foolproof bread recipe for an excited me!

panicsetin

Hi,

I have been wanting to buy a panasonic bread maker for what seems like ages now as I know it always gets great reviews on here and seems to be the best on the market. Although I haven't taken the plunge and bought one (cost restraint) I am lucky enough to be borrowing one from a friend. This is great because it will give me the opportunity to try it and make sure I really like it and will use it before splashing out on one (although amazon have them reduced at the moment :rolleyes:.)

I was hoping that I could trouble you for a foolproof recipe to get me going as I am worried that if my first couple of efforts don't turn out very well that I will give up! I am happy to even be advised on which brand of yeast, flour etc is best as from some of the posts on here it appears this can vary the result also..... To start with I think I need to get something as near to a shop bought loaf as possible (to ensure DH will eat it). Personally I like things like sundried tomatoes added - is it just a case of adding these in with the ingredients?

Thank you for any advice/time you can give me. And thank you for all the wonderful advice too - I don't post on here very often at all but I lurk daily!!

PSI x

notjustlaura

Hope you enjoy using the machine I have a (non-Panasonic) machine I won ages ago and it makes lovely bread - I should really be more adventurous with it! Anyway - most bread machines come with their own book with the 'approved' recipes and I'd suggest you start with those as it's a safe bet they'll work with that particular machine.

So far as ingredients - I use ASDA/Tesco/Hovis Fast Action Yeast Sachets. The recipes tend to specify '1 tsp' or whatever but I get better results if I just chuck a whole sachet in. This also means that the remaining yeast in the sachet doesn't spoil if it's a while before you're going to bake more bread. The flour *must* be 'strong bread flour' but supermarket own brand is fine. I don't notice any difference using a premium brands.

You'll also need sugar (ordinary), salt (ordinary), fat (marge/butter/oil as specified by the recipe to start with), milk powder (sometimes - value is fine) and water. You can substitute oil for butter or milk for milk powder but I'd suggest you get used to the machine and know that 'Recipe A' works when you do it as is before you start experimenting.

Bells'n'whistles ingredients might be specialist flours (rye, say), nuts'n'seeds, dried fruit, spices, herbs but, obviously, these are recipe dependant. You probably can do standard bread 'Recipe A' and chuck in sundried toms or whatever but I've never done it and, again, I'd suggest you stick to the recipes in the book to start with.

Have fun and do let us know how it goes.

Laura

Mrembo

There is a huge thread on bread makers here
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=147549.

Your Panasonic bread-maker comes with an excellent manual.My recommendation is follow the instructions to the letter till you become more experienced.You may wish to start with a basic loaf first .

debtmuncher

just a word of warning! it wont be the same as a shop bought loaf!! sorry to be bearer of bad news on that it will be better though!

there are various thread on it and you will probably get moved to hte main thread. did your friend not give you the machines instruction books? i have a morphy richards myself which i tend to use for pizza dough lol

happy baking and dont come back to us complaining of the weight you put on lol:p

Farway

I have Panasonic, and always make the Ciabatta because I like it & the recipe is simple

For a quick fix, make a rapid white loaf, about 1 hour 55 mins start to finish
Gives a denser loaf but gives instant gratification [you can forget the milk powder]

Always helps to use "baby bath warm" water and not cold from tap

panicsetin

Thank you all for your advice - I have been shopping, bought the ingredients and picked up the breadmaker.....

I'll let you know how I get on