breadmakers? Thinking of getting one

does anyone use them? What would you recommend?

I take it Brumbys is the wrong answer?

Heaps on the market.  I used a Sunbeam one years ago, it was easy and quite fun to make your own bread..artisan ones too for the adventurous..nothing smells better than freshly baked bread first thing in the morning when you wake up..  But for daily consumption, cost vs yeild - you're better off supporting your local bakery..

Heaps on the market.  I used a Sunbeam one years ago, it was easy and quite fun to make your own bread..artisan ones too for the adventurous..nothing smells better than freshly baked bread first thing in the morning when you wake up..  But for daily consumption, cost vs yeild - you're better off supporting your local bakery..

That's right, I just need to teach the bride how to do it for me by the time I wake up!

We have a Breville Ultimate and use it periodically. It makes good bread. Getting decent yeast is the biggest challenge. The stuff that comes with the packet bread mixes is pretty average though does work.

We've got a Breville Bakers oven which is a few years old and it is fantastic!

To make it worthwhile expending so much you can make up pizza dough as well as bread and make professional quality pizzas - we do!

Bread maker and also a good pasta machine are on my wish list for the future. Also a good smoker

breadmakers? Thinking of getting one

does anyone use them? What would you recommend?

 

I have a 15 year old Panasonic. It does a great job. Most important, however, is the bread mix. I'll get back to you tomorrow with my suggestions.

 

FWIW: Kogan have a nice looking unit for 80 Bucks. 

Been there, done that - many yeas ago.

 

It was good fun for a while, but we ended up throwing out lots of out of date ingredients when the novelty wore off.

 

Overall though, it was fun and worth the price of admission - moreover, this thread has made me think about getting some fresh stuff, dusting the cobwebs off the ancient Breville and firing it up again.  I doubt if we would use it for long though - there are just such a variety of excellent artisan breads readily available locally that the incentive to do the home-made bit fades fairly quickly in our experience.

 

Of course, YMMV - ie you might turn out to be one of the "stayers"     

I have a 15 year old Panasonic. It does a great job. Most important, however, is the bread mix. I'll get back to you tomorrow with my suggestions.

 

FWIW: Kogan have a nice looking unit for 80 Bucks.

I'm sure you are spot on about ingredients being the key. Look forward to your suggestions!

When I moved in with the Squeeze 12 years ago, I came to the conclusion that the only thing her Breville breadmaker could do better than me - with a large bowl, a sturdy wooden spoon and a rental house oven - was pre-program morning bread. IMO breadmaker bread is rather insipid - maybe a treat if you've never eaten fresh bread otherwise - but you can buy much better bread from a good bakery and you can make better and more varied breads in your oven. (Caveat: You can use a breadmaker just as a dough-hook/mixer and then bake in the oven.)

 

I've seen more breadmakers gathering dust on shelves and in cupboards than in use. If you take a pessimistic view you might say this reflects poorly on their long-term utility. Taking an optimistic view, you should be able to get one for pocket change at a garage sale or fete.

 

After many years making bread by hand we wangled a stand mixer for a house warming present. It is great for bread doughs, cakes, pavs, etc, but also much dearer than a breadmaker. Happy to suggest a basic 'by hand' recipe and method if you want to give that a go.

We were given one, which I flogged on ebay a month later. I find my dough hook on the Kenwood more versatile (more variety of bread type and size).....albeit a lot more work, its certainly not a chuck everything in and press go proposition

 

Edit: I am trying to convince myself I dont "knead" one of these

 

http://www.thermomix.com.au/

Edited July 27, 201411 yr by Peter the Greek

We use a breville one to make pizza and focaccia dough on a reasonably regular basis, although if we had a mixer with a bread hook that might be the winner. We rarely cook a loaf in the breaker now but that is mostly because we have reduced our bread intake a lot

I'm sure you are spot on about ingredients being the key. Look forward to your suggestions!

 

I've tried a lot of different commercial bread mixes over the years. I've also tried my own recipes, those from books and the ones supplied with the breadmaker. The commercial ones don't seem to be quite as good as some of the recipes, but they are very convenient. The commercial brand that is head and shoulders above all the others (IMO) is Laucke. Me and Mrs Beeblebrox like the soy & linseed, multigrain variety. It is an excellent bread. Not too salty and with a satisfyingly crunchy crust. The only real problem with that variety, is that we often polish off an entire loaf for lunch. It works out at around 2 Bucks/loaf. It you buy the big bags of the stuff, the cost plummets further and dramatically. 

We were given one, which I flogged on ebay a month later. I find my dough hook on the Kenwood more versatile (more variety of bread type and size).....albeit a lot more work, its certainly not a chuck everything in and press go proposition

 

Edit: I am trying to convince myself I dont "knead" one of these

 

http://www.thermomix.com.au/

 

You should hear one first. They are VERY noisy. Personally, I think they're just another useless (and quite expensive) gimmick. Cooking food through friction? Nah. I'll stick with a more efficient method of heating food. Like using heat, or microwaves, for instance. The Beeblebrox family already has a food processor, microwave oven, pressure cooker and stove top. 

Been there, done that - many yeas ago.

 

It was good fun for a while, but we ended up throwing out lots of out of date ingredients when the novelty wore off.

 

Overall though, it was fun and worth the price of admission - moreover, this thread has made me think about getting some fresh stuff, dusting the cobwebs off the ancient Breville and firing it up again.  I doubt if we would use it for long though - there are just such a variety of excellent artisan breads readily available locally that the incentive to do the home-made bit fades fairly quickly in our experience.

 

Of course, YMMV - ie you might turn out to be one of the "stayers"     

 

My experience mirrors yours. I packed mine away years ago. I dusted it off for yuks, when I found the Laucke bread mix in the supermarket. Bloody nice bread. Sure, not as nice as a good sourdough from Bourke Street Bakery, but very, very convenient and vastly superior to any supermarket loaf.

You should hear one first. They are VERY noisy. Personally, I think they're just another useless (and quite expensive) gimmick. Cooking food through friction? Nah. I'll stick with a more efficient method of heating food. Like using heat, or microwaves, for instance. The Beeblebrox family already has a food processor, microwave oven, pressure cooker and stove top. 

 

Good to hear! done. I hate noise of a non-hifi script.

 

....no in all seriousness, we're  running out of space in the kitchen and I am looking to consolidate. Need a need blender, a food processor, and the wife wants a nut milk maker......

breadmakers? Thinking of getting one

does anyone use them? What would you recommend?

Don't do it. They are inefficient compared to large scale production and add unnecessarily to Global Warming due to this.

Buy Tip Top and save the planet.

How on earth do you milk nuts?

Edit: did I really just ask that ???

Edited July 27, 201411 yr by Sir Sanders Zingmore

How on earth do you milk nuts?

Edit: did I really just ask that ???

 

Q: What's the hardest thing in the world to do?

 

A: Milk Arrowroot biscuits.

Mrs Betocool does her own bread. Sourdough and yeast, getting the ingredients from the local Pantry man shop. We won't go back to buying bread, unless there's an emergency.

And its cheaper too... at the rate we eat it at least!

How on earth do you milk nuts?

Edit: did I really just ask that ???

 

soak almonds in water

 

rinse

 

add clean water

 

blend

 

put thought our cold press juicer twice, straining in between.

 

wallah! pure almond milk, no emulsifier etc

SANYO "the bread factory"

20 years old so doubt it's obtainable

Re above comments

1 lots of ppl don't use then more than thrice so find the best 1 and pick it up on eBay

2 the ingredients are what it's about buy good flour

3 yeast available on eBay but I found the standard yeast 5 sachets in packet at cloes was reasonable it doesnt stay fresh for ever there are better brands in larger packets for regular users.

4 yes to pizza dough

4.1 new find! Woollies have new fresh pizza dough in the fridge next to fresh commercial pizza bases 2 balls to a plastic box still "alive" a good compromise wouldn't freeze I

5 home made by hand is the best few ppl have time or inclination now -including me

But this thread might see a few of us dusting off machines

Another call for suggestions as to flours to try

Edited July 28, 201411 yr by djb

4.1 new find! Woollies have new fresh pizza dough in the fridge next to fresh commercial pizza bases 2 balls to a plastic box still "alive" a good compromise

 

 

This sounds a good lead for me. Thanks, djb, I will try that out.

Re Fresh pizza dough

SM not near the fully made up pizzas and bases but along the back wall near fresh chinese noodles and el cheapo pizza bases

You might have to rummage about or do something feminine like ask assistant for help.

Re flours

I was never brave enough to try the 5 or z10 k. Bags of flour fearing low SQv(self raising quality) so paid extra for small 1 loaf bags any recommendations on bulk lot brands?