You're all liars you know ....

PasturesNew

Andy_Hamilton wrote: »

I am such a liar:D :rolleyes:

Can you smell it from there?

I had a terrible loaf using a mix from lidl but never had a bad one using other mixes or making from scratch. I have a 5-6 year old panasonic.

You've got a big one!

I think my loaf was 1/4 of that size, I've never had that top bit that puffs out.

But I make 1 lb loaves (BM makes 1 and 1.5 lb loaves only) so maybe it's a loaf-size issue too.

Panasonics seem to be the size of a small planet. I am in a bedsit. Even my "compact" one takes up the whole kitchen so has to be put on my dressing table top when not in use.

CRANKY40

I had a cheap bm from Tesco - it made terrible bread and was relegated to the back of the cupboard.

About 8 months ago I bought a Panny, and there is a big difference. The stuff that comes out of the Panny, either by mix or from scratch is fine. I have had 2 failures, both my own fault.

DH works away a lot, so if I'm on my own I just cut the loaf in half and freeze half.

PasturesNew

rosieben wrote: »

...I usually mix in the bm and take it out to rise and bake it in the oven as I prefer the oven crust.

This bit is something that confuses me. The whole rising thing. Now, I could understand that it needs to be put somewhere warm to rise(but the BM does that if I can get it to stop before it bakes). But I wouldn't know how hot to have the oven for it to rise.

Then, what happens when it's finished rising and you're doing the baking? Do you just turn the oven up, or take the loaf out and heat up the oven and stick it back in?

My oven takes about 25 minutes to heat up to 200 degrees from cold. So I was wondering if, having risen it in the oven it'd just collapse or something if I took it out while the oven heated up.

I did look for a 1lb loaf tin last week, but Tesco only had 1.5lb ones. And they seem to need high sides. So maybe rolls might be better for me.

PasturesNew

CRANKY40 wrote: »

I had a cheap bm from Tesco - it made terrible bread and was relegated to the back of the cupboard.

About 8 months ago I bought a Panny, and there is a big difference. The stuff that comes out of the Panny, either by mix or from scratch is fine. I have had 2 failures, both my own fault.

DH works away a lot, so if I'm on my own I just cut the loaf in half and freeze half.

I live alone and making a loaf is a major investment in time and planning. Firstly I have to have no bread in the house, so have to have consciously not bought a loaf in.

Then it takes 3 hours to make it.

This means when it fails I am without bread when I was expecting a loaf to eat that day.

I can't be cutting things in half and freezing as I don't have a freezer. So everything I cook has to be eaten now/today ... and the next X days to use it all up (0 waste).

So I even eat my failures...

So far, I've made 3 loaves. None have been successful. I've ended up having to eat the whole loaf that day to get rid of it because it was rubbish. Which then puts me behind on eating whatever else I have in, so it really puts things out of sync.

When I've made a loaf, I've had it in my head that it will be OK to eat over the next 2-3 days. So, yesterday, I thought I'd have 1/4 of the loaf each time alongside a portion of home-made curry I made 2 days ago and will be eating for the next week. But it puts everything out entirely.

Andy_Hamilton

PasturesNew wrote: »

You've got a big one!

I think my loaf was 1/4 of that size, I've never had that top bit that puffs out.

But I make 1 lb loaves (BM makes 1 and 1.5 lb loaves only) so maybe it's a loaf-size issue too.

Panasonics seem to be the size of a small planet. I am in a bedsit. Even my "compact" one takes up the whole kitchen so has to be put on my dressing table top when not in use.

I will admit that the bread maker is much bigger than I thought it would be so rather than wasting valuable bench space I have put it next to my patio doors. I think if it was in the way it would end up in a cupboard (if it would fit)

The loaf in the photo is using 425grams of flour and 310ml of water. This is classed as a medium loaf. It equates to normal sandwich bread loaf in the shops. I would not use the larger setting as it makes no more slices just much taller.

If you make wholemeal bread a lot of people say the panasonic recipie uses about 20ml too much water but all others should work on the button.

On the panasonic machine you have the ability to let the machine mix, knead and rise the first time then stop. You then take it out knead it again for 1 minute then either put it in a tin or devide it into rolls etc. Put this somewhere (normally in carrier bag) until it doubles in size, this can be done on a bench and does not need a oven, it just takes longer. Once it has doubled you bung them in the oven, they will get slightly bigger in the oven.

I keep mine in a "lock and lock" box and they last 3 days. On the 4 day my bread is only good for toast.

PasturesNew

I'm reading my leaflet now. To see if I can make dough only, then put it in the oven.

Looking through there is a dough setting and a separate bake setting. Indicating you could make dough, then take it out, remove the paddle, chuck it back in and bake it I guess... however ... something's not quite the same.

If you chuck everything in and let it get on with it, it does:
Knead1, Rise1, Knead2, Rise2, Punch, Rise3

If you just do dough, it only does:
Knead1, Rise2, Punch, Rise3

And the timings are different but add up to the same amount.

I'll try a dough only.... then I will use the baking instructions/temperature that the packet says for doing it by hand.

Debt_Free_Chick

PasturesNew wrote: »

This bit is something that confuses me. The whole rising thing. Now, I could understand that it needs to be put somewhere warm to rise(but the BM does that if I can get it to stop before it bakes). But I wouldn't know how hot to have the oven for it to rise.

Don't put it in the oven to rise - no need.

If you can, put the whole thing tin 'n' all in a huge plastic bag. Pull the top of the bag up away from the top of the loaf/tin. Leave it in a draught-free place - an airing cupboard is good, but not necessary. The kitchen is fine so long as it's not blowing a gale through an open window.

Put the (empty) oven on the temperature to cook the bread. Once risen, shove the thing straight into the hot oven. The oven has to be hot when the risen loaf hits it, to stop & capture the rising process. If the oven is not hot, then there's a danger that the rising process will run out of steam and the risen dough will collapse. It is possible to "overdo" the rising process so that the process then reverses :mad:

So get it to optimum risen size, then straight into a hot oven - no messing about

PasturesNew

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Don't put it in the oven to rise - no need.

If you can, put the whole thing tin 'n' all in a huge plastic bag. Pull the top of the bag up away from the top of the loaf/tin. Leave it in a draught-free place - an airing cupboard is good, but not necessary. The kitchen is fine so long as it's not blowing a gale through an open window.

Put the (empty) oven on the temperature to cook the bread. Once risen, shove the thing straight into the hot oven. The oven has to be hot when the risen loaf hits it, to stop & capture the rising process. If the oven is not hot, then there's a danger that the rising process will run out of steam and the risen dough will collapse. It is possible to "overdo" the rising process so that the process then reverses :mad:

So get it to optimum risen size, then straight into a hot oven - no messing about

Most people's lives/houses don't fit how I live.

No airing cupboard.
It'd have to be the kitchen, although I do tend to have the windows open when cooking or the smell makes my washing/clothes/everything else smell too.

Having read the destructions, it looks like the dough setting will do the rising. Only takes 1.5 hours from start to finish, then I'd just have to shape the bread and put it in/on something and chuck it in the oven.

*fingers crossed*

This cooking lark causes one to buy more things than you've ever needed before. When I got the BM I also bought a chopping board and a good bread knife. Then when I made pizza dough I had to get a rolling pin. I also picked up a wooden spatula for scraping down the sides of the bucket. . . and now I don't have anything really the right size/shape to make this focaccia loaf. I am going to put it in a rectangular roasting dish I've got. It'll be all right. All depends how big it is. Until you've made the first one of anything you've no idea what size it will be, what dishes you'll need or how big it'll be when done.

*fingers and toes crossed*

Debt_Free_Chick

PasturesNew wrote: »

Most people's lives/houses don't fit how I live.

No airing cupboard.

Me neither

It'd have to be the kitchen, although I do tend to have the windows open when cooking or the smell makes my washing/clothes/everything else smell too.

Putting it in the plastic bag will help to protect it from any draughts. Try it

Having read the destructions, it looks like the dough setting will do the rising. Only takes 1.5 hours from start to finish, then I'd just have to shape the bread and put it in/on something and chuck it in the oven.

*fingers crossed*

You normally have to do two risings. One, in the bowl or the BM. Then you "knock it back", shape it, put it in the tin (or just shape it if baking without a tin).

Then it gets a second rise (either in the tin, or in its final shape). After this second rising, you bung it in the hot oven.

HTH

rosieben

PasturesNew wrote: »

This bit is something that confuses me. The whole rising thing. Now, I could understand that it needs to be put somewhere warm to rise(but the BM does that if I can get it to stop before it bakes). But I wouldn't know how hot to have the oven for it to rise.

Then, what happens when it's finished rising and you're doing the baking? Do you just turn the oven up, or take the loaf out and heat up the oven and stick it back in?

I make the bread on the dough setting, when its finished I take it out and knead it for just for a few seconds to get it into shape, put it into whatever tin I want to use - I don't have any bread tins, I mostly use an oblong enamel pie tin for 1/2 mix and use the other half to make rolls - cover it all with a clean tea towel and leave on the worktop to rise; no need of an oven, or airing cupboard or anything else; it will rise in quite a cool room though it will take longer (and too cold or too hot can kill the yeast); there are threads on here about making bread and letting it rise overnight in the fridge and that seems to work well.

Unfortunately there's a lot of hype about bread making that puts people off :rolleyes: Experiment with recipes and times etc, until you get a result that you like.

Don't expect home made bread to taste like shop bread because it wont - its isn't full of preservatives, salt and all the other rubbish they shove in it. But it will taste better and be better for you!