bread maker

[Percy T]

hmm brought a bread maker and havent been able to make a decent loaf yet, always very heavy and doughy.

Thought i would make jam in it to but didnt set.

hmm should I give up?

[shirlthegirl43]

Don't give up. Have another read of the instructions - it should have a troubleshooting page which will help you 'tweak' recipes for a better result. Failing that, try an all in one bread mix - Hovis do one available in Tesco and I think Morrisons. It is about 70p and makes a nice loaf. It is also worth checking that you are putting the flour and water in the pan in the correct order - that can have a huge impact on the finished product.

[Polly Fouracre]

My daughter gave me a bread maker and I find it ideal for doing the kneadings and rising but I take it out and give it a final knocking back by hand, then rise it in tins and bake in the oven.Not as good as making it from scratch yourself but my hands won't do the kneadings now.

[Percy T]

yeap check all the ingredients and receipe etc. I too have been using it for the basic dough and doing the knocking back etc by hand, do you think I might not be working it enough before finial rising?

I like bread with seeds in like pumkin and sunflower maybe thats the issue

[shirlthegirl43]

I find that if I take the dough out it never rises as much as if I leave it to bake in the machine.

Morrison's do a lovely bread mix for pumpkin seed loaf - I mix that with a Hovis white and knead in the Kenwood chef then bake in the oven - makes the best loaf ever

[weekendwellies]

I have a bread maker and found the same problem. Mine does one cycle of knead, rise and bake. I found that if I switched it off after the first knead/rise, then switched it back on for a second knead/rise then let it bake it came out much better.

[Hilary B]

Most machines have several programs. The one we use has a 'fast bake' program, which takes under an hour. You need warm water AND extra yeast, and it is still a bit on the heavy side. On standard program we usually let it do its thing overnight, for fresh bread for breakfast.
If in doubt, add a little extra sugar to the recipe, it WILL usually help. Is the yeast really fresh? Those sachets of yeast, you get 2-3 mixes from a sachet, but once the sachet is opened it only keeps about 3 days.
All the breadmaker recipes I've seen include milk, or powdered milk. I never add milk to bread recipes, and it doesn't seem any the worse for that.

[Two_Sheds]

A lot of people say that breadmaker bread is "heavy"... compared to shop bread, it would be. Shop bread is full of air !

I don't know if you've tried this, but use more white flour in your mix (I like a 50/50 white/wholemeal loaf).

For a light, shop-like loaf I do a white loaf on the ciabatta setting

[Sanjo]

280ml water
12 oz strong white flour
2oz strong wholemeal flour
2oz mixed sunflower seed, linseed, pumpkin seed
2 level tablespoons sugar
3 level tablespoons dried skimmed milk
1 1/2 level teaspoons salt
2 dessertspoons of olive/sunflower oil
1 sachet of dried fast acting yeast.
Water in first, then all dry ingredients, then oil and then yeast
I'm on my third bread machine and use the same recipe for all of them. It makes a reasonable loaf and is rarely too heavy.
It's important to measure carefully and if making a loaf on the delay timer, then keep the yeast to one side in the dry.

[smallblueplanet]

Our bread machine seemed very particular about the flour we used - with a good white or wholemeal strong bread flour it was fine, with cheaper ones not so... *shrugs*

[Two_Sheds]

2 level tablespoons sugar

Wow, that's a lot. I go by most of your ingredients, but only 1.25 teaspoons of sugar/salt/yeast

[starloc]

I find the hovis mix is the best in the machine, its still tastes like machine bread though

I just use the allinsons flour, the allinson fast yeast and mix it up following the recipie on the flour, if you want it lighter add 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder ( works well even though some say it wont ) , and do it by hand it only takes a few minutes

or , mix it all up , stuff a hand wisk with dough hooks on in the bowl and stir for a couple of minutes, then put in a tin and leave it to rise half an hour and then cook it,

a couple of minutes with the wisk is easier than kneading it

[digthatchick]

Try Very strong flour for a lighter loaf. Seems to work well in mine.

[Alison]

Not all bread makers are the same. Before I bought one several years ago I did a lot of investigation and ended up splashing out on the Panasonic. I managed to get it a bit reduced but it still cost a lot more than many you can buy but has now been used 2 or 3 times per week for the past 4 (I think) years with no problems. It doesn't matter what order you put the ingredients in, it makes a wide range of tasty breads and can cope with different types of flour with no problems. As it suits us, we mainly make 50 / 50 whole grain / white loaves on timer over night and add a handfull of seeds and a pinch of herbs. Only put a teaspoon of salt and sugar in and usually add a tablespoon of milk powder but it can vary a bit. Lovely light loaves every time

Other good breadmakers are available but so do an awful lot of rubbish ones so it might not be your fault if your bread is rubbish and you really shouldn't need to do anything special.

[digthatchick]

Blimey Alison - it sounds like you live here! I have the Panasonic (£85 from Amazon) and my recipes are almost the same, and done on timer overnight! Half and half plus seeds but no milk powder.