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Breadmakers???

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Hi

I am quite new to the old style board and have been browsing for the last few weeks. I really have learnt loads!!!

I am looking to buy a breadmaker after everyone raving about them on here.

Firstly can you all recommend one to me and secondly give me some advice on how I would make it....I have never (!!!) baked my own bread before.

I have read alot about the Panasonic one but see it quite expensive....what are the better cheaper ones for me to start out with?

Any advice gratefully received!!!:beer:
DS Anthony Steven 07.06.92
DD Becky Emma 24.01.94
DD Rose Grace Jean 12.05.09
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Comments

  • Penelope_Penguin
    Penelope_Penguin Posts: 17,242 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
    Hello, and welcome! I have a Panasonic SD253, and I love it.

    Many people rave about a Morphy Richards model - much cheaper and there's an extensive thread. Hold on while I fetch the link...........

    The Morphy Richards Fastbake club

    Bread maker - worth it?

    And if that's not enough, try The Complete Breadmaking Collection. If the answer's not there, it's probably not worth knowing ;)

    HTH, Penny. x
    :rudolf: Sheep, pigs, hens and bees on our Teesdale smallholding :rudolf:
  • angela6834
    angela6834 Posts: 1,036 Forumite
    Thanks for you help......read them all and was going to go for the Morphy Richards really for the price but went into Curry's at lunch time and they had a Panasonic SD253 reduced by £30 to £69.97!!!

    I thought that was a bargain!!!
    DS Anthony Steven 07.06.92
    DD Becky Emma 24.01.94
    DD Rose Grace Jean 12.05.09
  • debtworrier
    debtworrier Posts: 250 Forumite
    angela6834 wrote: »
    Thanks for you help......read them all and was going to go for the Morphy Richards really for the price but went into Curry's at lunch time and they had a Panasonic SD253 reduced by £30 to £69.97!!!

    I thought that was a bargain!!!

    That's the model that I've got. I've had it for four months now and I'm very happy with it.

    Two quick tips: the thin wire handle is difficult to pick up when you're wearing oven gloves - I keep a pair of tongs (the sort intended for turning sausages under the grill) handy - the serrated tips are ideal for grabbing the thin wire.

    Also, when you've tipped the bread out of the hot breadpan, don't put the pan down on your plastic counter top! (I now have a permanent melted reminder.) I now just put the pan back in the machine until it's cooled down enough to wash up. Reminds me to switch it off, too.

    Beware that with all breadmakers, the consistency of the dough is very important: you have to be a bit obsessive about measuring the ingredients correctly. White bread is very reliable but wholemeal flour is more susceptible to variations in storage (it absorbs moisture from the air more than white flour does) and so has a little bit more of a learning curve.

    I'd recommend that the first (couple of) time(s) you make a new recipe you arrange matters so you're around when it first begins to knock up the dough - (i.e. - don't do a *new* recipe overnight on the timer.) The start of mixing is usually about 30-40 mins after you press start, assuming you haven't used the timer.

    You'll hear the motor running slowly, with a sort of bzzzt-bzzzt-bzzt sound (quite normal) - that's the machine mixing the ingredients. When you hear the motor running a bit faster, then it's gone into the knead cycle. Open the lid then and look at the dough. It should be a single lump of dough and the sides of the bucket should be clean. If it looks dry and powdery, then add a dessert spoonful of water. If it looks sludgy and very soft (some Panny recipes do seem a bit generous with the water) sprinkle on a dessert spoon of flour.

    Other posters have reported good results using ordinary flour, but I've only ever used 'strong' flour. I've found the cheapest strong white flour is Lidl's, the other supermarkets are all about the same price as each other.

    Waitrose sell a "very strong" Canadian wholemeal flour which costs about 30p more than ordinary strong wholemeal, but the bread it makes is much lighter. I found that the Canadian flour needed a couple of spoonfuls more water than the normal flour though. The first attempt came out like a brick because it was too stiff for my machine to knead!

    Hope you have fun with your Panny - the cinnammon and raisin bread is fabulous!
  • Curv
    Curv Posts: 2,572 Forumite
    ... the cinnammon and raisin bread is fabulous!

    I've got the Panasonic too and I can also vouch for the cinnammon and raisin bread. I sometimes make it with orange juice instead of water - it's just like Warburtons orange and fruit loaf. Yum.
    Things I wouldn't say to your face

    Not my real name
  • billieboy_2
    billieboy_2 Posts: 1,361 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Yep definitely the Panasonic SD253. I will have had mine for two years in September and the only time I buy bread is when we're camping and have run out of homemade. In fact I was shocked at the price of a large wholemeal last week - 99p in Somerfield!!

    I'd vouch for the fruity bread as well although I use one teaspoon of mixed spice and one of cinnamon. I also do about half white and half wholemeal. I'm going to try the orange juice trick next time though. Sounds yummy. Trouble is the bread's so nice, I can't resist it.

    My only grouch is that the bread has started to get more difficult to get out of the pan and I've heard that replacement pans are £25!:eek:
  • marybishop
    marybishop Posts: 761 Forumite
    Sorry to put a damper on this thread but I've given up with my BM and it's now languishing in the loft. I found it such hard work trying to get a loaf that came out half decent by tweaking the measurements of all the different ingredients only to find it hadn't worked again so I've gone back to shop bought bread! Slow cooker's gone the same way!
  • Curv
    Curv Posts: 2,572 Forumite
    Awww... mary :( That's a shame! What make do you have? I ask because I generally follow recipes fairly closely, but have been known to be a little slap-dash on occasion but the only time I've ever had any issues at all is when I've mixed brands of flour - say I've got to the end of the Tesco flour and had to top up with Sainsburys or something. Then it sometimes turned out a bit on the heavy side, so I stopped doing it.
    Things I wouldn't say to your face

    Not my real name
  • marybishop
    marybishop Posts: 761 Forumite
    Hi Curv - Racking my brains now to remember, think it's the MR Fastbake. I know it is a shame but it's so disheartening when the loaf is looking really lovely until right near the end and then at the last minute it ends up with a big dip in the top. What with that and the hole from the paddle on the bottom, I just found it soooo frustrating! And I was doing the recipes to the letter, just started tweaking them according to the tips in the recipe book for when things go wrong. I got so confused with what I had and hadn't done I just gave up. Plus I now have much more space on my worktop again!! But thanks for the advice, much appreciated.
  • marybishop
    marybishop Posts: 761 Forumite
    PS - I think when I read that opening a door or window at the wrong moment so that the air temperature changed could make a difference to how it turned out too just about finished me off !!!!
  • angela6834
    angela6834 Posts: 1,036 Forumite
    Well I have started off with just a plain white loaf!!!

    I have it in the machine and will let you all know how it turns out....I have followed the ingredients to the letter.....
    DS Anthony Steven 07.06.92
    DD Becky Emma 24.01.94
    DD Rose Grace Jean 12.05.09
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