Bread maker

[Ole]

Considering getting a bread maker. Any good? Fed up with tasteless supermarket bread.

[cazbee]

The panasonic ones are very good. But you do get sick of eating lots of bread!

[mika1336]

Panasonic all the way,got mine after friend of mine recomended it:))

[GinaG3]

I too recommend the panasonic one. I dont even have it yet!! I've done extensive research, and missed twice last year getting it on offer for ?59, most annoying thing ever. Watch out for it, it does come on offer a few times a year. Tesco, John Lewis and Currys had it on offer under ?60 last year and Panasonic also offered ?60 cashback on purchase directly from them making it ?60. Well worth it at that price. Im holding out..

[tomo]

Panasonic is the one to get. We got given ours a few years back and use it everyday. Like that we know exactly what goes it our bread and we can reduce the amount of salt to suit my toddler's needs.

You can set it so you put all the ingredients in in the evening and the next morning you have freshly baked bread! Marvellous!

Edited for phone typo

[sallyfran]

Yup, Panasonic. They are also great for experimenting - my favourite to date is fig and walnut bread - and make good dough for pizzas, chelsea buns etc. I can't now imagine being without one, we make 95% of the bread we eat.

[Convex]

Definitely worth the money.

Get one which adds the raisins for you.

[Curly]

We used our Panasonic one (recommended) for a year but my other half got fed up of getting up early to take it out. You have to take it out straight away when it has finished otherwise it goes hard and chewy. Then you have to give it an hour to cool down otherwise it is impossible to cut.

They need to design it so the bread is ejected at the end!

[tiddles]

hi there, panasonic 2501 without a doubt (got it online so pretty cheap compared to the shops) It makes fantastic bread, far better than the morhphy richards that I have been happily using for years. Also great pizza dough. I set mine to run overnight, finishing at about 5 in the morning so it has cooled down by 7pm. I have never had a problem with it going chewy if left in the tin.

I use olive oil instead of butter in my bread and it is fine. Two tablespoons replace 25g of butter.

lastly, lidl sells bread flour (strong white) at 68p a bag.

best of luck

[Carbonara]

Curly - why don't you set the timer so that it doesn't finish cooking until you know you will be ready to get up?

Ours is always ready to but by the time we have had a cup of coffee and got dressed.

[Pickle]

Interesting that you all love your breadmakers so much... I had one for a couple of years and ended up getting rid of it, as found it a bit of a faff to get it ready in the evening and these days we don't end a huge amount of bread so found we were wasting quite a lot (with shop bought bread I put odds and ends in the freezer to use for toast later, but found home made didn't freeze well).

These days the kids each have a piece of toast in the morning, and occasionally a sandwich in the weekend, but that's the extent of our bread intake!

[AarenAce]

Very useful comments fromm all. Panasonic ones are very good.

[HOMum]

I am seriously thinking about purchasing a bread maker now!

[Convex]

Pickle, I have to say it took me ages to stop missing shop bought bread. But it doesn't taste nice to me now (unless its the posh stuff)

I am also just starting to make my own without the bread maker - early days but even nicer than bread maker bread, we will still use the bread maker for everyday bread though.

[AarenAce]

The reason it is called a tiger loaf is because of the paste that is smothered on top of the bread. The paste is made from rice flour . the unique flavour come from sesame oil

So I suggest you make the following bread in the machine:

500g strong white bread flour

2 tsp salt

2 tsp of yeast (or 1 sachet of fast-action yeast)

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp sugar

300ml warm water ( 1/3 freshly boiled, 2/3 cold water)

and make it a simple white but a small one, so its slightly under baked

in the mean time make the paste:

1 1/2 tsp yeast

65ml warm water (you may need more)

1 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp sesame oil

60g rice flour

at least half an hour before you use it

once the bread is finished spread the paste on the bread and put it in the oven and finish there.

Even better, make the whole thing in the oven, just use your dough mix settings and let it rise in the bread maker, take the dough out and spread the paste on it, let it rise for a few minutes more then bake it in the oven.

I just love tiger chest bread...

[jollymummy]

Which model GinaG3, the 2501 mentioned by tiddles?

[treehugger]

Panasonic- home bread much healthier than shop bought. You can reduce the salt and sugar content.

[vez]

90 quid for the 2500 at currys at the mo. quite fancy one myself! http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/panasonic-sd-2500wxc-breadmaker-white-09848022-pdt.html

[Fuschia]

I make cakes in mine

[Curly]

Carbonara Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Curly - why don't you set the timer so that it

> doesn't finish cooking until you know you will be

> ready to get up?

> Ours is always ready to but by the time we have

> had a cup of coffee and got dressed.

Thanks but it's a devil to cut if it hasn't cooled down enough. I do want to start using it again though, at least I know what's gone into it - no horse meat, etc!

[sonyadante]

Encourage baking at home. Waking up to the smell of bread (or experiencing it any time!) is fantastic and biting into freshly made bread - especially when you know exactly what went into it - is a pleasure and an ancient tradition. Saving money is the jam on the butter on the bread.

All the best