Breadmakers

[NOG]

The Panasonic 252 or 253 are the daddies when it come s to breadmaking.

[Nicos]

Glad I made the right choice then!!
Getting all excited now....will leave all the doors wide open in the house so I can smell it in my sleep!!( oops sorry again LJ!! )

[Earthbabe]

My tip is always remember to put the paddle in the bottom, coz if you don't it all goes a bit wrong !

And always make sure the pan is in properly. My dad fell foul of this one when here one time and his excuse was "well it's different to mine". Not that different I pointed out.

[Earthbabe]

I have a basic morphy richards and it gets mainly used for my gluten free/wheat free bread and cakes when I get really organised. I have an excellent basic recipe which is superb, using strong bread flour. Will post it when I find it.

[Mrs Dobby]

We have a basic one too, perfectly adequate for our own use, dont use it all the time, but usually at least once a week! Mr D is the whiz with it tho, his beetrrot bread is lovely, as is his raisin and rosemary! Mind you, taking some round to friends for a pot luck on Halloween last year was fun, he added green food colouring, came out looking a lovely mouldy colour, but tasted wonderful!

His 'coloured' bread has spread through our friends like wildfire, one family in wales who bake all their own bread sent their kids to school with tricolour plaited bread, and now I believe the whole village does something similar! Its great watching their faces when you put a blood red or mouldy green loaf in front of someone!

[Alice]

Breadmakers

For anybody still swithering about which breadmaker to buy, reviews of several machines by people who have bought them can be seen at this site reevoo.comLooks like the Panasonic wins to me.

[Nicos]

All prepared and set for 6am

[JennieAtkinson]

We are now on our third machine and have opted for a Princess Compact - lovely little machine, doesn't take alot of room up in the kitchen and makes superb bread with a lovely crust. Best one we have had yet.

Good link Alice, but it only reviews two breadmakers!

Enjoy your bread tomorrow Nicos!

[Nicos]

Outcome.....Very pleased!!!
Was a little bit heavy though, and book suggested trying a different make of flour, so will do that next time!
(crept down at 4am to check how it was doing! Bit like waiting for Santa!!! )

[Earthbabe]

I found they can be a bit heavy when left on timer. Hope you didn't lift the lid to peek Nicos cos that won't help either if it is rising. Must make some of my bread today cos there are only so many rice cakes a girl can eat and porridge two days in a row is about my limit.

[Nicos]

No didn't peep inside- just sniffed around and then checked the timer was still working!
Will certainly try it not on timer and compare. Thanks
Homemade soup with fresh bread tonight for starters! Maybe a dollop of cream?? (oops sorry again LJ! )

[Lesley Jay]

Nicos fresh bread will not make a blind bit of difference to me - I don't really like bread!

[Nicos]

what do you eat then?...no roast spuds...no chips....no bread...no cream cakes....you must be tiny!!!! I used to think you were a bucksom granny pottering in the kitchen to the scent of steaming apple suet puddings when I first joined the Vine.....now I'm not so sure!

[JennieAtkinson]

Took our fresh loaf out the machine this morning and wondered how you got on Nicos. Sometimes the first loaf can be a bit heavy, just like any tin really needs to have a couple of bakes before it gets going.

By the way - I can recommend the pizza bread. We make it on a Saturday afternoon on the timer, so that it is ready to roll out for 7 ish and make our own pizza and a couple of rolls. Delish! And a nice easy meal for two.

Lesley - you will just have to post a pic!

[FoxHillGardener]

You've all inspired me to get my breadmaker out again. I did try when I first got it - did lots of fiddling with recipes and things, but always got really heavy, dense bread out of it. I tried the packet mixes and they didn't come out any better.

Checking on the web it seems to be a model that either gets rave reviews or really poor ones. Maybe they just have an unreliable manfacturing process so it's hit or miss whether eyou get a good one. Can't remeber the brand of the top of my head, though.

A friend suggested using crumbled up ascorbic acid tablets, ie vitamin c - though not the orange flavoured ones! Any thoughts on how that might work? or top tips in general?