[grendel]

well this morning I woke to a horribly sagged loaf, the drive belt had come off the breadmaker, this happened once before a few months back, and as we use it on a daily basis its a pretty essential bit of kit round here. So when I had just got up I started into the stripdown, I diagnosed the problem, the pull of the drive belt had worn the bearing, so the pulley was tilted, causing the belt to slip off.
a fix was thought through, the bearing removed and rotated through 120 degrees. well this worked well and straightened the pulley  up nicely, the whole was put back together - great I thought, my breadmaker has another lease of life. Sadly this was not the case as I found when I came to put the bread tin back in, to find the lock mechanism that holds  the bread tin in place had rotated with the bearing. so a fond farewell was made with my 3 year old plus breadmaker and a new one has been purchased. another Morphy Richards, on the basis if the last lived longer than 3 years of daily use, then a new one should hopefully do the same. (I do note that the same bread tin and bearing are used).
Grendel

[mumofstig]

bad luck. They become indispensable don't they 

[the Kergan]

We had one but couldn't really get on with it. The bread was always stale in a day or so and the bread maker left a big hole in the bottom of the loaf as well.

[grendel]

you kind of get used to the hole to be honest, and mostly the bread doesnt get a chance to go stale, as I generally have to bake a new loaf every day.
Grendel

[devonbarmygardener]

I'm a purist when it comes to breadmaking - though granted, I don't have time to make it everyday!

Do you save a lot of money with a breadmaker?

Emma

[NN2Blue]

We had one but couldn't really get on with it. The bread was always stale in a day or so and the bread maker left a big hole in the bottom of the loaf as well.

Real read should go stale in a day! Don't you wonder what the manufacturers put in to preserve what you buy?

[grendel]

you save a little, after you have factored in the electric etc, I havent done the sums recently, but it worked out about 60p a loaf last time I did it, you can probably buy cheaper with 'value' brands but at least you know whats in your own loaf, plus you get a fresh loaf just when you want it.
Grendel

[grendel]

yes - just done a quick calculation, with asda flour I can do a loaf for about 40p, using allinson flour its about 60p per loaf. so it all depends upon how expensive the ingredients are - to be honest middle of the road does a  great job for me.
Grendel

[devonbarmygardener]

you save a little, after you have factored in the electric etc, I havent done the sums recently, but it worked out about 60p a loaf last time I did it, you can probably buy cheaper with 'value' brands but at least you know whats in your own loaf, plus you get a fresh loaf just when you want it.
Grendel

No bought loaf tastes like freshly baked bread - it's delicious.

I've bought some lovely flavoured flours lately - some of the gardens and NT properties mill their own now and they make some lovely breads.
Tomato and garlic flour makes a great bread for bruschetta

Emma

[jay001]

We had one but couldn't really get on with it. The bread was always stale in a day or so and the bread maker left a big hole in the bottom of the loaf as well.

Real read should go stale in a day! Don't you wonder what the manufacturers put in to preserve what you buy?

i agree it should !!! - i make bread every day myself and the taste is to die for-- am i blowing my own trumpet there ?  i was toying with the idea of one but now i hear from several people on here about a hole in the bottom i will stick with hand made thankyou very much  if i am having a particulary bad day hands wise i just knock up a soda bread loaf -a lot less neading and no rising time needed ( no pun intended  ) or if really bad day then it,s corn bread here we come !!! i like to taste my bread not take a bite of fresh air and preservatives as with shop brought --- so bread maker,s are with there holes in the bottom not for me --- long live the purists !!   

[grendel]

yes the kneading paddle has to go somewhere, sometimes it stays in the loaf, which is when I stick a teaspoon handle in to lever it out, but it does save time, just throw the ingredients in and 3 hours later take a steaming hot loaf out. my new one has a french bread setting that I am dying to try - even though it takes nearly 4 hours.
Grendel

[NN2Blue]

We had one but couldn't really get on with it. The bread was always stale in a day or so and the bread maker left a big hole in the bottom of the loaf as well.

Real read should go stale in a day! Don't you wonder what the manufacturers put in to preserve what you buy?

i agree it should !!! - i make bread every day myself and the taste is to die for-- am i blowing my own trumpet there ?  i was toying with the idea of one but now i hear from several people on here about a hole in the bottom i will stick with hand made thankyou very much  if i am having a particulary bad day hands wise i just knock up a soda bread loaf -a lot less neading and no rising time needed ( no pun intended  ) or if really bad day then it,s corn bread here we come !!! i like to taste my bread not take a bite of fresh air and preservatives as with shop brought --- so bread maker,s are with there holes in the bottom not for me --- long live the purists !!   

It's the design of the mixing paddle; on mine it should come out with the loaf and then be carefully removed with minimum damage. Even though I oil everything before use, some times it sticks and you do end up with a hole in the bottom of the loaf - not the end of the world considering you bung everything in, switch on and a loaf emerges a couple of hours later! 

[mumofstig]

One of the joys of making your own bread is in trying different recipes, whether hand-made or in the machine.   

Results sure ain't like supermarket bread

[jay001]

can certainly see the benefit,s of taste and conveinience for someone with a busy life style -- didnt realise that is all you had to do with them ---- but hey guy,s and gal,s not being swayed --- still staying with the purists on this one hee hee 

[Janeymiddlewife]

Just wondering, haven't tried it yet, rather than using oil on the paddle, what about a solid grease? As the first ingredients usually in the tin are water or milk, wouldn't they wash the oil off? Therefore does solid grease work any better? Anyone tried?