The kneading is the hard part. We had a machine, it produced reasonable results if you didn't mind the slighly odd shape and hole in the bottom. We settled on just using it to make the dough which was put into conventional tins and oven for baking. Eventually it wore out, seal around paddle shaft in base of tin.
It's recently been suggested that we get another one. This idea seems to have been dropped since I said strong flour is hard to obtain and there is a Kenwood mixer in the cupboard that might have been used a couple of times...
Hmm, 'Fun with Bread' sounds as fun as Sheldon Coopers 'Fun with flags'. ;-)
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Yes, I can see that is easy to do. ;-)
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Quite. ;-)
I like the idea of a bread roll but maybe more in the summer to have as a crusty sandwich, or to have with soup, but not generally the greatest thing since sliced bread (and hence the saying). ;-)
Flour might be more difficult to get on the street than other white powders these days. ;-(
Oh, I wish that was a problem here. Soooo many things I should / could be doing ...
The Kenwood works very well for kneading dough. I drop the ingredients in while I'm doing other stuff in the kitchen, it does its thing, I turn it off and let it rise, then take it out and shape it for whatever tin I happen to be using. Yes, strong flour is very difficult to get now. I've just managed to get a 10 kilo sack of chapati flour, which i haven't worked with before - I'm curious to see how it works with my usual recipes.
The instructions say 340ml or so and I used a bit less this time as I didn't have any other flour than what was in the pack for dusting the surfaces so kept a little bit back.
When I was mixing it it seemed like there was only just enough moisture to wet out all the flour and as I said, was done (in a plastic bowl and wooden spoon) within a couple of mins (no dry flour to be seen, no moisture anyway, the resultant ball of dough generally keeping it's shape)?
I'm not saying there wasn't too much water, just that I followed the instructions and it didn't seem like it.
Also, they suggested 30 mins at GMk8 for 1 x 2lb tin, yet I only gave it 20 mins for 2 x 1lb tins and it was done in that time (bottom crusty etc).
I forgot how much of a PITA that was when I borrowed a neighbours bread maker. Whilst it might not sound much, if you only make a small loaf and you want to maximise the slices for toast or sandwiches, I can remember having several slices 'ruined' (in that they were split / broken) because of the damage from the paddle. ;-(
Yes, I remember that from the one I borrowed a while back (and we used the ingredients, rather than a 'kit').
Whilst I don't mind a (toasted especially) hot cross bun, I'm not sure I'd go as far as making my own (other than for the S&G's etc).
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Well, other than having it come out 'right', I don't. ;-)
I get the idea of programs, probably templates or factory presets for various types of things you might want to bake in there. Personally, I'd just like controls like you get with MIDI / ADSR, Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release values you set in to suit your specific needs and press go. OK, it might take some tweaking but you can?
Reading other comments here have reminded me of the 'impeller issue'. ;-(
Can't see me wanting that. ;-)
Going back to the mixer solution, are there compact mixers that will mix and knead, or is the kneading something you have to do by hand or would only be available with 'big' mixers?
So have I previously (only a few times).
Quite (no central heating here either <g>) and the instructions are very vague in that they don't define the temperature of 'a warm place'.
Yesterday I had the gas oven on low ready for it to be turned up to bake and rested the two 1lb tins on the hob during the proving stage.
They did seem to fill the tin when I put them in the oven but were about half the size (height mainly) when I took them out?
They tasted ok (that's just down to the ingredients I guess) and the texture was fine (light, soft, airy), just you would need 2-3 slices to equal one std sliced loaf slice size?
We also use a Panasonic SD-254 model, which must be about 10 years old. It also has lots of settings of which we only use 2 or 3 regularly. The only problem with it is that the mixing blade originally coated with non-stick finish is not as non-stick any more, but smearing it with a little butter before use seems to solve the problem.
A more serious problem is that bread flour and yeast seems to have vanished from the shops. Anyone spotted any recently?
The key to bread recipes is the hydration ie ratio of water to flour. I don't think your issue Tim is related to this unless you were way off. Assuming your recipe was 500g flour and 340ml(ie g) of water then hydration is 68%. Anything between 60 and 75 is common although as you go nearer the 75 the dough is sticky and harder to work with and also tends to need more kneading in my expwriwnce. You collapsing problem I think could be down to some of the following
The gluten wasn't developed enough e.g. not kneaded enough (assume the breadmaker had a setting for this so unlikely ) or you didn't have strong flour - I *think* normal flour needs more kneading as it has lower protein content but have never tried this
When you took the dough out of the machine you didn't cloak it to form a tight skim before putting it in the pan. 3. If the dough rise was quick it may have generated large pockets of gas and then when taking it out of the machine to put into a loaf tin easy to knock the air out and it deflates
Couple of questions
1 Did you let it further rise in the loaf tin before baking
Did the loaf rise at all in the oven
If you post the recipe you followed might help too
Not always and it depends on how you define 'meal'?
I typically have a very small breakfast (Muesli) as the Mrs can't eat first thing. We might then have my lunch / her brunch, baked beans, vegi sausage / facon, toms, mushrooms (not all, combo of) and then our main 'dinner' later on (5 to 9). That might still only be relatively small, half a baked sweet potato, half a plate of mixed veg and something Quorn, or a 1/4 of a Chilli or Spag bol etc.
There are days when I'll just have breakfast then nothing till later but (especially) when stuck at home ...
It's certainly a messy part (or can be if you don't have any 'extra' flour). ;-(
That sorta seems to be defeating the point?
And that was my worry (it not being used much) and why I was asking for feedback here.
The fact that the mix I have been using isn't rising as I hoped may be down to the mix (as mentioned by someone elsewhere) or something I'm not doing right but if it was working, once you get into the swing, the whole mixing / kneading bit doesn't seem to be a high enough cost compared with the cost and 'cons' of some (especially cheaper especially) bread makers?
This will need further thought / investigation. ;-)
I'd have to say, mixing the bread mix (kit) is the easiest part (or seems to be?) and the 2 mins of kneading not much more onerous (all be it a bit sticky / messy without extra flour).
So the tricky bit seems to be making it rise sufficiently, if we want a 'std sized slice' loaf etc (and we do).
Unfortunately, now doesn't seem to be a good time for finding the right individual ingredients for bread making. ;-(
So are you aware of the relationship between the time spent kneading versus how well it stays risen in the oven? I saw a snippet on a TV cooking program where someone phoned in to ask why their bread doesn't rise as hoped / expected and I think the answer was that it was likely they were 'over working' the dough?
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