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The Breadmaker Thread

Planet X

Recommend me a good one please. About to take the plunge and buy one. Browned (excuse pun) off with shop sliced pans etc.
Some threads recommend Panasonic ones. Want a good one.
Cheers.

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Dizzyblonde

tallus wrote: »

Thanks DB, I'll have to look in to the SD257 so, sounds perfect. I'd love to make some of the malt bread someone posted about earlier on this thread, sounds well tasty.

That was me -my hubby doesn't like granary bread so I make that because it has a mix of flours. There isn't actually malt in it but it's amazing bread. I make it at least 3 times a week.

JohnK

Any chance you could put up the recipe Dizzyblonde? I havent used my breadmaker in ages as I just got bored with the ones I had.

tallus

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

That was me -my hubby doesn't like granary bread so I make that because it has a mix of flours. There isn't actually malt in it but it's amazing bread. I make it at least 3 times a week.

Sounds bloody tasty!

I'm not eating anything processed these days so it would be nice to know what's going into the bread. At the moment the only bread I eat is my mothers home made brown bread.

Dizzyblonde

JohnK wrote: »

Any chance you could put up the recipe Dizzyblonde? I havent used my breadmaker in ages as I just got bored with the ones I had.

Yeast: 3/4 of a tsp - 1 tsp - 1 1/4 tsp
Hovis granary flour: 250g - 300g - 350g
Strong white flour: 150g - 200g - 250g
Sugar: 1 tsp - 1 1/2 tsp - 2 tsps
Butter: 15g - 25g - 25g
Salt: 1 tsp - 1 1/4 tsp - 1 1/2 tsp
Water: 270ml - 320ml - 360ml

*Bake on Whole Wheat setting
I've given the amounts for all 3 sizes of loaf. I find that using milk instead of water it gives a better texture, but you have to add about 10ml extra if you do.

JohnK

Ta very much, I'll have to give that a go

Morgase

FYI Lidl will be selling their breadmaker again this Thursday. I reckon I'm going to splash out!

http://www.lidl.ie/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_ri_ie/hs.xsl/index_13016.htm

Colin4May

Morgase wrote: »

FYI Lidl will be selling their breadmaker again this Thursday. I reckon I'm going to splash out!

I think you won't be disappointed once you've enetered the world of Breadmakers, but have you done all your comparisons of prices and features?

I did quite a lot of research and ended up buying the SD 2500WXC from Panasonic(see below). It's got a lot of features which I didn't think I would use, but it's interesting that once you've done the basic breadmaking, you'll want to experiement and be a bit more adventurous. That's when you'll be glad you've got something with bells and whistles!

My tale is that you're only likely to but one breadmaker in your lifetime.. or at least every 10-15 years, so get one that you're going to be able to make a lot of use of.

Anyway, enough of my preaching. Join the serried ranks of us breadmakers, Morgase!

http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/290123/module/general/compare/productsCategory.html

Morgase

Starving stingy student that I am, I went and bought the Lidl breadmaker for 40 quid. It's kneading away as I type! Can't wait to taste

lucylu

I got a lidl Breadmaker last night ... here is a white loaf - super Rapid (1hr 18 Min)

nice1franko

lucylu wrote: »

I got a lidl Breadmaker last night ... here is a white loaf - super Rapid (1hr 18 Min)

Why is it in the oven?

Are you pretending to people (like me) that you're doing it all by hand??

lucylu

eh no that is a wire rack on the hob and not on an oven shelf..

nice1franko

ah yeah, of course... I don't do that either

err , the bread looks lovely!

phormium

Bought the Lidl one yesterday, yes I know I should have spent more on the panasonic but tough times and all that. Anyway just took out instruction/recipe book and one of the first lines says for best results mix your dough in a mixer??? I thought the whole point of this thing was that I could throw the lot into it and bread came out, no?

JohnK

I would presume they mean that to indicate you use their machine rather than attempt to mix it by hand

phormium

Dunno, had a look again now, read the instruction book and it reads as I expected, put the lot in and turn it on. However the recipe book says at the start of all the recipes 'Note: to achieve a better baking result, prepare the dough with a mixer. Then place the finished dough in the baking mould' I suppose I just ignore that bit!

Colin4May

Alun wrote: »

+1000 I don't think the SD255 is made any more but there's a 256 and a 257, plus two new models the 2500 and 2501, see here http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/290123/module/general/compare/productsCategory.html

I can't immediately see what the difference is apart from the fact that you appear to be able to make jam in the new models, although I'm not sure why you'd want to do that in a breadmaker to be honest!

The 'raisin' dispenser version is a good idea, as you can use it for seeds, nuts and all kinds of other stuff (olives, sun dried tomatoes etc.) too.

I have an older version, the SD253 and it's still going strong after approx. 4 years of use at least once, but usually twice a week.

I have a SD 2500 WXC http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/290123/module/general/compare/productsCategory.html;jsessionid=0a6d28f130d85d754cf283a245c9963f98b3ebe159a7.e34Pah8Ma3eQci0Lc38PahuObxz0n6jAmljGr5XDqQLvpAe and that seems to me to be ideal- does the basic stuff, but can also do the fanct stuff as well. I've had mine since Fathers' Day this year, and use it regularly, every fortnight. Wouldn't be without it!

Mick F

Lidl are selling their bread machine again next week:

http://www.lidl.ie/cps/rde/xchg/SID-9CA4AC89-16A9A3A5/lidl_ri_ie/hs.xsl/index_19665.htm

For €50, I might give this a go. How have people who have had this unit for a while been getting on with it?

vibe666

Colin4May wrote: »

I have a SD 2500 WXC http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/290123/module/general/compare/productsCategory.html;jsessionid=0a6d28f130d85d754cf283a245c9963f98b3ebe159a7.e34Pah8Ma3eQci0Lc38PahuObxz0n6jAmljGr5XDqQLvpAe and that seems to me to be ideal- does the basic stuff, but can also do the fanct stuff as well. I've had mine since Fathers' Day this year, and use it regularly, every fortnight. Wouldn't be without it!

i got the SD 2501 WXC for my wife from our baby for her first mothers day and we all love it. we've made loads of different breads in it and it gets used about 2-3 times a week, with our aim to cut out the need to buy bread when we have no idea what is actually in it.

it's brilliant so far and we've now got about 6 different types of flour to play with and various other seeds and stuff to make loaves with.

it was expensive compared to the less well equipped makers, but i'e read a lot of reviews before deciding on which one to get and a lot of them weren't very favourable about the cheap ones, with several customers going for 2501 after having bad experiences with cheaper models and i can honestly couldn't be happier with it, it was a great buy and there really isn't anything like tucking into a nice slice of proper fresh home baked bread.

Morgase

Mick F wrote: »

Lidl are selling their bread machine again next week:

http://www.lidl.ie/cps/rde/xchg/SID-9CA4AC89-16A9A3A5/lidl_ri_ie/hs.xsl/index_19665.htm

For €50, I might give this a go. How have people who have had this unit for a while been getting on with it?

I have my Lidl one a good few months by now. It's holding up very well. I haven't made anything too fancy; just sunflower bread and white bread but they're tasty! I use the recipes that come with the instruction manual.

Mick F

Morgase wrote: »

I have my Lidl one a good few months by now. It's holding up very well. I haven't made anything too fancy; just sunflower bread and white bread but they're tasty! I use the recipes that come with the instruction manual.

Thanks Morgase. Does it cook the top crust properly? I ask as a mate of mine has an Argos machine which leaves the top crust much softer than the other sides.

vibe666

i think that's a side effect of the position of the heating elements in them, but if i ever have it happen with mine, i just lob it under the grill for a couple of minutes and that sorts it out.

Morgase

Mick F wrote: »

Thanks Morgase. Does it cook the top crust properly? I ask as a mate of mine has an Argos machine which leaves the top crust much softer than the other sides.

It's cooked, but as your friend has noted it is softer. It's not something that bothers me personally.

cold case

I have a swan breadmaker, which makes 3 lb loaf, which will need replacing soon, but I can't seem to find another like this, or any other brand of breadmaker that makes 3lb, or extra large loaves. Have been using breadmakers for years now, and the largest I had for years was for a 2 lb loaf. I hate the thought of going back to the smaller loaves and having to make them more often.

CJhaughey

cold case wrote: »

I have a swan breadmaker, which makes 3 lb loaf, which will need replacing soon, but I can't seem to find another like this, or any other brand of breadmaker that makes 3lb, or extra large loaves. Have been using breadmakers for years now, and the largest I had for years was for a 2 lb loaf. I hate the thought of going back to the smaller loaves and having to make them more often.

Get one of the Lidl Bifinett brand ones they have on sale atm, they are a big loaf. We have ours for about 4+years now and its still going strong.
We use it a lot for making dough for pizzas.

radiat

I got a Panasonic 2501 a few weeks ago. There tends to be a funny smell of the bread, I reckon it might be the yeast. It's fast action yeast (which is recommened in the manual) from Tesco. Is all yeast the same? The bread doesn't tend to rise very much either.

Dizzyblonde

Are you using the right flour? Your bread sounds a bit like the loaf my husband made the time he used the wrong flour.

cold case

radiat wrote: »

I got a Panasonic 2501 a few weeks ago. There tends to be a funny smell of the bread, I reckon it might be the yeast. It's fast action yeast (which is recommened in the manual) from Tesco. Is all yeast the same? The bread doesn't tend to rise very much either.

I use McDougalls fast action bread yeast. It comes in sachets, and it doesn't keep very well apparently. They actually recommend throwing away any unused yeast. I get around this by keeping a couple of sachets in a little tupperware box, to keep it fresh.

This might explain your bread not rising very well. Take a look at the troubleshooting list too, and maybe adjust liquid, salt or sugar. You can get away with using a lot less sugar than the recipes recommend btw.

Hope that helps. Good luck

Alun

I use the Mc Dougalls yeast too in my Panasonic with no problems, and just use one of those plastic bag clips on the sachet to keep it sealed. I usually get through the yeast quite quickly though so it's not really a problem with it going off.

A few hints ...

1) Only use flour specifically for breadmaking, so-called 'strong' flour. I use Odlums.
2) Make sure you stick rigidly to the measurements in the recipe especially the quantity of liquid.
3) Use warm water, not cold.
4) For wholemeal loaves I find they rise better if you use the 70% wholemeal/30% white version, and don't taste a whole lot different to the 100% version.
5) Don't use the 'rapid bake' version of the recipes, they don't rise as well.
6) Don't peek while the program is running!
7) After the program is finished, leave the loaf in there for 15 mins or so. It's easier to get out then and you don't get so much dough sticking to the paddle. The crust seems to develop a bit more during that time too.

justbored

This post has been deleted.

Mick F

I use the Dove Farm yeast, you can get it in health food shops. I keep it in a glass jar with a rubber seal and it lasts fine (although I tend to use a 125g pack every month or two anyway). The strong flour point made by Alun is the most important one. Plain flour won't work unless you mix it with powdered gluten which is next to impossible to get in Ireland.