Breadmaking for Dummies! (Morphy Richards 48221 Breadmaker)

Member Name: janharper

Product:	Morphy Richards 48221 Breadmaker
Date:	29/03/03 (2541 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy to use, good results

Disadvantages: heavy, take a long time to make a loaf

I don't know how I managed to eat all that shop bought bread with it's added bleaches, preservatives and other unmentionable chemicals. Home made bread from organic flour and natural yeast is a different thing all together.

I bought my Morphy Richards Breadmaker at Index. It was on offer for thirty seven pounds, so I took the plunge.

The machine itself is quite heavy as it houses an insulted baking chamber and it's own mini-computer.Using it is simplicity itself.

1. Gather together all the ingredients (as listed in recipe book)
2. Warm your bowls, jugs, etc, so that they are not too cold for the yeast. I just poured hot water over everything, there dried it with a clean tea towel.
3. You will need a kitchen roll too. It doesn't tell you that in the instruction book but you have to use the measuring cup and spoons over and over again so you need to be able to clean them any dry them quickly. A wipe with a piece of kitchen roll is fine for this.
4. Measure the ingredients precisely. It's no good just saying, 'that'll do!' It must be exact. Believe me, I have discovered that much.
5. Add ingredient to the metal bread pan in the order they are listed in the recipe book. There is a reason for this. You must not let the yeast touch the liquid before you want to start the machine.
6. Set the machine by pressing 'menu' and selecting the correct programme (you will find this in the recipe). You can set a time delay on this if you want to bake over night, or while you are at work.
7. Don't open the lid to peep. You can see what'd going on by loking through the glass window at the top.

Mixing, kneeding and prooving your bread takes around three hours, depending on the type of flour and the recipe.

My first loaf was excellent but I have learnt since that it is very important to be precise with measurements.

There are lots of different breads to t
ry out. The recipe book provided gives a good start but you can then create your own as long as you remember to keep the wet/dry balance the same.

This Breadmaker can also make cakes. You follow the basic recipe, mixing your ingredients in two seperate bowls (as in the recipe), then combine them in the bread pan. Set it to 'cake'. In three hours you will have perfect, plain cake. You can then split the cake in two and add whatever filling you wish. There are variations on this as well. You can add coffee, or chocolate to the basic cake mixture.

The machine can also make jam. I found this very easy and the results are amazing. My first attempt was strawberry and apple (the apple contains lots of pectin so it makes sure the jam sets). You don't have to make huge quantities either. The measurements given in the basic jam recipe in the handbook made about 400 mils of jam. It was gorgeous!

I am not the world's greatest chef and I don't really like cooking very much but I must say that the results of my efforts with this machine are excellent.

If I can make homemade jam, bread (two kinds) and cake, then anyone can. If you are thinking of buying a breadmaker this one won't disappoint you.

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