Bread ... but not as we know it!

[Mel B]

After playing with the 'new to us' satellite dish etc today, I decided to have a play with my 'new to me' breadmaker (unwanted wedding present from someone at a car boot sale).

 

Got me flour out, yeast etc and followed the recipe to the letter. The dough is currently 'sitting there' looking very sorry for itself so I lifted the lid to see how it's getting on and it's a bit 'hard' ... somehow I think I'm gonna end up with a lump of concrete!!! :$

 

I'll report back later - hopefully I'll still have teeth!!! :D

[Guest Tracker]

Make another one just like it Mel and you will have a pair of very nifty looking wheel chocks and be the envy of everyone 'must haver' at all the shows - you might even have found a new busines venture if demand exceeds supply!

[Guest pelmetman]

Hi Mel

 

Hope you have better luck with the bread maker than I did.

 

I always used to make bread by hand then when these machines became all the rage I decided to treat myself to one. I was never particularly pleased with the bread and in the end got rid of the machine. Though suppose it depends on what make you have.

 

Have gone back to making by hand again and pleased with results its also a lot easier than people often think.

 

Sue

[J9withdogs]

I make bread in my bread-maker almost everyday.

 

Sometimes the results are disappointing - especially if I use cheap supermarket flour.

 

Best tip I can give is to use boiling water. By the time the yeast gets to it, the heat will have dissipated and everything will be lovely and warm.

 

Oh - and don't keep opening the lid, that'll make the loaf droop.

[maggyd]

Did you get the instructions with it Mel? I havent used mine for a while as O.H. only likes his bread thin!! >:-( and I cut it like door stops !! I use wholemeal bread flour and dried yeast with a vitamin C tab don't ask what that does I just follow the ingredients instructions :-S it is hit and miss though until you et used to it.

[Mel B]

Thought I'd better let you know how it turned out ....

 

Well, er, it was, sort of, emmmm, looked like a piece of concrete that you'd dug out of the ground when replacing a fence post - the large lump of existing stuff that you have to dispose of, smooth on the sides and very lumpy on what would have been the bottom! :D

 

It actually tasted better than it looked but was a little bit too dense for using as sandwich bread but would have been okay to use for croutons etc ... anyway the dogs enjoyed it! *-)

 

I shall have another go when I'm feeling brave ... I did wonder about putting warm water in rather than cold, as it just didn't seem right when using yeast!

 

As for making bread by hand - I used to do this many a time when I was a kid with my Mum, we used to use an old Victorian type wash bowl/basin as it was the largest thing we had - and I've still got it too. :-D If all else fails I'll have to get it down off the top of the laundry cupboard and do it manually instead - I seem to remember it was a good stress reliever for my Mum. :->

[Randonneur]

The basic white recipe for my machine is as follows:

 

1kg loaf 750g 500g

 

350ml water room temp 260ml 180ml

30g butter 22g 15g

2 tsp salt 1.5 tsp 1tsp

1 tbsp sugar 1tbsp 1tbsp

660g Strong Bread Flour 500g 330g

2 tbsp milk powder 1tbsp 1tbsp

1.25 tsp dried yeast 1.25tsp 1tsp

 

There are a lot of break machine recipes on the internet as well.

[Brian Kirby]

So, now you know why it was an unwanted wedding present for sale at a car boot sale.  :-D

[J9withdogs]

It's also important to put the ingredients into the bread-maker in the order that Radonneur has listed them. (except that I put the milk powder in the water)

 

If the yeast comes into contact with the salt, it can kill it off.

 

I use olive oil instead of butter; I find it makes the crust crustier.

 

And make sure the yeast you have is specifically for use with bread-makers; there's lots of different sorts of yeast which won't work.

[Mel B]

Well .... I'm having another go at last. We went to Asda to day to spend a load of vouchers we'd got and they had some Hovis bread mix on offer, 2 for £1.00, so I thought I'd try to see if that was more successful ....

 

It's being going for a while now and actually LOOKS like a bread loaf this time, the breadmaker has a window in the top and the loaf is sitting there just finishing off cooking ... another 20 mins or so and I'll have a nice tasty loaf to munch on with my lasagne!!! Can't wait!!! :->

 

I suspect there wasn't enough fluid in the mix last time and that was more than likely the problem with it. At 50p for a 'proper' bread mix (they do white, brown and grannary to make a 2lb loaf) I think that's good anyway so might stick to mixes and stock up if it comes out okay.

 

Oh, it smells wonderful too .......! :D

[spospe]

I use a Panasonic 251 and it's perfect using the supplied recipies and instructions.

 

Usually it is run overnight, so that the bread is ready in the morning: super!

 

Running overnight also allows the use of off-peak electricity, so making the bread even cheaper than the nasty shop bought stuff ;-)

[art338]

The concrete ones can be used as anchors for the dog leads when you picnic.

 

Small loaf small dog, Farmhouse size for the larger dog. Should keep them amused too.

 

art

[Guest pelmetman]

My bread making machine (Sue :D ) now makes rolls as we find that a loaf goes off before we can eat it all, so Sue makes a batch of rolls which we freeze and just take a few out at a time :-D

[Randonneur]

Mel B - 2010-11-27 7:59 PM

 

Well .... I'm having another go at last. We went to Asda to day to spend a load of vouchers we'd got and they had some Hovis bread mix on offer, 2 for £1.00, so I thought I'd try to see if that was more successful ....

 

It's being going for a while now and actually LOOKS like a bread loaf this time, the breadmaker has a window in the top and the loaf is sitting there just finishing off cooking ... another 20 mins or so and I'll have a nice tasty loaf to munch on with my lasagne!!! Can't wait!!! :->

 

I suspect there wasn't enough fluid in the mix last time and that was more than likely the problem with it. At 50p for a 'proper' bread mix (they do white, brown and grannary to make a 2lb loaf) I think that's good anyway so might stick to mixes and stock up if it comes out okay.

 

Oh, it smells wonderful too .......! :D

 

Well how did it turn out?

[Brian Kirby]

pelmetman - 2010-11-28 8:50 AM My bread making machine (Sue :D ) now makes rolls as we find that a loaf goes off before we can eat it all, so Sue makes a batch of rolls which we freeze and just take a few out at a time :-D

As soon as they are cool, cut the loaves in half, put each in a freezer bag, seal, and freeze.  They thaw perfectly.  Keep the half loaves in their freezer bag until finished, they will keep several days without staling, and we haven't had one grow mould yet.

[Guest pelmetman]

Brian Kirby - 2010-11-28 4:49 PM

pelmetman - 2010-11-28 8:50 AM My bread making machine (Sue :D ) now makes rolls as we find that a loaf goes off before we can eat it all, so Sue makes a batch of rolls which we freeze and just take a few out at a time :-D

As soon as they are cool, cut the loaves in half, put each in a freezer bag, seal, and freeze.  They thaw perfectly.  Keep the half loaves in their freezer bag until finished, they will keep several days without staling, and we haven't had one grow mould yet.

Thanks Brian, I'll tell my bread maker (lol)

[Mel B]

Success! After keeping my beady eyes on it, it finally finished and I managed to extract it from it's tin but had to use a pair of pliers to get the kneading blades out of the base of the loaf!! :D

 

It is just about there, the bottom and sides are perfectly browned, but the top centre has sunk a little and doesn't have much colour on it, but it has cooked fine.

 

I cut off a thin slice and plastered it with butter whist it was still a bit warm ... yummie .... I could've scoffed the lot! :$

 

This morning we had a nice thick slice each, toasted and plastered with butter ... more yummmmmmmmms ...!!!!!!

 

Can't wait to have sarnies tomorrow - will have to freeze some as half of it should last us a couple of days or so - will have to go and buy some more bread mix whilst it's on offer. :-S

[Guest peter]

Mel, if the top sinks, cover the window of the machine with foil. This is what we ended up doing, as the window is always cooler than the rest of the inside and stops it rising properly.

[Mel B]

Thanks Peter, I was thinking of putting a thick towel on the top for the same reason.

 

Had some more bread for lunch today - toasted cheese sarnie - beautiful! Gonna have some more for tea tonight with a creamy pasta dish I made yesterday - I'll try making some garlic butter to go on it .... oooooo I can hardly wait ... hubby's messing about in the kitchen at the mo so can't cook tea yet. :-S

[Barbarian]

Hi, we (The Royal we that is) make bread in a bread making machine regularly, we (She) puts nuts and seeds in ours about a large cup/mug per 2lb loaf. Put the unsalted nuts in a freezer bag and bash them (Technical phrase) with a meat hammer to about a quarter inch. Just as the machine starts up after the pause bit for the yeast add the nuts and seeds. Walnuts, hazelnuts, brazilnuts, sunflower seeds, anything like that make for a tastier loaf, as long as you don't have a nut allergy!!! Enjoy :-D

 

barbarian

[J9withdogs]

That sounds nice, Barbarian (lol) I use the healthy seed mix that Holland & Barrett sell for a substantial loaf.

 

Try sun-dried tomatoes. They come in jars packed in oil so you don't need to add oil separately or the loaf will be soggy. Also a dollop (another technical term) of green pesto adds garlicky, cheesy taste.

[Colin Leake]

We use a Panasonic and follow the receipt for mixed seed whole meal bread though we some time use nuts instead. You need to persist to get perfect loaves making any adjustments as they suggest until you succeed. The flower you use can make all the difference especially for whole meal bread and even more so if you wish to add nuts or seeds. The best we have found by far is Waitrose extra strong made from Canadian red spring wheat. We use hemp oil in place of butter and two teaspoons fo runny honey instead of sugar. Getting the water temperature right is important. In the summer we use 80ml of boiling water and top this up to 340ml with cold. In the winter we use 100ml boiling water toped up to 340 with cold. Note it is very important to get the amount of water correct.

 

Do be aware that flour varies very much from batch to batch. We usually have very good results but occasionally run into a bad batch where the bread simply does not have the strength to maintain the rise and the loaf is a little less light than usual.

 

We are due to change our motorhome in March and the only regret we have is that although the new one has the garage we need the freezer is smaller meaning we cannot take as many frozen loaves as we would like. We have yet to find any shop or baker made bread that compares to our own home made.

[PJay]

Take the bread machine with you!! I also take my own flour/yeast etc Easy to store in the oven(if you have one) i found it very useful this year to have.

PJay

[smifee]

I mostly wild/free camp and always take my bread maker but can't resist boulangerie bread when on the move in France.

 

Favourite recipe is a granary flour, salt, rapeseed oil, vitamin C, yeast & finely milled oats. I don't use sugar or milk so the bread doesn't keep very long.

 

It also makes a mean malt loaf - plain flour, black treacle, malt extract, sultanas & yeast.

 

 

[Colin Leake]

PJay - 2010-11-30 6:45 PM

 

Take the bread machine with you!! I also take my own flour/yeast etc Easy to store in the oven(if you have one) i found it very useful this year to have.

PJay

 

SHE won't let me. Says it will make the motorhome smell of baking bread for all eternity. In any case the Panasonic is quite a large bit of kit to store and use in the motorhome