HM bread and the alternative......

[Hilary B]

We have our third 'cheapest in the shop' breadmaker (previous ones broke down, which is in part why we go back to cheapies, price does not mean it won't quit 3 days out of guarantee), and if we follow the instructions carefully, it makes better bread than we can buy locally.
A lot of the time we use breadmixes, which is cheating (and not cheap) but it works perfectly well when we can be bothered to use basic ingredients, and that works out very affordable!
It may be that the reason for a 'cakey texture' is in the type of flour, the recipe, or the baking program (even the very cheap ones have several programs) or some combination.
When we use 'ingredients' all we put in is water, a little (very little) oil or butter, flour, sugar and salt. I've made bread without a machine (many times) and never added milk, so I wasn't going to start when I got a machine. It doesn't seem to cause any trouble leaving it out.

[Alison]

We've had our Panasonic for about 4 years (I think, maybe longer) now and it's used every 2 or 3 days without fail. The only times we've had a duff loaf is when we'ver forgotten to add the yeast or something like that and nothing has ever broken etc so per loaf it was a very cheap buy - and if you shop around you can get money off, think we got about £20 or more quid off when we got ours from what ever was the RRP at the time. Think I've only used mixes once or twice as prefer standard 50 / 50 granary / white bread which is our standard sandwich loaf and does us brilliantly. The timer is great as it means we can have bread when we wake up which is ready to use by the time we've showered in the mornings. Basicaly it's brilliant and if it did break tomorrow I'd go straight out and buy another one. This is from a woman who doesn't do gadgets but wishes that she'd bought this one years earlier as no shop bought bread comes close.

[Bren In Pots]

In the meantime, a quick question for those that knead by hand and leave to rise - is there any need to leave to rise overnight or would a couple of hours do it for a white bread? .

I use fresh yeast so I prove mine twice, first in the bowl then a second proving once its shaped into loaves or rolls and its about a hour each time.

[Flummery]

You don't need to let it rise overnight. Just till it's doubled in size. I always let it rise twice - although the bread yeast says you don't need to. You get a better texture if you do. Anyway, you don't have to stand and watch it. The actual work involved in making bread takes a few minutes,

[northepaul]

I made a 'roman' spelt loaf today (as on the back of the packet of Doves Farm) it only needs one rise of 25mins approx and kneeding for only a few mins - just takes a bit longer in the oven -45mins ish.
Nice bread, quite dense but very light compared to wholemeal, and halved the time it took to make it.
If I make a white loaf, I usually spend the morning doing it from start to finish - mixing, kneeding (about 15mins) rising (about an hour depending how warm the kitchen is) kneeding again (10 mins) and rising (about an hour) cooking (about half and hour ish)
The bread is worth it though!!

NB I think the overnight rising is for sourdough breads??

[binley100]

My OH will only eat HM bread, he bought a breadmaker and he makes all the bread . We have a a variety of breadmakers over the years and have found the Morphy Richards Fastbake the best, bought direct from them on t'internet and they give a good level of service. The breadmaker gets a good hammering as it is used nearly every day.

[rana]

For those wishing to try a bread maker machine without committing to a big investment, keep an eye on the charity shops. I've seen second hand examples that look virtually unused for less than a tenner.

In my experience (I've been using my machine for 25 years) it is the flour that determines the quality of the bread.

[Two_Sheds]

£80 is still a lot to find in one go for some folks.

of course it is: we saved up for ours. Mr TS had a cheapy before that and it was rubbish: burning loaves etc. Then it died.
We had several cheapo irons too, lasting less than a year each on average, same with toasters.

I don't want to keep throwing all this stuff in landfill: I want something that will work and last. I save up, then buy in the Sales; oh, and always check reviews before I buy

[arpoet]

I learnt from my nan 50+ years ago how to hand make bread and still do it the same way. 'Buy the best flour' she always told me, so i use Dove farms but mix white, and wholemeal amd often some of thier other varieties to produce 16 very tasty bread cakes (Rolls, Babs, or whatever they are caled round your area), plus a couple of 20 oz loaves. I then freeze them down to use as and when required.

Nothing nicer than HM bread and HM Jam from HG plums for breakfast.. mmmm

[womble]

of course it is: we saved up for ours. Mr TS had a cheapy before that and it was rubbish: burning loaves etc. Then it died.
We had several cheapo irons too, lasting less than a year each on average, same with toasters.

I don't want to keep throwing all this stuff in landfill: I want something that will work and last. I save up, then buy in the Sales; oh, and always check reviews before I buy

When I wanted one, I just would not believe that a cheap one wouldn't work as well as an expensive one.
So as I said before, we bought a £20 one from Asda. It made horrible loaves, but it was our first one, so we persevered for a while, thinking it must be us.

After a while I started looking at forums and trying to work our what was going wrong. Going by what I read there, it went back and we got a Panasonic.
It was like a different world in breadmaking.

Although I really like the idea of making it by hand, the machine is so easy, means I can wake up to freshly baked bread and have more time to be on the vine

[Croila]

My parents have used a (Panasonic) breadmaker for years and the bread they make is a gazillion times nicer than the stuff you buy in the shops.

But it's the slicing of it that really puts me off. My dad uses the electric carving knife and the crumbs go everywhere! Honestly, the mess ... I just couldn't be bothered with that, no way. He can cut really even slices and the odd the time I've tried it, well, it's more like butchery than breadslicing!

Does anyone have a slicer gadget that contains all the crumbs and makes it quick and easy? If these sort of things are available I'd be quite tempted to go down the homemade bread route.

[womble]

Does anyone have a slicer gadget that contains all the crumbs and makes it quick and easy?

Yes, it's called a sharp bread knife and a chopping board.

[Croila]

Noooooo! I want an excuse to get a new gadget!

Seriously. There is no way I want to do it manually.

[chris]

I know what you mean womble. I hate the texture, and taste of bought bread. Despite some loaves turning out like erm.. lead - it's still nicer

[becslb]

I love home-made bread.. I hate shop bought cardboard or polystyrene bread.... unfortunatley this leads to arguments in the house - dh likes shop bought slice bread <bleurgh>; he likes the fact it is sliced, that each slice fits the toaster slot easily without (usually) needing turning and he likes the fact that most shop bought bread doesn't fall apart (unlike my hm bread which sometimes falls apart)..

At the moment I am buying bakery bread from the supermarket at between 90-1.10p a loaf and not eating very much myself but knowing that I can make a loaf for around about 50-55p.. it kind of grates(!)

How do I convince my dh to change his ways?!