Breadmaker or kitchenaid?

[AbbyCat]

I ordered an andrew james bread maker and have had it 2 weeks. It's a bit disappointing because the loaves haven't been turning out perfect (top unbaked despite different settings). So I am going to return it. BUT i loved the convenience of chucking everything in.

Should I go for a panasonic bread maker? Or just get a kitchen aid and make bread in the oven? How difficult is it to do the latter? (I've never made bread except for these 2w with the bread maker). It's just me and toddler DS eating bread so I only want small quantities. But I do love seeded bread. (if those make a difference to what I should get)

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MNHQ

Kitchen Aids are £300-£400!! You have to make a lot of cakes to amortise that outlay. A Panasonic is more like £100-£150, browns the bread nicely all over, and at least you know you definitely will be eating bread

Have always been a fan of the Kenwood and recently replaced the old Chef with the new KMix model - not quite as pretty as the KA but still does the job.

For small amounts you can easily knock up the amounts by hand. But the machine just does more of the work for you - but a mixer can easily over work the mix.

Also have a bread maker and quite often use this to make the dough - just finished shaping a batch of rolls to go into the oven shortly!!

For bread quite often make the intial dough and then prove over night in a cool spot - it still rises, then in morning you can knock back, re-shape and place somewhere a bit warmer then bake and hey presto fresh bread for a Saturday or Sunday lunch treat!

Have also got the PH recipe book and working my way through the pages - many now have the sticky post it note on it - shows me what we've done and has a few srcribbles on any hints and tips.

Good luck - the homemade bread (even from a bread machine is so much better) - oh and our machine is an older Morphy Richards must have been less then £50 but still does the job. Picked up an almost identical model from Freecycle for DS - uses it (a bit ) when at Uni.

With the KA or KMix you could do loads of yummy other cakes and things. Have grinder attachment on the KMix and can do burgers / sausages and the like.

I got a KA last year and have used it every other day to make bread. I'd never made it before and we are all very happy with the results. Also made lots of cakes, batter mixes, egg whites etc

DH and I are low carbing at the moment so I only need bread for Dd. I've bought a couple of small loaf tins, so make the usual amount, split into 2 loaf tins and I freeze one of them.

Yes agree with Nigella about the proving. You don't need to find a warm place unless you want to quicken the process. You can leave overnight or just for a few hours. Some chefs think the longer it takes to raise the better the taste.

I prefer my breadmaker.

For example, when I have people coming to dinner, I'll put the stuff in the bread maker in the morning & set a timer so it is baked just before my guests arrive. I even set the timer so it bakes while I'm out or asleep.

it might only take 'minutes' to shape/knock back/bake by hand - but they're the same minutes that I would otherwise be defusing a last minute argument, or doing a panicked clean up - so they're super precious minutes.

I always prefer gadgets that are tolerant to me not being 100% on top of timing. So my bread never burns due to a tantrum.

I use a panasonic bread machine and it lives on the work top in the kitchen. When I make supper in the evening I will pop everything in the machine and set so I have bread at 6am the next morning, it takes me about 3 minutes to prepare and then I can forget about it.

i don't have a kitchen aid as they are very expensive and want to spend my money on other things - I have a hand held electric whisk for when I make cakes, I have to stand and hold the whisk and the bowl. They cost £20 from argo and the bread machine about £110

I use the bread machine 4-5 times a week and the whisk about 2 times a month when I make cakes, but not all my recipes need the whisk to be fair. I doubt I would stand and make bread 4-5 times a week with a KA

P.s. my Panasonic has been faultless on bake, easy to use, easy to clean.

Alright those lovely people at Andrew James have said it appears my read maker is faulty and are giving me a refund.

Thank you all so much for your opinions and advice so far. I am heading towards getting the kenwood kmix (also happens to be on offer at Costco at the moment) as its cheaper than a kitchenaid but seems to so the same. Before inactually head out and get one, can anyone advice how easy is it to make small quantities of bread with a food mixer?

I have a KA and my SIL has just bought a Kmix and she loves it. I just got the Costco leaflet through too :)

I would love a kitchenaid but I can't afford one, so I mix dough in my £25 breadmaker from Argos and bake it in the oven :o Perfect bread each time! It makes a tolerable loaf on the timer function as well, although not as good as when I finish it in the oven. Great for late night realisations that we're out of bread though, throw ingredients in, set timer, wake up to fresh bread for sandwiches at work.

You've inspired me to pop a loaf in the bread maker! I've just realised that we only have salted butter in, though (bloody Anchor!) . Will my bread be ruined?!

I have a fantastic breadmaker, it uses Flora not butter and the bread is unbelievably delicious. I'd love a KA but not instead of breadmaker which is one stop shop, no washing, just pop in ingredients (takes 5 mins), wipe flour residue off counter, and 3 hrs later a loaf is ready. Cannot recommend highly enough.

I also have a £5 supermarket own brand hand mixer for cakes which is 8yo and brilliant, I use it for batter in a regular bowl, for mixing icing/buttercream in a smaller bowl, and it's even handled the very heavy nuts/eggs/fruit mix in Christmas cake without complaining.

I don't really understand the advantages of a KA apart from that it looks really lovely on the worktop.

I don't use flora or butter, occasionally a little olive oil but usually none

Ivy so how does your bread have a springy/moist (not wet!) texture? I used olive oil once and the bread was more like ciabatta.

No my bread isn't moist..?

Oh

Mine has a supermarkety 'springy' texture when freshly baked, it is almost too springy to cut. It dries out enough to cut perfectly really thinly on day 2 and is a bit dry on day 3 if there's any left by then; the birds don't mind it.

sorry I am not wanting supermarket style bread with any type of spring texture, I like bread that is tight nit texture I guess with a firm exterior - something you can get your dentures into

I am not aware of the concept of three days old bread - there are 4 of, day one is fresh day 2 is toast, day three is looking at hungry birds....

Yup it is all of that but the Flora gives it the elasticity that for example a soft white supermarket loaf has, while retaining the density and flavour of home made with a nice crust. Honestly I heart my breadmaker, big time. I sometimes wonder if I could do it without the Flora, it would probably be healthier. Ahh your poor birds :)

I've always wanted to know how to make German style sourdough bread, the stuff with a really hard dark brown crust and airy ciabatta style centre that tastes sour? Is it rye flour? As there's clearly bready types on this thread, just thought I'd ask.

Its ok really - next door through out there elastic supermarket bread for the birds to eat so don't feel to sorry for them

Try the Easy bake bread recipe from the BBC Good food website Bringmeroses, the recipe shows a round loaf with a cross in the top, but I make mine in a tin loaf. It gives a great crust and moist ciabatta style centre. It does not taste sour, but it's awesome straight from the oven with butter and a bowl of Chilli or ragu