Does the bread maker save your family budget?

imho

Another vote for Panasonic bread maker always makes excellent loaves. Mine makes jams as well so saves me boiling it up on cooker.

pigpen

for us.. no..


A loaf from the local shop is 50-79p depending on what we get.. we use 2-3 a day and a breadmaker was just costing more and more with the rising cost of flour and yeast and everything ..and noone even ate it. I couldnt, it gave me terrible bloating.. but I dont eat bread anyway.

noone wanted the holey pieces from the middle and noone wanted the crusts.. there was far too much waste.. probably half the loaf.

Wysiwyg49

I've had two but can't remember which brand - got rid of them because they took up a lot of room and I didn't like the bread that much...especially the hole in the bottom left by the dough hook! Silly I know.

That said I have still not mastered making it by hand. I make a lot of garlic flatbread and pizza bases though. At the moment my kids like white SM bread best...

culpepper

We have had one for years . Ours is a basic cheapo. It makes a good dense loaf. You don't need as much of it as a shop loaf. 3 slices is the maximum hubby will eat at one sitting and he likes his toast. I find a half white half wholemeal works well and comes out around 35p using lidl or aldi bread flour. When everyone is home we eat about 1 loaf each a week. I used to buy 7 shop loaves weekly before we had it.
Ours also gets used for just dough as well as cooked loaves because I make our own pizza bases.
You dont have to follow the recipes given in the leaflets which are very american. Much better to look online and find one you like.
Best of all, you don't pop down the shop having run out of bread and then find you have bought a bag full of last minute bits and pieces while you were there.

[Deleted User]

The panasonic breadmaker is the best gadget I have ever had. The bread is gorgeous and will easily keep for a few days but it usually gets eaten a lot quicker. I reckon it has saved us a fortune as we are not just nipping to tesco for a loaf every other day and spending £20 on other rubbish that we didn't need. Also I know exactly what goes into our bread. Ive seen what goes into processed bread and it doesn't look good.
The bread flour from Aldi and Lidl is very reasonably priced and helps keeps costs down. I reckon a 400g Wholemeal loaf costs me 35p plus leccy so probably no more than 60p a loaf.
If you get one, make sure its a panasonic, they invented them.

Happygreen

I've had several from the moment I learned breadmakers existed. Before I made bread by hand because I prefer the taste and I can choose the ingredients. Now I make the dough in the machine, flip it out, shape it and bake it in the oven. There is no difference in performance of the makes with this method. I found that using them as actual baking machines often left the bread coming out soggy or collapsed. But yes - it is cheaper - a bag of flour for around 75 p (Lidl) makes at least 3 ordinary white loaves.

JIL

If you are lucky enough to get some decent YS bread and freeze it, then it perhaps won't save you money.
I got a Panasonic bread maker a couple of years ago and it does come in handy. I tend to buy a loaf at the weekend, usually Vogel and that does us the beginning of the week and I make a small loaf on a Wednesday evening, for the next couple of days and toast on Saturday.
I did find I wasted a lot of money on bread we didn't eat, I would often walk to work and feed the ducks enroute. So this works well for us. We only really eat bread in packed lunches and toast on Saturday.

jackyann

For those who say that it is a choice between a breadmaker and making by hand......I do both, depending on timing and what else is going on.
My Panasonic (new, after my 20 year old one, also Panasonic, bit the dust) will both make a loaf in 2 hours (quicker than hand-made yeast bread) or I can use the timer for up to 12 (great overnight or if we're out)

Obviously, if your calculation is purely about money, then you have to consider how you are most likely to use it.

I wan to add that my old machine still worked well, but after 20 years, the pan was losing it's non-stick and that was becoming a problem - as ih so many things it was only a a few more ££s to buy a new one than replace an obsolete pan!

maisie_cat

I use mine everyday, I can't abide cheap bread and it makes making more artisan bread much cheaper. My husband loves my onion bread for his cheese sandwiches, makes budget lunches a bit easier to stomach. The cost of a standard 1kg loaf in ingredients is 98p and the electricity not that much. I work from home so I set it up before I go into my work room and when I pop in for lunch it's done. I have just bought a new maker as mine was 14 years old and the paddle no longer available as a spare..

peachyprice

We used to have a breadmaker, then I got a Kenwood Chef. I haven't used a breadmaker since.

The bread is far superior to anything a breadmaker can churn out (yes, even a panny) and is far more flexible.

I make large batches of dough that I keep in the fridge for days then bake loaves/rolls/batons as required. All they need is a warm proof and 20 mins in the oven. Want a couple of rolls for lunch? No problem. Want a large loaf for sandwiches? No problem. No restrictions as to shape and size.

I also find that bread made properly i.e left to prove properly, not forced in a breadmaker, keeps fresher far longer.