Breadmaker - convince me !

Fruball

OK I confess...

I do have a breadmaker and I do love homemade bread but I don't really use it often. In fact I think its over 2 years since it was last used

I did get it out a couple of weeks ago thought, and it sat on the worktop in the kitchen, taking up space... and I still didn't use it

Also, is it really cheaper ? I like multigrain loaves (like Warburtons seeded batch loaf) and haven't seen packs of the grains sold in the supermarket - although I am sure I have seen them before

So, can you convince me that making my own is really cheaper, better and worth doing ?

Thanks for reading this

nell2

Hi Frugal

I've had my BM about three weeks now and I haven't bought shop bread since. You are right that they take up a lot of space, but I use mine every single day.

I like the fact that I know exactly what goes into a loaf, and I can control the amount of salt and sugar that my children are eating. And, they are definitely eating it too! It's very popular, and I try to ensure that when they come home from school, there is a fresh loaf waiting for them. Better to have that than junk food for their snack I think.

I think it works out at about 60 pence for a loaf, although it depends what flour you choose to buy. I've tried Tesco's own bread flour (which works fine), although I am using Dove's Farm organic at the moment. It's hardly more expensive than Hovis etc, and again, I'm pleased that I'm able to give this to my children. Organic bread in the shops is quite a lot more expensive!

Then, of course, you can make a whole variety of different breads. I've made a seeded loaf, sweet fruit bread, and pizza dough in mine as well as our current favourite which is a 50-50 mix of white and wholemeal four. Once you've got a little selection of baking stuff in your store, you are away.

There is another major money saving reason for baking your own bread - previously, I often had to pop out to the shop because I'd run out of bread (my LO's eat a lot of it!) and I'd inevitably end up spending more than just the price of a loaf. No need for that anymore - I've got a good collection of flour in the cupboard which will keep me going for a good while.

Lastly, I'm really enjoying going through the very simple procedure required to get the BM loaded and switched on, and feel quite a disproportionate sense of achievement when the bread pops beautifully out of the tin, time after time! (and I know it's a cliche, but it smells gorgeous!)

Try it - I think you will like it!

Pink.

Hi Frugal,

These older threads might give you some idea of the cost of making a loaf:

Energy Cost of a bread machine

Postive and negative comments on breadmakers please?

Breadmakers and costs of loaves

I've averaged out the cost of my ingredients and find it costs between 30p and 40p for the ingredients depending on what flour I'm using and whether or not I'm adding seeds etc.

The big thing for my family is taste....a homemade loaf does taste so much better. Why not try making one or two loaves a week and see if you want to make more.

For more threads on the pros and cons of breadmaking have a look in The Complete Breadmaking Collection.


Pink

kethry

re: seeded loaf, i don't use a breadmaker but i do make seeded loaves. I buy pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds from the fruit and veg section at Tescos, and poppy and sesame seeds from the section where all the dried fruit is in (by the baking stuff), also at Tescos. From memory, the pumpkin is most expensive, at around 80p, sunflower next at around 50p a packet, the poppy and sesame around 30p each. I also buy a big packet of linseed from health food shops (you have to be careful with linseed though, if you suffer from specific digestive problems), and i mix all the first four, plus a similar helping of linseed, into a big jar. It does me for around 6-8 loaves. I think my seeded bread, which is a mix of white and brown flour with extra bran, costs around 50p or so, maybe less. Recipe's here if you want it.

HTH

keth
xx

Gingham_Ribbon

My family were hooked on it from the first loaf. I can't remember the last time we bought shop bread. DH worked it out. I think he said for the plain loaf it was about 35p. We usually have a mixture of wholemeal and white flour that suits our family exactly and we all like. Can't get that in the shops. And we sometimes add seeds or olives and herbs. MUCH cheaper than buying in the shops.

But the question is taste. I don't think we'd bother if it wasn't so much nicer. If your breadmaker turns out heavy, dry bread you won't get a kick out of the glorious smell of fresh bread baking because the end result won't appeal. Was the bread good when you did make it?

daysieblue

Hi

I've had my BM for about 3 weeks, and in that time it's only had a couple of days off. I would definitely say that per loaf it works out so much cheaper, but on the down side we are getting through so much more bread than we ever used to buy that the economics from that point of view probably don't really tally!

That being said, there is a definite sense of acheivement when you produce a loaf that is made to your family's specification (we quite like a 75/25 white to wholemeal) and you know exactly what's going in it. We use lo-salt, which seems to work and it only contains 1/3 of the sodium of usual salt, so I can keep an eye on our intake.

Actually sitting here now waiting for my shopping to arrive so I can stick the BM on again!!!

db xx

Miss_Scarlett

I have to say, you're all making me tempted to buy another BM. I had one a few years ago but it never really turned out that well. But with my new found kitchen confidence I'm really wanting to make my own bread. The biggest problem I had with my BM was the bread used to rise too much and stick to the lid, then sink when it cooled. So, I gave up on it and gave it away.

newster

If it looks like the bread is going to rise too much. After the first kneading, or, before it starts to heat up, get a cocktail stick and !!!!! the dough once with it. That stops it from going bananas :-) Sometimes it's trial and error as well. Maybe too much water was put in, or you need to add a little less yeast. Keep trying though, and you'll get there :-)

Barcode

Let me stress that I CANNOT COOK.

Well, last weekend, I bit the bullet and bought a breadmaker, not a cheap one, but not a very expensive one either (mine was £55 from Lakeland).

Then, still dubious, I did what it said in the book, and four hours later I had a nice granary loaf. I've also managed to make raisin bread without incident. Although the first time, I misread the instructions and added two TABLESPOONS of yeast instead of one teaspoon. The bread grew, and grew, and grew .... but apart from that one incident, it has been fine.

I bought some cranberries today, so might try adding them into a loaf instead of raisins.

What worries me is the amount of sugar that goes into raisin bread (mine says 1/4 cup), is it possible to reduce that and still have an edible loaf? Not sure I trust myself to diverge from the recipe.

Anyway, if I can do it, then I'm sure others can make all sorts of concoctions.

Miss_Scarlett

Frugal, inspired by this board I went out today and bought a bread maker. I got a panasonic one. I'm so delighted I can't even tell you, my first loaf had come out perfectly and it was delicious. I cooked it on fast bake because I was too impatient to wait 4 hours for the first one, it was really lovely. My DH said he never wants to eat shop bread again, how's that for a thumbs up!

I've got another one cooking on the proper setting now, I can see we will be getting tons of use out of it.

Jazzy_B

I usually use the wholemeal setting, but if it's rising too much, I just turn it off, and set it to bake there and then. If I'm in a hurry, I use the basic setting, and if it's not risen enough, I just turn it off and bake manually.
One of the best tips I got from here was to remove the paddle by hand after the kneading had finished, then you don't get a huge hole.
I use it at least once a day since I got it lost year, and it's been one of the best things I've bought. The only downside is I've put on weight!