The Breadmaker Thread

Planet X

Empty the whole box of McDonnells yeast into a screwtop jam jar and keep it in the fridge.

Use the measuring spoon provided with the unit.
Simple as..........

JohnK

How long would it last in that condition?

Planet X

No idea.
We make bread everyday so it gets up used pretty quick.

JohnK

ah ok. I'd tend to do it in cycles where I'd make bread every day for a week or two then stop for a few months. Having the yeast in separate sachets is sort of handy in that I know it'll be fresh but at the same time its a bit of a pain in the arse dealing with the sachets.

brian ireland

Went a bit mad today using the bread maker for the first time. Made white bread, whole meal and a few rolls. All turned out 100%.
Thanks Dizzyblonde for the yeast advise.

CJhaughey

senelra wrote: »

Just a tip with yeast. I've been using Doves Farm yeast. It comes in a little orange foil pack and it lasts for ages. I just keep it in the fridge. The pack is €1.35 in Evergreen in Galway though I'm sure it's available in lots of health food shops. Works out way cheaper than the McDougalls stuff!

And far superior in my experience, much more reliable.

Sigma Force

Took our our Kenwood breadmaker which had been left new and unused for 2years after reading this thread, at first very daunting so many buttons and different settings.
Made the mistake of not checking the bottom of the tin thing and nearly set the place on fire (cardboard was still attached). So had to clean it and start again, made rosemary and garlic bread cheated and using the Tesco ready mix.

It tastes a bit burnt cardboardy but I'm sure after a few more goes that will go lol.

Had the most gorgeous bread in a resteraunt months ago think it was caraway seed used in it, have to double check so that will be the next test.

Aparently the machine can make jam as well..magic!

Looking forward to making more, and adding more wholemeal from scratch and hope eventually not to buy any more shop bought stuff. Question, can you generally freeze loaves after they've baked and cooled? If so do they thaw well?

dixiefly

Miss No Name wrote: »

Lidl are now selling a Bifinett breadmake now. only €40. I think I might invest. No more sticky fingers I always thought a bread machine was 'cheating' but now after reading this i'm really looking forward to using it. Any recommened websites with good recipes?

Did you purchase thr Bifnett, if so how do you find it?

Also, can anyone confirm that fresh yeast can be used in breadmakers?

Thanks

CJhaughey

dixiefly wrote: »

Did you purchase thr Bifnett, if so how do you find it?

Also, can anyone confirm that fresh yeast can be used in breadmakers?

Thanks

We have had the Bifinett for the last 3+yrs for 40 it can't be beat.
We use it every other day to make a 2.5lb loaf.
Fresh yeast can be used but make sure it goes on top of the flour not in the water, best to cut it into small pieces.
TBH for all the hassle you might as well use doves farm in the orange pack.
You don't have to worry about storing or mixing it, just open and pour.

Bidd

Thanks everybody for all the info and tips on breadmakers and breadmaking

I've ordered the Panasonic 255 for himself for Christmas and I want to make sure I have all the ingredients to hand because I can see him wanting to make bread on Christmas morning. This could be a bit of a problem with everything else going on but Turkey and Hang sandwiches on Christmas night with fresh homemade bread sounds yummy so I'm going to buy :

Digital Scales (we need a new one)
Odlums Strong White and Brown Flour (Coarse wholemeal?)
Dried Yeast - Dove Farm preferably but if not McDougalls. (anybody know where to buy Dove Farm yeast outside Galway?)
Raisins & Jan's Five Seed Mix (cause I know he will want to use the dispenser thingy )
Sugar & Salt
Is that all I need to get started?

Also, how long does the fresh yeast last?

TIA

B

biddywiddy

i find the Dove's farm yeast lasts ages in the fridge, by ages I mean months. The quality of the loaf seems to be the same whether it's the first spoon out of the pack or the last.

I can't remember if the Odlum's flour says 'coarse wholemeal' on it - it's the pack with the purple section on it, the strong white Odlums flour has orange on the pack.

Have some dried herbs around if you fancy a savoury loaf (I love putting a teaspoon of dried rosemary in and using the bread to make chicken sandwiches - could be good for the turkey leftovers!). I have started leaving the sugar out of the recipes - I haven't noticed much difference. You can get bran, wheatgerm etc but what you have listed above should be fine to get started. Decide what you want to get after you see the recipes. Oh and you'll need some butter/oil, but you'll probably have some around! I use Lidl organic sunflower oil mostly, and olive oil for pizza dough.

Alun

senelra wrote: »

I can't remember if the Odlum's flour says 'coarse wholemeal' on it - it's the pack with the purple section on it, the strong white Odlums flour has orange on the pack.

Mine (with the purple section on it) says just "Strong Wholemeal Flour". There's also a Coarse version, but there's no mention of it being strong on the pack.

I have started leaving the sugar out of the recipes - I haven't noticed much difference.

Yeast + sugar = CO2 bubbles = risen bread. There's not much point putting yeast in a bread if there's no sugar of some sort in there anywhere. Anyway what's the point, it's only a tablespoon or so per loaf .. you're not going to get fat on that!

Bidd

Thanks senelra and Alun for responding so quickly.

I will try to reduce some of the sugar, I was wondering about that because himself is diabetic. I know you need it to activate the yeast but the sugar in homemade bread is much less than in shop bought. So that's another plus

I have some rosemary bushes growing in the garden, I think we will probably try that with the turkey

Thanks again

biddywiddy

Alun wrote: »

Yeast + sugar = CO2 bubbles = risen bread. There's not much point putting yeast in a bread if there's no sugar of some sort in there anywhere. Anyway what's the point, it's only a tablespoon or so per loaf .. you're not going to get fat on that!

I figured that enzymes created by the yeast break down the starch molecules in the flour into sugars and that would be sufficient to 'feed' the yeast. Leaving the granulated sugar out of the recipe doesn't appear to have made alot of difference to the rising of the bread, but maybe I just haven't noticed! French bread recipes don't seem to include sugar in their ingredients. Is this wrong?

I don't think I'm going to get fat on a tbsp of sugar! We were out of sugar one day (and didn't really want to use brown) so just left it out to see what would happen!

Alun

Hmm, I hadn't noticed that, I thought all yeast breads had sugar in them .. yeast needs something to 'feed' off to grow and produce CO2 to make the bread rise. The French bread recipe in my book takes a lot longer than others (6hrs) which would be explained by the lack of sugar. Also French bread is a lot closer in texture than the normal white/wholemeal loaves, which might also be explained by the reduced action of the yeast in the absence of added sugar.

I wonder, does the sourdough technique use sugar at all, or is that the same kind of thing? I know it takes ages to rise, but is that down to the types of wild yeasts involved or also down to the lack of added sugar?

nice1franko

Bidd wrote: »

...
Is that all I need to get started?

Stretchy pants

itsnotmyname

Hey Guys,
I bought a SilverCrest breadmaker in Lidl today and trying it out with one of their bread mix's at the moment. I'd like to make the 5 seed bread mentioned earlier in the thread , and just wondering can you add the seeds at the beginning, as there is no dispenser with this model???

unkel

Yes you can add the seeds at the start no problem

itsnotmyname

gr8 ...thanks Unkle .....
BTW ....bread is on the cooling rack ......better head 2 bed before the REAL butter is outa the fridge

kylith

I've heard that one can bake bread in a slow cooker, but the only directions I can find are for gluten free bread. Has anyone ever tried it?

Dizzyblonde

kylith wrote: »

I've heard that one can bake bread in a slow cooker, but the only directions I can find are for gluten free bread. Has anyone ever tried it?

I haven't tried it, but I can't see that it would be anything like bread that's cooked in an oven because of the low temperature. Bread is usually cooked at a high temperature.

I used Tesco crusty white bread mix for the first time in my bread maker and it was really good considering it was only 80c.

nice1franko

^^^ +1 to that. I heard you can cook a chicken in dishwasher in a sealed bag but ... why would you want to!?!

brian ireland

itsnotmyname wrote: »

Hey Guys,
I bought a SilverCrest breadmaker in Lidl today and trying it out with one of their bread mix's at the moment. I'd like to make the 5 seed bread mentioned earlier in the thread , and just wondering can you add the seeds at the beginning, as there is no dispenser with this model???

You may like the ready mix in Lidl but I was not mad about it. If you do use it and you're not crazy about the result don't let it put you off. Making bread from scratch is beautiful. I Put in less water and then add tomato pure, dices onion, sun dried tomatoes and pizza ( dried herbs)seasoning. It beautiful.
Happy baking and experimenting.

itsnotmyname

brian ireland wrote: »

You may like the ready mix in Lidl but I was not mad about it. If you do use it and you're not crazy about the result don't let it put you off. Making bread from scratch is beautiful. I Put in less water and then add tomato pure, dices onion, sun dried tomatoes and pizza ( dried herbs)seasoning. It beautiful.
Happy baking and experimenting.

Thanks Brian
You were right about the lidl bread mix ....nice consistency ,shame about the taste though. After 3 failed attempts at various varieties of brown bread , I finally had success with a plain white loaf. The first of many I hope.....because I have too many kitchen gadgets gathering dust in the back of the press:rolleyes: !

The Sweeper

Guys I'm resurrecting this great-big-breadmaker thread because it's probably more sensible to keep this all on the one thread...

Anyway - I bought myself a Tefal breadmaker off the back of this thread. The Panasonic ones aren't available in Oz. I've had good success wtih the breadmaker. The paddle can leave a bit of a chunky hole in the bottom of the loaf, but otherwise the white loaf on setting one is good. The breadmaker is bloody noisy though.

I don't venture much into the other loaves in the recipe book, but the other day I tried a brioche.

Anyone who's never had brioche, it's a sweet, rich bread that's fantastic for breakfast or for snacks - great spread with some variety of chocolate spread, for instance, or with crispy bacon and syrup instead of pancakes.

The ingredients are basically a little milk, three beaten eggs, flour, salt and sugar and yeast, and you add softened butter about five minutes into the programme.

The upshot is that the flavour of the bread was great, but I don't think the breadmaker itself was able for the recipe. I had to push the ingredients down the sides of the tin a few times and the end loaf was unevenly risen to only 2/3 the height of the tin (and a 1kg loaf usually comes up to the edges), plus there was a coating of crispy edges around the finished loaf that I think was down to the paddle just not being able to mix the ingredients well enough.

Anyone tried other loaves successfully with their breadmakers?

huskerdu

I bought a book called "Fresh bread in the morning". It was only a fiver on amazon, its full of great recipes for a breadmaker.

Everything I have baked from it has been perfect.

Previously I was using the recipes that came with the breadmaker and I was dissappointed in all of them.

If there is any particular recipe you want, ask here and I'll post the recipe later, when I am home.

The Sweeper

Cool!

I'd love a brioche recipe, and a raisin bread recipe.

And any of your other favourites. :-p

sudzs

I want to get a breadmaker as a present for someone who is yeast-phobic!!! The are otherwise very adventurous and skilled in the cooking department but will not go near yeast!

She's also in her late 70's so nothing too technical as she even refuses to use the hole in the wall if she can help it.

I don't know the first thing about bread makers as I do it by hand if the urge takes me! So any recommendations for something she can just bung the ingredients into and press a few buttons and leave it to do it's thing?

Eviledna

There have been so so many threads on this subject in the past, and the overall concensus is:
The panasonic sd255 !!

It's about 90 euro, but it delivers the best results time after time, can even make fruit loaf or seeded breads at the touch of a button.
I have one, and I love it!

sudzs

Eviledna wrote: »

There have been so so many threads on this subject in the past, and the overall concensus is:
The panasonic sd255 !!

It's about 90 euro, but it delivers the best results time after time, can even make fruit loaf or seeded breads at the touch of a button.
I have one, and I love it!

Brilliant! Thanks!

I did a search before posting but the latest thread I came up with was from 2008

I'll check out that machine pronto!