[lurcher]

Dead simple and easy to clean , 2 mins max at most , best thing I have made up to now is the malted loaf , toasted its great.
Panasonic 255 is really a worthwhile buy, now trying different flour from a online supplier.

Julian

[fizl]

the 255 cleans up a piece of cake. The tin is effectively non stick, so a bit of a wipe over and its done.

Try the cinnamon and raisin bread - its gooooood

Shaz

[dejongj]

Agree with all the comments on the Panasonic....It seems to be the only decent one...My inlaws had two different (cheaper) one's before we bought them the Panasonic and they love it now...Previously they wondered why their bread does not come out the same like ours...

Ours is running every other days generally...But we never use the 'quick' settings, it is a process not rushed...We normally have it on overnight so you wake up to the lovely smell of fresh bread...Nice warm, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside...Just how it is supposed to be...

We like it so much that we have a second one on the loft ready for this one to be failing But this one is now going for a good 8 years or so and no signs of failing....

[fizl]

Soooooo.....who bought a breadmaker?

Shaz

[Goldfynche]

I'm sticking with my UK made Morphy Richards. Boringly perfect bread every time.

[Ned Senior]

Originally Posted by fizl

Soooooo.....who bought a breadmaker?

Shaz

I might one day next week maybe

[Crocodile]

What's the verdict on the dispenser on the Panasonic SD255? I can't see me using it & the 254 without is £20 cheaper.

[lurcher]

Originally Posted by Crocodile

What's the verdict on the dispenser on the Panasonic SD255? I can't see me using it & the 254 without is £20 cheaper.

Put me Sultanas/seeds/etc in and it automatically drops them into the mix at the required time , so dont have to rely being in to do it manually.
Worth it imo.

Julian

[Hangerhead]

had my panasonic sd52 now for 5 years - it's fantastic.

[Hangerhead]

Originally Posted by Crocodile

What's the verdict on the dispenser on the Panasonic SD255? I can't see me using it & the 254 without is £20 cheaper.

you will want to add seeds/fruit sometime though yes?

if you add fruits too soon, they release their sugars into the bread mix which in turn affects how the yeast rises.
also, with seeds and so on, you don;t want them being in the non-stick part for too long as they can scratch the coating.
spend the extra £20.

[clemenzina]

Originally Posted by Goldfynche

I'm sticking with my UK made Morphy Richards. Boringly perfect bread every time.

I started off with a very cheap Cookworks from Argos one Easter but took it back when the non-stick started peeling and upgraded to a Morphy Richards. I've had 4-5 Morphy Richards breadmakers in the past 10 years - every time one develops a problem (they're not designed to make 1000g loaves, see below ) I phone MR and they either replace it or sell me one further up the chain for a massively discounted price. MR's warranty is 2 years.

The only quarrel I have with MR is the amount of sugar and oil they insist on in their recipes, but since very early days I have completely ignored their quantities. My bread often turns out like bricks because I put so much "goodness" into it: oat bran, wheat bran, wheat germ, ground linseeds, ground pumpkin seeds... sometimes all at once No wonder the flour is overwhelmed The super-premium flours are great if you do tend to put "extras" in, but they can't work miracles when people like me end up with more extras than flour I've never been able to reproduce the wondrous flavour and texture of Cranks and Dove's Farm wholemeal loaves.

Note 1: The reason I went for such a cheap model to start with was because all my gadgets end up gathering dust in cupboards.

Note 2: My breadmaker is the only kitchen gadget I've ever had that didn't end up gathering dust in a cupboard.

Note 3: I've loved every loaf I've ever made, no matter what

clemenzina

[keydude]

£81 for the sd255 on amazon at the moment.

Will let you lot know how I get on with my first bread baking ceremony.

Update: DO NOT put in the amount the salt suggested for a white loaf, as on the sd255 recipe book, way way way too salty for us.

Another update: Silly me used the wrong end of the double ended measuring spoon to measure salt, second loaf was lovely.

[Julie]

Bought the Panasonic SD255 last Wednesday from Argos priced at £97. I also bought a toy for my friend's little girl so as to put my purchases over £100 which entitled me to a £10 voucher, so by all intents & purposes the breadmaker cost me £87. Amazing really, especially when I had first looked next door in Comet where the same breadmaker was £120! I concur with all the other posters about this being the perfect breadmaking machine.

So far I've made 3 loaves, white crusty farmhouse, fruit loaf & a cheese n' onion, all perfect first time without any experimentation. OK, I cheated with the cheese n' onion by using a ready-mix pack.

Thanks everyone for pointing me in the right direction.

Right, off now to find something that will help me slice these perfect but way too tall loaves perfectly.

Julie

[Goldfynche]

I only use ready mix packs. Why make life difficult? Mind you. The choice can be limited. So I may have to reconsider.

[clemenzina]

I like knowing what's in my bread - "Mono- and Di-acetyl Tartaric Esters of Mono- and Di-glycerides of Fatty Acids" are unacceptable to me in home-made.

Using sachets of dried yeast makes it easier - every loaf I make, no matter what other ingredients it contains, is made with 1 whole sachet of yeast. No wonder my results vary somewhat

clemenzina

[dejongj]

Ah whole sachets of yeast :-o ah well each to their own.

Julie, a bread knife works very well to slice the tall bread :-) make certain you saw and don't push for a nice clean cut. And what we do is slice it in half length ways which then give normal slices of bread when you cut it.

[keydude]

One of the best kitchen gadget I ever had. Lovely bread, yum yum.

[Chanser]

Just bought the Panasonic SD254. Still need to buy the raw ingredients for it.

[clemenzina]

Originally Posted by dejongj

Ah whole sachets of yeast :-o ah well each to their own.

Problem is, dejongj, once the packet is opened you're supposed to use it within a day or two, and I, being a lone lorn crittur, only make one loaf a week - therefore my bread is always composed around a whole packet of yeast. Also it was a damn nuisance when I was using measures from the packet and then having to use the remainder of one packet and a little bit of a new one Any advice gratefully received. Dove's Farm used to do tins of yeast but I haven't seen it for years.

I'm thinking that if I place another order with Riverford Organics I will order some fresh yeast and freeze it, but am not sure if that is feasible or suitable.

clemenzina

[lurcher]

I just reseal the yeast sachet with cellotape after useing and had no probs , got a 125gr packet from Doves Farm that says use within 2 months after opening.

Julian

[tomson]

Originally Posted by clemenzina

Problem is... once the packet is opened you're supposed to use it within a day or two...

As long as you close it back up (fold/tape/clothes peg) it's usually fine for a couple of weeks. Have had a bread machine for 5 or 6 years, I guess, and only ever had a few duffers from using old yeast.

[cunny678]

Tried my brothers machine when I discovered I had a Gluten intolerance a few years back. Although the results were OK, I found it was no more difficult or time consuming to mix the ingredients myself and bake it the old fashioned way in the oven

That way I can make 2 x 2lb loaves at the same time - using one fresh and freezing the other. It also means I dont have to store the unit which was a little on the large side!

[Chanser]

My first loaf was a cheese n onion loaf, I put too much yeast as I misread the instructions in the recipe. My 2nd sandwich loaf was great, tasted so nice when warm or toasted.

[clemenzina]

Originally Posted by cunny678

...I discovered I had a Gluten intolerance...

Apparently this became much more common in the second half of the 20th century with the market take-over of Mother's Pride style breads (the brand-leader is Kingsmill these days). These breads are not proved so the chemical reactions are different, the gluten is not broken down, and they're not baked but steamed.

Just a snippet I saw on the telly recently, I expect I've got the specifics wrong but it's generally right

I'm looking for a rye breadmaker recipe, but try getting rye flour in Sainsbury's

veronarona

[Hangerhead]

Originally Posted by clemenzina

I'm looking for a rye breadmaker recipe, but try getting rye flour in Sainsbury's

veronarona

http://www.shipton-mill.com/flour-direct-shop/rye

Organic Wholemeal Rye Flour 1kg | Doves Farm

[clemenzina]

I didn't find any breadmaker recipe for rye bread there, but there's a simple-looking one for 50/50 Spelt/WhiteWheatFlour which is interesting.

veronarona

[Hangerhead]

Originally Posted by clemenzina

I didn't find any breadmaker recipe for rye bread there, but there's a simple-looking one for 50/50 Spelt/WhiteWheatFlour which is interesting.

veronarona

hi - it will depend on if your machine has got a rye bread mode or not.
as rye makes a heavy dough that doesn't really rise (i think it has next to no gluten content), that's why most bread machines have just a 50/50 mix program.
also, the proving time for rye recipes is different.
i think i found an old 'roman style' bread recipe that had rye and honey.

So there are lots of recipes available that mix rye with other flours like here:

Basic Rye Bread recipe

Dark Rye Bread

Bread-Maker.net



there are also some others here:
Rye Bread Recipes
i've had no chance to look through them all though.


here is a raymond blanc recipe (for hand mixing only, although possibly you can use your machine's 'dough setting'?
Rye Bread Recipe for a family meal

it's a type of flavour that mixes well with caraway seed (and also chuck in some linseed and also hemp seed).
i usually mix these with any rye or buckwheat breads (but always mixed with wholemeal flour).

[clemenzina]

Originally Posted by Hangerhead

it's a type of flavour that mixes well with caraway seed (and also chuck in some linseed and also hemp seed).
i usually mix these with any rye or buckwheat breads (but always mixed with wholemeal flour).

Aaah, caraway seeds My grandmother used to make wonderful yeast buns with caraway seeds (IRRC). White flour, of course, but we working classes didn't have anything else in the 1950s.

On seeing the buckwheat flour on the millers' sites I wondered whether it might be cheaper to make one's own buckwheat spaghetti, which I love, but... no pasta machine (must have a machine for everything ).

Having said that about machines, I've now got a Panasonic combo micro/convection oven (secondhand) so there's less excuse for not trying out breadmaking in a real oven. I was reading about "making a mother", mysterious and tempting

veronarona

[Crocodile]

Any recommendations for storing bread?

I finally took the plunge yesterday on a 254 (£49 in Sainsburys if you can find one ) & the first effort from a mix was good. Placed it in a plastic bag overnight & the crust has gone soggy.

[Chadford]

Originally Posted by Crocodile

Any recommendations for storing bread?

I finally took the plunge yesterday on a 254 (£49 in Sainsburys if you can find one ) & the first effort from a mix was good. Placed it in a plastic bag overnight & the crust has gone soggy.

Hmm soggy, did you let it cool *fully*???

I've a small wire rack for cooling, after that I just use a plastic bag and put if in a bread bin - no problems with soggy crusts.