So I've bought myself a breadmaker.

[gentlegreen]

Does using a breadmaker work out cheaper? I might bring ours out of hibernation.

I very much doubt it. It's all about quality.

My 1kg seeded loaves aint cheap - usually it's a 65p Tesco wholemeal mix, plus at least as much again in seeds - plus replacement cost of machine, plus electricity.

 

[Chairman Meow]

Back in the cupboard in about a weeks time

I'm on my third one in about five years, in pretty much daily use.

 

[pogofish]

usually it's a 65p Tesco wholemeal mix,

I think you will find buying the constituent parts of the mix yourself will make a much better and cheaper loaf, so long as you are doing it regularly anyway.

 

[gentlegreen]

I think you will find buying the constituent parts of the mix yourself will make a much better and cheaper loaf, so long as you are doing it regularly anyway.

I'm incredibly lazy.

Though I was forced to actually use ingredients the other night.

The Tesco mixes can be a bit variable.
What I need to do is weigh up my own mixes and bottles of water.

 

[dilute micro]

yes get fresh flour. Anything older than 3 months is past its prime.

 

[Chz]

Once you master the basics, try keeping a sourdough starter. Ever since I created mine, 1/3 of a cup of starter added to *anything* makes it more consistent and tastier. And I only use rye for the starter - impossible to kill it, and adds more taste. 1/3 of a cup won't turn a previously light loaf into a brick.

And these days I use it more for mixing than baking. I find I can make nicer things if I pop the dough out and stick it in the oven. The crust I get out of the bread maker (Morphy Richards, not Panasonic sadly) isn't all that great.

 

[Biddlybee]

I found that for my crusts (when I did use it ). If I do get back into this properly, and I really should, I've got someone I can speak to about sourdough starters

 

[Biddlybee]

Do I need milk powder for bread? Got a vague memory

 

[gentlegreen]

Do I need milk powder for bread? Got a vague memory

I've never used it - in spite of its tending to be in the recipes that come with the machine.

water
flour
yeast
sugar
oil
salt

 

[Biddlybee]

ok, no stop at the shops for me

 

[dilute micro]

Do I need milk powder for bread? Got a vague memory

If you put milk in the dough it's good to use powdered otherwise use only scalded milk. Unscalded fresh milk has enzymes that break down the proteins in the dough.

 

[Biddlybee]

Did a loaf without milk, got the timer wrong so it was ready at 7 this morning rather than starting at 7 but it's really nice, soft and fluffy. Used 2 white : 1 spelt flour. Yum!

 

[gentlegreen]

It struck me last night as I was weighing in the ingredients that maybe I'm odd in the way I do it - I put the pan on my digital scales and weigh in everything - starting with the water - using the tare button in between.

 

[Biddlybee]

It saves you getting anything else dirty.

 

[gentlegreen]

It saves you getting anything else dirty.

And is a more scientific way of measuring water.

 

[gentlegreen]

Did a loaf without milk, got the timer wrong so it was ready at 7 this morning rather than starting at 7 but it's really nice, soft and fluffy. Used 2 white : 1 spelt flour. Yum!

Mine was ready at 07.30 - I'm an early riser. (the bread was a bit concave though. )

As I was manhandling the small dense 1kg seeded wholemeal loaf, I wondered what the average French person would make of it - not soft and fluffy at all - or "croustillant", come to that ..

I've just realised the instructions for my Panasonic state you should put in the dry ingredients first - whereas I'm using it the way the Morphy Richards did it (they had milk powder in their recipes so didn't want the milk to go off when using it in timer mode) ...

 

[Herbsman.]

Breadmaking machines make boring square bread with shite crusts, and are for mugs who prefer convenience over quality, but one benefit is that you can increase the water content of the dough without having to swear at the dough as it gets stuck to your hands and your work surface while you knead it. That is the most annoying part of hand-making bread. Try increasing the water content from 65%* to about 70 or even 75 and you will get a much lighter, aerated loaf.

*(by '65%' I don't actually mean 65% I mean a ratio of 100 flour to 65 water... i.e. 650g water per 1000g flour)

 

[gentlegreen]

At the moment I'm tending to add something like 75 percent water - but then I put something like 200 grammes of seeds in with my 500 grammes of flour.

I'll probably have a go at making bread by hand in retirement - quite often when you buy a place in France you get a bread oven thrown in

One thing that interests me is the ability to use lower quality flour - which presumably is what the French make their baguettes out of ...

 

[Herbsman.]

wtf? french baguettes are fucking badass! surely the flour quality is higher. in fact, undoubtedly it is higher! however it is softer than the bread flour that is generally available over here.

 

[dilute micro]

baguettes are supposed to be the pinnacle of bread baking. Original baguettes were sourdough, that's why. They're still hard to make properly even with regular yeast.

IIRC they need a medium gluten flour.

 

[gentlegreen]

IIRC they need a medium gluten flour.

yes - so presumably they can make it with homegrown flour so don't have to import wheat from Canada.

 

[Herbsman.]

sourdough is ace, its what i'm making my ciabattas out of right now - in fact, better check the oven!

 

[mango5]

Breadmaker arrived today: springy, lightly crusted half'n'half wholemeal/white nicely turned out and tasty. Picnics/Breakfasts now sorted for the rest of the year

 

[Herbsman.]

 

[Herbsman.]

so gentlegreen, when you said 'lower quality flour' did you actually mean 'flour with a lower protein content'?

 

[spanglechick]

bump - we got a breadmaker for a wedding present.

first loaf was standard white but flour and yeast were slightly old - still a yummy loaf, it just didn't rise fully.

second loaf (last night) i was going to chuck a load of parmesan into, but the cheese was mouldy. Instead i threw in a big dollop of minced garlic (from a jar). Not only is it garlic-a-licious, the extra oil (minced garlic is suspended in sunflower oil) has given the bread a yummy ciabatta-like texture. Plus, with new flour and yeast the thing has risen really well, so I have these big oblong slices of garlicy ciabatta. which is better than regular ciabatta because it's more sandwich / toasting friendly.

i love it!

thing is, I would never have made this bread without a breadmaker, because it would just be so messy, and we have such limited worktop space.

 

[LilMissHissyFit]

I never managed to make a 'light' wholemeal loaf(they were more brick) so just started mixing some of the Lidl Rustic wholemeal mix in with white(1/2 & 1/2). That works well.

I chuck seeds and nuts in mine most of the time. Herb/garlic bread, just add herbs and garlic to the mix.

I used mine to make cakes quite a lot a few yrs ago and found it was better to mix the mixture before putting it in to the maker coz the machine never mixed it right imo.

another vote for the lidls mixes they are yummy

 

[gentlegreen]

thing is, I would never have made this bread without a breadmaker, because it would just be so messy, and we have such limited worktop space.

I use mine in the hall for the same reason.

My loaves usually go straight from the machine to a recycled cereal box in my bicycle bag - timer set to a few minutes before I leave for work.