Bread Makers

therealnerd2 · 4 Jun 2011 at 12:40

So I received a bread maker for Christmas last, and a wonderful device it is. The house is filled with the delightful smell of freshly baking, and when it comes out a wonderful soft loaf is produced perfect for sandwiches and snacks.

However, all is not well in my idilic rural dreams.

When the loaf comes out, it takes a good few hours before it is even possible to cut decent slices - that is, unless you like your slices looking like chewed up balls of mess.

After this, the loaf dries out very quickly. I've tried sealing and fridging, whatever happens the quality is noticable poorer even 24 hours later. The crust is tastless and dry, and the center gets hard.

This gives us a very small window to have nice tasting bread, and means we have to make loaves daily, and throw away quite a lot of it.

I even (hides head) went back to an ASDA loaf the other day. Many perfectly carved slices, no wastage, soft and tasty for 5 days at least.

Has anyone got any bread making tips? Are there any longevity tips or additives I should be using? Any bread slicers I could get?

Thanks!

Cybermyk · 4 Jun 2011 at 13:01

Just experiment. Honey instead of sugar, add a teaspoon of milk powder or use skimmed milk instead of water. Use olive oil instead of butter etc.

You might even find that a mix of wholemeal and plain flour will give you what you want.

kayomani · 4 Jun 2011 at 13:09

I also find a bit of olive oil helps and for bread slicing I just use an electric carving knife with a guide.

iraiguana · 4 Jun 2011 at 13:18

Fresh bread will only last 1-2 days before it begins to go hard. You can add a pinch of salt if not already and should help stabilise it a little longer.

What exactly is your recipe so far and maybe people can suggest some tweaks from there?

HeadlessChicken · 4 Jun 2011 at 15:21

iraiguana said:
Fresh bread will only last 1-2 days before it begins to go hard. You can add a pinch of salt if not already and should help stabilise it a little longer.

What exactly is your recipe so far and maybe people can suggest some tweaks from there?

Depends on the loaf, but yes. My sourdough regularly lasts a week if left. Even normal whites are good for quite a number of days, just needing the outermost layer discarded.

I keep mine in a nice canvas bag to make sure it can breathe.

PhillyDee · 4 Jun 2011 at 17:00

I bought an electric meat slicer for mine from Argos, can slice it almost fresh, does need to cool down a touch