The Smell of Fresh Baked Bread In Your Own Home... (Morphy Richards 48221 Breadmaker)

Member Name: angeelu

Product:	Morphy Richards 48221 Breadmaker
Date:	06/10/02 (2655 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, Tasty results!, Value for money

Disadvantages: Waiting for the bread to bake!

There's very little that can beat the smell of freshly baked bread... even more so when that smell is in your own house! You could use the traditional method of spending most of your day kneading dough, letting it rise, kneading it again - or you could purchase the fantastic invention, the breadmaker!

I've been the proud owner of a Morphy Richards 48220 breadmaker for almost a year now. I received it as a birthday present, but believe it was priced at £49.99 and was purchased at Argos. Unfortunately it doesn't appear in the current Argos catalogue, however its functions are very similar to those of many other Morphy Richards (and other make) breadmakers available therefore I should hope this opinion will still be of use to you!

The breadmaker itself is a white cube shape. On the top of the cube one third of the panel shows the control panel, and the other two thirds is the lid that allows you to open up the machine to add ingredients / get your bread out etc. In the middle of the lid is a small viewing window, so that if you're impatient (or just curious) you can keep going to your breadmaker and having a look through the little window at what's going on inside!

The control panel is very basic and simple to use. It comprises of a small display window, which will either show you the number you have selected for a particular cycle or a minute-by-minute countdown timer. Next to the diplay window are two up and down arrows which can be used to increase or decrease the timer by 10 minutes.
Beneath these are a list of all the programmes or 'cycles' that the bread machine can do. Different types of breads require a different type of cycle - if using the manufacturers recipe's it will advise you in the recipe which number cycle you chould use, but incase you are using a different recipe book, short descriptions are given for each cycle number next to the number itself so you can choose the most appropriate. The
'select' button allows you to choose the number of the cycle you require.
The only other two buttons on the control panel are start and stop... these are self-explanatory!

This machine can make two different sized loaves - regular (approx 1lb) or large (approx 1.5lb). These weights are approximate, as depending on the type of loaf made the weight may differ.

Very little equipment is needed to get you started making your bread - and all the equipment you will need is provided with the machine. Along with the 48220 came a measuring cup and a measuring spoon - these are all you need to make bread with this machine - no hassle of weighing ingredients. In addition the machine also comes with the baking pan and kneading blade, which are obviously required to bake the bread in!

Perhaps the most important item that accompanies the breadmaker machine is the instruction manual... With most electrical items I should imagine that, if you are anything like me, you probably never read the instruction book, let alone know where it is right now! However, unless you have a knack for remembering recipes, or have enough skill to be able to make up your own, then you'll rely on the instruction book to begin with.

The instruction book itself does contain all the information you'll probably never read or refer to ever again, but, in addition it contains a variety of recipes you can use with your machine - this is extremely useful if you don't really want to spend money on a special recipe book from breadmakers. The instruction book accompanying my machine includes 35 different recipes, including: 'basic white bread', '100% wholemeal bread', 'granary bread', 'cheese 'n' onion bread', 'french bread', 'peanut butter bread', 'pizza dough', 'bagels', 'apple and walnut cake' and 'jam'.

For the majority of breads all you have to do with thi
s machine is quite literally tip your ingredients into the pan, select your cycle number then leave the machine to do its thing - then when it's done, you can take out your fresh baked loaf. For other types of recipe, such as pizza dough, the machine prepares the dough for you, ready to tip out, shape and put in the oven to bake as normal.

This particular model bread machine does not have a fast-bake function which is found on some breadmakers allowing a loaf to be baked within an hour. The shortest cycle for a bread loaf on this machine is 2 hours 45 minutes. This is obviously a disadvantage if you want a loaf in a hurry, but because once you've put the ingredients in you don't have to do anything else, if you remember to set the machine off in plenty of time then waiting for almost 3 hours isn't that bad... especially when you consider the time and effort you have to devote to making a traditional loaf by hand!

One function of the machine that comes in useful is the delay timer. You have the ability to put in all your ingredients for your bread, but then delay the start time of the machine for up to 12 hours. If you want to wake up to the smell (and taste) of fresh baked bread then this is extremely useful!

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To conclude - my breadmaker is my most valued kitchen gadget. At just under £50 I believe it gives superb value for money as it has never let me down yet, and the fact it can be used to create dough to be used for things other than bread is great. My parents received a breadmaker as a wedding anniversary gift that cost well in excess of £150, yet it has nothing worth noting as a fantastic addition over my cheaper model, so if you're interested in getting a breadmaker, don't feel you have to pay a lot of money for the 'best' one available in order to get the best results.

The smell of fresh baked bread is one of my most favourite smells, an
d to be able to recreate that smell in my own house without having to spend my whole day baking is fantastic! Definitely recommended!
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