Our Daily Bread

Special Report

Our Daily Bread

A bread maker means you’ll never be without fresh baked bread again

If there was a Top Twenty for aromas then surely the smell of freshly baked bread would be number one. Top three at least. But how many of us have the time to bake our own bread? Enter the bread maker. I bought one twenty years ago and have never regretted it. It’s still working, but I’m tempted recently to upgrade, and bread makers have moved on light years since my initial purchase. My old Panasonic is a bit of a behemoth. It takes up a lot of counter space, and I was surprised that some newer models are even larger! But there are compact appliances available now too. So, what do modern bread makers have to offer? Well, they will all cook standard white and wholemeal loaves, and if that is all you require, a basic model is all you will require. Why pay more for features you won’t use? But if you’re interested… Automatic ingredient dispenser - I paid a premium for this feature twenty years ago but it’s more common now and I would definitely recommend it for adding dried fruit and nuts easily. Alarm – You can’t add moist ingredients like cooked onions of grated cheese or ingredients that might melt like chocolate chips, into the automatic dispensers of most bread makers, so an alarm to let you know when to do it manually is useful. A delay timer – My delay timer is now a bit temperamental, which is one of the reasons I’m looking to upgrade. A delay feature means you can add ingredients to the mixing bowl several hours ahead, so you have freshly baked bread at a time to suit you – in the evening with supper, or first thing with your coffee. Viewing window - A few new models offer this. I managed for 20 years without one but it’s a cool feature for checking on the progress of your loaf. Keep-warm - This setting keeps your freshly baked bread warm for up to an hour after the programme has finished. Handy if you’re delayed. Speciality breads - Modern bread makers have mastered brioche, rye, sourdough, Italian and French (though not baguettes obviously because of the shape!). Some have even mastered gluten-free, though some models manage this better than others (The Tefal PF240E40 Bread Maker has many GF fans). Some bread makers make a great pizza dough and / or fresh pasta dough (Gastroback 62823 Automatic Bread Maker Advanced, Morphy Richards 48281 Bread maker, Sage the Custom Loaf Bread Maker). I love making pizzas and I do love fresh pasta, but find it a faff to make the doughs by hand, so they would be bonus features for me. Yoghurt - I learned to make yoghurt in a thermos over lockdown. Apparently it’s a similar process in a bread maker but how useful it would be for me I’m not sure. Jam - Some models promise to cook the sugar and fruits at the right temperature to make jam, so that it can be decanted straight into jars. If you’re into jam-making as well as bread-making it’s something to consider. If you’ve always wanted to have a go at making your own bread but never have the time, try putting a bread maker on your Christmas list this year. It’s the gift that will keep on giving.