You all seem to be such proficient chefs. Well here is a place to share some of that cooking knowledge. Or do you have a cooking problem? Ask away. Jams and chutneys go here too.
Thomzo wrote:I was thinking about this thread this morning as I turned out yet another carrot loaf. How are you getting on with yours, MMM? Are you still using it?
Cheers
Zoe
Yes all the time! Have had another episode where the seed dispenser didn't work though - and it contained 50g of sesame seeds, linseeds and poppy seeds, which went all over the place. Since then it has had a funny and unpleasant smell emitting from it as I think there are still seeds stuck inside its gubbins.
It tends to make loaves raised more on one side than the other as well.
None of those fancy seed dispenser things for me. I just throw the seeds in at the start (if I'm leaving it overnight) or (optionally) part way through the mixing if I'm around while it is doing its work.
I always put the seeds in at the start. They never seem to mind.
Zoe
Edited to say, they are a godsend aren't they. You really can't beat waking up to the smell of newly baked bread. Or getting home from a tough day at work and walking in through the door just as the bread maker beeps. Yummmmm
Well I am very glad I stocked up with Lidl bread mixes because with my dodgy foot even my husband is managing to make bread (actually it is a joint effort - he puts it in the pan and I press the buttons!
gosh all those breadmakers.....I find it kind of funny.
what about trying to make it by hand? it really doesn't take as much time as you think! just 15 minutes of kneading.....great stress relief to boot!
no seed dispensers with minds of their own...
and it saves on your electricity bills...
and saves money on breadmakers...
plus, you won't have to buy the special bags of breadmakers bread flour which are often more expensive (at least, here) and if not, have stuff added that regular bread flour has not....
ahhh I am so happy with those two hands attached to my arms....they do the job so well with the sourdough breads I make... ;)
happy baking everybody! great to have your own breads, be it from a breadmaker or from your bodypower!!
I bought mine to free up my time because I'd been making it by hand for 3 years and was getting really sick of doing it. Plus my loaves were not very good and very cake like compared to what comes out of the machine!
sorry to hear you being sick ;)
if your breads are cake like, it might be worth reviewing your techniques plus the flour you are using.
do you knead long enough? does the dough have enough liquid? etc.
sometimes it is just the kind of flour......takes some experimenting but after three years, I suppose you already know that.
happy baking!!!!
Berti, I tried French ordinary flour, French bread flour, English bread flour..... it must be my kneading technique. But the point is that I stopped enjoying making the bread and it became a real bore and a chore, so I am happy with my machine now!
Millymollymandy wrote:. it must be my kneading technique.
I hardly knead at all - just a minute at the end of it all, once it gets too dry for stirring. Seems to do fine for me. But then, everybody likes a different kind of loaf, so I suppose we'll just all have to try and find the "fool proof" way of bread making for our own purposes!
Must admit, I haven't made any for a while. And now I've just bought some rye bread at Lidls', so I won't need to make any for a while longer... MMM, btw, I've tried the bread mixes from them, too - I suppose they are the same we get here - and I actually rather like them! Just don't want to know what's in them apart from flour. Can't be worse than the usual commercial bread you buy in the shops here.
Ina
I'm a size 10, really; I wear a 20 for comfort. (Gina Yashere)
hmm interesting ina!
are you also on the dan lepard forum? if not, www.danlepard.com
there is plenty indeed about doing little kneading.
hasn't worked out yet for me so I do the real workout ;) but from what I read works a treat for others.
might be worth a new try....
breadmaking is not time consuming....especially not when done this way.
Berti wrote:hmm interesting ina!
are you also on the dan lepard forum?
No, not me! But I know some people make the dough quite sloppy, so you couldn't really knead that anyway. Mine is moist, but not sloppy, and I do minimum kneading...
Ina
I'm a size 10, really; I wear a 20 for comfort. (Gina Yashere)
The breadmaker is one luxury I wouldn't contemplate giving up. I certainly haven't got the time to spend 15 minutes kneeding bread two or three times a week. What with working long hours, renovating the house and coping with quarter of an acre of garden, looking after the chooks and having some form of social life. Also, it's not just the kneeding, it's the constantly having to come back to it after each rise, then put the whole oven on just for one loaf. There was a thread on here somewhere about the fact that it wasn't all that more wasteful to use a breadmaker.
Personally I don't use special breadmaker flour. I didn't even know it existed. Just normal organic bread flour suits me fine. I have used the Lidl packets but not for a while. They are nice if you need a quick loaf though.
Millymollymandy wrote:. it must be my kneading technique.
I hardly knead at all - just a minute at the end of it all, once it gets too dry for stirring. Seems to do fine for me. But then, everybody likes a different kind of loaf, so I suppose we'll just all have to try and find the "fool proof" way of bread making for our own purposes!
Must admit, I haven't made any for a while. And now I've just bought some rye bread at Lidls', so I won't need to make any for a while longer... MMM, btw, I've tried the bread mixes from them, too - I suppose they are the same we get here - and I actually rather like them! Just don't want to know what's in them apart from flour. Can't be worse than the usual commercial bread you buy in the shops here.
I like them too - they all contain some rye flour and there's one that's really nice and dark which is my favourite - but I've always liked pumpernickel type of bread. Heavy and moist is my preferred type of loaf. Probably why French bread and I don't get along as I don't go for light, white and fluffy with holes inside!
I agree about the French bread.....and it doesn't seem to keep more than a few hours either....
I make my own bread using the breadmaker on the dough setting and finishing off in the oven. At first sight it doesn't seem a very green way to go about things, but then we find the bread cooked in the machine doesn't rise so well, and the bit at the bottom where the paddle was always falls apart so we don't get so many slices out of it. So I think having the oven on is justified
Since then it has had a funny and unpleasant smell emitting from it as I think there are still seeds stuck inside its gubbins.
Read my 
But the point is that I stopped enjoying making the bread and it became a real bore and a chore, so I am happy with my machine now!
