The best thing since sliced bread? (Morphy Richards 48210)

Member Name: x-cupcake-x

Product:	Morphy Richards 48210
Date:	03/09/09 (95 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fresh bread at the fraction of the cost of buying it

Disadvantages: Very bulky machine

Nothing beats the smell of freshly baked bread, and with the cost of a loaf seeming to go up everytime I went to the supermarket I decided it was time for me to buy a breadmaker.

I wanted to get a well known make but not spend too much money so I started checking on ebay, after being outbid at the last minute I began to look elsewhere as well. As luck would have it I found a Morphy Richards 48210 with user manual and all accessories for £30 just a five minute drive from my house. It had only been advertised since the previous afternoon, so I contacted the seller that morning and arranged to go and have a look after I had finished work. After establishing everything was in order I parted with my cash and took home my shiny new (to me) breadmaker.

The breadmaker is quite attractive in stainless steel and black, and would look ok in most styles of kitchen.

It comes with a non-stick bread pan, a kneading blade, two sets of measuring spoons (1tbsp, 1tsp and ¼ tsp), a measuring cup and an instruction manual. The pan and blade are dishwasher safe.

I have made plenty of bread in the past, but have never used a bread maker in my life, so I sat down with a cuppa and had a read of the instruction manual. I was very pleased to see that it all looked simple enough.
To assemble the bread pan & blade it is just a case of slotting the blade into the correct position in the pan and then clicking the pan into the machine. If this isn't done correctly it can mean the blade doesn't work properly but I haven't had this happen yet.

The instruction book is very informative and has lots of recipes in it, these include basic bread recipes (white, brown, granary...).
The recipes are seperated into different categories:
Yeast Breads *Basic White bread * Wholemeal bread * Brown bread * soft grain bread* Granary bread * Italian herb bread * Cheese & onion bread * French bread * Raisin bread * Mixed fruit bread * Chocolate bread * Sun dried tomato bread

Dough Recipes Bagels * Croissants *Pizza dough * White rolls * Wholemeal rolls * Granary rolls * Hot cross buns * Muffins * Doughnuts *
Standard cake mix * Banana nut bread *
Apple and walnut cake

Jam

The Morphy Richards 48210 has 11 settings, a delay timer function of 12 hours, a keep warm setting which stops the bread from getting soggy if left in the pan.
It has a audio signal to let you know when extra ingredients such as raisins or nuts can be added, if you add them before this they may get chopped up by the kneading blade.

You can make four different sized loaves which are 1 lb, 1 1/2 lbs, 2 lbs and 2 1/2 lbs.

When making a loaf the cooking times depend on the size you are making, 3 hours for small & medium and around 3 1/2 hours for the largest.

When adding the ingredients to the pan, they need to be added in a particular order 1. Liquids 2. Dry Ingredients 3. Yeast
You need to be careful that the yeast doesn't touch the liquids, especially if you are using the delay timer function as this may cause the bread not to rise properly.
You should put the ingredients in the pan before putting it into the machine.

When measuring your ingredients it is best to use the measuring cup and spoons as the recipes have been designed using these.

On my first attempt at making a loaf I found a packet of bread mix in the cupboard (the sort where you only need to add water) it said it was suitable for use in bread makers. So I followed the packet instructions, put the machine on timer and went out for the day... and came home to a flop of a loaf. Now perhaps this is because the yeast is already in with the flour and it came into contact with the water or maybe it was something else. It tasted alright but it just wasn't very "bready" looking.

For my next attempt I made a 1lb basic white loaf using the recipe from the book
Water 3/4 cup
Skimmed milk powder 2 tbsp
Butter 2 tbsp
Sugar 1 1/4 tbsp
Salt 1 tsp
Strong white flour 2 cups
Dry yeast 1 tsp

Again I used the timer function this time at night so I could wake up to the smell of fresh bread. Success this one came out looking lovely and tasted fantastic too.

I have also used it to make a pizza dough, and white rolls. Both were successes even if my dividing of the dough for the rolls was a little uneven.

Since buying this bread maker I have made a loaf of bread every two or three days and each one has been a success (well apart from the one where I put in too much yeast, but the less said about the better!!)

The 48210 is simple to use and I think even someone who isn't that confident in the kitchen could use it and produce some wonderful bread.

It's not particularly noisy and you can only really hear anything from it when it's in the kneading process even then it's not over loud, or if it's beeping to tell you when to add ingredient.

The only downside is the size of the machine, it's very bulky so people with limited kitchen space may struggle to find somewhere to keep it as it measures Height 37 cm Width 38 cm Depth 24 cm, it's not something you can really put in the cupboard in between uses.
This is the reason I have given it 4 stars as you can buy smaller bread makers.

(also posted on Ciao under the same username)

Summary: Well worth buying if you will use it.

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