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So... I realy want to get a bread machine :) . And am looking at the Panasonic SD-YD250, But this is the same person that can't cook anything without my cast iron skillet. So if you guys could help me out a tad with your opinions and experiences. ie is it something that once the Novelty wears off it never gets used or can't live without it :) etc.
Please and Thank you
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Comments
bread machines
It doesn't really matter which one you get they are about the same and last about as long as the next.
They take special yeast, and truthfully the bread they make is edible but tastes yeasty. I got one for the recipe book.
Homemade bread isn't super hard to make really. I do it the old way with actual tin bread pans, aluminum just burns the bottom.
Ont thing I never Figured out is how they expect bread to cook properly on a 110 plug when it takes 350 F 40 mins to cook loaves in a regular oven.
350 oven.
The women of my family all make homemade bread. we cook at 300 for as long as it takes... depends on a bunch of factors. wait til the loaf is just past medium golden and then turn it upside down in a towel if it thumps nice and hollow then its done. Put it on a rack and let it cool... as it cools it will continue to cook.
The 350 oven is probably why the bottoms are burning. *grin*
Dayna.
Just my two cents. If you
Just my two cents.
If you have an oven, and the automatic (timed) make and bake is not part of the attraction...
...Get a good mixer instead. I received the 7qt Cuisinart for Christmas, and it has made making 2 and 3 pounds loaves three and two at a time easy peasy. Or one pretty 8 pound edible centerpiece (emphasis on the pretty). Also, you can do more with it, like grind sausage, roll pasta, grind wheat for flour (and malt for beer) with the attachments.
Bread Machine
Get one that is HUGE. the blade in the bottom cuts 1.5" off the bottom of bread that has a big hole in the bottom.
Never dishwasher the bowl. soak the blade in water and GENTLY scrub it. It's got nonstick stuff on it... and once it rubs off the hole in the bottom of the loaf will become a GASH that takes half the bottom off.
Learn to love bread crumbs you make yourself in the food processor. I have a freezer full of bags of crumbs because I refuse not to keep the slashed bread.
You don't need 'special yeast' its all marketing. Yeast is yeast and it all grows the same. If you don't like yeasty taste... use less yeast and more sugar... add spices and herbs too. I added raw onions once. It turned out really tasty. I also like a pat of butter on top as sometimes the top can be a little pale... and butter helps it brown nicely.
Oh and don't get used to having one... cuz for $50-$70 each... the manufacturer doesn't offer repairs or broken pieces replacement only go buy another one.
Oh and btw... never ever expect the same loaf every time. One time perfect, 10 times sorta nice, and 5 times complete flops.
Measure everything...no eyeballing. Oh and the breadmachine recipe needs more or less water based on humidity and elevation.
Dayna.
Ps we got more than a little frustrated with the slash so we brought some bread tins and now we let the Machine do the work dump it into a pan and bake it. An expensive mix master would have been a better buy
Bread Making Videos
We have a Panasonic Bread Maker which works fine.
If you can find a copy of Video Bread Basics or Video Bread DVD's by Stephen J. Ryan (my local library has them), they will help you make great bread without a machine.
Roll your own
You have already made the important choice, to make your own. We are lucky enough to be within a few minutes walk of a small local bakery (bakehouse and one shop!) but home-made is even better than that. And as for CBP... words fail me.
We can source good flour locally - directly from the mill, with most of the wheat grown on a farm that is less than two miles from the mill, and that flour certainly also makes a difference for the better.
A machine won't make bread as good as ours (hand-mixed and later raised in a traditional stoneware bowl), being worked on the counter-top in betwen, then proved and baked in steel bread-tins) but doing it is a real tie. Nature doesn't allow a pause, so you have got to be around for the whole process, end-to-end.
And that's where a bread machine really scores. Two of my children use them for all their bread needs; fill-and-forget really helps when you are working full-time and need bread for four.
Both of them have Panasonic machines though I don't know the model. I'm told there's not a lot to choose, but to buy a known brand.
Xi
I use my bread machine at
I use my bread machine at least once or twice a week. I enjoy the bread and I think it tastes like any homemade bread. I like the machine because I just measure everything and the machine does the rest.
bread machine
I like to use mine to make pizza dough.
Brilliant!
I'd swear by my Panasonic bread maker. I always make Hovis Granary bread (don't know whether that's available in the US) and when it's just out of the machine it tastes great.
You do need a regular routine for mixing and baking and I have got out of it lately, mainly because I used to do it late evening, and I tend to be washed out then - perhaps this blog will get me going again.
Good luck with it.
Charlotte
Thank you
Just a quick thank you to all :) You have helped me make up my mind (whats left of it anyhow:P)