Bread making machines

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussion' started by Sheal, Aug 19, 2012.

  1. CanadianLori

    CanadianLori Total Gardener

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    Nope. No need to open. Just throw it on top of the other ingredients.

    The reason they have fruit dispensers is because it adds the fruit late in the kneading cycle so that the fruit doesn't macerated. The raisins stay whole, etc.

    Two of my machines packed it in after 5 years of heavy use but I still have three left. Just need to run them twice on a Sunday morning. Dough cycle only. Like to shape my buns and use various size and shaped pans to bake.

    Too much fun. You'll get hooked. I go through 10 kilos of flour every month. And none of my family, friends, neighbours etc have to worry about going without bread on a Sunday.
     
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    • Linz

      Linz Total Gardener

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      Wow that's lovely of you, wish I was your neighbour Lori I wouldn't need to buy a bread maker then! ;)
      Sorry for the questions but.. So your not adding yeast every so often it's all in one go? Do you always bake in the oven and never the machine? If so, how come? And I'm assuming you are cooking for the week ahead using that much flour? Can you even freeze fresh baked bread?

      3 machines on the go :yikes: ..twice..:thud: haha must be fun!!
       
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      • CanadianLori

        CanadianLori Total Gardener

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        Just toss the lot in.

        No, I use one machine a couple of evenings too. Never freeze. What's the point of baking fresh if we then put it in the freezer? :)

        We go to the pub for an hour and a half on a Sunday afternoon and there are plenty of our bachelor friends who really appreciate a home baked loaf. Course, it goes in turns. Can't afford the time to bake and give a loaf to everyone!

        Only been baking bread about 10 years now so not as experienced as some others here. :)
         
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        • Linz

          Linz Total Gardener

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          I was thinking that..but I also thought you made a load, froze it and then toasted through the week. Btw I never freeze bread it's bloody awful!

          Thank you, I think I must have a dabble :)
           
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          • IceColdRum

            IceColdRum Cacti & Herb Mad

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            I have a second hand Morphy Richards which I bought a few weeks ago for just over £10 and it makes beautiful bread, my only suggestion is to just ignore the horrible bread recipes which are in the manual, half of them have mistakes in the ingredients (no water in one of them...) and some of the amounts just don't work

            Mine doesn't have a fruit/nut/seed dispenser but it does beep at me once it's completed the first knead and rest period so that I can then add any extra fillings required by the recipe.

            I'd also suggest having a look in your local classifieds as I've often seen them listed for less than £20, a charity shop down the road even had an old Panasonic for £6 but it looked like the previous owners had used it every day for a decade and never so much as run a rag over it *yuck*

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              Last edited: Jun 5, 2016
            • Linz

              Linz Total Gardener

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              Thanks for the heads up with recipies in the manual. I'd probably Google them anyways :blue thumb:

              Found a Panasonic one for 15 quid a few miles from me on gumtree.. have given the seller about 50 questions already lol
               
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              • "M"

                "M" Total Gardener

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                @Linz one thing to note about adding yeast: with some machines you add all the dry ingredients first and then the fluid on top (close lid, select programme ... walk away); with others you add the fluid first, then the dry ingredients on top (close lid, etc.,). Now, some people can get quite hung up over the water temperature (that is an issue with hand baking and fresh yeast - not so with the bread machine) and yet others get anal about the dried yeast touching the salt ( :doh: ) prior to the baking but that just ignores the fact that it is all going to get mixed together (ergo "touch" ) once the machine gets going.

                I would suggest that, once you acquire a machine, if it comes without an instruction book, Google for the manual for that particular make and model ;) While I agree with @IceColdRum that *some* recipes may well turn out less than desirable, you won't know whether they work or not unless you have tried them first. Also, you won't know what needs tweaking, or how, unless you have a starting point of reference. In the same way all cooker ovens can have slight variations, so too can bread machines. For example, with my first machine, where it was situated in the kitchen sometimes made a difference to how a loaf would turn out. In the winter, no issue; come the summer (window open next to it) it could be temperamental. So, external temperature made a difference. Doesn't appear to be an issue with the one I have now though.

                I can highly recommend this book as a starting point of reference for using a bread machine:
                Fresh Bread in the Morning by Annette Yates

                The link takes you to the Amazon "Look Inside" page, so do have a little peak because there is enough of the blurb at the beginning to kick start you off, including what to look for in a BM. Cleverly you can't see the recipes, but, all of the ones from the book I have tried have been faultless and are not brand specific :dbgrtmb: It does show the index, so you would have an idea of the recipes inside the book. Not only did I use it with my first machine, but, I used it to compare recipes with my new machines handbook and I have reverted back to using her recipes (but *not* the cherry and marzipan cake ... that one is a keeper :heehee: )

                However, if you prefer to Google recipes, do be aware that some recipes will use their standard measurement and that may not be the same as UK measurements (e.g a UK cup measurement is different from a US cup measurement). So, something to bear in mind if you are going to experiment using internet recipes :)

                I'm getting really excited for you!!!! :loll:
                 
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                • Sian in Belgium

                  Sian in Belgium Total Gardener

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                  Interesting discussion about yeast....

                  For a few years I have struggled with fresh yeast. Sometimes it was fantastic, sometimes not so good (buying from the same place, where it was kept in a chilled room, and had a high turnover). I have switched to using dried yeast, and will never go back!

                  Where to put the yeast/cold v warm liquid?

                  I use half milk, half water. The milk comes from the fridge, the water is off-the-boil water (make a cuppa, prepare bread ingredients for machine, drink cuppa!). I then add my 5g of yeast, then the flour, so a layer of flour over the yeast (of course, warm liquid = yeast already working!) then the salt, butter/oil, sugar...
                   
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                  • Freddy

                    Freddy Miserable git, well known for it

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                    Here's one I did last night...

                    image.jpeg

                    Parmesan Cheese and Sundried Tomato bead mix. I'll be using it to make garlic bread when my daughter and grandchildren come round later :)
                     
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                    • miraflores

                      miraflores Total Gardener

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                      you lazy
                       
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                      • Redwing

                        Redwing Wild Gardener

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                        I like this one too. It's really good with Minestrone soup for dinner in winter.
                         
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                        • Linz

                          Linz Total Gardener

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                          I can tell haha! Yes really good point about cups/oz and American recipies. Few years ago I made the massive mistake of using "(tea) cups" of sugar/flour/butter for a sweet pie :doh: it was awful to say the least.

                          And the tip about it cooking slightly different if it was next to a window.. my actifry is the same, depends on outside temp for how long it takes to cook food! :rolleyespink:

                          Thank you for the link, had a quick nose..been pestered to watch a film at the mo so will save it for later :blue thumb:

                          Looks lovely @Freddy and the garlic bread would be a massive hit in our house too :smile:
                           
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                          • CanadianLori

                            CanadianLori Total Gardener

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                            [QUOTE="Linz, post: 1029190, member: 17409"
                            And the tip about it cooking slightly different if it was next to a window.. my actifry is the same, depends on outside temp for how long it takes to cook food!
                            [/QUOTE]

                            I use an actifry too but never noticed any difference in cooking times. I'll have to pay more attention next time. :)

                            We should all have standard measures. I know that metric is "the" standard but I really prefer imperial measures.. Give me teaspoons, tablespoons, ounces and cups any day!
                             
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                            • "M"

                              "M" Total Gardener

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                              Totally agree!
                               
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                              • IceColdRum

                                IceColdRum Cacti & Herb Mad

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                                I prefer measurements of weight because I can just stick the pan on the scales and use the tar function ;)

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