No more buns in my oven! (Morphy Richards 48280 Fast Bake)

Member Name: Emma1973

Product:	Morphy Richards 48280 Fast Bake
Date:	19/01/04 (1389 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely bread, easy to use, easy to clean

Disadvantages: Some may find it expensive

I've got a new man in my kitchen, he sits there. All glistening think curves and pretty features. And when he goes to work he mixes and kneads and pummels to my heart content. Unfortunately he's not my personal masseuse but my lovely Fastbake Breadmaker!

Occasionally I get fixated on certain items and this Crimbo it was a breadmaker, I couldn't have dropped any more hints if I had 'I want a breadmaker' tattooed on my forehead! As it was I ended up with two! Sorry, Sis I had to pick the one with all the gadgets!

It is a monster of a machine and very heavy, so unfortunately needs quite a bit of room and is probably not suitable for a very small kitchen.

It looks fantastic, coming in white and chrome and quite a few buttons to experiment with. It has an LCD screen so you can see how long its going to take, there's also a handy viewing window so you can make sure the dough has mixed properly and the dough is rising. Though what you do if it wasn't I've no idea!

There's not just a plain old bread option, there's 12 options altogether.

1) Basic White - Your basic stuff, you also use this option for making savoury breads.

2) French - Bakes lighter bread, with a crisper crust.

3) Wholewheat - Obviously really

4) Quick - The bread is usually smaller with a dense texture.

5) Sweet - Obviously again, gives a crisper crust.

6) Fastbake 1 - 1.5lb white loaf cooked quicker, more moist texture

7) Fastbake 2 - As above but for a 2lb loaf.

8) Dough - Does not bake the bread, but the dough can be removed and used to make bread rolls, pizza,etc.

9) Jam - You read right, jam! And it gives you instructions on how to do so, not tried it yet.

10) Cake - It mixes the ingredients and then bakes them. Its not very convenient as 2 groups of ingredients have to be mixed in separate bowls first.


11) Sandwich - Again lighter bread, but with a softer thicker crust.

12) Extra bake - Does the baking only, useful to help 'set' jams and marmalade. I would imagine you could also use it to bake ready made cake mixes.

Not only can you do all this, but there's other options as well!! You can choose what size load you want, 1lb, 1.5lb, or 2lb. When you've decided what size you want then you can choose what colour you want it. Obviously this then has some bearing on the crust, although I have found that there isn't much difference.
My favourite has to be the ability to set a timer, you can set it to start baking before you wake up. There is nothing nicer than waking up to nice warm bread and freshly brewed coffee!. And it works!! It also beeps at the end of each cycle so you know when to add different ingredients such as herbs, raisins, etc. Or if you want to cover the bread in sesame or poppy seeds.

The booklet enclosed is also extremely useful, it takes you step by step how to use the machines and also gives you recipes for each setting. One has to say that the Cheese Bread is absolutely delicious, as is the Chocolate Bread, honestly! The Cake setting can be a little odd as the cake does just come out looking like a loaf of bread. The trouble shooting guide is also really useful so you can find out why your bread hasn't risen, gone all soggy or not mixed at all! The ingredient measurement have to be exact so they also include a cup and teaspoon measurer, which makes a hell of a mess when you're trying to measure flour!

My only gripe with the machine is how long it takes to cook a loaf of bread, the other machine I was given cooked a perfectly good loaf in 50 minutes, this particular machine takes 3 hours, yes it has the Fastbake option but I do prefer the longer cooked bread.

Is it worth the money? Well I am led to believe that they now cost £67 which
you would have to buy a lot of loaves of Kingsmill to make up for, not mentioning all the ingredients that you have to purchase and the electricity involved. But you can get perfectly good Breadmakers for around £25. I do think you are paying for the name and all the options that you probably wouldn't use!
But the taste of the bread is so much more superior than the supermarket wet flannel stuff! My daughter had a bit of difficulty getting used to the taste as it is so rich, and didn't taste like what she called 'proper' bread until I assured that this was what 'proper' bread was supposed to taste like! I do have to admit that this has seen a hell of a lot of usage in my house, bread only being bought when I don't have a spare 3 hours to wait!

Personally I wouldn't have bought this Breadmaker, it would have been a bit of the expensive side for myself, and I probably wouldn't have used all the options involved. A basic one would have been absolutely fine for me, but as a present I could hardly have said no! Now I have to go take the other one back to exchange it for a new kettle, expect a review on that shortly.

Did I also mention that it makes the most wonderful smell? I don't think I did, well it does and it's fantastic to come down each morning to the smell of freshly baked cinnamon and raisin bread! Also very useful if you're looking to sell your house!

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