Bread machines

[seasprout]

(Parp).

How long before he decides it was all his idea? Lol!

Shush you, he's in the room.

We are currently making our second loaf at the mo. I'm going to have to stock up considerably on ingredients with this breadmaking lark. I too have been using Doves Farm Organic Flour from the CO-OP.

Nobody warned me about the side effects though did they.?!?!?! (Parp). All that yeasty bread going (Parp) through the system (Parp) Had to work on my own today. (Parp).

I'm currently eyeing up the bread keeper with "useful cutting guide" in the lakeland kitchen catalogue at the mo anybody got any opinion's on it..?

[shirlthegirl43]

I'm currently eyeing up the bread keeper with "useful cutting guide" in the lakeland kitchen catalogue at the mo anybody got any opinion's on it..?

Yup, the bread won't last long enough for it to be worth having

[smallblueplanet]

Shush you, he's in the room.

We are currently making our second loaf at the mo. I'm going to have to stock up considerably on ingredients with this breadmaking lark. I too have been using Doves Farm Organic Flour from the CO-OP.

Try Waitrose's organic bread flour (if theres a store near you) its very tasty and makes a very good loaf (we use half white half wholemeal).

[Sue]

Seasprout
Mine's just gone to the charity shop...

And to all those looking down on bread machines, I do like to make my own from scratch but for when you're rushing about bread machines are a godsend, fresh bread cooking while you're asleep or out and while I've been without a proper oven really has come into its own - would have -gasp - had to buy bread otherwise.
Sue

[Hazel at the Hill]

I'm currently eyeing up the bread keeper with "useful cutting guide" in the lakeland kitchen catalogue at the mo anybody got any opinion's on it..?

Although this advice will not be applicable at the mo, SS (as you will be scoffing the bread so quickl...) the lakeland breadguide cutter is ace.

Note: super duper fresh bread is a bugger to cut into slices for either toast or sarnies........tastes fabbo tho'!

[Paulottie]

We use Doves Farm too, I buy it in 25kg sacks, it is over £20 a sack this year though. You can add all sorts of seed, flour, milk etc to it, a simple one is a portion of granary to get a mighty white loaf is good. Feeding a family of four we bake every night -the smell is great in the morning. After 5 years of it OH finds it a bit of a chore but it definitely saves money and stops us relying on supermarkets.(our mission) I can't really see that it would be practical to make it by hand everyday!

Slices fine with a long knife once it has cooled but it does go stale quick once its cut. (we always wrap it in a tea towel) That's the price of no preservatives, fluoride etc! Really its very serviceable bread they produce with a bit of practice.

We had a Kenwood but I couldn't get on with it Average jam and variable bread. returned it for a Panasonic and its great ...it needs a new tin now though.

[Flummery]

My Kenwood isn't a bread maker Paul, it's a Kenwood Chef mixer - I use the dough hook for bread. This is a recent development as I don't want to have to buy an inferior product. I've made bread for about 30 years ('Gosh, she doesn't look old enough' I hear you cry! - go on, be a sport!!).
I don't look down on bread makers at all. The same argument goes on in quilting circles - hand versus machine quilting. There are some hand quilters who definitely look upon machine quilting as 'cheating' but they are simply different ways of achieving the same end. But I digest!
Warm new bread slices fine - as long as you make the slices BIG enough!

[Alison]

Practice makes perfect with cutting warm bread, our loaves have usually cooled for about 30 mins when we cut into them to make butties. To start with I used to make a right mess but no probs now, must have got the pressure right.

[seasprout]

[QUOTE=Paulottie;149444]

Slices fine with a long knife once it has cooled but it does go stale quick once its cut. (we always wrap it in a tea towel)
[QUOTE]


Yes, I'm finding it becomes a bit dense by the next day, I have ordered the Lakeland thingy ( & other stuff..!)

Will have to try the tea towel wrapping scenario.

[Two_Sheds]

Have been experimenting a bit with our Breadmaker (I kneel before its greatness)
1) Buckwheat flour (Dove's Farm?) is deliciously nutty / granary
2) Lakeland packs: darned expensive (£1.10 each) and no better than 'normal' flour
3) I've worked out how to put seeds and bits in without them getting mashed to death (there's a timer bleep after 26 mins)
4) A cup of soy flour (Holl&nd & B&rr&tt) makes a lovely crisp crust
5) If OH leaves the paddle out, you get a burnt lump smothered in burnt flour. Possibly useful for shoring up our sea defences

[JanieB]

We have a flour mill near here (wessexmill), the flour is lovely. My breadmaker's bust tho, the element only works on one side. I still use it to knead bread and mix cakes, but then I stick 'em in the oven.

[Lizzy]

Bread Machines

I also have a Panasonic Bread Maker, have had it for 7 years and found it excellent. The bread is alway a good light loaf, I make both white and wholemeal. I have no window, but just let the machine get on with it and always pleased with the result.

[Alison]

Mine is the Panasonic too, our utility loaf is a 50 / 50 white / wholemeal loaf which is lovely for sandwiches to take into work and toasts well also. We do other loaves occaisionally but find a lot of the fancy ones aren't as useful / adaptable. Ours has one of those seed dispenser things which I think I've only used perhaps twice in over a year since we got the machine. Most of the time you can just put them in at the start and forget about it all.

[Two_Sheds]

I've just bought a Panasonic SD254 based on the recommendations here (the cheapo one died after a year).
It's great (so far).

My only gripe is that the instructions say that seeds and grains may damage the non-stick coating. Well how daft is that?

[cupcake]

I too use the dough hook on my Kenwood mixer. I make 4 loaves every saturday morning (I leave them to rise while Saturday kitchen is on) It's really no biother. I'm lucky enough to live near a flour mill who sell their flour in the garden centre across the road. It certainly makes much better bread than the supermarket stuff.The gluten content is higher.