breadmaker for a single person

bundance

Hello

Can anyone recommend a breadmaker for a single person, preferably cheap.
Also, is it more economical to make your own bread?
Does homemade bread keep well?
What type of yeast do you use.
sorry for all the questions as I have never made bread before.

thank you

Farway

Breadmakers are a mixed blessing, but for foolproof ones you really need to get a Panasonic, which is not the cheapest brand, but cheaper ones tend to give hit & miss bread

It depends on what you want if economy is a key, if you love soft white sliced pap at 25p a loaf then HM bread cannot compete, if however you buy the over £1 a loaf types then it is cheaper

Whatever the cost though you know exactly what went in it, no e this or emulsified that

HM bread does not keep well, due of course to it not having preservatives in it, but it will keep at least 3 days, what I do sometimes is cut it in half, slice & freeze half & use half fresh. The frozen slices are handy for toast

Yeast is the Quick type, made by the likes of Hovis & own brand supermarkets, you can use fresh yeast but this takes a little preparation before hand

Only problem with HM bread is the great taste which can lead to a great waist if not careful :rotfl:

JulieM

Check out the various models on the internet, you'll be able to see the size of the loaves each machine makes. The Morphy Richards machines do small loaves, though as Farway states, Panasonic is the best make.

culpepper

we have the morphy richards which makes the small or regular sized loaf but I never use the small setting .I like square bread that can fit the toaster so when the kids are away and it is just the two of us, I bake the regular loaf, let it get cold and slice it, then freeze the part we dont eat that day.Each day we just remove enough from the freezer for the day until the next one needs to be made.
Homemade bread doesnt keep very long and in the summer it is only a couple of days till it begins to go mouldy. You can add vitamin C to it which is supposed to help it keep better.

bundance

sounds good thanks, just had a look at the price eek!

savingforoz

Bundance, I got a great Morphy Richards second hand from the Bristol Trade - It - maybe have a look on Freecycle or your local second hand ads forum?

I'm single like you, and can't see me ever buying shop bread again. Once I've done a loaf or some rolls, the loaf gets sliced and popped in the freezer, then I just take out what's needed as I need it. So no problems with whether it keeps fresh or not.

I use Hovis breadmaker yeast and Sainsburys bread flour.

One thing I didn't think of when I bought it is that it can be used to make, very cheaply, all the mega expensive speciality breads that you'd pay a fortune for in the shops. I've done Italian herb bread, sundried tomato bread, carrot and mustard bread, olive bread...such fun and a zillion times cheaper than shop bought bread!

Hope this helps.

Farway

savingforoz wrote: »

Bundance,

One thing I didn't think of when I bought it is that it can be used to make, very cheaply, all the mega expensive speciality breads that you'd pay a fortune for in the shops. I've done Italian herb bread, sundried tomato bread, carrot and mustard bread, olive bread...such fun and a zillion times cheaper than shop bought bread!

Never try orange & banana or cheese & onion or you will be hooked and need to buy expanding trousers / dress [delete as appropriate]

Also makes nice pizza dough bases

savingforoz

Farway wrote: »

Never try orange & banana or cheese & onion or you will be hooked and need to buy expanding trousers / dress [delete as appropriate]

Also makes nice pizza dough bases

Yes, and great pitta bread too! (can you tell that I love my breadmaker?!)