How does a breadmaker work

[stella]

Probably seem like a silly question but I have never had one or seen one in action. After all the talk of breadmaking on here I thought one might suit me.
Do you just put all the ingredient in and then what??

[shirlthegirl43]

You put in all the ingredients (you will get an instruction book with recipes to suit the machine) then you select what you want (lots of buttons on top) hit start and wait for it to do the job. If you are like me, you will stand and watch it knead and pummel When it beeps at the end, use oven gloves to remove the pan and tip the finished loaf out. You usually need to remove the mixing paddle from the loaf and the hole in some slices is the major downside to a machine made loaf.

[stella]

So it kneads it and then cooks it as well??

[piskieinboots]

It does everything except butter the bread and make the tea!

Fantastic item, I bought a machine (Panasonic) two years ago following recommendations on here - I haven't bought a shop loaf since then

[bobleponge]

I believe that it works by magic.

"Roll up roll up, look at this 'ere machine, I throw this lot in, and look what comes out"

*ooohhhhs from the crowd!!

[Munch]

Q. How does a bread maker work?
A. in my case, not very well

[stella]

The one have seen apparently makes cakes as well is this possible?

[piskieinboots]

The one have seen apparently makes cakes as well is this possible?

Yes, but again it won't make the tea

[janeyo]

LOL @ bob...

Mine can make cakes too, and gluten free and weirdy breads too. And it can make the dough so you can finish rolls etc in the oven. I am hoping one day it will up and make me a cuppa.

They are great, we have had ours a few years but only started seriously using it at easter, not bought bread since.

It is worth spending a bit more as the first one we had was sub 50 quid and rubbish compared to this one which was about a hundred

[janeyo]

If you find a model you like the look of in Argos for example or Amazon, you can usually download the instruction leaflet and brochure somewhere online so you can check out all the recipes first...

[stella]

Still cant picture how it does it,(except by magic of course). So you put flour, butter, eggs etc in one bit of machine and then what?? When I make bread/cakes at home if it look a bit dry or needs more..... I add as I go along and take it out of the oven when it looks ready.

[Snadger]

It works like an inside out kettle! The element is on the outside of the loaf tin and heats the sides of the tin cooking the bread. The kneading is done with a paddle in the bottom of the tin which turns in alternating directions (I think) prior to cooking the loaf!

[stella]

So how does the loaf tin get greased and floured prior to cooking. How does it get formed into a loaf shap and what stops it sticking, just in sort of lumps?

[jojo2910]

Mine's a non stick coating and nothing has ever stuck. Some recipes require oil and this can help too. Make sure you follow the recipe in terms of the order you put ingredients in. For example, mine has to have liquid in first then dry. The one time I forgot and did it the other way round, flour got caught in the corners and the loaf looked a bit unusual.

In terms of shaping it the loaf rises in the tin, the same as one done in the oven.

We bought a Argos value range machine for about £30 as I wanted to see if I would use it and thought that if it was to sit in a cupboard, better a £30 machine than £100 one. But it gets used each week and have rarely bought bread and then only in desperate times.

[shirlthegirl43]

So how does the loaf tin get greased and floured prior to cooking. How does it get formed into a loaf shap and what stops it sticking, just in sort of lumps?

No greasing and flouring, the pan is non stick. The machine stirs (kneads) very fast and the dough forms a ball - it is fascinating to watch. You can open the lid and check the dough while it is kneading and add more flour or liquid if needed. The dough then gets left to prove and shapes itself to the pan (some machines do a square tall loaf and some do a more regular 'tin' style). When proving is finished, the element heats up further to bake the bread. The mixing paddle is left in the pan and this causes the hole I spoke of in my reply above. You can usually select a dough programme which allows you to remove the dough after proving and shape and bake as you want.

This might explain better than I did... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_machine