Bread makers.. any tips?

gabbygibbon · 12-10-2011, 10:52

hi.. i'm thinking of getting a bread maker and wonder how people get along with theirs? Wot sort have you got? Have you any useful tips? Do you have one to give away maybe? thanks for reading this and i look forward to hearing from you. x

MrFloppy · 12-10-2011, 10:58

I have 2 that im selling.
Nothing wrong with using a bread maker but i just prefere the old fashioned way.

Murphy Jnr · 12-10-2011, 11:03

We've used one in the past and will again i'm sure. All in all the results were good, any that were not successful were more to do with the mix than the machine but damnit i'm gonna have to agree with Mr F. It is more satisfying to do it the old fashioned way, tastes better as well; or maybe that's all in the mind.

fake · 12-10-2011, 11:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrFloppy

I have 2 that im selling.
Nothing wrong with using a bread maker but i just prefere the old fashioned way.

I too prefer to do it by hand as I like also making bread rolls.

donnygirl · 12-10-2011, 11:26

Try looking on the foodies section in Sheffield interests as there are some threads on there about bread machines/hand made bread

cruella · 12-10-2011, 11:31

I use mine all the time, its great!
It was a cheepy one from Argos...cant fault it!

moke · 12-10-2011, 11:32

without a doubt the most used 'gadget' in our house. i'd recommend you invest in a quality one, as you get what you pay for. buy a cheap machine, and you'll get crap results, and up binning it.

i use a panasonic (SD255, but they have newer models out now) - and it has churned out fresh bread of all kinds about every other day for 4 years without any problems.

sometimes we use it to do the whole job (ie: put the ingredients in, get baked bread out) but also i use it for mixing, kneading and proving the dough, then shape and bake it in the over for things like tiger loafs and bread rolls (or breadcakes if you must).

it also makes quality pizza dough in 45 minutes, which comes out like a zizi's / pizza express style crispy job.

not the cheapest, but worht every penny - has saved us five times its cost in bought bread by now, given the price of a sliced loaf these days.

gabbygibbon · 12-10-2011, 12:07

thanks for that...how much do you want for your bread maker please mr F..? also what is the make?. The reason i am thinking of getting one is that i like the way you put the ingredients in and then walk away to do something else... also with a family of 4 to feed .. all male apart from me and all total bread heads (they eat piles of the stuff) i just can't be bothered to roll my sleeves up and start kneading... i'll wait till they've all left home for that..hee hee!! x

MrFloppy · 12-10-2011, 12:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by gabbygibbon

thanks for that...how much do you want for your bread maker please mr F..? also what is the make?. The reason i am thinking of getting one is that i like the way you put the ingredients in and then walk away to do something else... also with a family of 4 to feed .. all male apart from me and all total bread heads (they eat piles of the stuff) i just can't be bothered to roll my sleeves up and start kneading... i'll wait till they've all left home for that..hee hee!! x

Give me a minute ill go have a look and post you the make and model

Its a Schneider multi purpose bread maker.
Does jam, french, ultra fast 1.5lb ultra fast 2lbs, european, dough, bagel dough and a few other things too.
Bakes up to a 2lb loaf and if im honest i cant coplain about the quality one bit, i just think that doing it by hand is better.
Arent i odd!!
lol..
You can have it for £25

Let me know if your interested

big_g · 12-10-2011, 12:23

We have a Morphy Richards bread maker which is OK. It's about six years old and still does the job but I think that it will need replacing soon - the digital display's stopped working.

When we do replace it I think that we'll get a Panasonic - everyone that we know who has one really swears by them.

Regarding making the bread itself, we have learnt a few 'tips':

The tubs of yeast, whilst cheaper, did not work as well for us as the foil packets.

If not using the timer, using warm water and putting the water in first made a better loaf.

We purchased some measuring spoons that did quarter, half and full teaspoon size as well as half and full tablespoon size. Getting your salt, sugar and yeast measurements correct has a big impact on the final loaf.

G

121ITService · 12-10-2011, 12:27

I have a Panasonic one. It's great, I make a ranndom wholemeal loaf with seeds in a couple of times a week.

It takes minutes to check everything in then you leave it for 5 hours. (shorter for non wholemeal loaf) I advise timing it so it finishes when you are there to take it out though, it's not so good if it sits in the machine.

My general recipe.

1tsp yeast (comes in an orange packet from Waitrose, costs a quid and lasts for AGES) Better than buying the single use ones.
500g decent flour, usually 50% wholemeal, 30% malted, 20% strong white, or similar.
I sometimes use some up to 50% Rye flour which makes a denser loaf, great for toast and freezes well. More malted flour is also nice. too much wholemeal on it's own can be a bit heavy.

1/4tsp vit C powder (helps something or other! Only usually used with strength wholemeal loafs)
1.5tblspoon milk powder
1.5tblspoon sugar
1.5tspoon salt
A good handfull of seeds - Pumpkin, seasame, sunflower, poppy, linseeds and a few caraway seeds.
25g butter or some olive oil
360ml water.

The machine has a timer so I can set it to finish when I get up.

it does other bread but I love the above, it's simple, I can remember it and tastes great!

foxy lady · 12-10-2011, 12:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by gabbygibbon

hi.. i'm thinking of getting a bread maker and wonder how people get along with theirs? Wot sort have you got? Have you any useful tips? Do you have one to give away maybe? thanks for reading this and i look forward to hearing from you. x

I've had two. Both got broken after flying through the kitchen window. I think there may still be some of my loaves out in the garden making up a rockery.
My advice on bread is buy it from a good baker.

MrFloppy · 12-10-2011, 12:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by foxy lady

I've had two. Both got broken after flying through the kitchen window. I think there may still be some of my loaves out in the garden making up a rockery.
My advice on bread is buy it from a good baker.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh for crying out loud women.
Im trying to make a sale

smithy266 · 12-10-2011, 13:09

I use mine a lot, though as I am the only one that eats it, after a loaf has cooled, I slice it and freeze them in bags of two slices. Otherwise, it doesn't keep. Works well for me, probably make a loaf a week. Use the best flour you can, try honey instead of sugar, olive oil instead of butter... just experiment.

BHRemovals · 12-10-2011, 13:21

nicest bread i ever tasted is irish soda bread, and its no to difficukt to make

vwkittie · 12-10-2011, 13:38

We've got one, it's great!

My top tip would be to invest in good electronic scales as I find it's best if you can be pretty precise with the measurements when you're following the recipes given.

foxy lady · 12-10-2011, 14:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrFloppy

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh for crying out loud women.
Im trying to make a sale

I've enough to do without making bread that we can't eat. If I start doing that sort of thing again the O/H will assume I've time to use the vac and the washing machine as well. They went to all the trouble of inventing supermarkets. We should support them. Use them or lose them.

Bulgarian · 12-10-2011, 14:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by fake

I too prefer to do it by hand as I like also making bread rolls.

same here, it's very theraputic.

neeeeeeeeeek · 13-10-2011, 07:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by foxy lady

I've enough to do without making bread that we can't eat. If I start doing that sort of thing again the O/H will assume I've time to use the vac and the washing machine as well. They went to all the trouble of inventing supermarkets. We should support them. Use them or lose them.

Yea, why spend 5 minutes loading a bread maker so you can make decent healthy bread with good quality ingredients when you can just drive to Tesco and buy a loaf of soft white expensive crap, full of stuff that should not be in bread and tasting of nothing!

foxy lady · 13-10-2011, 08:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by neeeeeeeeeek

Yea, why spend 5 minutes loading a bread maker so you can make decent healthy bread with good quality ingredients when you can just drive to Tesco and buy a loaf of soft white expensive crap, full of stuff that should not be in bread and tasting of nothing!

I believe that it is possible to buy well made bread from craft bakeries just as it is possible to buy all the same crap that they put into sliced bread and stick it in your bread maker, so the healthy argument doesn't stack up. Neither for that matter does the 5 minute point that you've tried to make. It takes a long time to make a loaf of bread and I've spent more than 5 minutes trying to extract the damned things from my bread makers.
What I always ended up with were loaves with huge holes in the bottom where the paddle had been. Loaves that turned to cement in 24 hours, when what I wanted was bread that I could put before my guests at dinner parties.
I think bread makers are fine for folk looking for something to fill the hours of their day. I might buy one for my grand mother. TBH I have enough to occupy my time and I'm happy making a phone call to my local grocers and asking him to drop a decent loaf and rolls in with my order.