[noshed]

Does anyone use one of these regularly? I'm tempted but worried that it will just end up in the cupboard.

[Jen]

i use mine every-other day, it's never sat in the cupboard, i use half white flour and half whole grain with bits in plus a hand full of sunflower seeds.
the onion and sun-dried tomatoe is very yummy, the house smells lovely when it's cooking  
for rolls just make the dough and shape as you like, great for the GC on wet days. only trouble is remembering that it takes 3hrs to make a loaf, :?  perhaps some of the newer ones are quicker.

jen

[gus]

We baught ours over a year ago and its on all the time.  :o It takes a bit of trial and error but the results are consistantly good   The house smells great and mine has a delay switch so at the weekend we can wake up to warm bread They are not for everyone as you can't make huge loaves.  :cry: Why not look in your small ads or ask a friend who has one what they recommend. Good luck.

[Alex 98]

Never used a machine, always on manual.
Very theraputic, in touch with the product, ingredients, takes the stress out of the week. Get up early on Staurday and the family awakes to the smell of yeast, bread etc etc
My sister had a macnhine as a wedding present.......not a success

DIY
C'mon

Alex 98

[agapanthus]

I had one....used it twice....cleaned it and took it back to the shop and got a refund!!! I much prefer doing it by hand.....and I find it's quicker, especially if it's proved in a very warm room or greenhouse!!!

[Ice]

If you are a busy person then a breadmaker is great.  Get a cupboard dedicated to the various ingredients, chuck them in the machine and wait.  There are some very good bread machine recipe books out there which also make life easier.  

Baking your own bread is great fun and very therapeutic, but if that is not your style then I would really recommend them.  After all, you then know exactly what is in your bread.  I have a recipe for cheese bread that I make constantly because it is great fresh, but even better toasted.  Yum.

[compostqueen]

I got one for a present. Don't think I'd have bought one. I use it all the time though even though I was sceptical.  The cake turned out all right anorl  

[Oscar Too]

Try doing it by hand first.  It really is therapeutic, and it doesn't take long - 20 mins to mix and knead, 40 mins to rise while you do something else, 40 mins to bake while you do something else.

When I lived on the farm, first job of the morning (after a cup of coffee) was to grind wheat and make 8 loaves of bread, every day.

Actually it's not just therapeutic, it's sensuous too : )

[Welsh Girls Allotment]

I got mine on freecycle and  use it all the time  

[noshed]

I've just bought some flour and yeast to have a go by hand.

[Ann]

We had one and used to find that it was ok for proving but we used to remove the dough and cook in the oven for better results.

Now I have invested in a Kenwood Chef and the dough is mixed in that and cooked in the oven, we find the results much better.

[Bear]

Ditto

I use mine for mixing, kneading and first prove. I then take it out shape it and put in a loaf tin, prove again and cook in the oven.


I've just seen a few in our local rag for sale about £20 each

[sawnee]

We use ours all the time Noshed, havent bought a loaf for about a year.  The bread machine came from LIDL cost about £25 bargain!!!
I have been over your part of the world for the last few days (West Ham bus garage) WHAT A LOT OF REGENERATION :shock:

[noshed]

It's mostly the Olympics and channel tunnel rail link. Shame the council tax will be about £1m a year soon...

[sawnee]

Thats the sad thing about it, the locals end up being pushed out or can't afford to live there anymore, all the local industries have gone and get replaced by Porche/Merc dealerships and office skyscrapers or in East Londons case, temporary sports stadiums.
Still something needed to be done but there are a lot of brownfield sites that could be used first.