I am considering buying one, but I keep getting different opinions
on them. I know you can only make small loaves but i have ben told that the bread isn't very nice and you don't get a fresh bread smell. Is this true? I am thinking of buying the cheap cookworks one from argos.

I am considering buying one, but I keep getting different opinions
on them. I know you can only make small loaves but i have ben told that the bread isn't very nice and you don't get a fresh bread smell. Is this true? I am thinking of buying the cheap cookworks one from argos.

What rubbish! You get the same smell as you would in the oven! Some of the pre packed mixes aren't very nice, but if you use proper ingredients and set the timer so it's still warm on the morning...Hmmmmmm.

Also makes cake or jam, by the way...

My friend has one and she adores it, uses it for bread and pizza bases. In fact, she's had to unplug it and put it in a cupboard for a while cos they were piling on the pounds as it was so delicious :)

I am considering buying one, but I keep getting different opinions
on them. I know you can only make small loaves but i have ben told that the bread isn't very nice and you don't get a fresh bread smell. Is this true? I am thinking of buying the cheap cookworks one from argos.

The sweetbread makes the best. Pm for details...

Actually, the bread tastes so good that this is their downfall! Because you smell it baking and then lurk by the machine, knife and butter dish at the ready and when it 'pings' you get that fresh, hoit loaf out and devour the thing within five minutes while you're standing at the kitchen counter :D

My mum has one and its great

Lovely smell in the morning :)

I think it depends on the model We had a cheap cookworks one and the bread used to come out very dense and heavy (like it hadn't risen enough) and it didn't smell nearly as good as bread we made in the oven. It was very good at cook madeira cake though! This was a few years ago so they may well have updated to more effective cycles.

my mum has one and the baking smell is delicious- especially tealoaf with extra cinnamon- yum!

I am considering buying one, but I keep getting different opinions
on them. I know you can only make small loaves but i have ben told that the bread isn't very nice and you don't get a fresh bread smell. Is this true? I am thinking of buying the cheap cookworks one from argos.

That won't be anything to do with the bread making machine it'll be down to wrong messurements or wrong ingredients.

As for not getting the fresh bread smell?

I just don't get it as you are baking the extact same thing as if it was in the oven.

You get what you pay for and so you are best reading reviews on particular models as some reviews I've read in the past have "uneven baking" or "bad dough mixing" written in them.

That won't be anything to do with the bread making machine it'll be down to wrong messurements or wrong ingredients.



Yes you must be very precise with measurements! Also, it helps if you make sure not to omit the small amount of fat and salt or you will have quite grim bread. A Vitamin C tablet helps in some recipes too. And always use warm water, never cold. Most importantly, never, ever let your yeast touch any of the wet ingredients!!!

My sister makes the most wonderful wholemeal sunflower granary and seed breads in her bread maker! My niece (who's 4) loves to do the measuring and know that she's done most of the bread making.

Oh this thread is making me so hungry...I need to get one of these machines!

We've had a number of these over the years and, as John above stated, it's about getting the mixture right so do a bit of adapting your ingredients if it doesn't seem to be rising properly or is too dense.

My OH makes a loaf nearly every day. It takes him about 5 mins to put the ingredients in the tine and swich it on. He has it down to a fine art. We tend to make bog standard wholemeal loaves with some seeds added at the same time as all the other ingredients. Very healthy and we haven't bought a loaf of bread in about 5 years -I can't eat shop bought bread now. Do you know that brown bread is just white bread dyed brown?!?
You get what you pay for and so you are best reading reviews on particular models as some reviews I've read in the past have "uneven baking" or "bad dough mixing" written in them.As for the model, we've found that many are the same machine with a different brand name on them. The last one we bought was a Morphy Richards Fast Bake from Costco (£35) which makes a large loaf. This is the same machine as my mum's which is a different make. Different machines come with 1lb or 2lb tins so you don't have to get one that makes a small loaf (they'd be pretty useless in our house with the amount of bread we eat!). However, prior to this we had one that was a real cheapie make (the brand that you see in Woolies where they have TVs with adverts for the products). It was totally basic but cooked a loaf just fine.

I am such a bread making geek!:hihi:

Thanks for the replies, I can't wait to get one now.

is there any particular make of flour to use

I use strong white flour and strong wholemeal flour. My breadmaker is used daily , the kids love to use it and it tastes nice too.
however it doesn't keep to well as there is no preserves in it.

is there any particular make of flour to use

Not a particular make, but you need the word 'strong' on the packet.

I have just ordered a Morphy richards one, simply because of the price & fastbake option. Hope it's ok.

I have just ordered a Morphy richards one, simply because of the price & fastbake option. Hope it's ok.

Mine is a morphy richards with fast bake, it makes delicious bread, and i have made jam in mine, which was lovely.

Let us no what u think of your breadmaker when u get it.

I have a breadmaker which I can't use often because as others have commented if gets eaten far too quickly. The only problem I find apart from it smelling so nice and wanting to eat a full loaf at once is that it goes dry quickly. You also get holes in your bread with some of them where the kneaders (thingys) have been

we got a kenwood BM250 yesterday for £50 from debenhams ... been to sainsburys tonight to get some flour and yeast and will spend the day tomorrow trying out the different recipes!
will report back :D

So how did you get on?

I have a breadmaker which I can't use often because as others have commented if gets eaten far too quickly. The only problem I find apart from it smelling so nice and wanting to eat a full loaf at once is that it goes dry quickly. You also get holes in your bread with some of them where the kneaders (thingys) have been

I was just going to write this, this is the problem I have with mine! A blooming big hole in the base grr. It does taste nice though! Although my dad keeps finding recipes for 'beer bread ect' and passing them my way :suspect: :hihi:

I have finally got mine. I have taken it out of the box, but not done anything else with it yet. I am going to get the ingredients over the weekend and then attempt to mkae a loaf:)

I had one and used it for about a year, then gave it away. Too much messsing about, plus you have to buy a bread knife to slice it. Much easier to buy bread.

I have two bread making machines. One is a Goodmans on that makes large loaves and the other is a morphy richards that has two small bread tins in. I like both machine very much but tend to use the twin baking machine more because there are only two of us. The fresh baked bread smell is wonderful and I have found that using the bread mixes from Lidl gives very good results. These mixes make brown loaves that stay moist a lot lnmoger than white bread. I particularly like the multigrain mix.

Well my first attempt was a big failure, I think this was mainly due to using the fastbake option. My poor loaf was like a lump of lead!I was going to try again and then saw how cheap the hovis bread mixes were in asda (29p) and gave it a go. It takes 3 hours, but tastes and looks lovely. Maybe you have to use a special recipe for fastbake, I don't know.

Don't bother, I got rid of mine
It's just as easy and more satisfying to make it yourself.

I've just bought one, and my first loaf is in there right now. My fingers are crossed!!