RISE TO THE CHALLENGE (Breville Breadmaster)

Member Name: wardenblw431

Product:	Breville Breadmaster
Date:	18/08/03 (1021 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely fresh bread, Easy to use, Easy to Clean

Disadvantages: Have to wait 3 hours before enjoying a slice - ARGHH!, Have to experiment a lot to find perfect recipe

My mum bought me this spectacular piece of machinery for Christmas. She had one herself and made the mistake of offering me a slice of freshly baked bread with home-made raspberry jam. From then on, I constantly nagged at her to make me a loaf. She soon tired of this and decided to buy me one, in the hope I'd leave her alone.

I believe this breadmaker retails between anything from £50 - £60 and is available in many stores like Argos, Makro, etc. I don't know the exact cost as I mentioned before it was a lovely gift from my mum.

Breville have a long-standing high reputation in kitchen appliances and I am pleased to say that this product is no different and it lives up to its name, and yes it does what it says on the box.

This bread maker doesn't look at all different to any other bread makers on the market. It is white, square in shape, has buttons on the top and a window for you to watch the whole bread-making process. To this day I still enjoy watching the dough being kneaded and pummeled. I must get out more. This bread machine is fan-assisted which is great as it helps with even cooking.

The hand-book supplied is very comprehensive and contains a few recipes to start you off, including several gluten-free options should you have any dietry requirements. You can also prepare pizza dough, bread rolls or French bread. The list is endless.

Like other bread machines on the market, the Breville Breadmaster is simple to use. There are no fiddley parts to assemble and the instructions are all clear and easy to follow. Firstly you need to remove the bread pan from the machine with a simple twist and add the ingredients as listed in order. Return the pan to the machine, close the lid, switch on, select desired program, size of loaf (500g, 750g, or 1kg) and let the machine do its business.

The first time I made a loaf I watched the whole process and I started to panic during the 'rise' program. I
could see the dough rising and it looked like it was going to work its way out the machine. But everything was fine, no need to worry. After 3.5 hours my lovely loaf was ready. If this seems too long to wait there is a rapid bake program, but I've yet to try this as I'm quite happy to wait longer.

There is a built-in timer which is ideal for those who want to wake up to the smell of fresh bread in the morning. The timer can be delayed for up to 13 hours.

It has taken a few attempts to get the perfect loaf of bread, I find experimenting with the ingredients can give better results, sometimes adding a little bit more sugar and less yeast can help.

All in all, I am really pleased with my bread-maker. My favourite loaf is the granary, it tastes so much better than shop bought bread, and the pizzas are divine.

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