Breadmakers?

[gigglybug]

I'm hoping to get a breadmaker ( ) but on my limited budget it seems to be between a Kenwood Fast Bake or a Cookworks one, I was wondering if anyone has tried either of these???
Would it be better to wait until I can get a Panasonic?

Any info appreciated!
Thanks

Amanda

[Thurston Garden]

I have no personal knowledge of any/either of these, but my parents bought a reasonably cheap one and friends were given a dearer one for Christmas. Both machines get a lot of use!

I cannot bring myself to use anything with a plug on it that is not necessary. Fortunately we have a Rayburn so when I have time, our bread is baked in there. I get my flour from the local green shop in bulk - I get 10kg of strong white and 10kg of wholemeal and mix it 50/50. Works out at about £1/kg that way, although I have not bought any for about 4 months and suspect it will have gone up significantly since then.

Good luck with your loaves! (Mum is keen to make jam in hers this year )

[wulf]

Last summer I replaced my old breadmaker (eventually done for because the seal at the bottom of the baking pan gave way) with a Morphy Richards Fastbake machine that was on offer at about £40 in Sainsburys. That was a pretty good price.

What kind of price are you looking at on the machines you are considering?

Wulf

[gigglybug]

I can only spend about £30ish, at the moment, so probably might be best to wait for a bit.

Thanks for letting me know about getting flour in bulk, I will definately be looking into it!

Amanda

[ina]

Have a look on freecycle - there were several on up here just lately. (I think Christmas presents for people who already had one!)

And see if there is a food coop in your area - that's where we are getting our flour, in bulk (25 kg bags, but we share, of course).

[Welsh Girls Allotment]

I got mine on freecycle and it does a great job, I would recommend freecycle

[Thurston Garden]

I think our shop gets their flour from Suma. I understand that if Suma don't supply an outlet within a certain distance from you, they would supply you direct.

Perhaps Shirlz might have an idea given her Co-op experience?

[gigglybug]

Thanks guys, I will look into suma!!!

I'm yet to see one on freecycle, but I will kep my eyes peeled!!

Cheers,

Amanda

[mrsflibble]

we had one on freecycle last week but it was gone in minutes

[ina]

I think our shop gets their flour from Suma. I understand that if Suma don't supply an outlet within a certain distance from you, they would supply you direct.

Perhaps Shirlz might have an idea given her Co-op experience?

I don't even think it's dependent on a shop in the area - all we have to do as a coop is have a minimum order for £300 each time; and with a few people you get that together no problem. In fact, the first time we ordered I think I had about £400 just for myself...

[marshlander]

I'm with Ina, can't recommend Suma highly enough! Especially for rice, pulses and so on, also ecover in bulk.

[Shirley]

Suma do try to look at other shops in the area - but yeah, our minimum order is £350 but then we are out of their normal delivery area.

There are other places though - it's not just Suma. There are some with smaller minimum orders too. It depends on where you live I guess.

[Shirley]

oh.. and we've got a panasonic breadmaker and have been very pleased with it. It's lasted for years and gets fairly regular use. It was about £70 when we bought it in 2003

[Sky]

How do these bread makers work, I've looked inside them and all they seem to consist of is a little pan ... so it must be a pretty small loaf you get from them?

[Sky]

I've been just making my own, and the huge loaves I've been turning out don't seem to be satisfying my family!