bread makers making

motopatter

thinking of getting a machine as we always seem to run out of bread.

with the machines that do it for you what should I be looking out for?

what's the difference between expensive and cheap models?

do they make all different types of bread?

and importantly are the results good and tastey

is it cost effective compared to £1.20 a loaf of sliced shop stuff?

tanks in advance for your helpful comments

bails87

motopatter wrote:

is it cost effective compared to £1.20 a loaf of sliced shop stuff?

No, bread makers cost more than £1.20

tanks in advance for your helpful comments

Oh....

asprilla

The expensive ones gather a better quality of dust.

That's my experience anyway.

motopatter

bails87 wrote:

motopatter wrote:

is it cost effective compared to £1.20 a loaf of sliced shop stuff?

No, bread makers cost more than £1.20

tanks in advance for your helpful comments

Oh....

there's always a funny guy

motopatter

Asprilla wrote:

The expensive ones gather a better quality of dust.

That's my experience anyway.

and there's always another one close behind

SimonAH

I've got a cheapo stainless steel jobbie from Argos but it does a pretty good job.

Cost per loaf if you use a premix bag of flour is 79p + electricity so yup, cost effective.

Premix bags come in anything from wholegrain to ciabatta so again, yup, makes most kinds of breads. Make up your own mixes and it makes all kinds of bread.

Tasty? Oh yes. Make the house smell great? You bet.

Downsides.
All bread comes out in one shape (although if I want rolls or a different shaped loaf I just use it as a kneeding machine and shape the dough onto a baking sheet)
Crusts can be a bit thick (but I think that this is a function of my cheapie-ish machine, everyone seems to really rate the Panasonic units).

ndru

We use the oven to bake our bread - comes out just as good as from a bread maker. You don't need accessories for everything you know

motopatter

ndru wrote:

We use the oven to bake our bread - comes out just as good as from a bread maker. You don't need accessories for everything you know

I really am quite lazy - I would like to be able to empty a packet into a machine, add water and get bread the next morning. Is that how they work pretty much?

Mainly thinking of the purchase because of running out of bread mid week and not having bread for my lad's school sarnies.

Kieran_Burns

motopatter wrote:

Mainly thinking of the purchase because of running out of bread mid week and not having bread for my lad's school sarnies.

Do you own a freezer?

motopatter

yes and sometimes it's got a loaf in it when I need one and sometimes it doesn't

SimonAH

No comparision to defrosting bread from the freezer.

It really is as easy as you think, two minutes prep and three hours later there is bread.

Way less hassle than oven baking (although as I said before I do for fancy loaves or rolls) but for bog standard nice fresh bread with next to no effort you can't beat a machine.

motopatter

thanks SimonAH.

Anyone recommend a basic cheapy model they have used with success? (I will look at Panasonics as already suggested)

alfablue

I got a cheap Kenwood one off eBay. It worked okay, only I wanted some to be baked a bit longer and couldn't get the machine to do this. Wasn't too keen on the shape, nor the big hole in the bottom the mixing paddle makes. Nevertheless, at £30 for the machine, not too bad.

At Christmas my son bought me a Kenwood Chef food mixer. Since then I have not bought a single loaf, mixing the dough in the Kenwood and baking in the oven. I have also branched out into sour dough bread. Its fantastic, takes only a few minutes actual effort to produce (add ingredients, mix/knead in mixer, 1st proving, turn out quick knead then into loaf tin, second proving, bake). I generally bake two types of loaf every other day. The reults are top quality and better than a bread machine can achieve. I am getting "artisan" type bread probably at a cost of about £1.20 (including energy costs), whereas the typical price for a Bertinet loaf is about £4.

If you want a Kenwood bread machine, you can have mine for £20 posted

deptfordmarmoset

This came up a few weeks ago in Cake Stop

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... =panasonic

bartimaeus

I'be been using a Panasonic SD253 (with the raisin/nut dispenser) for several years... 4 or 5 now, I think. I make 4-5 loaves a week of a number of types, and they are all excellent. Fruit loaves are a particular favourite - and I'd make many more loaves with pine kernels if they were not so expensive.

Gussio

+1 for the Panasonic. We use ours every day, not just for loaves - great for making dough that you can turn into naan, bread rolls, pizza bases, etc...

After experimentation, decided that it all comes down to the quality of flour and yeast. We buy 25kg sacks of flour (1 wholemeal and 1 white, then do a 50/50 mix) from a mill north of the Chilterns and stick to Doves yeast. Makes wonderful bread.

Nice to have bread which does not have too much salt or sugar in, with zero chemical additives. Makes the house smell nice too 8)

AndyManc

Do it by hand ........., it takes very little time.


If you are too lazy to do that, Panasonic have a good reputation, Amazon have one of their models costing around £100 with dozens of rave reviews.


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dhope

AndyManc wrote:

Do it by hand ........., it takes very little time.


If you are too lazy to do that, Panasonic have a good reputation, Amazon have one of their models costing around £100 with dozens of rave reviews.


.

Parents have a machine, they put ingredients in at night, set it to start at 4am (or however long it takes) and have fresh bread for breakfast.
Though they could make it by hand, but the machine has its uses.

cakewalk

Use a panasonic. On our second one as wore out the first.

They are cost effective and produce brilliant results.

Buy good quality flour.

Remember what you buy is Chorleywood sh1t - NOT bread.

rolf_f

alfablue wrote:

The reults are top quality and better than a bread machine can achieve. I am getting "artisan" type bread probably at a cost of about £1.20 (including energy costs), whereas the typical price for a Bertinet loaf is about £4.

That's surprisingly expensive. The posh bread at the farmers market mostly costs about £1.50 to £1.70 for a decent sized loaf. In Yorkshire you'd get laughed out of the county if you tried to charge £4 for a loaf.

cakewalk

Gussio wrote:

+1 for the Panasonic. We use ours every day, not just for loaves - great for making dough that you can turn into naan, bread rolls, pizza bases, etc...

After experimentation, decided that it all comes down to the quality of flour and yeast. We buy 25kg sacks of flour (1 wholemeal and 1 white, then do a 50/50 mix) from a mill north of the Chilterns and stick to Doves yeast. Makes wonderful bread.

Nice to have bread which does not have too much salt or sugar in, with zero chemical additives. Makes the house smell nice too 8)

Agree with all that. Good flour is important. Dove yeast is good.

Also make great pizza bases.

BTW I hate kitchen gadgets - however you wil not regret this one.

Total effort to make a loaf? 3 minutes.

I find the bread is best if it's taken out the machine soon after is completed and then left for a couple of hours to cool.

AndyManc

Machines do have their uses.

BUT , bread making purists (and enthusiasts) will say that much of the satisfaction in bread making is the physical work you put into the process.

It's an ethos I agree with.

If you've got kids, bread making is a great way to introduce them to whole process of food production and makes them appreciate home cooking, and it's fun.


.

cakewalk

AndyManc wrote:

Machines do have their uses.

BUT , bread making purists (and enthusiasts) will say that much of the satisfaction in bread making is the physical work you put into the process.

It's an ethos I agree with.

If you've got kids, bread making is a great way to introduce them to whole process of food production and makes them appreciate home cooking, and it's fun.


.

Agree entirely. However the panasonic is ace and take 3 minutes to get ready. We use it for all out bread. Have not got time to bake 4 days a week!

alfablue

Rolf F wrote:

alfablue wrote:

The reults are top quality and better than a bread machine can achieve. I am getting "artisan" type bread probably at a cost of about £1.20 (including energy costs), whereas the typical price for a Bertinet loaf is about £4.

That's surprisingly expensive. The posh bread at the farmers market mostly costs about £1.50 to £1.70 for a decent sized loaf. In Yorkshire you'd get laughed out of the county if you tried to charge £4 for a loaf.

Yes it is expensive, but in the environs of Bath and Bristol Bertinet can command these prices. It is significantly better than standard baker's bread, but not that much better, I agree. However, Bertinet is arguably one of our best regarded bread makers, so I guess this notoriety allows him to charge premium http://www.thebertinetkitchen.com/

I like to think my sour dough loaves are now coming close to Bertinet's 8)

alfablue

Why not have a go at sour dough?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... dan-lepard

It tastes great and does amazing things in the oven! Once you have made your sourdough starter you can keep it going indefinately (you have your own unique live yeast culture and you don't need to buy dried yeast anymore).

AndyManc

cakewalk wrote:

AndyManc wrote:

Machines do have their uses.

BUT , bread making purists (and enthusiasts) will say that much of the satisfaction in bread making is the physical work you put into the process.

It's an ethos I agree with.

If you've got kids, bread making is a great way to introduce them to whole process of food production and makes them appreciate home cooking, and it's fun.


.

Agree entirely. However the panasonic is ace and take 3 minutes to get ready. We use it for all out bread. Have not got time to bake 4 days a week!

" Have not got time to bake 4 days a week!"


You choose to do other things than make bread, which is fine.

It's not that you haven't got enough time, you are not willing to make the time.

People will make time if they feel it important enough.

When I make bread I make 3 at a time and freeze them, they taste fine from the freezer, though nothing beats fresh bread.

Apologies for being a pedant, but " I haven't got the time" is an often used excuse from those that are too lazy to cycle.



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wgwarburton

AndyManc wrote:

cakewalk wrote:

AndyManc wrote:

Machines do have their uses.

BUT , bread making purists (and enthusiasts) will say that much of the satisfaction in bread making is the physical work you put into the process.

It's an ethos I agree with.

If you've got kids, bread making is a great way to introduce them to whole process of food production and makes them appreciate home cooking, and it's fun.


.

Agree entirely. However the panasonic is ace and take 3 minutes to get ready. We use it for all out bread. Have not got time to bake 4 days a week!

" Have not got time to bake 4 days a week!"


You choose to do other things than make bread, which is fine.

It's not that you haven't got enough time, you are not willing to make the time.

People will make time if they feel it important enough.

When I make bread I make 3 at a time and freeze them, they taste fine from the freezer, though nothing beats fresh bread.

Apologies for being a pedant, but " I haven't got the time" is an often used excuse from those that are too lazy to cycle.
.

That's a really crap comparison, Andy... I'd find it pretty difficult to make the time to mix, knead and prove bread. It takes me two minutes to put the ingredients for our standard loaf in the machine before bed and seconds to take it out the next morning.
Another vote for Panasonic. We've used ours several times a week for ten years or so... Not very creatively, though.. we worked out how to bake our perfect loaf and do it every time... Also do pizza bases, though...

Cheers,
W.

Headhuunter

I used to use a bread maker. It's in the shed at the moment, I keep meaning to dig it out and use it again. It made brilliant bread, think it was a Morphy Richards. The only difficulties I had was making wholemeal bread, it didn't rise very well. The disadvantage of bread makers is that they're bloody huge so if you've got a small kitchen it'll take up a chunk of space...

Gussio

Headhuunter wrote:

I used to use a bread maker. It's in the shed at the moment, I keep meaning to dig it out and use it again. It made brilliant bread, think it was a Morphy Richards. The only difficulties I had was making wholemeal bread, it didn't rise very well. The disadvantage of bread makers is that they're bloody huge so if you've got a small kitchen it'll take up a chunk of space...

Buy a bigger house. Hey presto - more room for additional bikes and an industrial-sized bread maker.

Headhuunter

Gussio wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

I used to use a bread maker. It's in the shed at the moment, I keep meaning to dig it out and use it again. It made brilliant bread, think it was a Morphy Richards. The only difficulties I had was making wholemeal bread, it didn't rise very well. The disadvantage of bread makers is that they're bloody huge so if you've got a small kitchen it'll take up a chunk of space...

Buy a bigger house. Hey presto - more room for additional bikes and an industrial-sized bread maker.

Yeees except that buying a bigger house kinda rules out the cost savings in owning a breadmaker in the 1st place!

Gussio

Don't let economics and common sense hold you back!