Bread maker

Wraithlady

GaleSF63 said:

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 should amend that to add 'at all', I think. I don't use mine every day or even every week, but I wouldn't be without mine either - for home made chollah rolls, if nothing else (ever since Sainsbury's started putting milk in theirs!)

Wraithlady

Floatie_Light said:

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.

The problem with Panasonic is their size - we have a small kitchen, and just don't physically have the room to keep it on the counter, and it's far too tall to fit in the cupboard. 

goldfinches

Wraithlady said:

Floatie_Light said:

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.

The problem with Panasonic is their size - we have a small kitchen, and just don't physically have the room to keep it on the counter, and it's far too tall to fit in the cupboard. 

There's no law that says you have to store bulky, infrequently used equipment in the kitchen itself. I keep my food processor on an open shelf in the sitting room, rather than at the back of the top shelf in my larder, as its much easier to access there.
ETA: punctuation to clarify.

esmy

I've recently bought a Russell Hobbs breadmaker after my ancient Morphy Richards gave up.I'm very happy with it, especially as it was half price from Morrisons so well within your (and my) budget. Model is 23620.
This is it:

It's quite compact and would fit in a standard kitchen cupboard.

halfamo

Ive got a morphy richards. We found it in someone's  'free to take' pile. Its the third one made by them  that we have had. The first lasted ages, 2nd was charity shop bought . I think originally the first was about £35.  For bread and pizza dough, I use 500g bread flour and a teaspoon of dried yeast and 1 and half cups of water. Thats it... It works out very cheaply. If you follow the recipes given with the machines it is much more expensive per loaf but they are more flavourful. 

Wraithlady

goldfinches said:

There's no law that says you have to store bulky, infrequently used equipment in the kitchen itself. 

   - the problem is, we have a small house and everywhere else is full with other stuff. We have bulky hobbies! 
I would like a Panny, ideally, but my Morphy Richards does the job perfectly well.

goldfinches

Wraithlady said:

goldfinches said:

There's no law that says you have to store bulky, infrequently used equipment in the kitchen itself. 

   - the problem is, we have a small house and everywhere else is full with other stuff. We have bulky hobbies! 
I would like a Panny, ideally, but my Morphy Richards does the job perfectly well.

I see your point. I think all of us hit "peak storage space" sooner or later.
I'm always rather suspicious of the houses for sale in the "have a look at this" thread that seem to have exactly the right amount of shelf space for all their possessions but not a cubic inch more or less. I assume that what they've done is culled their stuff ruthlessly and packed away everything that didn't fit perfectly and then put the boxes into a storage facility or a relative's garage. 
I've always rather fancied a sort of Heath Robinson set up with cargo nets and counterweights myself, I'd need very high ceilings though.

nannywindow

I have the same bread maker as Esmy, a Russell Hobbs, I paid £60 for mine from Very and I'm also happy with it. I had to buy this one during the first lockdown as my faithful old one started making an awful noise.  Mine lives in a corner of my dining room as I have no spare worktop or cupboard space.

Cummincorriander

You don't need a breadmaker.  I can make 3 large and 3 small loaves in less than an  hour. (not counting rising and baking time.) And they are all baked together in my gas oven, so economical on fuel.  I use 750 grams of bread flour, 1.5 teaspoons  each of fast action yeast and salt, 1 tablespoon  of oil and 450 mls of tepid water in each batch. (Amount of water varies  slightly  depending  on the flour). The dough is best when  soft but not sloppy).  This makes 1 large and 1 small loaf. I use my hand beater with the dough hooks fitted to do most of the kneading  and just give a quick hand knead before leaving to rise.  When the loaves are baked and cool I cut the large ones in half, bag them and the small ones and freeze them.  We eat about half a loaf a day so one  baking session lasts us about a fortnight.  Our favourite mix is 600 grams of white bread flour and 150 grams  of medium oat bran. It makes delicious  toast !

psouth

I have given my breadmaker away and simply use my slow cooker. The bread is so much nicer and easier to make. I too have storage issues!