An Unusual Piece of Bedroom Furniture (Kenwood Breadmaker BM200)

Name: sylvisinc

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Product:	Kenwood Breadmaker BM200
Date:	26/11/05 (1563 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Bakes the perfect loaf, makes the house smell wonderful,

Disadvantages: Too noisy to be used in the middle of the night in a bedroom.

It was a few weeks before Christmas 2002 and I was on the Atkins diet...you know, lots of protein and vegetables, minimal fruit and definitely no high carbohydrate foods like bread, pasta and potatoes. My darling hubby Sam, whom I love to bits, always has big problems when it comes to buying me presents. As he rightly says, I have loads of jewellery, clothes, perfumes, etc and all the usual gadgets except.............you've guessed it, the one gadget I didn't have was a bread maker!

He hummed and hawed and I knew that he had something on his mind, so eventually I dragged it out of him. He wanted to buy me a bread maker for Christmas but didn't know if I'd appreciate it because of my diet. (I used to be one of those women who were always on a diet of some kind and I suppose he just didn't know how long this one would last!) I'd been on Atkins, on and off for over a year but had reached what they call a “plateau” which means I had stopped losing weight so I said that I'd love a bread maker. I could make bread for him and the family, for presents and for me very occasionally. (I love fresh crusty bread so no wonder I’d stopped losing weight!)

We went to our local Powerhouse and looked at what was on offer. Sam told me to choose the one I wanted. They had about three different makes and I honestly couldn't see any difference between them. The assistant immediately discounted one make (can't remember what it was unfortunately) because he told us that a lot of customers had returned their purchase with complaints.

We chose one at random and took it to the desk, but while waiting to be served I noticed a Kenwood Rapid Bake actually being used to bake a loaf next to the desk. This was on special offer at £59.99, £10.00 cheaper than normal and cheaper than the one I had picked. Sam lifted the lid of the Kenwood to see what was happening, and then noticed the placard that said, "Please do not lift the lid". We suddenly felt obliged to purchase a Kenwood!

I couldn't use this until Christmas day, of course, but truly, I couldn't wait. In my youth I had gone through a long phase of home bread baking which had lasted years and I’d delved deeply into the action of yeast and flour etc and the great spirituality of baking so I know how delicious a food this can be, and how satisfying it is to bake your own bread. To achieve this wonderful result without the tedious grind of mixing, kneading, proving and baking would be terrific, though maybe not so good for the soul!

My Kenwood Rapid Bake is a BM200 and comes with a recipe book. I found from trial and error that the best flour to use, of those I've tried so far, is Allinson’s very strong white (in a black bag) for white loaves or McDougall's Granary (in a blue and yellow bag) for granary. You can also use a mix of both for a paler brown bread.
Funnily enough, the first yeast I used was Allinson's dried in a little tub, which I already had in the cupboard. I had made several perfect loaves before I realised that I shouldn't be using this. (I’d bought it for making wine I think!). I then swapped to Hovis dried with no discernable difference.

It couldn't be easier to make a large or small loaf with this machine. The inner metal pan, (like a little basket with a fold-down handle) detaches from the main body of the machine. The ingredients are measured, using the water measure and spoon supplied. (You do have to be exact.) The water is placed in the pan, which contains the kneader, and the flour and dried milk powder is placed on top, covering the water completely. Next the required amount of butter, sugar and salt are placed in separate corners, and then the yeast goes in a well in the middle. This pan is inserted back into the machine, which is about the size of a standard square bread bin, and the machine is switched on. You select whichever baking cycle you want and leave it to get on with it. It can take two or three hours unless you have selected the "rapid" cycle, which bakes a loaf in an hour, though it may not rise as much. There is a little window in the lid through which you can watch your dough being kneaded, and, later, you can watch it rise and turn a lovely golden brown.

It really is as simple as that. I have made an egg-enriched loaf, granary loaves and white loaves with and without an extra dark crust. You can also make French bread, with French flour, sun-dried tomato bread, wholemeal, milk loaf, rustic white, walnut bread, and carrot and coriander bread. That's only the "bread" breads. There are also several "tea breads" which are more like cakes such as malted sultana and apricot, cranberry, almond and pecan, Caribbean tea bread and gingerbread. You can also make the dough to bake your own rolls and pizza, though of course these have to be finished off in the oven.

The machine also has a jam making cycle so it's really quite versatile.

One thing I really like, is that the recipe book explains exactly why things like salt and sugar are required in bread-making and also explains about different types of flour and how yeast works. You can easily adapt your own recipes once you understand the mechanics of the process.

There are instructions on removing, slicing and storing bread also, which are important because home-baked bread doesn't keep as long as store-bought because it doesn't contain any preservatives. It is therefore arguably healthier for you too.
There are lots of general hints and tips like replacing part of the water with fruit juice when making fruit flavoured breads and making sure that your ingredients are at room temperature.

There is a handy troubleshooting guide, which, luckily I haven’t had to use yet.

I did think it would be nice to put the machine on a delayed cycle and have it make a fresh loaf of bread in time for breakfast; however, the one drawback is the noise it makes! Not really that loud, but a definite churning sound which would wake me up because we have situated it in the bedroom, as I’m a little short of kitchen space. (Hence the title!) Fine for baking during the day, but wouldn't suit baking early morning-unless it could double as an alarm clock.

The wonderful aroma of baking bread is a very positive aspect of this process and the satisfaction and sense of achievement when you turn out a large, perfectly risen loaf is quite remarkable.

My daughter has a different make of machine and can't produce a decent loaf so I reckon we managed to accidentally choose the best. Definitely one of my best Christmas presents… oh and I’ve decided that I am what I am, so no more diets…………..bread is definitely allowed!

Summary: A perfect, freshly baked crusty loaf whenever you want.

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