Hi grayham--I am sure there will be someone here that can help--stick around--I don't have one myself

I'm not sure, but I think that making your own bread, with a breadmaker, now works out to be just that little bit dearer than buying a loaf at the local supermarket, or bread shop. I know my son has one, the smell is great, when you wake up in the morning, and he's had a loaf timed, overnight, to be ready when you are. But he's used all that electricity.

Hello grayham.

You need to ask yourself this question:

"In 6 months will I be bothered with all this hassle?"

Best wishes.

Peter J.

Hello grayham.

You need to ask yourself this question:

"In 6 months will I be bothered with all this hassle?"

Best wishes.

Peter J.



Good point, PeterJ.

My sister bought one quite a few years ago...used it a lot for about 6 months....have never seen it since.

The point about the cost being more. I wonder when that comparison was made. The reason I bring it up, is, I've noticed in the last few months, bread has skyrocketed in price.

Some of the specialty breads are nearly $5.00 a packet. ...and they are generally a smaller loaf than the everyday sliced....which is now hovering around the $4.00 mark.

Hi Koko.

Same with me.

My daughter bought one and it stayed 6 months and then it disappeared!

Best wishes.

Peter J.

Also some people put on weight for the short time they do use one as they use so much more margarine/butter/jam etc because of eating fresh hot bread :) The cost of bread making ingredients are not cheap but we are all able to do what makes us happy and if making your own bread like the olden days does I am sure it would be very nice but expensive. We buy the Alid bread at a couple of dollars for the big loaf of soy and linseed or mixed grain for me and just white because that is all Peter can eat as far as bread goes and we think it is very good quality for just $1.09 a loaf.

It is like anything a bread making machine may just be the ticket for you and like you I would ask people which one they find the best re simple and efficient and cost wise a good buy.

All the best

Phyl.

Hello,grayham, I have had a Breville breadmaker for some months now & believe me the novelty has not worn off.I make 2 loaves a week on average, depends on the visitors.

Sure you can buy cheaper at the Supermarket, but mine makes a large loaf ,& seems to be more substansial than the cheaper breads. It works out to about $1.30 a loaf, & I dont see any appreciable difference in my electricity bill.

If you buy one make sure you get the one that makes th normal long loaf,some of them make a tall one.

I have a Breville Ultimate Bakers Oven,& I use Defiance Bread mix & Defiance yeast. Good luck.

Hi Tweety.

That sure sounds good.

I bet they smell great!

Best wishes.

Peter J.

Hi Grayham,

I had a panasonic bread M/c and thought it was great. However, as I love anything to do with cooking food, I went into an alternative method. I used my Kenwood Chef mixer with a dough hook and it makes BETTER bread than a machine.(Plus the fact that you don't have holes in in where the agitator was)

I agree that machine flours are probably more expensive, plus the fact that they have ALL the additives of commercial bread which I feel gets away from the purpose of making your own bread.(Natural) Another plus is the fact that,YOU made it yourself.

So, my method is 1) Used unbleached flour 500grams. 2) 8 grams of dried yeast. 3) 7 grams salt. and 4) 330 grams of warm water.

METHOD. mix the dry ingredients until combined. (about one minute on speed Min.) increase speed to 1 and add water slowly. When added, you will see that the dough starts to come together. increase speed to 2 and knead for approx three minutes.

Then take out of the bowl and remove the dough and hook. spray bowl with an oil (canola) and put dough back in the bowl and cover with a piece of oiled Glad wrap. Leave for 1 1/2 hrs or so in a warm place until doubled in size. PUNCH the dough and knock all the air out and knead again (by hand for a minute or so. shape dough to fit your loaf pan, making sure you tuck the rough bits under. cover again with oiled Glad wrap and let rise again until comes to the top of the pan.

Remove wrap and place into a preheated oven at 220c for 35 minutes until a hollow sound is heard when you tap it. Cool on a wire rack. Finally, PLEASE don't leave the bread when there are children around, as it seems to have lumps missing from it.

It Probably sound complicated but I can assure you that this IS bread your great grandmother used to make.Very little time of yours because the mixer does the work and the rising time.

ENJOY

The smell of fresh bread is a thing I remember about my younger days going to schools there was always the smell of fresh bread baking form the bakery near the school--what a wonderful smell it is.

For 6 months, I lived next door to a bakery, in a country town. To wake up to those delightful smells, was wonderful. To go next door and actually get one of those beautiful smelling loaves was great. They used the wood fired ovens, so maybe that added to the aroma.

Yes it is a great smell and we don't seem to ever get it any more--sometimes get a wiff when near Subway--but nothing like the old wood fired ovens

Hi again,I also bake bread from scratch in my breadmaker. :-) The only reason I use the mix is not only for convenience,but I am getting on in years & its easier. I have a friend who makes her bread to her own recipe in the breadmaker,its quite easy to do. as for the hole in the bottom of the loaf, the later machines have a collapsable blade ,wich only leaves a small hole, good luck again.

I have a Breville bread maker, it cost me at the time about $99 -on special at my You Can Bake it Shop. I do not know if they are anywhere else but in Perth there are a few around and the one I go to is in a shopping centre I use. They have absolutely heaps of different flours , including ones that are gluten free, and none of them have any preservatives or colourings in them.

When my husband was alive I used to make a minimum of 6 loaves a week, always had six in the freezer and one on the go.

Since having the bread maker the only time I get supermarket bread is when , since being widowed, I have to call on one of the charities for food and they always include either sliced bread or rolls.

At the moment I am eating a "Tuscany" loaf which is made with flour that is tomato, herb and garlic flour.

I do at times only have plain soft white flour on hand and then if I want to do something different I just grind black peppercorns into the flour or put in raisins, the options are endless.

I still find it a lot cheaper than the supermarket bread , the only time they would be cheaper is if they have it marked down , the extra cost of electricity is so small it is not worth worrying about and believe me with my financial problems if it was expensive i would stop.