My breadmaker has arrived! Can anyone suggest which brand ingredients to use?

citylen

I would advise following the recipes in the book provided fairly closely to begin with and gradually change them to suit your own taste. It may not be exactly to your own taste but with the panasonic you are sure to get a decent loaf first time doing it their way.

alice's_mum

HI Lucy, I got my Panasonice 253 last Saturday, and like you I couldn't wait to try it. I got my strong white flour from Lidl and some wholemeal and brown flours from Sainsburys (just coz it was the nearest shop), I also got Sainsbury's own dried milk and Sainsbury's own yeast. we're on about our 6th loaf and everyone of them has been yummy, my kids love it and the sandwich loaf is fantastic for ..... sandwiches no crusts left and lovely bread. I have so far followed the receipe's pretty strictly as regards to quantities of water etc and every loaf has been spot on. I would recommend following the receipe until you get a bit more confident and sure of the machine, like you I put mine on when I was around and kept watching it, I was convinced it wasn't workinig as it seemed to rest for hours, and then it made clunky noises!!!

Tonight I plan to make a seeded bread, I have poppy, sunflower and sesame seeds, and also to make some dough for croissants. I love my breadmaker!!!!
Enjoy your fresh bread tomorrow with your bacon sarnie.

carinska

Hi! I've had mine for about 6 months now, and every loaf has been perfect apart from the first one - it came out looking perfect and then the top sank! I asked on here and quite a few people recommended cutting back on the water I now use about 20-30mls less than it says in the Panasonic book, e.g. for a small size standard wholemeal loaf I use 250 instead of 280. (although I have to say I'm a bit sloppy with my measurements - no 2 of my loafs ever really taste the same!).
So if you have a soggy 1st loaf, definitely cut back on the water.
Otherwise I have pretty much stuck to the recipes as they stand, apart from oil instead of butter and honey instead of sugar. Oh and that Lo salt stuff instead of real salt, and I think some people on here have said they don't bother with salt at all.
Enjoy!!

Lizbetty

Wey hey! It worked! I did a 70% wholemeal xl one overnight and it was the best bread I've had in ages!!! Got mum a 50% wholemeal medium one on rapid bake now, lol! I've tried it without butter, my 20month old usually licks off the butter first but she ate the lot, too, wolfed down a piece without butter on it.

Just shows how mega simple this machine is. I was so tired, I put a whole sachet of yeast in and had to mess about trying to get it down to one and half tsp, I spilt flour ALL OVER the kitchen, didn't have any vitamin c (wondered in desperation about sticking an orange in it, lol!) and then had to put my hand in the sludgy stuff cos I forgot to put paddle in before I put ingredients in. And it STILL came out fab! The paddle was proper wedged in the tin but a soak in hot water got it out. Ooops.

I'm not going to fit through the door at this rate...dh LOVES it too, and I'm so excited that it won't end up in the same place as the sodastream!! And will benefit us all now we won't have to buy the stuff with allsorts in from the supermarket.

I could kiss you all! :j But I need to go listen to what it's doing now.....

Thanks lots for all your help and advice!!!! :beer:

Very Happy Lucy

mikeywills

Well done, I have the same machine and also think it is fab.

I saw a review of them yesterday on the programme Taste, and as far as they were concerned it was the best on the market. As it created an even allround crust with a well risen soft texture inside.

The only problem I have with mine is waiting for the bread to cool enough before having a slice, as it can tend to make the knife sticky.:rolleyes:

Tip: I have found that covering with a teacloth while cooling and then placing inside one of the large resealable freezer bags helps stop the bread from drying out. (It keeps for at least 5 days this way) Although it sound like it will be a while before this happens for you.:D

Tetsuko

I never had alot of luck getting my bread to work in my breadmaker

But not to have it standing idle I've been using it to make pizza dough and naan bread dough. Home made pizza is soooooo much nummier than shop bought.

moonrakerz

Use the "White Sandwich Loaf" recipe from the Panny book, modified as below:-

300g Lidl Strong white flour
100g Allinson Country grain (1Kg bags on offer in Somerfield at the moment, 20p off)
3/4 tsp Dove's (or Hovis) yeast.

Do it on timer overnight, not only is it great bread but the kitchen smells wonderful when you come down in the morning.

beemuzed

Just looked in my old notebook and found I've had my Panny for seven years now! I only very occasionally buy bread - and always regret it! We use whatever strong bread flour is cheapest, ditto yeast and dried milk and have never been disapppointed with the results! Very favourite, tho' is the Hovis Granary flour!

RacyRed

Nice One Luce :T Pannies are brilliant!

If you want a really nice reliable rapid bake loaf I can seriousy recommend squeaky's ciabatta recipe but with 2 teasp of yeast instead of four to convert it from a ciabatta to a nice soft loaf. It really is a lovely loaf.

The orange tubs of Allinsons yeast are very good when using the rapid bake programme, add the yeast and sugar to warm water and stir to activate. I find I only use yeast sachets these days if I'm making bread using the timer.

One tip, do not ever, ever, ever get tempted to over-fill your seed dispenser, or if you do have a fire extinguisher at hand.

furndire

At the moment Lidls have a bread mix in for seeded bread, and one for sunflower seeded bread. 99p makes two medium loaves. I like the sunflower one the best.