I can find but hey ho needs must. I have just reserved a breadmaker at argos for £30 as I thought £90 was a bit pricey to find I did'nt take to it. Will have a rethink now and maybe go up market. I especially like the idea of mixing the dough and baking seperately as I had thought about the paddle hole in the loaf. Looking forward to playing as its cold and frosty here.

[Hilary B]

The advantage of a bread machine is that it has a timer, so you can set it to bake a loaf 'ready for breakfast'. I have used the Kenwood Chef, (no room in this kitchen, the breadmaker is tucked away in a corner where you couldn't use a mixer) and in Spain I sometimes make bread by hand (not enough electricity to waste on such things), but the machine IS easy and reliable.

[lez]

well I bought the bread amker it is a cookworks. Any one else got or used one?. The first bread is being baked as I speak (metaphorically) so I am watching the machine closely. I think it may be a good investment we shall see. Any recipes are welcome.

[cheerfulness]

My first BM was a cookworks and did us proud for ages. I've got a Morphy Richards fastbake now and we don't buy bread anymore.

The boys favourite is a spicy fruit bun ring with icing on (like Morrisons sell) and a similar savoury one with dried onion and cheese in. (they love that one with pasta dishes).

Just in case anyone is interested .. I put my electric monitor gadget on the breadmaker to see how much it cost to run and it came out at:

Normal loaf cycle - 5 pence
dough making cycle - half a pence

and we're not even on the cheapest tariff as yet.

[hamsterqueen]

Ihave teh panasonic basic one. The loaves are far better than the cheap one I had before.
I use Lidl bread mixes, jujst ove r a pound and makes 2 loaves. Using the rapid bake cycle as recommended it takes 2 hours.

For white bread I tend to make dough and then shape, prove and bake in the oven.

I use Lidl bread flour. It's the best I;ve found so far...and cheap!

[penny]

lidl

Hi, did your lidl just put up the price of bread flour? since we started using it their bread flour has increased from 35p to 78p a bag.

[bazzaboy]

Can I ask a question please of all you bread machine enthusiasts? I use a Panasonic 254 - works fine, ace bread - but I've noticed elsewhere that bread machine enthusiasts make JAM in their machines..... How do you do that, there's no "jam settings" in the instructions - is it pos with this particular model? b.
p.s. If there's one that churns butter as well you could just order a Cream Tea and have done with it...

[Gwyndy]

You need the model with the built-in Teasmaid for that bazzaboy!!

[lez]

I am in full swing now and trying my hand at it all. Got to have a go at pizza soon, any tips? I had a go at rolls but don;t seem to get the soft rolls I prefer as you get in the bakers. Perhaps baking to long or not big enough maybe to dry a mix I really don;t know but it can be fun and frustrating. I get the hovis mix for now at 71p a bag for a two pound loaf. Lovely. Also shpuld I cook granary on wholemeal setting or the basic setting. I will get there in the end with a little help from friends.

[Paulottie]

Can I ask a question please of all you bread machine enthusiasts? I use a Panasonic 254 - works fine, ace bread - but I've noticed elsewhere that bread machine enthusiasts make JAM in their machines..... How do you do that, there's no "jam settings" in the instructions - is it pos with this particular model? b.
p.s. If there's one that churns butter as well you could just order a Cream Tea and have done with it...

Only the Kenwood Machine has a jam facility.....but I prefered the panasonic for bread and it just wouldn't cover our jam making demands anyway.

[Eyren]

Another Panasonic (with seed dispenser & rye settings) owner here, though I haven't used mine in ages

I did buy a bag of Dove's Farm and some yeast the other day, so I really ought to have another go...

[bazzaboy]

so I really ought to have another go...

Do it, do it, E, I'm an enthusiast, tell us what happened!

Only the Kenwood Machine has a jam facility.....but I prefered the panasonic for bread and it just wouldn't cover our jam making demands anyway.

Thanx Paulottie - I'm emptying the freezer of last year's surplus fruit (in readiness for this year's surplus fruit, this is mad...) and thought that might be a short cut... Perhaps the Tefal Jam Machine then? Or the good old-fashioned way... Have just discovered white currants make a nice jelly (but red...) so, a bit late, can give my neighbours "Better- Late-Than-Never Currant Jelly, Happy Christmas!" - didn't have time earlier...

You need the model with the built-in Teasmaid for that bazzaboy!!

LOL.... Got TWO of those Gwyndy, gadget freak or what? The first one went wrong so i fell for the ad that claimed a Sixties warehouse-full of them had been discovered.... and blow-me-down the second one doesn't work either, same fault, dodgy on/off switch.... Works OK if you press the "Tea Now!" button LOL... I hate tea in bed anyway but amuses the odd visitor who these days all hail from the Groovy Sixties with Carnaby Street hats and humming songs by Peter Paul and Mary....

b.

[tarot]

Is it all in my mind

We used to buy bread from Tesco, but several times the bread was stale in a few hours even still well in date so decided to use our kenwood which worked well. We then thought - aha get a breadmaker but the price put us off until today when we found a breville at a car boot sale. We paid our £12 and after we cleaned it we tried it out and whilst the result was good and compared well with that of the kenwood the smell and taste lacked that of lovely yeast
that i can remember as a boy. Does dried yeast make tastier bread or is it all in my mind ????

[raine]

breville

Yaah- you're the only other person I know (apart from myself ) that has a breville breadmaker! Mine was bought by my boys at least 10 yeras ago and is brill. I particularly like the fact that the paddle is fixed so no chance of throwing it away and the jam setting is cool when i need to make just a small amount of jam . I normally make it the old fashioned way but sometimes run out. i love it!

[Buleste]

Only the Kenwood Machine has a jam facility.....but I prefered the panasonic for bread and it just wouldn't cover our jam making demands anyway.

I have a Morphy Richards and that has a Jam making programmealthough I've never used it.

I find that the Allinsons Country Grain makes a superb bread as does anything from Wessex Mill and the Allinsons Strong White makes lovely baps.