Whilst on the road to self sufficiency I have been guided to attempt my own bread. Admittedly, a lot of influence has come from fellow bloggers but the most surprising source has come from my husband. JJ of all people, who has not one green credential to his name (apart from the time he bought an unleaded car and turned the bathroom light out...once) has been saying how good it would be to bake our own bread. Fast forward a couple of nights and a few bids on Ebay and Voila! We now have our very own bread maker, bought from funds saved through thrifty budgeting. Albeit a mini bread maker, and that is where my problems started. The make of bread maker is a Cook's Essential 1.2lb capacity, yet does it state anywhere, in the poor excuse of an instruction manual, a recipe I could follow. No! It is poorly written and difficult to understand. At no time does it mention the weights of ingredients to use. Not to be beaten I went to the Fountain of Knowledge 'Google' and came across a mini bread maker recipe and used that. Here are the results!I know I will have to dispose of the monstrosity before daughters 1 & 2 see it and be the object of their ridicule for the next few days. So please, I am appealing to anyone who can help. Any advice whatsoever will be appreciated. Thanks in advance xx
This is from a Panansonic SD254 for small loaf.
ReplyDeleteyeast 3/4 tsp
strong white flour 400g
sugar 1tsp
butter 15g
salt 1tsp
water 270ml
Bake 4hr
Works fine for me
We have a Panasonic and fine their recipes work well.
ReplyDeleteFor a wholemeal loaf we use: 1 tsp yeast, 100g rye flour, 300g wholemeal flour, 1 tsp salt, splash of olive oil, 330ml water.
5 hour programme. We do this overnight by using the timer to delay the start.
It is important to put the ingredients in the right order (yeast first, sprinkled over the base of the tin) so that the yeast and water don't come into contact too early in the process.
Do email me if you have any queries/need more recipes.
Pomona x
Does it tell you what order to put the ingredients in? Pomona must have a different breadmaker. With mine you put the wet ingredients first then sprinkle the dry on top, yeast last in the centre and sugar and salt in different corners.
ReplyDelete1- yes I too have a Panasonic [mine says dry THEN wet] - but all machines are different. try the opposite order next time
ReplyDelete2- cumbria and pomona's recipes look good and v similar to the ones I use
3- old flour and/or yeast can affect the rise drastically.
4- your attempt will probably taste fine - but if you cannot bear to let family see it, then recycle it as bread pudding or bread and butter pudding!!
5- do NOT give up!
blessings x
Despite the odd look about it, once I pulled it out it wasn't too bad. It did actually taste rather nice with my homemade veg soup. I'm going to try again tonight using Cumbrian's recipe.
DeleteThanks everyone that helps a lot. Am going to have to try different ingredients and methods. I'll keep you posted xx
ReplyDeleteFirst attempts arent always perfect! We have a panasonic and I agree with everything thats been said so far. Try the different recipe.
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is stick with it - and if it tastes good, then be happy with that! It always takes a while to get things perfect :D
ReplyDeleteI use my Mother's recipe, and she did HEAPS of fiddling around with it to finally get it right...so I'm afraid I'm not any help with solving bread recipes as I use our tried and true version and stick to that recipe only!
Best of luck,
Sarah xoxo
I hope you persevered and mastered it. Just remember it doesn't really matter what it looks like, it's the taste and knowing exactly what's in your loaf that is the best bit about homemade bread.
ReplyDeleteSue xx
I've not got a bread maker but make mine using the mixer to knead so sorry, can't help. I bet the bread was edible though.
ReplyDeleteLove from Mum - just blog hopping around.
xx
I bought a Panasonic breadmaker, not the rye one as that was another £40. I have never had a bad loaf unless you count the one where I set the controls in the dark and must have just done the wrong one.
ReplyDeleteThe dry ingredients are put in first, yeast, flour, sugar, salt, butter, water.
For your information, Cooks Essentials are a product sold by QVC. I bought a black one from their outlet store and it would appear that the instructions had been translated from Chinese!!! I took it back as it just didn't pan out with me and went to buy the Panasonic.
I have had four breadmakers, and two of them broke, one I gave to a friend and this one is absolutely wonderful. I can let you have some recipes if you wish.
I think it looks like it is rising too much. Have you definately got the right recipe for the right model of breadmaker i.e have you used the right quantity for the machine? If you use the exact quantities as their manual says and in the correct order, then I would say there is something wrong with the machine.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you try ringing panosonic to ask them their advice, as they have a good customer service.