Dh has announced he wants to buy a breadmaker

[Mrsrobertduvall]

Now I'm all for encouraging him in the kitchen.

I know nothing about them...but know lots of you have them.
Which one do you recommend.....worth the effort?
I rarely eat bread but everyone else does.

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MNHQ

Haha, I do the same as tunip but didn't want to be the first to say so in case I was being a total slattern.

dollydiamond the brioche recipe in the book that came with the Panasonic works well for us.

Twinkly.

Visitors make the mistake of trying to wash the doughy breadpan. They put it in to soak and think they are being helpful. Not good.

Thank you Twinkly will have a look.

Aye.
We use the no wash till the paddle barely moves around approach too. I find putting some water in after taking the dough out thena quick brush with the washing up brush sorts it fine.

I just couldn't understand the comments above about not wanting to clean the pan - suggesting that this was a biggy. SOme people are so00000 resistant to change/new things.....

Another Panasonic fan and I agree with Notmadeofrib the Chelsea buns are incredible!

Yup Panasonic here too. I've only had it a few weeks but I can't believe how good it is. I am working through the recipes one at a time as a mat leave project and I practically have to sit on my hands to stop myself making more loaves. It's cheap, it's easy, it's much much better for you than shop bought... I love it. Haven't tried the jam or cakes yet though. (Wondering who has based on the posters above). I am thinking about relegating my toaster to a cupboard now as the bread is too good to toast!

Btw for all you make it by hand types, I read that the King Arthur flour company in the US use breadmakers to make the dough, handshape the loaves and then bake in an oven to test their flours, apparently this is the optimum technique. Haven't tried this either but definitely will (and big thanks to the poster for the naan recipe above, will be trying that too!)

I've never been convinced that kneading by hand gets better results. Baking in a normal oven rather than the bread machine does, though.

tigerlily - that interesting what you said about the King Arthur flour company. I do exactly that and it works really well. In fact I think my loaves are as good as you would buy in an expensive bakery if I use the breadmaker to do the initial kneadkneading but the rest by hand and bake in an oven.

I definitley think the kneading cycle on my breadmaker is better than doing it by hand in the initial rise. It keeps the dough at optimum temp and the paddle produces really well kneaded dough with no hassel.

Same here Beta.
As long as you have an oven that gets decently hot you can do very impressive bread with a minimum of effort by kneading in the machine and shaping by hand.

Will try that next as part of my ongoing breadmaker experiment! Oh my maternity leave is flying by but I will never get into my work suits!

I have a Rangemaster oven (gas) which I do not like at all for baking.

I think electric is a lot better for baking cakes, pastry, bread.

Why did you tell me that turnip and twinkly? No washing at all...... Oh man. I can so not afford one right now

I got a cheapie one second hand. I usually use the dough cycle and then bake the bread in the oven. You can make all sorts of things with a breadmaker like pizza dough, sweet bread, pasta, cakes even jam or marmalade.

Am going to make hot cross buns today.

Agree with mikey9 use quality flour and Doves yeast.

Just looked at amazon - Panasonic one is pricey, £135?? We only but one loaf a week so would take about 2 years to pay back!

If anyone is interested then kenwood maker is reduced from £139 to £91 on amazon

Try and find one second-hand (Ebay?). They're one of those things that most people either use all the time, or never, so there are usually quite a few hardly used ones knocking about.

IMO, if you are likely to be just doing the dough in the machine and baking in the oven, you could probably get away with a cheaper one, but if you're going to regularly use it for the whole process it's worth splashing out for the Panasonic.
I used to have a Morphy Richards which was a decent and useful gadget but the Panasonic is still streets ahead.

I find breadmaker cooking dries the loaf out albeit splendid for actually making the dough.

The drying out of the loaf happens because the heating element in a breadmaker only heats the pan relatively slowly.

Putting a loaf in a proper oven in intense heat causes 'oven spring' where the CO2 bubbles from the yeast expand rapidly and then the heat forms a crust very quickly so moisture is trapped in the loaf without needing it to cook long.

I can bake a 2lb boule loaf in 15 minutes in my oven yet a breaadmaker with a 1 lb loaf takes much longer once it reaches the final cooking cycle.

If I do boy standard white bread dough in the Panasonic, how long would I bake it in the oven? I've never tried that. Or maybe rolls...

Bog standard ffs

About 20 mins in a loaf tin.

Put in very top of oven on highest heat for 10 mins then move it down to the middle shelf for 10 mins. Dust with flour to stop it burning.

For a flat or round loaf hand shaped loaf on a baking tray just bake for a bit less time - say about 15 minutes in total.

The loaf should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom if it is properly baked. You need to experiment a bit with your oven though.

Great thanks. Have never done bread in the oven, I was quite likely to put it in and wander off for 40 minutes [blusb]

Depends on the oven really, they vary so much, but I stick a loaf in for 20mins at 220C and then come back to have a look at it. Rolls take 10-15mins. I flour the top to stop it forming a thick crust. Don't get disheartened if it's a bit crap first time - baking in the oven is worth getting right.

Only had my Panasonic for a fortnight but it's ace! Lovely fresh loaves, pizza dough is comparable to Zizzi/Pizza Express quality. Have also tried red berry compote (would change raspberries for something else next time, didn't like the pips) was great with porridge and Greek yoghurt. Also did apple compote, lovely for apple crumble. Favourite so far is the fruit tea loaf, easy to do and tastes lush. Going to make croissants and strawberry jam this week. So much more than a 'bead maker', and so quick and easy too. Highly recommend!

Panasonic.

Panasonic!

I have a cinnamon & sultana loaf in it as we speak. It will be ready when the children are in bed and gone shortly after even though that quantity of wheat will make me look pregnant