Is it me, or am I justified in being disappointed with my (expensive) breadmaker?

[pacinofan]

Bought the Panasonic all-singing, all-dancing breadmaker last year. Have used it a fair bit, and I have to say, I am really disappointed with the bread. It lasts a day, after that it is really stale even though we store it properly. It's also a complete faff to cut, and I have to confess it is sitting in the corner of our kitchen unused and unloved. I am now back to shop-bought bread and don't think I'll be returning to the joys of using the breadmaker!

Maybe I just wanted the Waitrose flour to be better Am ashamed to say that I have no idea what the price difference between the two was - just wanted to buy SOMETHING from the glass palace of delights.

I buy horrendously expensive bread flour & it is fab

I also lost 5 inches of my waist (no weight) in the 2 months after getting a bread maker

wow katymac

i have got a really old breadmaker off freecycle and WOW!

i do admit to buying bred mixes (waitrose) but what a joy..

i have not had any problems - the only tip i have found is sometimes i get them out and finish them off in the aga for extra crustiness!

REALLY?! i gained the same.

lol glasjam i actually had pointed it out to dh and said 'look, we can afford that'.

Katymac - I lost weight when I started making my own bread two years ago - I havn't put it back on either. I also stopped buying any jars of food this summer and making a conserted effort to make my own not shop brought - I lost another 5 ILB

Makes me wonder a lot about what oes in food and makes us fatter??

It is concerning - I lost a total of 54lbs without dieting in anyway

I simply changed what I ate & reduced all artficials

Have you kept it off easy for a prelonged period?

Nearly 7 years with about a 4lb variation for holidays & Christmas - I normally revert to 'normal' weight within 6 weeks

I don't diet at all - I still eat 'crap' like doughnuts/cream cakes occasionally but I make my own desserts more often

I can pig out on bacon/sausage etc whenever I like - on home made bread

that is really good - it just shows that diets and dropping a dress size - Dont work...

Normal weight is about 10 st 3lbs - not tiny - a good size 14, never a 12, occasionally a 16

But stable, healthy & requiring of no effort

Our breadmaker bread keeps fresh in a breadbin for a while.

Hey just made my first loaf with olive oil as opposed to butter - very nice too (and easier to measure out!)

Had & used weekly a Panasonic breadmaker -- Delightedly took it to Charity shop after 3-4 years. No regrets!

There are many things I don't love about shop bread, but in the end SO much nicer & easier to use shop-bread.

I WANT my bread to go stale, because I would like an excuse to make bread and butter pudding, or at the very least, to cover things in breadcrumbs and fry them. Never seem to get enough for the pudding though.

Kathy, collect it in a bag in the freezer if you are only getting the odd bit

glasjam - you measured it? I just put one glug in save on the wshing up a glug or two glugs is fine

i find the 'not having to run to th shops every five minutes for bread' FAB about the breadmaker

keep mix in cupboards and throw in

mix?

yes yes yes!

i have no idea where to start with the real stuff - wouldn't i have to buy fresh yeast?

breadmakers completely overrated imo.

I used one for years, then stopped using the bake cycle and used just the dough cycle and took out and put in a bread pan as it's the right shape then, then ditched it altogether and started making using my electric mixer with dough hooks - much better.

You lose half the bread in a breadmaker because of the hole in the bottom where the blade goes..

no you don't have to use fresh yeast, breadmakers always use dried yeast.

Off the top of my head, the panasonic recipe is

1st: 1 tsp dried yeast
2nd: 500 g flour

then 25g butter, 1 tbsp dried milk powder, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, and about 300ml of water. I think the idea is that the yeast goes on the bottom with the flour in between it and the water, and then it 'rests' for an hour or so.

If you have a mix, the dried yeast is mixed in, so it will start reacting with the water instantly, so you have to skip the resting stage.

And the resting is supposed to make better bread.

the resting only helps because it lets everything come up to the right temp, though. If you use lukewarm water it shouldn't matter so much.

Catinthehat - good idea.

wannabe - my bread maker broke, so before I purchased a new one I thought I would use the dough thing on my food processor, I was really dissapointed as it was not even edable and like a heavy brick.

I don't know how you all have the effort to either knead by hand or get it to work with the hook - hats of to you.

i use my panasonic for bread as I can stock up on flour for the month and use it when I knead it - boom boom.

Jesus, what mix do you use?

I have tried so many, but always come back to cheapo Lidl one. And if they are not lying on their packaging it's not too bad in terms of additives either.

And re hole in bottom of bread: if you are so inclinded are there not breadmakers where the paddle kind of disappears below the pan before baking?? £££, though, is that right? Does anybody have one like that?

Pacific Dogwood mine is great but not cheap

waitrose sell it but it is called Wrights

really lovely!