recpmend a bread maker?

ballinloughan

Hi

Wondering if anyone can recomend a good bread maker for brown and white bread.

Cheers

Alun

Without a doubt, the Panasonic SD-253. Not the cheapest, but a good solid machine that'll last. I've got one and it gets used at least twice a week .. a great investment.

sweet-rasmus

currys have some good priced ones at the moment. i picked one up for 30 euro; bellini i think. not sure about quality of various breadmakers (i've used two models) but i guess if you treat it right, it should last for you

Minder

Alun wrote:

Without a doubt, the Panasonic SD-253. Not the cheapest, but a good solid machine that'll last. I've got one and it gets used at least twice a week .. a great investment.

Does your bread maker allow the dough to prove for a long time ?

So if you put the flour, water, yeast & salt in before going to bed - does it mix and prove after you set it going, or does it mix and prove just before baking ?

Supercell

Alun wrote:

Without a doubt, the Panasonic SD-253. Not the cheapest, but a good solid machine that'll last. I've got one and it gets used at least twice a week .. a great investment.

I've one too, agree completely. Researched extensively on the internet before buying and it consistently got great reviews.
I've never made a bad loaf with it (its probably impossible to do so to be honest)

Regarding mixing and proving - you can choose a normal or rapid programme which takes only a couple of hours compared to about 5 hours for the normal programme.
You can also choose timed - which is a favourite here - just chuck in all the ingredients, set the timer and when you wake up you have a totally fresh loaf just finished waiting for you eat...believe me ..bread doesnt get any better than that

Noticed I havent directly answered your query- heres the times the various stages take on the normal bake for french bread from the recipe book that comes with it:-

Rest - 40 min - 1 hr 55min
Knead 10 -20 mins
Rise - 2hr 55 4hr 10min
Bake - 55 min
Total 6 hours

White loafs take about 4 hours , whole wheat take about 5 hours, depending on the recipe etc..its extremely easy to set - just choose the type of bread and then the size and fast or slow and it calculates the various times for the various stages of preparation.

Alun

Minder wrote:

Does your bread maker allow the dough to prove for a long time ?

So if you put the flour, water, yeast & salt in before going to bed - does it mix and prove after you set it going, or does it mix and prove just before baking ?

I've been on holiday, so apologies for not replying earlier

If you put it on the timer, it does absolutely nothing until such time as the timer kicks in. There are some recipes in the book where it says NOT to use the timer setting, usually for breads where there is some other solid ingredient in it. I assume this is because those ingredients would absorb water and go soggy or something.

Once the program starts, there's a rest period when it just sits there letting all the ingredients come up to temperature before it starts mixing. I'm not sure whether if you have it on the timer setting for more than that period it skips that or not. The fast bake option skips this stage, but the results aren't as good IMO.

In the grand scheme of things for most programs the actual kneading and baking process is but a small part of the total preparation time.

Not sure whether this answers your question or not.

Dummy

I have 2 breadmakers and they really are the best thing well .... since sliced bread !! Especially for us as our nearest shop is 12 miles away and we also give bread to our elderly neighbours.

I have a Kenwood one and the other is one that i got in Lidl. The reason I have 2 is they are in constant use every day, especially all over the weekend, from 5.30am.

At the time we got the Kenwood one, it was over €100, and then the Lidl one was €30 last year. But I have no preference of one over the other - they are both fine machines. I saw that Lidl have one for €20 at the moment.

We don't let the machine bake the bread - we make the dough in it and then bake in the oven as we like to shape the bread ourselves and find that it gives a nicer crust.#

It's also great for dough for pizza and pizza fritta at the weekends.

These machines are a great buy - enjoy your investment.