[Closed] Breadmaking machines.. worth it? Experiences?

Can't answer your question, but from previous threads Panasonic is apparently the brand to get.

The panasonic one I've got is certainly more reliably successful at making loaves than the previous kenwood. More importantly though - its much much quieter, the motor is to all intents and purposes silent, the kenwood whined and whirred far too much

'Worth it' - yes if its what you want. Much more worth it if you get a nice big sack of good flour from somewhere rather than daft little bags from the supermarket.

Never used one, but know someone who does. The bread she makes is the most delicious bread I've ever tasted. Knocks "bakery" bread from the local supermarket into a

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I've got a [url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Russell-Hobbs-18036-Breadmaker-Minutes/dp/B0034XRFOO ]Russell Hobbs[/url], seems robust, and works very well - though I've got nothing to compare it to, other models may be better. It's got loads of programmes but tbh I only ever use it for baking normal bread, usually by pre-programming it the night before. Basically stick 300ml water, flour, yeast, salt and sugar, and click a couple of buttons. No hassle, next to no effort, and compared to shop-bought bread you know exactly what's going into it.

Someone will no doubt be along shortly to tell you that oven cooked bread is better (it is - the crusts are better) and that making bread isn't that hard (it isn't, but it's a faff), but they'll conveniently ignore the main advantage: Waking up to the smell of freshly baked bread 🙂

I have a Panasonic and it is BRILLIANT, I have been making bread in it for around three years now and it is perfect every time, I tend to put it on a 4 hour cycle last thing at night then you have warm fresh bread for breakfast. takes under a minute to load it up with flour, yeast, olive oil, salt, sugar and water then press go, flippin brilliant

Have had Panasonic since early 90s (not same one obviously, on out third or even fourth in that time).

Used to get them at work discount rate, before the internet rem,moved that advantage. Have found them very good, used regularly in all that time - so 20 years or so - two or three loaves a week, plus pizza dough every week, plus occasional more fancy bread or roll mixtures.

Can't say - after running costs - whether they're better 'value' but they allow you control the ingredients (salt, so on) and important to get strong white bread flour as the base, we use Vit. C tablets to improve that a bit as sometimes either yeast or flour isn't up to scratch.

Edit/Addition - ours is currently an SD-254 - we experimented with the nut/raisin dispenser model but to be honest it wasn't used hardly at all, so when came time to replace, we didn't keep the upgrade..

We have that one and I have just woken up to the smell of fresh bread. It's a steal at that price.

You have to get into the routine and set it every night as the bread doesn't have a long shelf life and we aren't making the savings we could as we don't buy the flour in bulk as mentioned above

The recipes need tweeting for amount of yeast etc and a 60:40 wholemeal, white mix is easier to get right than 100% wholemeal.

We have the [url= http://www.very.co.uk/panasonic-breadmaker-sd-2501wxc/926764372.prd?aff=google&affsrc=acquisition&cm_mmc=google-_-PLA+-+Electricals-_-Electricals+-+Appliances+-+Kitchen-_-_63938670898&k_clickid=517f889d-5029-6648-32e8-00005ab2178a&kpid=13573430&gclid=CPWprfCU8MMCFbQatAodVFgAHA ]Panasonic SD 2501[/url] (Same model in white plastic). It's fantastic, reliably makes a good loaf, you can also make jam in it. We regularly use it to make pizza dough and tortillas, you could also use it for making chapatis. You can use a multitude of flours and the ingredients try on the top allows you to add inclusions such as raisins or chocolate chips without having to manually do it part way through the process.
There are also a load of cake recipes included so you can make Jamaica Ginger cake in there too!

Just bought a Panasonic to replace the broken Lidl one my sister gave me. To give you an idea of how indispensable we find it, it was less than an hour between realising our old one was broken and getting a new one. We live a few miles from the nearest shop, and further still from one that sells nice bread so for us the breadmaker is even less hassle than buying from a shop.

The panasonic one seems very good so far. Nice and quiet, easy to use and the bread come out of the tin very easily.

Reading this thread makes me think I probably ought to be a bit mroe adventurous with my machine, has anyone got this recipe book (and recommend it)? Or any other?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bread-Machine-Easy-delicious-recipes/dp/0600621820/ref=pd_sim_kh_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1N8X93Q6ANGQ8NTRJZX9

I've got that exact model and it's blimming awesome. That's a very good price for it. The separate yeast dispenser and the separate fruit/nut dispenser are very useful and mean you can set a long delay, say if you want the bread to be ready in the morning or when you get home from work.

Not sure if it works out cheaper in the long run but the key difference is you know exactly what's in the loaf. And fresh bread! I've got a loaf whirring away at the moment, looking forward to lunchtime.

mogrim - hi! 🙂

Nowt wrong with bread makers but learning to make really good bread by hand is one of the most rewarding things I've done. The river cottage bread book is good.

Has anyone got a recipe for Veda bread (and I know this will be a very limited group that'll know what that is)?

Thanks... bought one 🙂

Thanks all..
Ive pulled the trigger...

Any recommendations for recipes, flour and yeast?

Waitrose Canadian & Extra Strong bread flour is very good, if you're buying 'silly little supermarket bags'. I was using Dove Farm yeast in the orange bag but have swapped to Allinson Easy Bake yeast in a little green can and it's working much better.
For all the bread recipes I would recommend adding quarter teaspoon Vit C powder - this seems to help it rise. I also skip the sugar in each recipe and tend to use rapeseed oil instead of butter.

Can thoroughly recommend the Panasonic 2501, takes a few minutes to load it up and set it for fresh bread in the morning. Anyone know how to cut really fresh bread easily? When it's still warm & steaming it tends to bind on the knife a bit so you HAVE to cut it a bit thick--shame!
Allinson green tub of yeast is really good, doesn't seem to go off and a lot more convenient than the foil sachets.

Interesting views I have that model its ok if you want to make bread with minimum effort and its fine but not outstanding.

I dont think bread makers make good loaves personally but almost anything is better than supermarket chorleywood bread.

As grum says learn to make bread its easy and kneading is such a tactile experience its obvious when its done and gone smooth.

Nowt wrong with bread makers but learning to make really good bread by hand is one of the most rewarding things I've done. The river cottage bread book is good.

I've made bread by hand, it's not that difficult (at least IME, perhaps I haven't tried anything particularly hard) but it's still a faff - during the week I really don't have time to make bread. Loading and programming a bread maker takes me less than 5 minutes. I do agree it's quite satisfying, though, but then I find that's true for most cooking - beyond grilling a couple of sausages of course!

Anyone know how to cut really fresh bread easily? When it's still warm & steaming it tends to bind on the knife a bit so you HAVE to cut it a bit thick--shame!

Don't use a bread knife, use a sharpened chef's knife.

I've got one. I got it as a gift. Breville something or other It makes nice bread but a loaf is bloody expensive compared to your local baker.
For that reason it's kept in the back of the cupboard and was used twice in the last 36 months (both times to make bread for when the gift bearer came to tea).

We have that panasonic one. Didn't think we'd use it much but it's been brilliant. Could really not be simpler to use. Favourite at the moment is half rye and half strong white flour. Makes a lovely loaf 🙂 My tip is if using the little sachets of instant yeast, open a fresh one each time and just chuck away what you don't use.

Breville something or other It makes nice bread but a loaf is bloody expensive compared to your local baker.

Really? Basic bread recipe is something along the lines of

500g flour* - 20p
350g water - effectively free
7g yeast - 16p
10g salt - less than a penny
Energy costs - [url= http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/small-appliances/reviews/breadmakers/page/faqs/ ]5p[/url]

How many bakeries sell full sized loaves of decent bread for less than 50p?

*You can use plain flour for this, no matter how many people tell you otherwise

edit: I'm firmly in the "do it by hand" camp though.

This is STW. Did you not get the check list before you signed up?

Breadmaker = Panasonic.
Chainsaw = Stihl.
Axe = Granfors.
Vacuum cleaner = Henry.
Wood burner = Morso or Clearview.
Coffee machine = Bialetti or Aeropress.

And a whole load more . . .

Hth
Marko

Nowt wrong with bread makers but learning to make really good bread by hand is one of the most rewarding things I've done. The river cottage bread book is good.

A breadmaker is a good alternative though (as long as you get a decent one) as you're always going to get a better result than most shop bought bread. (The two aren't even comparable products IMO).

We've got a Morphy Richards one at the moment. It's noisy and on its last legs. But it still bakes perfectly good bread. It is a replacement under guarantee of the last one the fell apart, but that was in the sale for about £30. So far that £30 has lasted nearly 5 years.

We use ours every day. Twice at weekends. Both boys won't eat brown bread if bought in a shop, they've been eating it without knowing for years out of the bread maker. 😆

Coffee machine = Bialetti or Aeropress.

WRONG. Gaggia classic and an Iberital grinder is STW.

+1 to this, I bought the River Cottage book a couple of weeks ago. Following the basic recipe it really is a piece of piss to make great bread!

This may be true but I'd never do it. Beauty of the bread maker is that it takes about a minute to chuck all the ingredients in the tub, pop it in the machine, and press go. Then you're done.

If you want cheap flour Lidl do strong bread flour that works well for not a lot. If you want really cheap wholemeal get a massive sack of chapati flour from your local Asian supermarket.

It really isn't a lot of work to make bread by hand but you do have to be around to do stuff periodically.

Thinking of getting a bread maker so I can make gluten free bread. Any recipes/advice for making gluten free bread?

Assume I've missed the boat on this - that link takes you to a £135 option?

Nowt wrong with bread makers but learning to make really good bread by hand is one of the most rewarding things I've done.

Assume I've missed the boat on this - that link takes you to a £135 option?

About 15 mins including measuring out the ingredients 🙂

Machines are OKish but nothing compares to a hand made loaf.

Machines are OKish but nothing compares to a hand made loaf.

How handmade are you talking? I'd be willing to bet that you can't tell the difference between machine kneaded and hand kneaded reliably.

We've used our Panasonic almost daily for 10 years.
Brilliant things.

Bought the Panasonic one (with the nut/olive dropper thing) about 5-6 years ago. Never really got a properly decent loaf out of it once. Almost always undercooked in the middle. Faffed with the settings but never succeeded.

Reckon we had a dodgy machine as everyone else swears by them.

Panasonic SD-253 here... which I think I have had about 10 years now, and which is still going strong as you can get spare parts. Just need to fix my raisin/nut dispenser now as I think a fruit loaf would be good.

Took me a while to get rid of the machine smell (like when you get a new electric cooker) but now love ours. £65 is a bargain! Wish I had clicked sooner as I would have bought mum one as it would be much healthier for my nephews than supermarket bread.

We currently do a modified version of the white and wholemeal seeded bread by using 50% Canadian very strong white and 50% wholemeal and 290g of water. We use a jar of yeast that has been open for about 6 months now and not having any problems getting a good rise. Very rarely buy bread, just things like bagels and ciabattas from costco.

Only gripe is no custom mode like the Kenwood. I would like to get it to knead yoghurt flatbreads as I always make a mess in the kitchen but there is no suitable program and we don't have room for a food mixer at the moment.

Our Kenwood can do cakes too (things like Jamaica Cake) as well as jams.

But ours gets used most for making pizza base (he says as he tucks into left-overs of last nights red onion and chorizo pizza with jalapeños).

I have a panasonic, and have banished it to teh basement to save my waistline. Used to get some organic granary flour, which made an absolutely gorgeous loaf, especially for toasting, I could easily make loaf to be ready in the morning, and then polish it off with a pack of butter by the end of the day..and repeat.

I have a panasonic, and have banished it to teh basement to save my waistline. Used to get some organic granary flour, which made an absolutely gorgeous loaf, especially for toasting, I could easily make loaf to be ready in the morning, and then polish it off with a pack of butter by the end of the day..and repeat.

This is the main problem with home-made bread in general. It's just too delicious, especially with absolutely shitloads of butter.

Best thing to do is to borrow one off somebody - you're bound to know someone who bought one, used it for a week and then realised that shop bread is much less trouble. After a week you'll come to the same realization. All it will have cost you is a few quid on yeast and flour. You can then give it back to the owner - who thought they'd got rid of the damn thing.

we got ours from Aldi, I think it was only about 30quid or so and does the job - I was sceptical but mrsEd was right in this instance

the timer we don't use because the ingredients soak and it doesn't rise - one thing that works for us is the order the stuff goes in

water, then flour over the top, then budget olive oil (not ev), then salt, sugar (only a small amount) and yeast all in separate corners on the flour and away from the water

£69 seems a brilliant, but the link now says £135
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-SD2502-Stainless-Steel-Bread/dp/B0055HSEOC
/p>

which is the same price as John Lewis

http://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-sd-zb2502bxc-bread-maker-stainless-steel/p231287540

But to answer the question we bought the Panasonic from JL about a month ago. It has been used every other day or so since. To give you an idea of how easy it is, we didn't even stop to buy ingredients on the way home, came home, found some out of date flour etc in cupboard, pressed play and fantastic bread came out.

Worth it in every way. I know exactly what ingredients go into it. Cost wise I reckon 70p-£1.20 a loaf depending on ingredients, excluding energy and machine costs. Easy to clean. Quick and simple to use. Wish we had got one years ago. We find the fruit dispenser works for us.

Where do you buy these big bags of flour that other posts have mentioned? We bought ours as we thought supermarket bread, especially wholemeal has gone downhill recently.

Hope this helps!

Where do you buy these big bags of flour that other posts have mentioned? We bought ours as we thought supermarket bread, especially wholemeal has gone downhill recently.

You can order direct from suppliers, for example:
http://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/flour-and-ingredients//organic-strong-stoneground-wholemeal-25kg/
http://www.gilchesters.com/products/15
http://www.shipton-mill.com/flour-direct-shop/flour

We have the "normal" panasonic; it does the trick, but I actually preferred the old Russell Hobbs one we had before as it made the same loaf in three hours instead of four, so I had more time to make one, let it cool and make sandwiches the same evening. Alas that one died when the paddle spindle fell out of the bottom of the tin; the panasonic one has been faultless for longer.

The fruit and nut dispenser thing does mean that you can make cheese and bacon bread, mind. I could eat that until I exploded... 🙂

Leftyboy asked about a making gluten-free bread.

I have found Doves gluten free white bread flour blend in Morrisons and Sainsbury's. There is a recipe on the packet that makes a reasonable gluten-free loaf in a Panasonic SD0206 or a Delta Kitchen 40924 (Lidl or Aldi I think). It uses a couple of eggs to help bind instead of the gluten, texture is somewhere between bread and cake, and doesn't keep very well, but has that lovely fresh baked smell for a while.

As for gluten-free bread in general, the most bread-like I have found is the Newburn Bakehouse gluten free white farmhouse loaf sold in Sainsbury's: seems a lot more bready than the Genius gluten free white sandwich loaf that Morrisons sell, and better value too. The ds gluen free white ciabatta rolls that Morrisons sell seem ok, and are fairly long life (about a couple of months), but two quid for four seems expensive, so they only get bought as a stand-by, and eaten as a treat when they are getting close to the use-by date.

I thought about a bread maker then someone bought me "Brilliant Bread" by James Morton.
Each recipe has time spent in kitchen (typically 15 mins for most recipes) and time proving which is variable to fit in with your day. A couple of months on and I bake various reliable sourdough loaves twice weekly. Ingredients just flour (different types depending on what I fancy), water and salt, that's it. The loaves keep really well and also freeze well. A thread on piston heads about home baking sourdough got me interested to start with.

If you have a Kenwood type mixer with a dough hook its ridiculously easy to make bread.
Chuck all the ingredients in and turn on for 5-10 minutes on a low setting, let it prove (covered in the bowl) till its doubled in size. turn out and shape for a tin or tray, let it prove again till its the size you want and bake for about 30 minutes at 200c.

I've been using this method for all sorts of breads over the last 2 years and it gives a consistently good loaf of whatever I'm making.

I love the smell of fresh bread in the morning!

I was unsure at first but glad we got one.

Curses, was going to buy one of these last night, failed 🙁 If anyone ordered one and gets buyer remorse, let me know, I'll take it off you! My Kenwood's dying, it's been dying for a year mind.

For gluten free, I can massively recommend the glutafin select multipurpose mix- it makes a slightly spongey bread, the texture's slightly off but it tastes right, it toasts right, it fries brilliantly... It's just bread, basically. (and available on prescription if you live in civilisation)

They do bread mixes too which I really ought to try

Oh and re shop bought the genius white is underwhelming but the seeded one is ace imo, by far the breadiest gluten free bread. Though, slightly grey! Newburn is a kind of sad story, Warburtons made a huge point of saying "We wouldn't sell it under the Warburtons name if we didn't think it was great", then as soon as it started getting reviews, changed the name. It's not terrible but it's pretty flavourless.

bake for about 30 minutes at 200c.

Not to try to teach grandma to suck eggs but have you tried a harder bake than that? Unless you're making tiny loaves that's a fairly short bake at a low temperature. The method I use takes about an hour at up to 245c (depending on the loaf) for a 2lb loaf - you get a nice crust and it adds quite a lot of flavour.

To defend the hand bakers, money spent on a mixer or food processor makes the process a doddle and the bread looks so much better out of the oven.

As a side I found out recently that most british sold flour has roundup applied to the wheat to speed up drying. Not a nice thought.

As a side I found out recently that most british sold flour has roundup applied to the wheat to speed up drying. Not a nice thought.

The River Cottage bread book sourdough receipe got me hooked. It's a faff, and you have to be organised timewise but I generally 'work' from home so I fit it around my day. A decent mixer is worth having to take the grind away form kneading the dough.

Yeah it seems like it costs more per loaf - I'm reckoning about £1.20 a for a big loaf but I only use organic flours. But ... if you were to go and buy a proper organic sourdough loaf it's about £3 a pop.

If I didn't have the time I'd get a bread machine.

lemonysam - Member

[i]bake for about 30 minutes at 200c.[/i]

Not to try to teach grandma to suck eggs but have you tried a harder bake than that?

Sorry I should have qualified that as I generally make 1lb loafs as the smaller size slices are easier for my wife to hold as her hands don't work so well.
Though I have experimented with harder bakes & steam which also seem to work.
Having a free supply of 72 different types of flour does allow me to experiment 🙂

Having a free supply of 72 different types of flour does allow me to experiment

I'm trying to think of 72 different types of flour now...

*jealous*

@Nemesis Veda bread requires the commercial mix to make it properly. The only place I could find it was in Ulster (Andrews Ingredients) and minimum purchase was 250kg!!I did find a [url= http://teandwheatenbread.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/malt-loaf-veda-bread.html ]close approximation[/url] on-line which needs some tweeking before the taste is right, texture is spot on mind. The roasted barley flour in the recipe is a bit much giving a bit of a burnt flavour to the finished loaf. The mermaid tin mentioned is no longer available to buy as they went bust last year.

Machine arrived earlier today.. Already had some yeast and white bread flour so the timer is set for the first loaf tomorrow.... Surprised at how much salt actually goes into a loaf (used lo-salt)

lemonysam - Member
I'm trying to think of 72 different types of flour now...
*jealous*

TBH some of the differences are tiny (tweaked to suit a particular baker) I think there are around 400 different flour specifications in use in the UK at the moment.

My favorite flour we make at the moment is our strong ciabatta 13.8% protein.

cloudnine - Member

Surprised at how much salt actually goes into a loaf (used lo-salt)

Depending on the loaf type I use 1/2-1 tsp per 800g loaf

We use ours every day - bread, pizza base, naans, pitta bread etc.

I tend not to use as much salt as the recipe says as I was under the impression it's more for making the bread 'last longer' than for taste?

Salt is for taste (I use 7g in 500g of flour), adding butter (about 20-25g) will help the loaf last longer.

Mine has arrived... 🙂

What else do I need then on the way home tonight so the wife can have her first loaf in the morning ?

I go past Sainsburys on the way home for ingredients.

Flour
Baker's yeast

... and that's about it. Assuming you have salt, water, and optionally sugar at home already 🙂

I thought about a bread maker then someone bought me "Brilliant Bread" by James Morton.

Superb book. I make two sourdoughs a week, and one other. the last two weeks it has been revival bread, essentially a normal bread mixture, but with your leftover bread from your last loaf soaked in water overnight and added to the mix. I've bastardised that to make a sourdough revival bread, it's lush.

also his rye and raisin loaf is a cracker, great for cheese on toast...

mogrim - Member

Flour

ANy particular type/supplier etc ? Does it want to be 'bread flour' or....

Don't leave the salt out completely... I forgot once and I have never tasted a loaf that was so... [i]grey[/i]! You could have had a brick dust sandwich and the dust would have been the tastiest thing you've ever had in comparison.

Strong [white/wholemeal/malted, etc] bread flour. Should be able to get it any pretty much any supermarket, about £1 - 2.50/1.5kg bag.

I would strongly recommend getting digital scales for weighing the ingredients and water. Too much salt will slow/kill the yeast so it doesn't rise properly.

We've got a very old Panasonic thing. Gets used about twice a week for gluten free loaves using doves farm flours. Very good results and no faff.

@Jingle thanks was sure that gluten free would be less successful than 'normal' bread. As lots of people are saying main issues is making fresh bread makes you eat more I might think again as I'm trying to eat less bread!

Oh bollox !

I've just given the wife her surprise...

She's got the same one arriving tomorrow !

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I think Northwind was after one

And if Northwind doesn't want it, I might take it off your hands...

Using ours to make Pizza Dough as we speak.
Should be just about ready.

A few people have mentioned Vitamin C tablet added to the mix for wholemeal. Silly question but does it matter if the tablet contains other things i.e. zinc.

Wouldnt have thought so.. just maybe not use the orange flavoured ones.
The machine is a bit noisy when mixing dough

Sorry guys, the wife sold to someone at work.

Just doing my first ever loaf! I've already ballsed it up by putting yeast in now. We'll see what happens. Lol

Update..! havent brought bread since the machine arrived.
Simply brilliant.
Ordered a nice selection of organic flour from Dove farm online and can really recommend the malthouse flour mixed 50/50 with the white organic and some poppy and sesame seeds. Even the kids happily eat it.

Just made a 50:50 with pecan and raisins. Yumm.

Paid full price for our machine but bread this nice and so simple I don't mind at all.