Breadmaker - convince me !

luckys_mum

Thank you savingforoz, I have just received an email from Lakeland so will look up the slicers.

zippychick

Naomim wrote: »

I just collected a breadmaker from a freecycler last night. It has no instructions so I'm going to have to see what I can find but I can't wait!

Naomi x

Woo hoo! i just got one off freecycle too with no instructions.

Mine is a MR 48425 compact breadmaker. Ive got the bread index open (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=147549 ) but dont know what thread to start with. I was able to get the instructions of MR website. Found the product, then down at the bottom with the specifications, i clicked downloads and they were hidden in there.

MIght leave trying it until tomorrow. I had my bike and had to cycle home with it (literally a free cycle lol )

Despite all the resource available i dont know where ti start!

savingforoz

luckys_mum wrote: »

Thank you savingforoz, I have just received an email from Lakeland so will look up the slicers.

Hi again - forgot to say that Lakeland do two different types of bread slicer. One gets some poor reviews but it's really hard to describe it and as it's getting late I'm too lazy to find it and post a link (had had a trying evening!!)The one that seems better is the one that looks like a plastic toast rack and comes with a plastic thingy to keep the bread in. That's probably all as clear as mud

Breadmakers are fab, especially for busy people who don't really have the time to bake bread by hand, the smell of baking bread is lovely, they taste great and are cheaper than shop bought stuff. You won't regret it! Hope you have fun with it x

Catwoman_Kent

I bake bread regularly and its great bt living on my own I like to freeze half a loaf at time but find the defrosted bread always seems stale. I wrap it well in a large plastic bag to freeze but it doesn't seem to halp. Any tips?

ZCC72

Don't bother! Uses electricity, can only make one loaf at a time,need cleaning, leaves holes in the bread where the kneader sits, and noisy devils. Apologies to all those who love theirs.....:D

I generally make a big batch of dough, make several loaves and some rolls - seeded, cheese, etc - all different - and pop them in the oven on batch baking day, cooking them up with lasagne, cottage pie, etc, to make the most of the oventime. I have a couple of bread tins (cheap from Rainbow) and the rest I handshape.

Once you get into the swing of it, it only takes about 10 minutes to put together, knead, knock back, etc - with the added bonus of saving on gym membership as I get a good workout!

tiff

Have resisted getting a breadmaker as I'm wary of buying gadgets I wont use but now fed up with the cost of decent bread I'm going to give it a go. Asked on Freecycle for one yesterday and got an email this morning from someone and will collect it later today. Lets hope its a good one!

louise_1981

I gave mine up on Freecycle about a year ago. Really wish I hadn't now, Heard lots about the panasonic ones, but at near 100pounds from Argos, I really can't justify it.

Can anyone recommend a cheaper one, say under 50 pound, or around that mark?

Would anyone recommend this on

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4201850/Trail/searchtext%3EBREAD+MAKER.htm reduced form nearly 100 to 40, very tempting!

jb5

IF you can stretch an extra £15, I would recommend the Panasonic SD254.

Started bread-making with a 'cheap' model from Lidl.
Never REALLY satisfied with the bread (it was OK, but having seen what a GOOD bread-maker can achieve I wouldn't go back)!
Also the mixing spindle broke after ~ 3 months.

Got a refund and bought the above.

First loaf rose properly and the bread was lighter overall, (using the recipe I had previously been using). Switched to the Panasonic recipe and the difference in quality of loaf was dramatic!!

Machine and pan is much better constructed and sturdier than the Lidl model, though only been using it for a couple of months so far.

louise_1981

OK Sold !!!, Was about to go to Argos, but got waylayed. Bought from Amazon and took up the Prime free trial, so it should hopefully be here on Saturday.

Im so excited! Its a Christmas present from my Mam, so I need to sell 15 pounds worth of stuff on ebay to make it cost free!

jb5

OK - I don't know whether you have used a bread-maker much before, but to get you started if you haven't....

This is my, slightly tweaked version, of their large wholemeal 50/50 loaf recipe.

1) Don't forget to fit the mixing paddle!!
2) In one corner of the bread pan, put 1.5 teaspoons of granulated sugar.
3) In the opposite corner, put one packet (7gms) of EASY BAKE yeast. Easy bake yeast is formulated to work well in bread-machines
4) Weigh out 475gms of flour, I use a mixture of 250gms of wholemeal & 225gms of STRONG white flour.
5) Add the flour to the bread pan, and then gently shake the pan so that the flour is level and there are no gaps down the sides. Gently tap the pan on the kitchen counter to settle the flour even more, use a tea-towel to protect the counter, (though if you are in danger of damaging the counter you are probably tapping TOO HARD)!
6) Sprinkle 1.25 teaspoons of salt on top of the flour, evenly distributed if possible, but not a disaster if not.
7) Rather than butter or margarine, I use olive oil. For this recipe I add 30ml (2 x TABLEspoons) of olive oil.
8) Finally add 340ml of water.

That's it, almost!
Put the pan in the bread-maker and select the wholemeal program, raisin option, large size. (The crust colour is not available with this program), and then press start. The bread will be ready in 5 hours.

I then measure out ~2oz (~60ml) of seeds. I use a mixture of poppy, sesame & sunflower seeds in roughly a 1:2:10 ratio, this is where the raisin setting comes in. After 1 hour 17 minutes (I think) the machine will beep and the display will flash, this is the cue to add the seeds. The beep is not terribly loud, however, if you press the timer button, after you have set the machine running, it will display the time left until the seeds (or whatever) need to be added.

Aside from adding the seeds, I do not open the lid at any other time until the bread has finished baking.
Once the machine has finished, tip the bread out onto a wire rack and allow to cool for > 15mins before either cutting or storing.

Some tips I have picked up along the way:-

When I buy flour, I put it into an airtight plastic bag, seal it with a clip & then put it in the freezer for > 48 hours. Then before I get to the end of the bag in use, I get another bag out of the freezer and allow 24 hours for it to get to room temperature before using it. This will make sure the flour will not spoil & should kill off anything that might otherwise grow or hatch in there! (If you get through your flour quite quickly, it may not be a problem anyway, but it does no harm).
The flour currently in use I keep in an airtight plastic box, along with one or two sachets of yeast, in a dark cupboard at room temperature.
I keep a few sachets of yeast in the fridge, the rest I keep in the freezer. This prolongs its shelf life.
Just ensure the flour (and yeast) has had enough time to warm to room temperature before using.

Add the ingredients to the pan OUTSIDE of the machine, and in the above order. This keeps the yeast, sugar, salt and water from mixing too early, this is especially important if using a delay timer to bake to a schedule.

There are loads of other recipes in the Panasonic book, on this site (there's a thread dedicated to the Panasonic machine/s on here!) and elsewhere.

I hope the above is useful, & apologies if I've been 'teaching my grandmother to suck eggs!'