Sometimes you can take short cuts too far

[zakelwe]

Last week I made some lamb and chorizo empanadillas, I cheated by using pre made and rolled short crust pastry because in general that does not take away from the flavour of the food, you are still cooking it and it just made sense time wise. They were very good by the way, my artistic side did not mean they were perfect half moons but they were ok in the mouth.

Today my wife has done some bread. In a breadmaker. I hessitate to call it baking, she seems to have loaded a device and then walked away. For me that is a step too far with short cuts. Making bread involves the fun of the hard work with kneeding, the rising and the prep to get it in the oven and then out again to rest. The cooking process is part of what makes home baked bread special. If you don't do that you might as well just go down the supermarket and buy it still warm.

Maybe I am in a minority here, thoughts on how far you should do short cuts?


Andy

[Cotty]

I usually buy pre-made nan breads but im actually going to have a go of making them from scratch as it looks pretty straight forward

[tontoro]

If the bread out of the machine is better than that bought from the shop (I don't know if it is or not), then I don't see what the problem is?

[condor]

I use a breadmaker usually every 3 days to make a loaf - much better than shop bought, healthier to
It would be better still if it was properly hand made...but I'm happy to get the machine to do the work.

[zac510]

I think it's fine to use a shortcut but when it comes to bragging rights/credibility you have none

[Kays vRS]

I was offered a breadmaker recently but I declined. I enjoy the whole process of making things by hand. For similar reasons I don't own a food processor or mixer either. I can see why people do take short cuts though but it feels too much like cheating to me

[calibrax]

With a breadmaker at least you still control exactly what goes into the bread. So yes, although it's a shortcut it's still a step above buying a prepared loaf.

If you think about it, there are many shortcuts which we all take. How many of us actually make mayonnaise from scratch, or tomato ketchup? Do we churn our own cream, make our own cheese, grind flour, butcher our own meat? So, where do you draw the line?

[anonymous-user]

If the end result is good, who cares!

I like to take sort cuts sometimes, and I'll do everything by hand at other times...

[CarTimeNow]

i use the breadmaker as i can't do the kneading without buggering up my wrists for several days (don't ask!) then bake as rolls in the oven, far tastier, less salt and much better than any shop bought ones imo

[uncinqsix]

Breadmakers are a great way of getting into home made bread, and I don't think they are a shortcut too far. I do think that the shaping and baking part of the cycle are not done that well by a breadmaker, which means they are a bit limiting and easy to "outgrow" if you want to get a bit more serious. IMO, the best way to go about things is to buy a stand mixer (like a Kitchenaid or Kenwood), and a loaf tin. You can do all the mixing and kneading in the mixer, rise it in the mixer bowl somewhere warm, and then final rise/bake in the loaf tin. Gives a lot more flexibility.

There's nothing wrong with machine kneading at all - it's how all the pros do it.

[zakelwe]

Have you all been talking to my wife behind my back? Outragous ... I expected some more high fives and "Andy you are da man".

Sigh

Well my wife is out so I am secretly trying out the breadmaker. Don't tell

Firstly, although it is just a simple task my wife got it all wrong because she did not

RTFM.

That's the problem with dumbing down, you dumb it down so far people can't even do that. So she used cold milk out of the fridge. She used the wrong sort of yeast. Given you just load it into the bread mixer that's not a good start.

Well let's see how my effort goes after reading the manual. It's making some clicks and whirs and pings in there, lets hope it doesn't end up like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjGRySVyTDk

The Hal 9000 breadmaker.

Andy

[condor]

I don't know why she's using milk from the fridge - although you can add milk.

Easy way to make a loaf with a breadmaker -
Assuming your breadmaker requires liquids first
Just less than 12 fluid ozs of water in a pyrex measuring jug ( 30 secs on hi in the microwave for tap water)
Add to breadmaker's tin
Dollop of olive oil ( approx 1 tablespoon) added to breadmake's tin
teaspoon of salt added to breadmaker's tin
That's the base sorted

Now.... just under 4 cups of flour for the small loaf setting - after the first two have been put in the breadmaker tin, add a teaspoon of sugar to the 3rd cup and continue.


Finally add 2 teaspoons of fast action dried yeast in a small heap on top of the flour.

Either choose the option small normal loaf, time approx 2 hours 53 mins
OR choose the dough option, which should take 1 hour 30 mins and remove from tin and shape and bake in your own oven.

Simples

[zakelwe]

condor said:

I don't know why she's using milk from the fridge - although you can add milk.

Easy way to make a loaf with a breadmaker -
Assuming your breadmaker requires liquids first
Just less than 12 fluid ozs of water in a pyrex measuring jug ( 30 secs on hi in the microwave for tap water)
Add to breadmaker's tin
Dollop of olive oil ( approx 1 tablespoon) added to breadmake's tin
teaspoon of salt added to breadmaker's tin
That's the base sorted

Now.... just under 4 cups of flour for the small loaf setting - after the first two have been put in the breadmaker tin, add a teaspoon of sugar to the 3rd cup and continue.


Finally add 2 teaspoons of fast action dried yeast in a small heap on top of the flour.

Either choose the option small normal loaf, time approx 2 hours 53 mins
OR choose the dough option, which should take 1 hour 30 mins and remove from tin and shape and bake in your own oven.

Simples

This brings up a good question, does the order you put the dried stuff into the breadmaker matter? I would say it does. I would say putting the yeast in first seems to me, as a virgin, wrong because it sits at the bottom of the bowl, where as if you put it in last or in the middle it has more chance of combining. Of course I'd rather let it get frothy on it's own in a jug with the water and then add it so you don't have to worry, however this is a big no no apparently.

I did cheat a bit, I mixed all my dried ingredients in a bowl before so properly mixed, yes I am a Luddite. Then I added the oil and did same so it became a very dry cake mix. Then into the "contraption"

It seems to be doing ok.



Lets hope it does not force itself through the top and start taking over the planet only to be beaten at the last minute by Bruce Willis armed with a carving knife and some tupperware.

Andy

[zakelwe]

Has anyone seen Dad's army where Clive Dunn says "Dont Panic, don't panic"

He must have seen my breadmaker



Jeez. Perhaps I should have read the manual.

Even worse, Mrs Zakelwe has just got home and has resorted to Victorian stylee comments by saying she is not amused.

This would never have happened if I had done it manually of course, just check my cheesy beer and chive scones.

Honest.



Found a bottle of wine to soften the impact, more photo's to follow. Great thing about the breadmaker it tells you to the minute when your disaster will appear. Started heating up the normal oven as we speak

In the meantime watch this youtube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOWJECdobqk

Andy

Edited by zakelwe on Thursday 26th May 20:16

[zakelwe]

The Eagle has landed, all my own work made it expand to much perhaps. It's very light though...



I lost part of the cooking paddle, it seems to be in the japs eye of the bottom of the loaf



However I have to say the results are pretty good. Damn.

I will have to try this with highly hydroginated pizza dough for my hob and oven pizza's.

Andy

[condor]

Not too bad for a first attempt

It is important that the dried yeast is the last thing you put in the breadmaker...preferably in a little heap I thought you read the manual

There's a little gadget to get the kneading paddle out of the bread - best done when the bread is fresh out of the tin as it heals itself somewhat.

[SoggyHonda]

This post has reminded me how my mum and I used to make homemade bread together. I also used to make homemade pizza bases, really easy and definitely beat the frozen ones!

[Bob the Planner]

I used to make bread by hand but after finding a bread maker for $30 gave it a go. I took some experimenting with yeast quantities to get a decent loaf but even the 'failures' where better than the shop bread.

[Bob the Planner]

Cotty said:

I usually buy pre-made nan breads but im actually going to have a go of making them from scratch as it looks pretty straight forward

Naan are easy, although SWMBO usually makes the dough - actually I don't know if she does it by hand or in the bread maker. I usually come in at the end and knead in some grated garlic and chopped coriander. So much better in the dough than put on top.

Also tried my own olive, sundried tomato and basil bread in the bread maker. Chopped and added at the second rise stage.

[Rude Girl]

We use the bread maker all the time, and have done for the last 5 years or so.

If I'm time-rich, the machine makes the dough and I cook it in the oven. If I'm in a hurry, I let the machine do it all and suffer the hole in the middle of the loaf.

A shortcut too far? Only if you prefer your bread to be pappy and full of salt. Honestly, even premium or rustic breads taste like salty mush compared with a reasonable home loaf.

As for bought pastry, apart from all butter puff or feuille de brick, why would you? Anything and everything you make at home is significantly better.