Is a breadmaker worth the money?

[CoconutSty]

Just that really. Have no time to make my own by hand, but I'm so fed up of shop-bought in the plastic. Does anyone have a breadmaker they really rate??

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Will you actually use it? I bought mine during the pandemic when there was a bread shortage, now I use it about once a month to make pizza dough and I just buy loaves of bread

I use mine 4/5 times per week.

The key is remembered in time before you need the bread so I have an Alexa reminder every morning to check.

Yes, highly recommended. Wouldn't be without my Panasonic. Make a fresh loaf (50/50 white and wholemeal flour) every two days, costs about £1.50 for a large loaf. Much better than a shop bought loaf which is full of crap. House smells amazing too.

I also bought one in the Pandemic and rarely use it, it was only £60, a Russell Hobbs one, it is reasonably small and did make fairly good bread though. I must use it more. The best ones are the Panasonic I think but they were a lot more expensive and out of stock when I bought mine, I probably wouldn't have used it anymore though and they are bigger to store.

I did use mine a lot during Covid just not now.

Yes! Panasonic. One of my favourite ever purchases.

Yes. We got ours years ago when now DD was 2 and we realised how much bread she was eating and have never looked back. The Panasonic sd500 I think it is is used 4/5 times a week in our house. You can set a delayed timer on it so it cooks early in the morning and you wake up to lovely smelling bread. I worked it out before the cost of living increases it was costing me 50p a loaf. The loafs are smaller hence we are baking 4/5 times a week but we won't go back

I've been thinking about buying a bread maker, since I read 'Ultra Processed People ' and realized how many additives go into shop bread.
I'm looking for one that does a good job and doesn't cost £££. The Panasonic ones have good reviews but are expensive.

We use ours a few times a week still. We use it to make the dough for naans/pizza bases/bread and then cook separately . It’s great to do the mixing/raising stage even if you don’t use it for all the cooking parts

Another with a Panasonic. Use it 3/4 times a week. But we warned, you really will go off shop bought bread! Put ours on over night usually so wake up at 7am to fresh bread.

Along with our ninja air fryer it's the most used electrical item.

However you do get what you pay for buy the best you can afford, cheap ones are crap!

We have a Panasonic one - love it! I wasn't sure either, but there was one at our local BHF electrical/home shop so I got it to try it and we haven't looked back. Probably a lot lurking in people's cupboards unused, maybe you'll be able to get one from a charity shop like we did 🤞

I have a small one from Lakeland. Another lockdown purchase . It’s great. There are only 2 of us and 1 wholemeal/ country grain loaf lasts about 3 days. A Parmesan tomato one lasts about 24 hours.
I can add nuts/ seeds/ dried fruit as I fancy.
It makes a decent pizza dough and dinner rolls too.
It helps to pause it before baking to remove the paddle, then you don’t get an annoying hole.

I love mine. It's the Panasonic one with the seed dispenser. Used at least twice a week for the last 10 and a half years. Best kitchen item I've ever bought.

I mainly make spelt loaves, but also white, wholemeal, gluten free*, seeded loaves, rye bread, fruit breads, cakes and even rhubarb and ginger compote in rhubarb season.

(* Not for celiacs, obviously, due to potential gluten contamination from previously baked breads)

I have a Panasonic and I use it at least 3 times a week. Rarely buy bread.

Another happy Panasonic owner here - they're great machines and the consistent quality makes them a better investment because you're more likely to use them. We've not bought shop bread or pizza dough or naan bread for years - does need a bit of a routine but it's healthy, tasty and the smell of fresh bread in the morning is just amazing.

We're on our 3rd bread machine now. Takes less than 5 minutes to make a loaf. It's lovely to wake up to fresh hot bread.

Ok, I think I'm pretty much sold on this! Thanks everyone. The price of those Panasonics though 😲 But sounds like you all think you get good value out of it?

I have this Panasonic one and love it www.currys.co.uk/products/panasonic-sdr2530kxc-breadmaker-black-10222502.html

I use it a lot. The quick loaf recipe is pretty good when I've forgotten to set it the night before and need bread for lunch. I often make dough to bake in the oven when I have more time on a weekend. It's also brilliant for making other doughs like pizza, doughnuts, bagels etc

We have a morphy Richards & use it regularly. Can't beat waking to smell of fresh bread in morning ! Generally make own mix but do use premixed & all pretty decent. Much better than shop bought.

We also have a Panasonic and use it several times a week. Love it!

I have a Panasonic that I bought a dozen or so years ago. used it a lot initially then didn't for a while and would buy bread from the local baker rather than the supermarket.

I then started experimenting with making my own bread using fresh yeast from the baker (I portion it up, put it into little click-seal plastic bags like some dodgy drug dealer and bung the bagged portions in the freezer - it freezes beautifully).

I use the dough setting on the bread maker only now to do the initial mix and rise then I knock it back by hand and either make it into rolls to prove and then bake in the oven or put it in a loaf tin to prove and then bake in the oven.

It's brilliant and tastes so much better than supermarket bread which I now find far too sweet. My grand daughter always asks for a slice with butter on it when she comes over because "it's the best bread ever Granny".

We have the Morphy Richards FastBake and love it. We were given it as a Xmas gift, use it around 4x a week (2 person household). Bread is amazing and we don’t buy bread now. Definitely worth it. You can experiment with different flours and seeds too.

I bought my husband one years and years ago. Can’t remember the make but it’s from John Lewis.

It has been used constantly ever since. He makes pizza on sat nights and uses it to make the dough. He also loves bread so uses it for that all the time.

I make my own bread by hand - tbh it's a few minutes mixing the ingredients, 10 minutes kneading, an hour or so whilst it proves, maybe a couple of minutes knocking it down and then 30 minutes proving before baking.

The actual "active" time is maybe 20 minutes max. I get 1 loaf/ 10 rolls out of the recipe I use, works out at around 45p a batch (obviously plus gas/electricity costs for baking)

It's definitely worth it for us

It'll last you a decade though... Break down the cost into each loaf and it's not expensive really...

I just got the basic Panasonic where you have to add your own raisins/seeds whatever if you are doing a fancy loaf as I rarely do.