Recall a discussion on breadmakers a while ago.
I like a sandwich at lunchtimes etc. but find that buyin bread rolls is a waste of money as half go "off" before use when left at my house as I'm not there all the time.
Is there a breadmaker that will produce rolls/baps/breadcakes whatever they are called where you live.
Price isn't too much of an issue if there's something that works and is reliable?
Mark S.
Our breadmaker (panasonic - v.good) will make loaves from scratch (or flour if you prefer ) or make dough that you can cut into rolls and bake in the oven. I suspect other brands will be similar and not make rolls without human intervention.
(Mary! where are you when we need a definitive answer?)
regards
Bob
I'm here, sir I've been sweeping up for a son ...
Any breadmaker will make adequate dough but you'll have to take it out, form it into rolls, baps etc. and bake it conventionally, if you don't want a loaf.
I noticed that Lidl was offering a breadmaker this week which will make TWO loaves at the same time. I reckon that would be good, one large square loaf wasn't much good for small users, if you have two smaller ones you could freeze one and use the other. I haven't room for one so am not tempted but I'm not damning it at all. In fact I recommended it to a son.
A friend has a good ploy. she makes bread, slices it when cool and freezes the number of slices she'll use at one go. It's a splendid idea - if you are well enough disciplined to only use a certain number of slices at one go.
I'm not :-(
Mary
My Panasonic is terrific. I haven't used it for anything other than various types of loaf though. I have found the default recipes produce bread which is a bit too soft and soft-crusted for my family so tend to back off on the water and sugar a bit (as per the instruction manual).
Almost all of them will have a dough setting, leaving you to chop the result into appropriate sized pieces, letting them rise again and sticking them in the oven for 15 minutes.
Anthony
Yes, when I had one I reverted to my standard, basic recipes. We didn't like the sweetness and softness of what ws suggested.
Mary
Do you have a freezer? If so, it's much easier just to whip a couple of cold baps out each morning... You can cut them in half and fill them while still frozen, and by lunchtime they'll be thawed and fine.
David
The other tactic is to bake the whole loaf, cut it in half as soon as cool, and freeze half of it.
We've got a Panasonic, a big hit of a christmas present for Mrs S (well, actually Mrs E, but that's a long story). We've bought precisely 2 loaves of bread from bakers/supermarkets since, and I think that there was a reason for both of those.
They produce pretty good dough, and cutting and baking it produces pretty good results.
In fact they produce pretty good bread all round (well ours seems to)- on the scale of true handmade at one end and supermarket at t'other, they're a lot closer to handmade.
I'd recommend one.
-- Richard Sampson
email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk
Yes, that's what I used to do with lunchtime sandwiches for our children. Doesn't seem so long ago but it must have been more than twenty years ... I'd spend a day making bread and it would last us two or three weeks.
Making bread by hand is less time consuming than in a machine because you can make a large batch at one time and have a continuous process. With a bread machine you make one loaf at a time. I know, I had one because it seemed like a good idea but, apart from the less desirable results than the ones I made, it became a boring, repetitive chore.
Mary
My mother used to send me to school with the makings for filled rolls - without the rolls, but with a plastic knife, butter etc. There was a small baker that made delicious rolls, which I passed every day. So I made my own filled rolls - at school!
Funny, I find I need to back off on the salt. I think I use it for pizza dough more than anything else though.
Since you`re the font of all knowledge you might know the answer to this one (which I suspect might be a stupid question) - once the dough is prepared, can it be frozen prior to baking (to be done at a later date), or do you need to at least part-bake it ?
Despite rumours to the contrary I'm not the font of all knowledge (I don't even think that I am) but I do know about one part of this.
You can freeze dough or part cooked bread. I wouldn't do the latter - but have no rational explanation for that because I've never tried it.
What I would say (from experience) is that you shouldn't put dough into the
*fridge*.I did it once (following some magazine's instructions, from someone who'd obviously never done it) and in the morning found that the whole of the fridge was filled with dough. Every space, all instercises, were in-filled with the soft, bubbly substance. It was practically forcing open the door.
It was, to put it bluntly, a pain in the arse.
You'll know, if you read me, that I rarely say things like that so you'll understand how I felt about it.
Just don't do it. Freeze *dough* by all means. I wouldn't because it's so easy to bake it.
Commercial manufacturers freeze part-baked stuff. I've seen it but never used it. I can't understand part-baking something and then wasting energy by letting it cool and then freezing it, I suspect that the commercial folk speed-chill it, we don't have those facilities.
You choose. That's my experience.
Mary
OK, I might give it a whirl then... its about time we put it to some use!
LOL
I just timed making a loaf.
45 seconds, and take it out when it beeps, including weighing out flour and cleaning the stirry thingy.It can make a loaf in 1:10, but I prefer the 3:40 program that does double rise. The previous one would even make a loaf in 50 minutes, if you warmed the water first, but it was of course kind of soggy.
(800g loaf)
50% granary/50% white flour is in a largish tub next to the breadmaker, along with the oil, sugar and salt. All it is is drop breadmaker pan on scales, pour in almost a cupfull of water, till it hits 270g, add 540g flour, a dash of salt/pepper/oil, and half a packet of yeast, place breadmaker pan in breadmaker, and hit go. 3:40 later (or a longer time settable by the timer) it's ready.And absolutely no cleanup, if you'r moderately careful pouring the flour.
Does not require very clean hands, a surface to roll on, a large bowl to mix in, or any wiping down of surfaces afterwards, or washing utensils.
And also removes any possible complaints about not having done above cleanup, as you were just leaving things "to soak".
Also, if you'r putting it in the freezer, don't try to freeze too much all in a lump. I was freezing about 8 loaves worth (breadmaker had died) and placed a one-loaf quantity of dough in a freezer bag, pressed it flat, and then just stacked 4 on top of each other. The ones in the middle had risen noticably before they froze, enough that getting them out was almost difficult.
...
Oh yes, excellent point.
Mary
Yes, all you say is true about making one loaf.
Making a lot of bread to freeze at one go is less time consuming than in a machine, which is what I said.
In truth, now that I suffer from arthritic hands and can't knead without pain, I use a large Kenwood mixer (the Major) for making the dough. On a baking day the oven is on all day and enough bred is made to free up a month of days for other purposes. I don't have to be on hand to take out a loaf from the breadmaker so that it doesn't go soggy.
For me my way is best. For others it probably isn't. But we eat a lot of bread and we demand very good bread and a wide variety of textures, flavours, sizes and shapes.
The other end of the spectrum is to buy what people who know better than I do describe as insubstantial cotton wool from supermarkets.
Each to his own.
Mary
i've got a breadmaker but hardly ever use it as it just takes ages to make just a small loaf, they're not very pratical for largish families.
sammi
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