Breadmakers!

[yola]

Well, who would have thought it . . . after years of saying they were a waste of money I bought one for OH as a 1/2 joke to go with the gluten-free baking book i got him.

How wrong was I???

This is the best thing we've had for ages! OH is busy experimenting with gluten free, spelt and rye flour in various combinations and adding things such as fruit, beer, olives and cheese to his baking delights (not all together I might say).

And each loaf has been better than the last . . . I have to say, for those that love fresh bread and welcome the freedom to experiment, a bread maker is the way to go! And at around 80p a loaf as opposed to the 2 pound + for an 'artisan' loaf in the supermakets it will pay for itself before the year is out.

[angieh]

I agree that a breadmaker is a great bit of kit! We probably don't use ours enough, but so far we've only had one misfortune and I expect that was down to stale yeast.

I would be very interested in hearing about spelt recipes - or perhaps the title of the gluten-free book you mention Yola. Glad that you and your OH are impressed and happy with your purchase.

[calismum]

This is something I've been thinking about for a while.

Is it a bit of a waste, is the bread nice, is it worth it etc.

I love fresh bread, like different types of bread too. So, perhaps I should give it a bit more thought.

[Kazz]

Not something I have considered going to try and nail basic bag opening before moving onto bread, :) A friends of mine who has gluten free products swears by hers.

[Squirrel]

My parents seem to eat almost nothing else now. I on the other hand tend to ask them to buy in bread for me - I'm not terribly confident slicing bread, and I tend to find that it's too dense for me to eat. I have found it's not too bad if toasted...

[angieh]

This is something I've been thinking about for a while.

Is it a bit of a waste, is the bread nice, is it worth it etc.

I love fresh bread, like different types of bread too. So, perhaps I should give it a bit more thought.

IMO it is delicious. You do have to remember though that it is not like bought bread and does not have preservatives etc. in it, so does not keep as long.

My parents seem to eat almost nothing else now. I on the other hand tend to ask them to buy in bread for me - I'm not terribly confident slicing bread, and I tend to find that it's too dense for me to eat. I have found it's not too bad if toasted...

Again IMO, it is extra delicious toasted. I recommend the half strong white/half wholemeal loaf, which is my fave atm.

[dandysmom]

Good to hear that it's been such a success, Yola. I used to make bread (by hand) fairly regularly till Whole Foods opened; have gotten spoiled by their artisan breads.

I have an excellent recipe for Bela Kruh, a peasant bread, if any one would be interested.

[lynz85]

my OH has recently aquired one, he used to make it by hand before but they didnt rise very well! it does smell and taste delicious done in the maker, and as said only down point is that it doesnt last very long! im looking forward to making a banana bread :)

[dandysmom]

As far as not keeping too long because of no preservatives, I usually made two smaller loaves instead of one larger, and froze the second. Bread freezes very well, and more practical when cooking for one.

[calismum]

Good to hear that it's been such a success, Yola. I used to make bread (by hand) fairly regularly till Whole Foods opened; have gotten spoiled by their artisan breads.

I have an excellent recipe for Bela Kruh, a peasant bread, if any one would be interested.

Sounds good - I'd quite like to try it DM.

[angieh]

Yes, me too please Eileen!

[yola]

And me!! Would like to have a look at that recipe. Eileen.

We find that a loaf doesn't last much more than a day with the 4 of us eating the bread so doesn't have much opportunity to get stale.

Our Panasonic unit comes with a booklet that has a range of recipes from basic white loaf to spelt/brown; rye, rye/brown, foccacia etc.

The gluten free book we have Angie is Phil Vickery's Gluten-Free baking. We're doing a treacle sponge pudding tonight; we'll see how it goes - smells good though :D

[dandysmom]

Yes, me too please Eileen!

Posted in the recipe sticky. It's for making by hand, but sure you all know how to adapt it to a bread machine. I think it's a Hungarian recipe.