Bread makers. Worth it or not?

[Rich]

you can but a loaf of bread from Netto for 50p

 

Netto have pulled out of the UK, most of their shops are ASDAs now.

 

Shame, I used to work in the South Road, Walkley one, was a good gang of people there at the time.

[neeeeeeeeeek]

I have a Panasonic one, I have not bought any bread for about a year, I love it. It takes 5 mins from shelf to loaded and switched on then in a few hours I have really nice, healthy bread with no rubbish in it.

 

I tend to make a 50-70% stone ground wholemeal loaf, varying the amount with some Rye flour, malted flour and strong white bread flour. I add loads of sunflower, seasame, pumpkin, linseed, poppy seeds and a few caraway seeds. It's breat, shop bought bread is so crap in comparison.

 

If I want a good toasting loaf I add more Rye flower, it tents to be heavier and makes great toast.

 

[poppet2]

I find slicing bread almost impossible because of my gammy arm, and I've tried (and failed!) with lots of bits of kit for slicing.

 

Do you use a serrated knife?

[medusa]

Do you use a serrated knife?

 

I've tried using about a dozen different knives, including different sorts of serration, but I can either hold on to the loaf with my good hand and not be able to control the knife at all with my gammy arm, or put the big sharp knife in my wrong hand and just hack at it with very little control at all.

 

I'll find a way- it took me over 5 years to learn how to peel an onion one handed- but slicing a loaf is one of those things, like mopping a floor and putting a letter in an envelope, that is an intensely two-handed activity.

 

Thanks for the thoughts, but this thread is about breadmakers, so we'd better get back to that

[kidley]

I have a Panasonic one, I have not bought any bread for about a year, I love it. It takes 5 mins from shelf to loaded and switched on then in a few hours I have really nice, healthy bread with no rubbish in it.

 

I tend to make a 50-70% stone ground wholemeal loaf, varying the amount with some Rye flour, malted flour and strong white bread flour. I add loads of sunflower, seasame, pumpkin, linseed, poppy seeds and a few caraway seeds. It's breat, shop bought bread is so crap in comparison.

 

If I want a good toasting loaf I add more Rye flower, it tents to be heavier and makes great toast.

 

 

Panasonic without dough t are the best bread makers on the market i have had one since when they first came out thats a long time ago carnt remember exactly, but it still works as good now as it did when new, but they are expensive

[laineyiow]

We borrowed a breadmaker from a friend to see how we'd get on with it.

 

Wr are now looking at buying our own! The Bread is much nicer.

[tara]

Im going to try baking it by hand, I had a wonderful Panasonic which I accidently dropped off the work surface. Ive tried loads of Models in the past but the Panasonic was the best.

[Costcruncher]

I have had three different bread makers in the past few years and I can categorically confirm they can be used to make good bricks.

[kidley]

I have had three different bread makers in the past few years and I can categorically confirm they can be used to make good bricks.

 

with the greatest respect if you wasn't such a Costcruncher you may have made bread with them

[Olive]

I've had my bread maker for about 10 years. It was quite expensive, but I know you can get them much cheaper now.

 

I've been through phases when I've used it a lot, but other periods (months on end) when I've not been bothered.

 

It's easy to use, and really quick to set up. However, even on the short cycle it takes about 3 hours to finish a loaf from start to end, so you really need to plan ahead - no good thinking that you'll just make the sarnies for tomorrow's pack up, if you need to make the bread first!

 

Overall, the bread's pretty tasty. Denser than the mass produced stuff you buy in the shops, but I prefer that. The shape and size of the loaf tin means that I can only get about 10 slices out of a loaf at most, which doesn't go very far if there are packed lunches to be made.

 

The cost of the bread flour or bread mixes isn't cheap though (unless anyone can tell me a good source) - often more expensive to buy the ingredients than buy a loaf.

 

On balance, considering the cost of the machine and the ingredients, I don't really think it's been worth it, but if you can lay your hands on a cheap machine and are a very organised person, give it a whirl.