Dae ye ken Wood? (Kenwood Breadmaker BM200)

Member Name: cheesemonster

Product:	Kenwood Breadmaker BM200
Date:	20/08/01 (2036 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Compact, User friendly

Disadvantages: Perhaps not something you'd buy yourself

I hate that time of year when people start asking what you want for Christmas. It’s a lot of effort to think of exciting new things, and it eliminates the element of surprise on Chrimstmas morning, when you know what you’ve asked for…. Imagine my delight when my mother-in-law surprised me last year with a bread-maker!

I was so chuffed. In my own soppy, romanticized little world, I’d always wanted to make my own bread, but was too scared of complete and utter failure (like I witnessed with my own mum’s bread!) to try. But with a bread-maker, it couldn’t be easier.

The model I was given was a Kenwood Rapid Bake. It is quite big, so a bit difficult to store when not using. It’s only slightly smaller than a microwave oven, so not that easy to stick in a cupboard out of the way. Mine lives on top of the tumble drier in the kitchen….

Having said that it’s quite big, it is amazingly compact. It has 13 automatic programmes, and is very easy to use (let’s face it, if I can use it, anyone can!). It comes with an instruction leaflet (and a ‘getting started’ recipe), as well as a more varied recipe book. Inside the machine, there is a non-stick bread pan, which is fully removable, and you get a measuring cup and spoon as well. You can make loaves up to 2lb in weight, and there is a dough cycle program if you just want to mix, knead and rise the dough before shaping it into whatever you want. It even has a jam making facility, although I haven’t tried that yet…..

The control panel is really neat, with flat buttons on a keypad. The panel is wipe clean too, which is great when you’ve been flinging flour all over the place! The instruction leaflet has detailed breakdowns of all the program and what they do, and as well as just being able to set the cycle going straight away, there is a delay function, which allows you to pre-program the cycle to start up
to 12 hours later. This is fantastic, because you can wake up on a Saturday morning to the smell of freshly baked bread…..heaven!

There is a 1 hour rapid bake program too, but I haven’t tried that.

Perhaps the most entertaining thing about the bread-maker is the fact that it has a little viewing window in the top, so you can watch the whole process from start to finish. (yup – that’s how I spend my weekends…). You can even open the top and poke about in the dough if you so wish, but now during the cooking part of the cycle.

An average 1.5lb white loaf takes about 3 hours from start to finish, and comes out with a lovely crusty outside. It’s best to leave the loaf for about 30 minutes before attempting to slice it, because it does have a tendency to fall apart if it’s still warm. To make a basic white loaf, all you need is water, flour, salt, sugar, butter, dried milk and of course yeast. You just put all the ingredients in the breadpan in the recommended order(not forgetting to put the kneader in first, like I did!), and Bob’s your Auntie. 3 hours later, a wonderful, warm golden loaf.

There are lots of recipes and bread-mixes around, which I haven’t been brave enough to try out yet. I did buy some mixes from Lakeland Limited, which were really nice, but usually I stick to making white bread. Can’t seem to get the granary loaf right either – that one nearly broke my foot!

Oh, and it’s lovely with cheese………………&# 8230;….lots of cheese………….

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