Bread makers any good ??

[Over The Hill]

Had a morpy richards one that lasted ten minutes and broke on first use so went with the recommendations to get a Panasonic which we did (actually got it second hand - there are some about as lots of people get them and cant be bothered to use it).

Only downside is they do make a bit of a cube loaf with a paddle hole in the bottom if you bake it in situ.

Getting back to your low salt need. I guess you can control it more but you still need to bung some in. I dont think decent shop bread has too much salt in anyway as it would kill the yeast. Mass produced stuff may as it relies less on yeast (takes too long to work for factory process).
Home made pizza is great!

 

[numbnuts]

Morphy Richards Fastbake +1

 

[swee'pea99]

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/bread-maker/cookworks-breadmaker/reviews/

:thumbs up smiley:

 

[BearPear]

Another fan of the Panasonic. We got it for the gluten-free programme as our daughter is coeliac. It does great "regular" bread too.

 

[summerdays]

I have had a Panasonic breadmaker for over 10 years. It is very easy to use and I wouldn't be without it.

Another Panasonic user for over 10 years - so ours doesn't have that window that later models added. Again we mostly use ours for making dough - used it for lunch to make rolls to go with our lentil soup. Its brilliant because if you use the pizza dough setting you can have hot rolls in 90 mins approximately from getting out the scales.

 

[colly]

Great invention.

Have had a Panasonic for about 4 years and it is use constantly. Plain white bread, granary loaves, dough making for rolls etc and 'fancy' breads, pizza dough.

Would not be without one now.

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

O.k so I've made my mind up and have decided to get one. Are there any features I need to look out for ? a timer and ? do all models do the complete process ?

Many thanks all

 

[karen.488walker]

+ 1 panasonic. mainly use it for pizza dough, although the french rustic recipe is very good.

 

[CopperBrompton]

A timer that lets you set it the night before is the main feature to be sure of

 

[Campfire]

I've had a couple of breadmakers, both of which conked out. I have one given me by a neighbour but it has 2 paddles which is a pain.

My next one will definitely have a collapsible paddle, I think you can get them. I also prefer those pans which are longer rather than taller which produce a loaf which is easier to cut than the tall ones which give you fewer slices.

Definitely get one. I'm having a rest from them at the moment but I will buy another one in due course.

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

Referring back to the salt thing, I just looked at a loaf of Warburton’s medium slice 7% recommended salt intake per slice, some days but not all I'll have 10 slices (very physical job) that equates to 70% of my salt intake plus all the salt in the various fillings and spreads! What is the salt in bread for anyway? I even had a milk shake the other day which contained salt! My other half is a diabetic so we have never cooked with salt or added sugar to anything and as a general rule find any meals or puddings with either added taste yuk.

 

[summerdays]

I would have to go and look it up in one of my bread books but the salt does do something in the process. However I have certainly played around with the amount of salt and don't use as much as they say in the recipes.

Edit: OK got off my backside and looked it up: Salt strengthens the gluten helping it to rise, but too much will inhibit the yeast. And you shouldn't use salt substitutes as they don't contain the necessary sodium. According to my bread book.

So maybe you don't need it when using gluten free recipes.

 

[BearPear]

So maybe you don't need it when using gluten free recipes.

I have a gluten-free loaf in the Panasonic as I type and the recipe calls for a teaspoon of salt. I only add a couple of twists of the grinder rather than full tsp and there's never been a problem.

 

[colly]

Referring back to the salt thing, I just looked at a loaf of Warburton’s medium slice 7% recommended salt intake per slice, some days but not all I'll have 10 slices (very physical job) that equates to 70% of my salt intake plus all the salt in the various fillings and spreads! What is the salt in bread for anyway? I even had a milk shake the other day which contained salt! My other half is a diabetic so we have never cooked with salt or added sugar to anything and as a general rule find any meals or puddings with either added taste yuk.

I think the salt is there to slow down the speed at which the yeast rises. The sugar heps it along and the salt kind of regulates it. You can put in less salt but it will mean, I think, that the dough rises faster.

It adds to the flavour of the bread and improves texture too.

In a 1 lb loaf though I only add about a small tea spoon full which I'd guess is around a gram. Maybe a little less. Per slice that really isn't very much at all. Especially compared to off the shelf sliced bread which has masses of salt in.

 

[Debian]

Look for one that makes "normal" shaped loaves, you can tell these by the fact that they usually have two mixing paddles. OK, so you get two paddle holes in the loaf but at least you get normal size and shape slices. Single paddle ones give a tall thin loaf which is pretty rubbish really.

Having said that I have two single paddle ones and one twin paddle. A Morphy Richards basic one which cost about £20 ten years ago and is still going strong but the bearing in the mixing tin has gone a bit slack. A Tesco stainless steel thing which is single paddle and not very good really, the bread is OK but there's not enough space between the lid and the top of the pan, that I bought just after Christmas for £40. Too expensive but the bread is as good as any other single paddle machine I've ever used, including the Panasonic at over twice the price.

My latest one was picked up from Lidl for £25 a couple of months ago. It's a twin paddle machine and beats all the other machines I've tried hands down, it's an excellent bargain IMHO.

Panasonic breadmakers are expensive and do no more, or last no longer than any other machine. You just pay for the badge.

Check out your local Lidl / Aldi and see what they have. Failing that the Tesco one is as good as any other and if you don't like it it's easy to return.