Was wondering why this thread hadn't been revived under lockdown but having looked back on previous posts I see that breadmakers are not much rated here.
Well we got a new one (a Panasonic) for Christmas, and of course it proved timely. Those who do use them, any tips for how to get the best from them (we are more and more making the dough and finishing in the oven), and especially a source of recipes that are suitable for a Panasonic machine?
As mentioned in the cooking with rations thread - I have been learning how to make bread during lockdown. I wanted to learn without a bread maker. I have been making bread ‘manually’ up to now with fairly decent results.
Yesterday I took delivery of this bad-boy and am hoping it helps.
Got an Asda one for about £35 about four years ago but it is now unused because I can't get ingredients. As soon as I can I will revive it. The draggy bit is the paddle in the bottom of the bread, and sometimes sogginess. Would love to get a failsafe method for fools (me).
Don't waste money on a unitasker like that, making your own home-made bread isn't difficult and is one of life's simplest pleasures! And when you're done you can show it off on the toast thread 😃
If its for a present I would think again, I run a group of charity shops and our 3 most donated electrical items (unwanted gifts) are -
Bread Makers
Foot Spa's
Smoothie Makers
An honourable mention should also go to George Foreman's lean mean grilling machine
Insight like this makes this site what it is...brilliant.
I know they aren't electrical, but spralisers must be an increasingly donated kitchen gadget, no?
I have a spiralizer at the back of my cupboard which will be going to a charity shop.
I've got one, have varied between using that if it's a loaf that needs a load.of kneading and making it by hand if not (soda bread, damper, and an easy wholemeal recipe that only kneads for about 10 secs 3 times).
I love my bread maker and have had my Panasonic for over 10 years. Chuck in the ingredients - yeast first then flour so yeast does not interact, set timer for breakfast. Lovely smell of bread baking on waking and warm bread. Usually bake a small loaf as a large loaf rises above tin and looks a bit naff and more than I want. Often use 70% whole flour with 30% white.
Use dough only mode for rolls, pizza basis and Nan. Also for special breads with fruit or olives in as they can sink in bake mode.
Also use a bread mix if in a hurry and these are fine.
Got an Asda one for about £35 about four years ago but it is now unused because I can't get ingredients. As soon as I can I will revive it. The draggy bit is the paddle in the bottom of the bread, and sometimes sogginess. Would love to get a failsafe method for fools (me).
The best way with these things is use them to make the dough then shaping it and cooking it in your oven.
Got an Asda one for about £35 about four years ago but it is now unused because I can't get ingredients. As soon as I can I will revive it. The draggy bit is the paddle in the bottom of the bread, and sometimes sogginess. Would love to get a failsafe method for fools (me).
The best way with these things is use them to make the dough then shaping it and cooking it in your oven.
Is it possible to stop at the dough point? I assume it is start it up and that's that. Can you use the container in the oven?
Depending on the model, you can set different programmes, and there's usually one to do the initial mix, knead and prove, and then you can dump the dough out to make rolls or shape in interesting ways.
Depending on the model, you can set different programmes, and there's usually one to do the initial mix, knead and prove, and then you can dump the dough out to make rolls or shape in interesting ways.
Thanks. I will re-investigate my Asda item. This is probably a stupid question, but will I need to buy tins to cook the bread in the oven, and if so does it matter what size they are?
My boss managed to buy a 16kg bag of flour delivered from a local place local to him near tunbridge wells recently and they also delivered 500g of yeast.
May not be able to buy small quantities as we normally would in the shops but there is plenty available in the country (as restaurants etc not using any) it’s just not available in small sizes.
As mentioned in the cooking with rations thread - I have been learning how to make bread during lockdown. I wanted to learn without a bread maker. I have been making bread ‘manually’ up to now with fairly decent results.
Yesterday I took delivery of this bad-boy and am hoping it helps.
I too got sick of kneading by hand and bought the Kenwood version of your kitchenaid and it's been brilliant. Kneading by hand is good as it gives you a sense of what the dough should look and feel like when it's ready for proving etc. but you get the same results using a machine with a dough hook and it's 10x easier.
I usually go really slow for a few minutes and then speed up a little when it starts looking a little smoother.
I can't find any yeast and had planned to make pizza on Monday so have made a sourdough starter which seems to be working okay. Will test it out and make a sourdough loaf tomorrow.
As mentioned in the cooking with rations thread - I have been learning how to make bread during lockdown. I wanted to learn without a bread maker. I have been making bread ‘manually’ up to now with fairly decent results.
Yesterday I took delivery of this bad-boy and am hoping it helps.
I too got sick of kneading by hand and bought the Kenwood version of your kitchenaid and it's been brilliant. Kneading by hand is good as it gives you a sense of what the dough should look and feel like when it's ready for proving etc. but you get the same results using a machine with a dough hook and it's 10x easier.
I usually go really slow for a few minutes and then speed up a little when it starts looking a little smoother.
I can't find any yeast and had planned to make pizza on Monday so have made a sourdough starter which seems to be working okay. Will test it out and make a sourdough loaf tomorrow.
I want to try sourdough - but going by my Tamagotchi record.....I’m not sure I’ll be regimented enough to keep the starter ‘alive’.
Got an Asda one for about £35 about four years ago but it is now unused because I can't get ingredients. As soon as I can I will revive it. The draggy bit is the paddle in the bottom of the bread, and sometimes sogginess. Would love to get a failsafe method for fools (me).
The best way with these things is use them to make the dough then shaping it and cooking it in your oven.
Is it possible to stop at the dough point? I assume it is start it up and that's that. Can you use the container in the oven?
It should be one of the settings and it will prove it too. We don't use ours so much but I did use the pizza base setting a lot, and there was a bread dough setting but it is too easy to buy the stuff. The bread it bakes itself can be a bit boring but the oven cooked bread is a lot better. Also you can replace some of the dry ingredients with wet ones for a better taste - a bit of trial and error, but you can get good results.
Depending on the model, you can set different programmes, and there's usually one to do the initial mix, knead and prove, and then you can dump the dough out to make rolls or shape in interesting ways.
Thanks. I will re-investigate my Asda item. This is probably a stupid question, but will I need to buy tins to cook the bread in the oven, and if so does it matter what size they are?
Entirely depends on what type of loaf you want to make. If you want
standard rectangular sandwich loaf then yes, and it's probably a bit
more foolproof if you do, but you can just shape it how you like and
whack it on a parchment covered baking sheet instead. I'd probably try
it without and see how it goes before buying some. You might find these
videos helpful
: Bake with Jack 129 - the essential kit you need Bake with Jack 130 - Simple Loaf tutorial (if you go to about 18 minutes on this one it shows the size of tins he uses for the double batch he made)
I have a Panasonic and I think it works very well. After using for a year on and off I got a little bit more adventurous and tried making bread in the oven. After a few slightly disappointing although edible attempts I found Paul Hollywood on YouTube. Follow his recipes and directions and bingo. It’s quite stunning. One tip. Instead of hand kneading I use the Panasonic to mix and knead the dough for me. Kneading by hand for a novice is hard work and takes probably 20 mins. If you have one you can mix and knead the dough in a food mixer using the dough hook.
I have a Panasonic and I think it works very well. After using for a year on and off I got a little bit more adventurous and tried making bread in the oven. After a few slightly disappointing although edible attempts I found Paul Hollywood on YouTube. Follow his recipes and directions and bingo. It’s quite stunning. One tip. Instead of hand kneading I use the Panasonic to mix and knead the dough for me. Kneading by hand for a novice is hard work and takes probably 20 mins. If you have one you can mix and knead the dough in a food mixer using the dough hook.
Great post, that's exactly what I was looking for, and we have already started choosing the "dough option" on our Panasonic with OK-ish results - we make decent rolls with them - so now I'm going to check this guy out.
Looks like the yeast shortage is Europe-wide....my buddy reckons that when it comes to the dry yeast needed in the Panasonic, it may actually be the packaging that is running low. The two big brands we have here using foil lined packets. That said, fresh yeast is in short supply here too.
You can make your own "starter" yeast from just flour and water, will take 5 days untill usable and if you keep "feeding” it you will.always have yeast and won't have to buy it again,
I have a Panasonic and I think it works very well. After using for a year on and off I got a little bit more adventurous and tried making bread in the oven. After a few slightly disappointing although edible attempts I found Paul Hollywood on YouTube. Follow his recipes and directions and bingo. It’s quite stunning. One tip. Instead of hand kneading I use the Panasonic to mix and knead the dough for me. Kneading by hand for a novice is hard work and takes probably 20 mins. If you have one you can mix and knead the dough in a food mixer using the dough hook.
Great post, that's exactly what I was looking for, and we have already started choosing the "dough option" on our Panasonic with OK-ish results - we make decent rolls with them - so now I'm going to check this guy out.
Looks like the yeast shortage is Europe-wide....my buddy reckons that when it comes to the dry yeast needed in the Panasonic, it may actually be the packaging that is running low. The two big brands we have here using foil lined packets. That said, fresh yeast is in short supply here too.
You don't need to use dried yeast and it is easy to make your own according to you tube. All you need is flour and water (not from tap as chlorine kills the yeast). It is the same with milk powder. You can get the bread maker to do the job with wet ingredients, it is just you need a bit of trial and error to perfect it.
As mentioned in the cooking with rations thread - I have been learning how to make bread during lockdown. I wanted to learn without a bread maker. I have been making bread ‘manually’ up to now with fairly decent results.
Yesterday I took delivery of this bad-boy and am hoping it helps.
I too got sick of kneading by hand and bought the Kenwood version of your kitchenaid and it's been brilliant. Kneading by hand is good as it gives you a sense of what the dough should look and feel like when it's ready for proving etc. but you get the same results using a machine with a dough hook and it's 10x easier.
I usually go really slow for a few minutes and then speed up a little when it starts looking a little smoother.
I can't find any yeast and had planned to make pizza on Monday so have made a sourdough starter which seems to be working okay. Will test it out and make a sourdough loaf tomorrow.
A little ugly and maybe too holey but quite happy for a 1st attempt
As mentioned in the cooking with rations thread - I have been learning how to make bread during lockdown. I wanted to learn without a bread maker. I have been making bread ‘manually’ up to now with fairly decent results.
Yesterday I took delivery of this bad-boy and am hoping it helps.
Comments
Well we got a new one (a Panasonic) for Christmas, and of course it proved timely. Those who do use them, any tips for how to get the best from them (we are more and more making the dough and finishing in the oven), and especially a source of recipes that are suitable for a Panasonic machine?
As soon as I can I will revive it.
The draggy bit is the paddle in the bottom of the bread, and sometimes sogginess. Would love to get a failsafe method for fools (me).
Agree on the paddle making a hole being a pain!
Use dough only mode for rolls, pizza basis and Nan. Also for special breads with fruit or olives in as they can sink in bake mode.
Also use a bread mix if in a hurry and these are fine.
I assume it is start it up and that's that.
Can you use the container in the oven?
This is probably a stupid question, but will I need to buy tins to cook the bread in the oven, and if so does it matter what size they are?
I usually go really slow for a few minutes and then speed up a little when it starts looking a little smoother.
I can't find any yeast and had planned to make pizza on Monday so have made a sourdough starter which seems to be working okay. Will test it out and make a sourdough loaf tomorrow.
Bake with Jack 129 - the essential kit you need
Bake with Jack 130 - Simple Loaf tutorial
(if you go to about 18 minutes on this one it shows the size of tins he uses for the double batch he made)
Looks like the yeast shortage is Europe-wide....my buddy reckons that when it comes to the dry yeast needed in the Panasonic, it may actually be the packaging that is running low. The two big brands we have here using foil lined packets. That said, fresh yeast is in short supply here too.
This is a basic recipe.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/food/recipes/amp558843/sourdough-starter/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wTt8VGyBdk&t=5s
A little ugly and maybe too holey but quite happy for a 1st attempt
Was impressed how easy it was, no kneading just a bit of stirring, no proving etc.
Really nice too, dense but very savoury and moreish, good with marmalade.
Will definitely make it again.