Want to buy a bread making machine. Any pointers in what to look for ?
Any brand best/best avoided?


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Maurice Hood wrote:
Want to buy a bread making machine. Any pointers in what to look for ?
Any brand best/best avoided?



We have a Panasonic, which seems good.
One tip we found, from asking friends/rellies with bread machines, was
if you want to use wholemeal flour, don't pick a machine with a poor
quality/weak motor

Lee
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Maurice Hood wrote:
Want to buy a bread making machine. Any pointers in what to look for ?
Any brand best/best avoided?

What for?
Of the 5 breadmakers I have tried, (two seperate models, two purchases,
3 warranty claims), all have made 50 (or so) loaves, "as new".
As time goes on, the non-stick wears off some bits, and slop gets
into the mechanism, meaning that at 100 loaves they are a bit hard
to get out of the pan, and need shaking, as well as cleaning the rotor
being annoying.

Somewhere between 100 and 200 loaves, they will suffer a catastrophic
failure, but before this, the seal at the bottom will leak enough that
you can't use timer mode, but have to start immediately.
Total failure is generally collapse of the main bearing on the pan,
though on one the main bearing on the breadmaker side went.

For 1-2 loaves a month, they'll last 'forever'.
For daily breadmaking, buying flour in sacks, not bags, they won't
stand up to it long.
These are the ones at the bottom end of the market, with the loaf baked
in a removable pan with a stirrer at the bottom.
I'm unconvinced that this style can be made to last long.

On the slightly higher up models, you can get spare pans, but it'd probably
be cheaper in most cases to simply find an entry-level model with a 3 year
guarantee.
3 years/55 quid = 15 quid/year.
Admittedly, if returning stuff multiple times isn't for you, you may want
to look further up the scale.
I'd prefer one that stirred the loaf from the top, as that way there is
no seal that has to take ground up bread and 200C, a combination which
isn't going to be cheap to get right.

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 18:05:50 +0000 (UTC), "Maurice Hood"
wrote:

Want to buy a bread making machine. Any pointers in what to look for ?
Any brand best/best avoided?

Mine is a Morphy Richards. 3 years old. No trouble at all.

They are a bit of a 9 day wonder, although you will really enjoy the 9
days. They all seem to have the same generic inside. I would get a
double one though, you will probably get a bit enthusiastic at first.

Fresh bread for breakfast is quite a pleasure. Enjoy

"Maurice Hood" wrote in message
news:3d6ce704f477bfeec7a8979b930f96de.126261@mygat e.mailgate.org...
Want to buy a bread making machine. Any pointers in what to look for ?
Any brand best/best avoided?


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We have been very satisfied with our Panasonic Mod. No. SD253
Regards
Pete
www.thecanalshop.com

I would avoid one with a window in the top. We had one and the bread seemed
to get ruined by condensation. Had a 20% success rate and received
conflicting advice from help line.

Took it back and exchanged it for a Panasonic (more cost) and have had a
100% success. (no glass window - they are un-necessary anyway).

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Regards

John


"Peter Stockdale" wrote in message
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"Maurice Hood" wrote in message
news:3d6ce704f477bfeec7a8979b930f96de.126261@mygat e.mailgate.org...
Want to buy a bread making machine. Any pointers in what to look for ?
Any brand best/best avoided?


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We have been very satisfied with our Panasonic Mod. No. SD253
Regards
Pete
www.thecanalshop.com




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In article ilgate.org,
"Maurice Hood" writes:
Want to buy a bread making machine. Any pointers in what to look for ?
Any brand best/best avoided?

There was an identical thread a year or two back.
Concensus was the Panasonic ones are excellent.
Mine has been baking around 2 loaves a week for 6 years now,
plus some dough making for other things, and extra loads
around Christmas. Still works as well as it did when brand new.

Many of the other makes were reported to have much short lives.

--
Andrew Gabriel

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 18:05:50 +0000 (UTC), "Maurice Hood"
wrote:

Want to buy a bread making machine.

Get the Panasonic.

Experiment a lot with flour brands.
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Smert' spamionam

In message
Andy Dingley wrote:

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 18:05:50 +0000 (UTC), "Maurice Hood"
wrote:

Want to buy a bread making machine.

Experiment a lot with flour brands.

Or more generally, treat the recipes as suggested starting points. Play
about with the quantities of ingredients until you get your ideal loaf,
and be prepared to repeat the process if you switch to different flour.

With my Panasonic machine I find the recipes have too much water, yeast
and sugar, and not enough salt. The dough rises too fast and you end up
with huge bubbles at the top, making it a bit drier helps keep the
bubbles where they form, and using less yeast and sugar and a bit
more salt (it acts as an inhibitor) gives a much more even finish.

Anthony

In article ,
Anthony Frost writes:

Or more generally, treat the recipes as suggested starting points. Play
about with the quantities of ingredients until you get your ideal loaf,
and be prepared to repeat the process if you switch to different flour.

With my Panasonic machine I find the recipes have too much water, yeast
and sugar, and not enough salt. The dough rises too fast and you end up
with huge bubbles at the top, making it a bit drier helps keep the
bubbles where they form, and using less yeast and sugar and a bit
more salt (it acts as an inhibitor) gives a much more even finish.

Exactly same experience here too.

Protein content of the flour makes quite a difference too -- it's
normally given on the packaging. As flour ages, there seems to be
some effect as though the protein content reduces (I don't know
if that is actually what happens or if something else changes in
the flour giving the same effect). IME, wholemeal bread flour needs
to be quite fresh, and can start producing poor loafs long before
its 'best before' date, whereas white bread flour seems to be much
less susceptable to aging and can still work fine well after its
'best before' date. As someone who tends to buy in bulk when
special offers are on to tide one over to the next time a special
offer is on, this is something I need to consider.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Andy Dingley wrote in message . ..
On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 18:05:50 +0000 (UTC), "Maurice Hood"
wrote:

Want to buy a bread making machine.

Get the Panasonic.

Experiment a lot with flour brands.

Agree about the Panasonic, warm the milk as well...

Andy Dingley of Codesmiths, UK wrote:

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 18:05:50 +0000 (UTC), "Maurice Hood"
wrote:

Want to buy a bread making machine.

Get the Panasonic.

Experiment a lot with flour brands.

It's worth looking a bit further than the supermarket. The flour I buy from
The Flour Bin in Chesterfield makes better bread; I think it has higher
gluten content. There's a good variety of flour styles too.
--
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it, and some folks have half a one for breakfast. Douglas Adams
Steph Peters delete invalid from lid
Tatting, lace & stitching page http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/index.htm

In message
Steph Peters wrote:

Our Panasonic is also fine after 2 and a half years making 3 loaves a week,
some wholemeal some not. The non stick inside of the pan is scratched, but
the bread still drops out so it's non stick enough to work.

That would be another handy tip, don't wash the pan unless you really
have to. Just wipe it clean afterwards and the non-stickiness lasts a
lot longer.

I'm glad we
chose the one with nut/seed dispenser in the top; I'm sure I'd be lazy and
not bother making the fancier loaves if I had to go and put the bits in by
hand part way through the process.

With my previous machine I just dumped everything in at the start. I've
tried it both ways with the Panasonic and there seems very little
difference between using the dispenser and dropping everything in.

Anthony

"Anthony Frost" wrote in message
...

Or more generally, treat the recipes as suggested starting points. Play
about with the quantities of ingredients until you get your ideal loaf,
and be prepared to repeat the process if you switch to different flour.

With my Panasonic machine I find the recipes have too much water, yeast
and sugar, and not enough salt. The dough rises too fast and you end up
with huge bubbles at the top, making it a bit drier helps keep the
bubbles where they form, and using less yeast and sugar and a bit
more salt (it acts as an inhibitor) gives a much more even finish.

That was the other reason I didn't like the breadmakers we had, the
instructions insisted that the recipes had to be followed stringently. They
produced bread which was far too sweet and rich (I don't use fat or sugar in
most of my bread) and far more yeast was asked for than is necessary.

I suppose if you like commercial bread the recipes are fine but we prefer a
robust bread with its own flavour, not that of additions.

We always uses organic flour, mostly wholemeal, yeast, salt and water.
Recipes do say that salt is a yeast inhibitor but you need an awful lot to
kill the yeast or even reduce its activity. Over more than forty years I've
tried - either deliberately or accidentally. Too much salt or no salt makes
the bread not good to eat, that's all.

The breadmake was no good at rye bread, in my experience, and we like that a
lot. We also enjoy oat additions and spelt bread.

Mary

Mary

Mary

Anthony

In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:

That was the other reason I didn't like the breadmakers we had, the
instructions insisted that the recipes had to be followed stringently. They

Well, I certainly don't. They are a starting point for a loaf that
will work, but I then adjust the parameters to get a loaf I like.

produced bread which was far too sweet and rich (I don't use fat or sugar in
most of my bread) and far more yeast was asked for than is necessary.

I suppose if you like commercial bread the recipes are fine but we prefer a
robust bread with its own flavour, not that of additions.

We always uses organic flour, mostly wholemeal, yeast, salt and water.
Recipes do say that salt is a yeast inhibitor but you need an awful lot to
kill the yeast or even reduce its activity. Over more than forty years I've
tried - either deliberately or accidentally. Too much salt or no salt makes
the bread not good to eat, that's all.

Yes -- I forgot the salt once, and the loaf was inedible, although
it looked fine. I wouldn't have thought salt could have made so
much difference.

The breadmake was no good at rye bread, in my experience, and we like that a
lot. We also enjoy oat additions and spelt bread.

Rye flour has a low protein content, so you have to make sure it
is mixed with a high protein content flour or you end up with a
small brick, and the organic flours sometimes don't have a high
protein content. However, I do make rye bread successfully in a
machine.

--
Andrew Gabriel

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...


The breadmake was no good at rye bread, in my experience, and we like
that a
lot. We also enjoy oat additions and spelt bread.

Rye flour has a low protein content, so you have to make sure it
is mixed with a high protein content flour or you end up with a
small brick,

Not if you have my long experience! The problem with rye is that it tends to
be sticky, not that it has low gluten. I haven't made a brick for decades
and it wasn't with rye.

and the organic flours sometimes don't have a high
protein content.

I've never had a problem with any organic flour. I occasionally even use
'soft' flours for bread. It works - if you know what you're doing.

Mary

(Andrew Gabriel) of home wrote:
Rye flour has a low protein content, so you have to make sure it
is mixed with a high protein content flour or you end up with a
small brick, and the organic flours sometimes don't have a high
protein content. However, I do make rye bread successfully in a
machine.

I've had mixed results with rye in my machine - sometimes it works,
sometimes I get something the shape and density of a housebrick. Makes
good savoury bread and butter pudding though. Can I have your recipe please
so I can have another try.
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