bread maker

Also have a Panasonic and swear by it - now in use for 10 years! However, we have not had any success with M & S Bread mixes - they taste ok but look like the proverbial brick. My favourite bread is apricot and walnut loaf - delicious...

I don't have a machine because I love to do the kneading. My hands are always hot, which is good for bread but bad for pastry. Today I received my purchased Paul Hollywood book to go with his current 'Bread' TV series. There are some delicious sounding ideas in there, including a malt loaf. I could live on bread!

well you can make a dough in the bread maker flowerofthewest and then do the kneading thing to your heart's content.

I use a Kenwood breadmaker and just love the malt loaf it produces. The instruction / Recipe book suggests dozens of different recipes and can make naan bread, doughs and jams too. Not that I ever use all the functions. I have had it for four years or so and have only made malt loaf or cheese and olive bread.
Well worth the investment if only to know you are getting fresh bread without many of the preserving chemicals in shelf life bread from the supermarket.

must get mine out again! If I can find it. Mind you the lovely Mr Hollywood gets his hands dirty!

yes galen they are very clever mine can pick pokets,thank you all for your advice my grocery bill has gone up this week with all the recipes i want to try ,i have'nt even watched game of thrones i recorded yet and thats unheard of

I'm on my third machine... all from Panasonic.

I just use Carr's strong white and wholemeal flours, Dove Farm yeast, sugar, salt, oil (or butter - oil is easier) and water. Usually a 50% wholemeal, 400g loaf, on a 'rapid setting' - bakes in three hours. Time was when you needed to add Vitamin C and dried milk - not any more.

To begin with I was seduced by the smell wafting up the stairs in the morning when I used the timer overnight, but now I like to let the loaf stand for about twelve hours before cutting.

I have used the dough program for rolls, but I no longer have a functioning oven which puts the kybosh on that.

They're lovely dogs aren't they

yes galen i do have 2 small curly haired intelligent dogs who rule the roost

Bread mixes also have salt and sometimes milk powder in them. Some have an assortment of seeds.

Francine is French bread mix they do a pain de campagne and a pain rustique.
They are made in France with French flower etc.
They're very nice indeed.

Don't understand why bread mix when it is only flour and yeast? Unless there is added seeds or something?

I love the Francine bread mixes. I get them from waitrose.

Bichon just as a matter of curiosity, do you have small curly haired intelligent dogs?

There are a few books on Amazon, bichon. Here is a link to one, others are cheaper.
www.amazon.co.uk/The-Breadmaker-Bible-Karen-Saunders/dp/0091889251/ref=pd_sim_b_1

If you are going to use a bread mix, make sure it is okay for the size of your bread maker. They do vary.

dough setting is what you are looking for.
Non quick yeast works but only if you get it going first (water, sugar, warmth - wonderful to watch it go from apparently dead to very active in a few minutes)

If you decide to use it, you have to be organised and keep stuff needed in stock. Make a new just before you need a new loaf.

Be careful you get the right yeast for a bread maker.....vip or loaf will be flat.

Half brown and white makes a good loaf but need slightly more water. Small loaf is much easier to wield [400 gms].

I've got one but go for a while without using it and then I have another spurt of using it most days. The bread is certainly very tasty and I've learned to cut it thinly . I've not tried just making the dough and making rolls; that sounds a great idea - especially as the GC are around this Easter.

bichonmad There are loads of recipe books for breadmaking machines available from bookshops, supermarkets and large Marks and Spencers stores. I even wrote one myself but shall refrain from advertising on Gransnet. [modest downcast eyes emoticon] You can make all sorts of doughs in the machine and bake quite a lot in them too. The quality is pretty good but you do forego the pleasure of bashing the dough around by hand and getting rid of all your frustrations.

I have a bread maker too! As bread for toast (apart from horrible prepacked stuff) is impossible to get here I use it mostly for bread for toasting,usually half white half brown flour. I also use it for dough for pizza or recently for hot cross buns. My DD has one too and uses hers nearly every day. They keep chickens so she often makes a rich sweet bread similar to brioche! Good luck with it. It can't be difficult if I can use one!!

I use it all the time for all the above and it is brilliant. Readymixes work out at about £1.20 for a huge loaf - I occasionally use these. I get them from a very wellknown company that is based in the Lake District (!) - if you buy several, the postage is free.

i didnt realise i could use it to just knead, i must read the manual again i cant remember seeing that ,i wonder does anyone know if there are recipe books for these machines,i am a bit of a duffer when it comes to thinking up new ideas

The packet mixes are good too but a bit expensive. I but a GF that is better than anything I've made myself or bought.

Makes good naans and pitta bread as well