Bargain Bread Maker

shown73

Asda currently has a bread maker for about £23. I think it's Durabrand, and it seems quite a big one, does a two pound loaf. Don't know if it's any good, in comparison to the £50 to £60 jobbies, let alone the more expensive, but it seems to have all the same features. Has anybody tried one? My local Asda sold out, but should be getting more in I gather.
The only Durabrand item I have is a surround sound system which was amazingly cheap, but works extremely well, so if that's anything to go by, it should be worth a punt if anyone wants to try their luck at home baking.

halifax

To be honest - I only seem to use the basic settings on my machine - so would be happy to use this one.

shown73

The other point is also, I suppose, that if it did turn out to be a bit naff, Asda is very good at taking things back. That's not abusing the system, because after all, it has to be fit for the purpose, so either you have a reasonable bread maker, or your money back, hopefully the former of course.

Peter999_2

Hi,

I bought one of these about 4 weeks ago and I think its great.

I've never used an expensive machine so can't compare, but we're really happy
with this one.

I usually make one late on a night, and use the timer so it bakes ready for waking up on the morning, smells great!

Pete.

lamnicholas

I suppose however much it is, they all make bread!

Argos have one for £26.99 (Cookworks)

shown73

Well, we borrowed one and gave it a go with Lidl's german rye bread mix. It has all the features, and does the job, but given the owners, and our, impressions, I have the feeling that this particular one has a timer problem. The baking cycle is just a bit too short, so some aspects of the bread are just not 100% finished. Another 10 mins baking would be fine, so although in principle this machine is great, this particular one is perhaps not set up quite properly. I don't think it's a fundamental problem, just this particular machine. If there is another one in our local Asda, I would like to swap it and try again. Don't be put off, the overall principle is good. there's nothing like the smell and taste of home baked bread, and just think of the additives you are avoiding! Commercial bread does, by law, have certain amounts of good additives, vitamins, etc, added, but also others, to keep it fresh for longer, give it a certain texture etc. That's the scary part. What regulation is there for that.

System

Hi

I have had a morphy richards breadmaker for a few years now and we use it from time to time. The main reason is the bread is just not like you get it in the shops and is very stodgy and not really a good substitue although it makes cracking toast. Does anyone know where I may be going wrong???

Ta

Lenny

Justie

lennymfo wrote:

Hi

I have had a morphy richards breadmaker for a few years now and we use it from time to time. The main reason is the bread is just not like you get it in the shops and is very stodgy and not really a good substitue although it makes cracking toast. Does anyone know where I may be going wrong???

Ta

Lenny

you can buy something called 'bread improver' from Lakeland I think (although jsut done an online search and I can't find it) which will give you a lighter dough, also useful if you're home baking by hand. Bread from bread makers is a different texture to supermarket bread as supermarkets add improvers amongst other things to give a more workable texture.

BigDonut

think my breadmake is morphy richards.

Not sure what you mean by stodgy but one thing I've found is don't make a loaf out of only wholemeal / brown flour. 1 cup white flour 1 cup of something else (granary, seeded white, wholemeal) makes it a bit lighter.

I normally only use the one setting (white basic) and adjust ingredients to suit. Less sugar than they recommend in the recipie makes a better loaf I think.

Whirly

Well I've used 2 breadmakers now and I haven't bought a loaf of bread since the day my first one arrived. The bread is far superior than supermarket loaves with the added bonus of actually knowing what is in it.

I started with the Morphy Richards Compact Breadmaker (got from this site for £19) and the bread was lovely - especially the french. The only problem was that the loaves were small and I sometimes had to make 2 a day.

Then my mum was given a panasonic as a present but she decided it was far to big for her as she lives alone so we swapped.

All I can say is that if the morphy richards made great loaves the panasonic makes amazing loaves. Never had a bad one yet and they are simply delicious. Even better - it makes big loaves. Enough for my family for 2 days.

Making the bread takes about 5 minutes of weighing/measuring ingredients and then the machine does the rest. I calculate the cost at 25p/loaf (ingredients only, I've no idea on the electricity cost).

If you have a family and are serious about swapping from the cardboard that's sold as bread in the supermarkets it is well worth investing in a panasonic (around £60). If you live alone or with your partner I can happily recommend the morphy richards.

As for the Durabrand I have to say I'm a fan of Asda grocery prices but not so muchthe quality of their electricals. I have a toaster, coffee machine and liquidiser from Asda and although they all do their job fine, I don't consider them good quality and wouldn't want to rely on them every day (except the toaster but that has been replaced once).

Clasics

IME the people who are blaming the breadmaker are wrong - it's normally an operator problem. My MIL had very similar problems of 'stodgy' bread from her Morphy Richards breadmaker (same as mine) so I decided to make a loaf with it at her house and it was perfect. 'Oh, you don't mess about with measuring all the ingredients, do you?' was her response.:rolleyes: