When I were a lad (Cookworks Breadmaker)

Member Name: robinlawrie

Product:	Cookworks Breadmaker
Date:	17/01/02 (2375 review reads)
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Do you remember the advert for Hovis bread? The one where the young lad is pushing his bike to the top of an impossibly steep hill and delivering a loaf of freshly baked bread? Then freewheeling all the way down to the bakers again for breakfast with hot buttered bread. It used to bring back memories for me as I used to deliver freshly baked bread and groceries for the local Coop in a small village called Wooler in Northumberland, many years ago. The hills were every bit as steep as the one in the advert, and seemed to get steeper as the day wore on.

The greatest piece of nostalgia that the advert brought to me was the thought of freshly baked bread. I can smell it now as I write, that hot yeasty fresh smell that permeates every corner of the house until you have no option but to go and cut a slice. How is it possible, to bring a remembered vision to life? One way is to bake a loaf in the time honoured method. To some this may be the obvious way but I would not know where to start and would probably end up with house bricks. There is another less painful and more certain method.

Guess what Santa brought me? A breadmaker WOW good old Santa never let me down yet. He knew that I did not really want that new fishing reel.

This particular machine is the cheapest and simplest to use on the market. It is the Cookworks B0906 breadmaker and is available in the likes of Netto for the princely sum of £30 or so. This compares with the likes of Morphy Richards and other well-known brands at £40 and more.

It was with mixed feelings that I attempted my first loaf and I still can?t believe how simple this machine is to use. Tip in the required amount of water, then the bag of ready mixed flour, yeast, etc and switch on. 3½ hours later and voila, a freshly baked loaf ready for the table. The smell will have been filling the kitchen for an hour or so, making me daydream once again of loaves long since eaten.

Now I
know what you are thinking. Another gadget to be used a time or two then thrown in the cupboard under the sink with the waffle maker and sandwich maker and other ?must have? gizmo?s, but believe me, when you see the results you can achieve for very little effort, you will wonder how you did without it. It really is child?s play to make perfect bread every time, and at £30 it wont break the bank to see if I am right or not.

The Cookworks has various settings for basic and wholemeal bread, and also it comes supplied with a recipe book for all sorts of bready things from loaves to muffins. I particularly like the sundried tomato loaf, especially if the breadmaker has been set to cook in time for breakfast. This entails pressing three buttons instead of two.

Cleaning could not be easier as the machine only has one non-stick pan and paddle, which wipe clean with a cloth. There is no danger of being burnt as the excellent insulation means that the exterior of the breadmaker hardly gets warm. There is a little window, which allows you to watch the progress of your bread making skills, and is a lot more entertaining than watching the telly these days. This breadmaker is a well-designed product, which gives excellent results. I have no hesitation in recommending it to you.

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