Bread Maker - worth it?

LJM

hi i was bought one for mothers day and i think ive only bought a few normal loafs since then,its so nice waking up in the morning to fresh bread,and its cheap i buy ingredients in bulk at tescos,doesnt cost a lot,but i make a loaf everyday my kids and hubby love it

thriftlady_2

Alfietinker wrote:

I've often wondered this, thanks. Is it only cost effective in an oven if you make a whole batch?

TBH I've never calculated the fuel costs, but a loaf made with 1 lb white flour and 1/2 lb wholemeal, yeast, sugar and salt costs 36p.
A white loaf would cost 32p.

You may be able to buy a sliced packaged loaf for this in a supermarket but the quality won't compare. To buy a loaf of a comparable quality to hm bread you'd have to pay closer to £1.

Becles

I got one for Christmas a couple of years ago and have rarely bought bread since. The quality of HM bread is priceless compared to shop bought!

If you have a Lakeland shop near by, you can buy a bag of Doves Farm yeast for £1. It lasts for a few months and is much cheaper than the little sachets that supermarkets sell. You need to keep it in the fridge once it's opened and seal the packet tight to keep it fresh. I keep mine closed with a clothes peg

Here's the link to it on their website:
http://www.lakelandlimited.co.uk/product.aspx/!7338

pigpen

Thriftlady.. the cheapest I can get a loaf here is 54p.. that is without having to resort to other means of travel like a bus/car etc.. so 36p is a big saving, especially when we go through 3 loaves a day!!

I have a BM (can't quite get over that not meaning breast milk!!) arriving on Thursday hopefully so I'll add bread ingredients to my next tesco delivery (on the 30th) with my christmas cake ingredients and away we shall go!!

Thank you all for yor help!

xx

hex2

For me the key questions on any kitchen appliance are
Would I/do I use it regularly?
Would I replace it if it got broken?
Would I buy the same model?

I don't use mine all that much as I [STRIKE]get very bored of holding toddlers up to look through the viewing window[/STRIKE] dont have the space to leave it out, but I do like the results.
However I would replace it, but with the Panasonic model. My mother has it and her bread is much nicer than mine.

Fivenations

If you would like make bread but cant afford a bredamaker and dont have time to hang around the house while it proves try leaving it to prove in the fridge overnight. And if you find kneading hard on your wrists try Dan Lepard's method - He has a great website https://www.danlepard.com. As I am out all day and have RSI I use my breadmaker weekdays, and bake sourdough loaves from his recipes at the weekend.

organic_wanabe

Remember - save all the crusts that the kid's want cut off and all the end bits (in the fridge or freezer) until you have about 8 oz and then use it to make bread pudding. So easy and very tasty. Off to make one now

goonlord

I gave up on my breadmaker because the bread always tasted funny to me.

organic_wanabe

Fivenations, what a great website - many thanks. Did you buy your sourdough starter through that site? My son has been at me for ages to make sourdough but I wasn't sure how to get hold of a starter. Any help would be much appreciated.

elliebean_2

organic_wanabe wrote:

Remember - save all the crusts that the kid's want cut off and all the end bits (in the fridge or freezer) until you have about 8 oz and then use it to make bread pudding. So easy and very tasty. Off to make one now

Can I have your bread pudding recipe please, organic wanabe? I love bread pudding and haven't made one for years. Probably because my kids are far too old to want their crusts cut off any more!