Author Topic: Breadmakers  (Read 11672 times)

fuaran

  • rothair gasta
Breadmakers
« on: 22 March, 2020, 06:28:23 pm »
Thinking a breadmaker would be useful. Any recommendations?

I'm not too bothered about fancy sorts of bread. A fairly standard white or wholemeal loaf would do most of the time.
I would like a decent sized loaf, some of them look quite small.
Just want something simple and reliable.

Seems Panasonic get good reviews. What's the difference between the various models, £100 vs £200?

Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #1 on: 22 March, 2020, 07:11:13 pm »
We have a Kenwood BM450.

Seed dispenser, 1Kg loaf size that looks like a loaf you'd get from a bakers, 15hr delay. Produces consistent results, but after 2 or 3 years of about 3 or 4 loaves a week you either need to get yourself a new breadpan or work out how to fettle a new seal.

Overall a neat piece of kit.

If you get one I can give you details on how to fettle a new seal.

And I can let you have my fave granary loaf recipe.


Rust never sleeps

Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #2 on: 22 March, 2020, 07:54:57 pm »
We have  ~25year old Panasonic still going but lightly used. Our son has the same model ~10 yrs old, heavily used. Model SD-253

Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #3 on: 22 March, 2020, 08:12:51 pm »
Panasonic. Always gets the best reviews. I have one (a Christmas present to replace an ancient and second hand supermarket own brand one) and am not very adventurous with it but it just works. Model number is SD-ZB2502.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #4 on: 22 March, 2020, 10:57:33 pm »
Panasonic SD 256 here, well I think it is as the labeling is all but gone, was recommended somewhere - I suspect here. Great machine for baking loaves (who knew!) or more often just kneading prior to hand forming etc.

Woofage

  • Tofu-eating Wokerati
  • Ain't no hooves on my bike.
Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #5 on: 22 March, 2020, 11:28:51 pm »
I've had 2 Panasonics. The first one did fail*, but only after a lot of use. The second one is amazing - perfect results every time (model SD-ZB2512). I got it in a sale at JL.

* I think it stopped baking, but would still mix and knead. Probably repairable but it was knackered.
Pen Pusher

Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #6 on: 22 March, 2020, 11:33:53 pm »
I took a look at the John Lewis site earlier.  All breadmakers sold out,  same with a lot of freezers. 
Not fast & rarely furious

tweeting occasional in(s)anities as andrewxclark

Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #7 on: 22 March, 2020, 11:36:04 pm »
Another Panasonic SD-253 here.  10+yrs old.  ~£100 IIRC
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

Woofage

  • Tofu-eating Wokerati
  • Ain't no hooves on my bike.
Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #8 on: 22 March, 2020, 11:52:47 pm »
I took a look at the John Lewis site earlier.  All breadmakers sold out

Ah, that explains why Tesco had no bread flour the other day  :(.
Pen Pusher

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #9 on: 23 March, 2020, 12:18:08 am »
Panasonic Croustina SD-ZP2000KXC here.  Its novel feature appears to be extremely tight temperature control, allowing it to do really crusty crusts (and usefully compensating for ambient temperature, which was a real problem with our previous no-name bread machine in our draughty kitchen).  Seriously, if you use the crust program, the resulting loaf would pass for something from a tragic hipster artisan bakery unless you looked at the underside.

This is a trade-off against more common wanky bread machine features like a zillion different programs, automagically polluting your perfectly good bread with seedy things, or a window so it's not just Schrodinger's bread until it finishes baking.

Only does up to 500g loaves though.  (I mostly do 300g[1], because there's only so much bread two of us can eat before it goes stale.)


Panasonic seems like a good bet generally.  You stand a chance of being able to obtain a replacement pan if the bearing goes, for example.


[1] Programs and recipes only go down to 400g, but 300 seems to work okay (resulting in a slightly lumpy-looking loaf) if you scale the quantites down proportionally.  I suspect any smaller would have trouble mixing properly.

fuaran

  • rothair gasta
Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #10 on: 23 March, 2020, 01:10:58 am »
Thanks. I'll look for a Panasonic.
Seem to be sold out at Currys and Argos as well, hopefully they can find some more.

My local post office has started selling flour and yeast, so got enough of that for now.

ian

Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #11 on: 23 March, 2020, 09:44:45 am »
We have a mini-one, which is quite simple and makes perfect bread in a smaller loaf format, which is ideal for two people who munch through it while it's still fresh. Probably about 20 years old. The timer appears to be clockwork (don't start it on the wrong programme, once it commits to three hours, you won't change its mind).

Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #12 on: 23 March, 2020, 10:09:48 am »
I've got some flour & some yeast & a big mixing bowl.    I don't think I've made bread for over 20 years though ! 
Not fast & rarely furious

tweeting occasional in(s)anities as andrewxclark

Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #13 on: 23 March, 2020, 02:27:20 pm »
Maybe because I've never tried it, but a breadmaker is one of those curious bulky-object-kitchen-things that does only one thing, and not particularly well. There was a time when everyone had to have a Teasmade (TeasMaid? TeaseMaid?), which seems to have a similar rationale.

If you want a machine to knead, a food processor does that extraordinarily efficiently and quickly and can be used for other things*. Of course, kneading by hand is pretty much fun.

*When making bread by processor, it takes me 5 minutes start to end, then just rising and baking in the oven needed.

caerau

  • SR x 3 - PBP fail but 1090 km - hey - not too bad
Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #14 on: 23 March, 2020, 02:30:12 pm »
Hate to say it, but all you actually need in terms of equipment, is a bowl a breadboard and a pair of hands to knead it. 


An oven too I guess ;)






Perfectly good bread is a piece of cake to make.
It's a reverse Elvis thing.

Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #15 on: 23 March, 2020, 02:44:19 pm »
The main advantage of a breadmaker is that it takes only 5 minutes to assemble the ingredients, then without any further attention it delivers a finished loaf 4/5 hours later. Can even cook overnight thanks to the timer.

Making bread by hand requires sporadic interventions over a long period; OK if you're around and free at the critical times.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #16 on: 23 March, 2020, 02:52:33 pm »
Hate to say it, but all you actually need in terms of equipment, is a bowl a breadboard and a pair of hands to knead it. 


An oven too I guess ;)

Flour is quite useful too. And it's pretty hard to come by at the moment.  >:(
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

vorsprung

  • Opposites Attract
    • Audaxing
Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #17 on: 23 March, 2020, 03:09:24 pm »
I have a Panasonic

vorsprung

  • Opposites Attract
    • Audaxing
Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #18 on: 23 March, 2020, 03:10:24 pm »
Hate to say it, but all you actually need in terms of equipment, is a bowl a breadboard and a pair of hands to knead it. 


An oven too I guess ;)

Flour is quite useful too. And it's pretty hard to come by at the moment.  >:(

Hopefully, the crazy people have bought some flour, made some lumps of lead and won't buy it again

Woofage

  • Tofu-eating Wokerati
  • Ain't no hooves on my bike.
Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #19 on: 23 March, 2020, 03:11:04 pm »
The main advantage of a breadmaker is that it takes only 5 minutes to assemble the ingredients, then without any further attention it delivers a finished loaf 4/5 hours later. Can even cook overnight thanks to the timer.

Making bread by hand requires sporadic interventions over a long period; OK if you're around and free at the critical times.

^ this.

I make bread by hand sometimes (OK I cheat and mix/knead the dough in a food mixer) when I want something differently shaped or a dark crust etc. It's therapeutic.

But my breadmaker did all the hard work for me overnight and I had fresh bread this morning  :smug:.
Pen Pusher

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #20 on: 23 March, 2020, 03:21:19 pm »
Our breadmaker has just done a batch of oatcakes & I'm busy getting outside some.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

ian

Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #21 on: 23 March, 2020, 03:40:24 pm »
I can make bread by hand, but it takes about 2 minutes to assemble everything in the breadmaker and forget about it until the house is full of the smell of baking bread. Plus it's probably more efficient than cranking up the oven for a small loaf.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #22 on: 23 March, 2020, 04:23:47 pm »
Hopefully, the crazy people have bought some flour, made some lumps of lead and won't buy it again

I'm assuming that once people realise there's no need to panic buy and they can actually get their daily Hovis after all, there will be vast amounts of flour sitting at the back of pantries across the country until it goes bad. We'll get over the coronavirus pandemic to find ourselves in a mass weevil infestation instead.

Tbh, I was never that impressed with the bread that came out of our machine anyway. It is now sitting gathering dust in a cupboard somewhere. Maybe I should put it on ebay before the demand dies down, and just retire on the profit...
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #23 on: 23 March, 2020, 04:35:27 pm »
Maybe because I've never tried it, but a breadmaker is one of those curious bulky-object-kitchen-things that does only one thing, and not particularly well. There was a time when everyone had to have a Teasmade (TeasMaid? TeaseMaid?), which seems to have a similar rationale.

If you want a machine to knead, a food processor does that extraordinarily efficiently and quickly and can be used for other things*. Of course, kneading by hand is pretty much fun.

*When making bread by processor, it takes me 5 minutes start to end, then just rising and baking in the oven needed.
True but if I didn't have a breadmaker I would never make bread. And I wouldn't have a breadmaker if I hadn't found this one by chance for £12 in a chazzer five or six years ago. It is bulky, as well as noisy, but it does make really nice bread (only too small... ). I can't see myself doing the kneading and proving and so on. Lazy? Demanding? Maybe. But I like the way I can throw the ingredients in and leave it overnight, for instance.

What I don't think it does is save money. I reckon I get less than three loaves from a bag of flour so by the time you add the electricity (and the oil, which we seem to use loads of) the savings are marginal compared to £1.85 for a pretty decent loaf from the decent bakery down the road. But they're not open Sundays or at midnight (and at the moment they're probably selling out by 9a.m., I haven't checked).
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

caerau

  • SR x 3 - PBP fail but 1090 km - hey - not too bad
Re: Breadmakers
« Reply #24 on: 23 March, 2020, 04:39:08 pm »

Hate to say it, but all you actually need in terms of equipment, is a bowl a breadboard and a pair of hands to knead it. 


An oven too I guess ;)

Flour is quite useful too. And it's pretty hard to come by at the moment.  >:(



My bold :P
It's a reverse Elvis thing.