What do you think of breadmaker machines?

[Saracen]

I'm putting this in GD specifically, not in Hotpot, for a reason, which I'll explain later. I'll also explain what I think of them later, but for now, I'm interested in people's reactions.

Have you tried one? If not, why not? Cost? Can't be bothered?

If you've tried one, did you get on with it? If not, why not? Didn't like the bread? Too expensive? Too much mucking about?

I'm just interested in whether people use them and what they think?



Edit - Now that the thread's a day or two old, the reason it's in GD not Hotpot is that I wanted general views on the topic, not just those of people interested enough in cooking to be reading Hotpot. In general, cooking topics in Hotpot, please.

[oolon]

We have a bread making machine, it makes rubbish bread*, I have taken to making bread by hand which is much more fun. Most bread making machines produce a heavy soggy loaf. Hand produces better results. Bread is just so easy to make, you just need to not be in a hurry. When you look at the steps of bread making

Mix, need, rise, knock back, shape, prove, cook, eat

You start to understand why most bread makers fail, you need things warm to prove however to cook you want to get a "bounce" out of the bread so it needs to be very hot, and a bread maker cannot do that transition. Also the mixing arm cannot be retracted so leave a hole in the bottom etc. The mixing does not work the bread as it should, but rather stirs it, which does not align the crumb. Also most bread makers produce a small loaf that does not keep well.

* For disambiguation it is a Breville one.

[Kumagoro]

I have no idea of such things but know you can get live yeast at the bakery in Tesco for nothing
just ask for a little bit and they are supposed to give it to you.

[pp05]

I'm putting this in GD specifically, not in Hotpot, for a reason, which I'll explain later. I'll also explain what I think of them later, but for now, I'm interested in people's reactions.

Have you tried one? If not, why not? Cost? Can't be bothered?

If you've tried one, did you get on with it? If not, why not? Didn't like the bread? Too expensive? Too much mucking about?

I'm just interested in whether people use them and what they think?

Every so often I'm watching a program that extols the virtues of growing your own stuff, making your own bread. Knowing exactly what ingredients went into the meal you're eating. So yes, I did think about purchasing a bread machine. My reasons not to:

- It's more economical to buy from the local store.
- It will take time, will need to be done frequently
- satisfaction with the results not guaranteed.
- it's another appliance in an already limited kitchen space

[oolon]

You don't even need yeast you can make what is called a sour dough starter, and keep that going forever. Personally I use dried yeast, but activate it first, no mater what they say that is a good thing, if you have the yeast in all the water is will be spread through the bread, if you use dried it can be patchy.

[jim]

We had one for a while.

Generally speaking, the bread we made with it tasted rubbish - really heavy and doughy, not at all like the light and airy stuff I really enjoy from the local bakery. Not always, but we certainly couldn't mix some up and guarantee it would be nice. In that regard, it felt like a bit of a lottery.

The only way we could make good quality bread from it was to buy pre-made sachets of bread mix, specifically designed for breadmakers. On the plus side, there were all sorts of unusual varieties, and we made some really interesting things with it - unusual extras like cranberries and so on that you don't find in your average bakery. On the downside, the sachets (as you might imagine) were not at all cheap - and if you're paying a fortune for the mix, a fortune for the breadmaker, and yet more for the space/heat/electricity/mess, you begin to wonder why you aren't just buying the stuff from a bakery.

And then you do.

So that's my experience

[scaryjim]

never tried one - because I can make very good bread by hand and I'd much rather spend an evening bashing dough around then shell out money on a fancy machine that can't make as much bread, is less flexible (no, you can't make pizzas and loaves and bread rolls out of one batch with a breadmaker! ), and would mostly sit there doing nothing.

Really have never seen the point in one tbh. There are all sorts of different hand-make bread receipes, some of which don't even need any kneeding, and hand-made bread is much more versatile in forms / styles.

So, hand-made bread all the way for me

oh, and a quick aside to pp05 - have you seen the price of bread recently? It is much cheaper to make your own. If bread-makers are making you think that making bread is expensive, then that's another black mark against them from my POV...

[Steve A]

I dont have a breadmaker because i read to many review stating there poorness in general so i didnt bother plus I make bread in my food processor and knead by hand at the end, i have made some pretty nice Loafs so far ...

Mind you my FP was around £150 so it wasnt what i would call cheap.

[mycarsavw]

Bought one for the wife for Christmas (ages ago) and she's never used it.

I, however, have made a few loaves a month - usually when the shop-bought supply runs out.

The first few batches were a bit hit and miss but once I got the gist of which ingredient did what to the bread and adjusted the quantities to suit, I don't think I've had a bad loaf.

I think it's a Panasonic...whichever one was highly commended by Which? at the time.

[oolon]

I am with scaryjim I enjoy the process of making the bread and now after only a few fails can turn out rolls as well as good as ones from the supermarket. I have yet to master making a good brown roll, as its hard to get a nice crumb and rise. Starting to adventure into adding additional things to mix. Bread really is as simple as flour, water, salt, yeast (unless you want soda bread).

As to cost one bag of floor 1 pound 1.5kg, .5 kg makes 8 rolls, 3 rolls in sainsburys 1 pound. I can make them while I am cooking my dinner, so the time is free as well.

[Rob_B]

We’ve got one, makes some loaves nice but only the ones that should be a bit heavier than normal. Even with gluten added the loaves are far too dense for my liking, to be fair it’s probably our fault for not doing it right as we do tend to just throw the ingredients in!

We’re getting rid of ours if you want one Saracen, just pick it up from Edinburgh & it’s yours!

[santa claus]

Wish I knew how to make bread. Oolon you sound like the BreadMaster. Respec'

[Dareos]

I used to want one, but I didnt have that much dough




I apologise unreservedly for this comment

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The main advantage of making your bread is reducing the amount of salt and additives bread in shops usually has! One of them is calcium propionate.

[Marenghi]

usually make a pizza dough once a week. it's enjoyable since you can tell the dough is fresh rather than something that's been frozen (unsurprisingly!) but as mentioned above, the dough can be very heavy. haven't really tried any other recipes for pizza dough other than the one supplied with the machine but i'm not sure whether there would be that much difference in using a recipe intended for another machine?

i really enjoy the bread that comes out of there when it's hot, not so enjoyable once it's cooled down, think you can taste the heaviness when it's cooled. still it's different from anything else that you can buy unless you know a really obscure farm type shop

[peterb]

I have a Breville breadmaker and it makes better bread than I can by hand! (I don't have the patience kneading it.)

Some breads are more successful than others, but general breads were fine, and Pizza dough was good, but you don't get the really tasty crusts that you get off oven baked bread.

I found that the bread didn't keep so well, and although it wasn't too much of a faff making it, I founfd that it is just as convenient to get ready made bread and keep it in the freezer until I need it.