making your own bread - worth it?

thriftlady_2

esmf73 wrote: »

Totally worth it, but I think it is worth doing some research first. I've just bought a bigger bread machine (from ebay) as we're 5 so get through a lot of bread. A standard bread maker didn't have time to cool down before I needed to put it on again!!!

if you make it by hand you can bake 4 loaves at the same time. And you'll have more room on your worktop;)

GemmaBuckle

Hi,
I'm looking at getting a breadmaker I'm seriously considering the Morphy Richards 48268. It's under £50 on Amazon and the paddle drops away during the cooking cycle, so presumably no holey bread!
Gemma

purpleivy

Am I weird? ( no need to answer!LOL!) The hole in the bread has never really bothered me.

ljonski

i do all the mixing in the breadmaker ,then transfer the dough to 2 baking tins, allow to rise and pop in the oven= no hole in bottom of loaf .

In_debt_5

purpleivy wrote: »

Am I weird? ( no need to answer!LOL!) The hole in the bread has never really bothered me.

Me either. The holes in mine are about half an inch wide and only effects about 4 slices of bread

debtmuncher

MortgageMamma wrote: »

ifyou buy a bread maker look at the panasonic sd255 i think its the best around. I have one myself and it makes perfect loaves every time. you can also make brioche, ciabatta, garlic bread, raisin loaf in it etc. there are some types of flour that are expensive but I used the cheaper ones and they are just as good. Stay away from asdas sachets of dried yeast though they are rubbish - I could stick a straw into a dough and get it to rise better![/QUOTE]

cheers for the giggle!!:rotfl:

debtmuncher

i would try making bread by hand to see if you like home made bread. get used to that then consider spending money on a machine.

i have the machine and i have also made bread the delia smith quick method yonks ago and delias recipe is really quick. i dont have time for faffing about so the less i can get away with the better lol. was impressed with how easy delias was.

my family arent all that keen on home made bread. they dont see the "wow" in it so for me to make it all the time isnt really worth it.

have heard the best way of cutting bread is to use a electric knife (yikes!) to get nice even slices so i think if i was to try again to see if the family like the thin slices better it might be worth reviewing the whole home made thing again for us.

the hole at the bottom of the machine bread is kind of annoying cos i cant seem to cut nice slices around it. but you could make the dough in the machine then transfer to your own tins and bake in the oven.

newlywed

Inspired by thriftlady's comments on another thread last week... I've bought a pack of bread flour from lidl and will be attempting a loaf by hand.

We have enough gadgets and no more worktop space to sacrifice for more, so don't really want a breadmaker. But sesame allergy meaning that many bread products are off limits has made me think again about baking my own bread.

I did make chelsea buns and lardy cake some years back and enjoyed doing it... but that was when I lived with my parents and didn't have to cook for a family

I tried the artisan bread in 5 minutes a day and don't know what went wrong but it was a disaster

I'll let you know how it goes (whether it was edible!)

MrsJC_2

I have a Morphy Richards and its brilliant. The dough hook hardly ever sticks in the loaf. The taste just knocks spots off shop bought bread, once you make your own you will not want to ever buy another loaf.
What I do is to slice the loaf and then put two slices in each sandwich bag and freeze - that way no waste and just enough each time for toast or a sandwich.

jackieglasgow

freakyogre wrote: »

I must be doing something very wrong as whenever I make bread (by hand) it is hard on the outside (so no chance of soft rolls) and doesn't last til the next day as starts going hard so quickly, so I end up using it for breadcrumbs! It is nice straight out the oven though, but is never as soft as shop bought bread. What am I doing wrong?!

I don't eat a lot of bread anymore as when I do buy it, I struggle to get through the loaf before it goes off.

It might be either A) too dry - poss try using milk? or simply put a tea towel (clean of course) over bread for the first 15 mins or so when it comes out of the oven, which helps keep the crust softer.

HTH Jackie X

ETA - sorry, I missed thriftlady's last post on page1 didn't meant to double post!