are breadmakers any good?

KraftyKate_2

I have a Panasonic BM and it's FAB!! We don't have many gadgets in the family but this is one we really DO use every couple of days! We make all types of bread as well as proving the dough for rolls to be baked in the oven. Pizza dough is also a favourite, the ingredients are the same as for the bread but instead of butter I pour in some good Greek olive oil and the result is wonderful!

I put the timer on - when I go to bed at night and at 7.00 am we awake to the mouthwatering smell of real bread baking. You can't beat it!!

Buy one tomorrow!!

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

I would always get a well reviewed (by Food Press) Bread Machine. I have a Breville Compact Bread Maker which I brought as a result of a Good Food Magazine Review. I believe it cost me £50 at the time.
My machine claims to do all sorts of things from some cooking to making jam currently untested.
Ideally I would own the Panasonic model £100+ which is more or less a bung and forget machine but we can't have everything.
As for it's worth. I make pizza dough, Bread doughs which I can easily shove into the oven, which means I never have to buy, unless I want too, Pizza bases in Tesco. The loaves it makes are more substantial than supermarket loaves but that is good. Supermarket loaf buying can run alongside homemade loaves if wishes.
I find it convenient to make my own doughs and can experiment with recipes such as fruit breads which I plan to make soon. Even though the Cost per loaf may be equivalent the value for money is so much better as I have control over ingredients and can, on the basis of reliable authorative recipes from sites such as Good Food Magazine, Chow, Epicurious, Food Bloggers etc as well as good cook books Elizabeth David Jane Grigson etc, turn out delicious bread with only the costs of Organic flour to consider, butter etc, golden syrup etc as the recipe requires.
Also Breadmaking in a machine or by hand is an art. Good reliable cookery books are essential.
People may blanch inwardly at my choice of Jane Grigson (English Food) Vegetables, Fruit etc but in these volumes are fine Peasant recipes. A case of qaulity winning over random recipes found in throwaway womens magazines with recipes of dubious qaulity and provenance.
I hope it helps.:beer::money:

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

I plan to get Elizabeth Davids 'Bread and Yeast Cookery' that should sort me out. Good old Peasant food in so called Middle Class places!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

Reliable tasty recipe + Reliable authorative Cook ie Jane Grigson, Elizabeth david, GFM, Chow, Food Bloggers etc, ADAPT+ good Bread machine = more substantial recipes = pleasure in bread machine. Saves on hard labour unless one elects to use manual methods, always an option if one wishes.
Personally I don't mind the bung and take out convenience of a good machine.:)

becs

We were given the panasonic breadmaker as a wedding present. I love home cooked bread but do only use it to make the dough and prove it then i bake in he oven. You get better loaves (bigger because they're longer) and no hole in the bottom. Also great for making rolls etc. We go through phases if using ours as i'm not too organised of late. We also have aquired a rescue border collie that is frightened of the kneading noise-amongst a million other noises! However we actually rarely buy bread as have to be desperate to buy shop bougt bread now knowing all the grim stuff including chicken feathers that go into it!

Lazy_Liz

I love my breadmaker and am on my third or fourth one. They are pretty foolproof but you can make mistakes like missing out an ingredient, forgetting to put the paddle in (did that the other week!) or putting the wrong setting but generaly its no different to making it by hand, you just need to pay attention.
I love the bread that comes out and adjust the ingredients to suit and it's a million times nicer then chemicaly enhanced sliced bread.
Its also pretty cheap, the electricity costs 5-6p a go and I think recently on here someone calculated about 70-80p for ingredients.

jjblondie

Slightly off topic, but there is a small ad today in the local paper "bread maker, 8 euros". Now, I've considered buying a bread maker before as I've made loaves a couple of times by hand, but now don't have an airing cupboard for warming. Should I go for it? And perhaps more importantly, is there anything I should ask the seller about the breadmaker before considering the purchase?

Also, bread here costs about 50 cents for a 500g loaf, and bread flour costs about a euro for a kilo. Would bread making be then more expensive than buying?

Thanks

vasseur

I bought a BM from Lidl for £35 in about May. I was really just dipping my toe in the water as far as BMs are concerned so i didn't want to spend too much money.

I love it and if I could afford to get the raved about Pannys I would. Having said that, mine is very good, makes about 10 different types of bread including pizza dough and it also does jam.

Just get a cheap one to start with and see how you feel after that.

Catapa

emma_b wrote: »

i loved the smell of the bread

If you get a bread maker with a delay timer it can welcome you every morning with the smell of freshly baked bread. I love mine, but we usually buy sourdough bread and use the bread maker only two or three times a months, occasionally only to prepare dough for pizzas and other things. The machine is now over 10 years old, so overall a worthwhile investment.

the_cake

I would encourage anyone to give it a go - you can quite often find second hand breadmakers very cheap at carboots or in charity shops ...
Do try this recipe, it's lovely, makes a very soft, moist loaf and lovely toast:

250ml liquid: I use about 2/3 water and 1/3 milk
30ml extra virgin olive oil (or see below)
175g well drained tinned chick peas
500g strong white bread flour
1.5 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 sachet easy blend dried yeast

My BM is the Kenwood Rapid-Bake (£5 in a charity shop last year, and now my absolute favourite kitchen helper ..) I use programme 2, which is the basic large white loaf. The loaf comes out very light, moist and with a slightly nutty flavour, and little dark specks. To make it a bit cheaper, I often use vegetable or sunflower oil instead of the olive oil, and I was lucky to get some cheap tins of chick peas when they were on offer.
PS Just drain the chick peas, rinse them briefly and chuck them in - the breadmaker mashes them up.