Bread maker

balabooberlies

Giddy Aunt !

you can make jam in a breadmaker ?

(I have a lot to learn)

bala

purpleivy

I disagree with the OP who says it's more expensive. If you are buying cheap  supermarket bread, then it will be, but if you compare it with artisan bread, which with good quality flour is what you get, then it's not more expensive. I get malted flour from a local mill, it's a 16kg bag and about £12.  

maisie_cat

We use our bread maker for nearly all our bread, and while it's true that the bread is more expensive than really cheap supermarket bread that is not a like for like comparison. Apart from bog standard white/wholemeal I also make standard dough to make fancy bread and rolls, cheese and onion being a hubby favourite! Ours also makes pizza dough, naan and gluten/yeast free options and yes it does make jam!. My sister is GF and says the GF bread is better than anything she can buy. We are rural so only go to the supermarket fortnightly max. I also buy 16kg bags of flour. If my bread maker died I would probably replace it like with like.

thriftwizard

I'm also buying from a local mill and paying just about twice what purpleivy is! In my defence it's organic and locally-grown, and our local artisan baker uses the same flour as it's reliably good and delicious. It works well with both dried yeast and sourdough; not all flours do.
That said, DD1 has brought home sacks of plain flour for very much less; she & DD2 are manic & rather talented bakers, but of cakes & sweet treats rather than bread. Many people make decent bread, either by hand or in a breadmaker, using ordinary plain flour.  Also I know you can buy sacks of bread flour online, even from Amaz0n, for less than I'm paying, too.

JIL

I have a Panasonic and it makes a decent loaf. I dont tend to eat much supermarket bread it doesn't seem to agree with me. I think when doing a bit of research it's the additives used to keep it fresher for longer.
I use the breadmaker just to make the dough and then make rolls, or a round loaf or focaccia or pizza dough.  Decent bread is a real treat. I always use the 500 flour to 300 liquid and it always comes out well.

richardw

Some bread makers have a timer so you can set it up to make bread overnight with it ready for you in the morning. The smell in the morning can be very pleasant to wake up to. 

Wraithlady

WE get 16kg's of breadflour from Costco at (presently) £19 a bag.At about 2 loaves per kg, that works out at approx 60p per loaf - add yeast (15p?) and sugar, salt etc then for a standard white 500g loaf  it's about 80p if you cost in the electricity as well. The loaves we like in Sainsburys (store-baked farmhouse unsliced) are 750g, so call it £1.20 which is slightly less than their price of £1.40. 
If you wanted something a bit special - brioche, say, or spelt bread, or inclusions like sun-dried tomatoes or walnuts or cranberries etc, then the breadmaker bread isn't significantly more expensive whereas even in a supermarket you'll be looking at £2 -£2.50 upwards for a good quality equivalent.

So I don't agree it's more expensive, the only question to consider on getting one is 'will it be used'? 

classicssportif

I have a cookworks one from Argos (£34 currently) and have had it for several years. Produces good bread every time.  I go through phases of bread making and although it may not be cheaper than buying a supermarket sliced loaf it is cheaper than buying artisan bread,  and you can experiment with different herbs and ingredients. 

GaleSF63

Wraithlady said:

So I don't agree it's more expensive, the only question to consider on getting one is 'will it be used'? 

I don't use mine very often at all, weeks or sometimes months apart, which some might think means it's not worth keeping but I've never considered getting rid of it.   I only use it to make bread that I can't get from shops but I've been doing that for the 20 years or so that I've had it. So cost doesn't really come into it because I can't do like for like. It's a Panasonic. 

It must be difficult to compare costs anyway because there are things to take into account other than ingredients - like availability, convenience, freshness. It depends how important these things are. 

Floatie_Light

Yes, had my breadmaker for years.  Don’t buy anything other than Panasonic though even if you have to buy second hand for the price.  I make almost daily loaves and then often make rolls (homemade burgers 😋), pizza bases and my favourite - raisin and cinnamon loaf. You can buy flour relatively cheaply in 16kg bags.  I wouldn’t be without it.