Bread Makers?

photonic69

Sorry if this is a bit 'mumsnet' for a cycling forum.

I usually bake my own bread, making two loaves then slicing and freezing to use when I want. I love doing it but it really does take a long time and I'd rather be riding my bike. So looking for suggestions of other users.
I make wholemeal loaves with Rye and Spelt with sunflower, pumpkin, poppy and sesame seeds so it needs to handle this type of loaf.

Any suggestions please? Reviews on Amazon are so very varied, I usually read the 3 Star ratings as they give the best overview but even these are confusing me with this subject!

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Thread made me think of this old tune and see its video for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yByP88jUQH4

joeyhalloran

I've got a decent level Panasonic one, we normally make a loaf with a mix of oats, wholemeal and white flour. Also has a seed dispenser. It also came with a special rye kneading blade but I've not used it.

It's good, the bread is tasty (better than shop bought) and it's nice that it has a timer and yeast dispenser meaning you can set it to be finished in the morning or whenever you need it. You do need to be around to remove the bread though. It's not as good as the 24 hr sourdough I make, which is actually only ~10 minutes of hands on time, so Ive reverted to making more of than unless it's too hot to put the oven on. Advantage of the bread machine is I can put it in the garage to avoid heating the house in summer.

super_davo

I have a bread maker but get much better results when just using it to make the dough then baking the bread in the oven.
I just buy packets of bread mix from Aldi, follow the recipe for water but use olive oil rather than butter, put the dough flat on a baking tray, which makes great ciabatta. Can add rosemary, sea salt, fennel seed, walnuts, dates, whatever you want to make it adventurous. Dough sorts itself out in the machine, then takes between 20-30 minutes to bake depending on how much you stretch the dough flat. A good effort to results compromise.

orraloon

Have had for years a Panasonic SD2501, works fine. Has a delay start time option useful if you want to schedule vs other stuff like bike riding.

photonic69

Sounds good. Looks like the Panasonic seems to have the edge on these. I'll look again at my shortlist. Now just need to find space for the bread-monster.

Thanks for the help.

pep.fermi

The one I have is from AndrewJames but I find hard to believe there are good ones and less good ones.
I always add tons of nuts and seeds and also chopped cillies. Plus whatever leftover we happen to have at home, just to recycle stuff (no bread, pasta, rice, meat, fish, but that's about it, all cheasy greasy thingy are perfect).
I normally let the maker knead, takes 14min, then leave it to rest for several hrs, then bake it, bake takes 1hr. When cool slice and freeze.

pinno

DIY.

End of.

masjer

pinno said:

DIY.

End of.

Careful pinno this is the bread maker thread, not a DIY one.
Anyway, here's a cat I spotted the other day...

secretsqirrel

Cats have an interesting kneading technique. So long as they keep their claws tucked in.

photonic69

Soooo....Bread makers.

Well, after looking at the available space for the home bakery in our kitchen, it lead to to finally fix the eternally dripping kitchen tap that was beyond washer replacement repair. On doing this I found the steel tap reinforcement plate below the sink had rusted to nothing (rust in the eyes when under a sink is most unpleasant). As the sink is about 23 years old and tired I though it's time for a replacement. It's a stainless double drainer with a single bowl and two tap holes. It's a very specific size and I made an extra high bespoke cabinet to hold it as I suffer from bad back using low sinks. I cannot find a replacement anywhere online in that size. So it got me thinking. A smaller sink, maybe a single drainer with 1.5 bowls, inset into a worktop would allow me to shift it 6-8" to the right and allow more space next to the microwave to house the Hovis Hulk.
So this will mean new cabinets to hold the worktop. A new Iroko worktop to match the other side of the Galley style kitchen. The cabinet doors resprayed in a deep lilac to match the other doors. The cabinets can be standard height now as we use a dishwasher for most things now.
This will also require the plumbing to be reworked behind the cabinets as I made a bit of a bodge of it when I did it back in 2000 after a hard night of clubbing on lots of happy pills. The waste pipes also need to be shifted as the washing machine is in a new place with a log hose. All rather sub-optimal.

So, all in all looking at bread makers will require a lot of DIY and also cost around £800-1000 all in.

It's bloomin' expensive making your own bread!

Now just about to embark on making a couple more loaves this afternoon as I'm away camping this weekend.

First.Aspect

Blessed are the breadmakers.

Pross

Given the cost of making bread yourself it would be nice if someone opened a shop where you could buy it ready made...

masjer

photonic69 said:

So, all in all looking at bread makers will require a lot of DIY and also cost around £800-1000 all in.

It's bloomin' expensive making your own bread!

That's a lot of dough!

I'll get my coat.

I tend to use mine like others have suggested, let it do the hard work, then bake in the oven. Leaving the machine to make a full loaf can sometimes go frustratingly wrong (possibly due to inaccurate measurement on my behalf), by either not rising enough or over-rising and trying to escape through the lid.

joeyhalloran

Does the breadmaker have to go in the kitchen? Most have a removable pan so you can just fill that up in the kitchen (where the ingredients are) and carry it.

photonic69

joeyhalloran said:

Does the breadmaker have to go in the kitchen? Most have a removable pan so you can just fill that up in the kitchen (where the ingredients are) and carry it.

Sure, I can take it up to the bedroom, though I don't think my wife would appreciate me beating away all night and letting off steam at the end any more than she does now.

pep.fermi

I make the bread with the breadmaker.
But my wife makes the bread actually without bread maker, just a bowl and hand. She says her way is easier than learning how to use the breadmaker.

joeyhalloran

photonic69 said:

joeyhalloran said:

Does the breadmaker have to go in the kitchen? Most have a removable pan so you can just fill that up in the kitchen (where the ingredients are) and carry it.

Sure, I can take it up to the bedroom, though I don't think my wife would appreciate me beating away all night and letting off steam at the end any more than she does now.

Maybe she'd appreciate some mechanical assistance with the whole ordeal?

photonic69

Bread x2