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Happy Wednesday !

Does anyone have a breadmaker and if so, do they save money at all ?

I've been looking at them and they seem to have dropped in price, but I wonder whether the cost of ingredients/electricity etc is more than a loaf. I would only have one loaf a week anyway for sandwiches but the thought of fresh bread (and the smell in my flat !!), is drawing me in !

Any thoughts or advice please ?

Ta

[:p]

My Mum bought us one for Christmas, and at first I liked the idea of baking our own bread, but i found that the bread was quite small, and always has a hole in it (the spatula causes that), so we only ever get a few slices out of it.
I also found that I often fortget we've run out of bread, and it can take a couple of hours to make a loaf, so when it's late on a Sun night, it's quicker to pop to the local to get one!
The bread is not the great for childrens sandwiches i think, but you may think otherwise - just i like that crustless bread you can get and it's not that dear.
I do think it is more of a gimmick, buyt then maybe i am not using it to it't full potential - to me it doesn;'t have the same money saving benefits that say a slow cooker does.
Others may disagree though, and it might be beneficial to you to get one.
k.

I did forget to say that, they do make some wicked cakes, and the smell is to die for!!!
k.

Thanks Kal !

Cakes I need like a hole in the head (or should that be hole in the bread ?!?!?). I don't have kids - just me to look out for.

I guess it would take a long time to recoup the initial investment.

But maybe it's worth it just for the smell.......[8D]

The smell would be lovely but I would imagine it would take a fair while before you start making any savings.

My mum has one - she is dieting at the moment and makes low calorie bread with sweeteners instead of sugar and fat free powered milk. Sounds awful, but it is really good. The kids love it too because she makes them big thick butties with loads of homemade jam on !

I'm not sure how much you can get a cheap one for - My Mum bought us one that was about £60...an all singing and all dancing one.
I think I was expecting it to take over from us buying bread (I have one child and a builder husband who have sandwiches!), and it didn't meet my expectations.
If you are only looking to use it for the occassional loaf etc, then it may just what you need - I don't think the initial ingredients are that dear - if you look in the supermarkets they do a whole array of flour, yeast etc, that range in price.
Oh and everyone needs cake!!!!
k.

I have a breadmaker and it is a fantastic investment.

it doesn't necessarily save me money - it costs about the same amount in the long run but it is more tasty and smells fresh in the house

Basic bread is so cheap in the supermarket so yuo don't save money there but it certainly means i don't feel guilty in luxry indulgent breads because that really is so much cheaper to make.

And don't forget the taste. Yummy much nicer than bought bread.

We've had one for a couple of years and it's great for fresh, chunky bread to eat with stews and home~made soups. Not sure if you'd save any money though and it takes around 3hrs to bake a loaf.
xx

Hi,
I can't comment on bread machines, never used one as I make my own bread the traditional way by hand, which really is much easier than you may think and you wont need to spend a fortune on a machine. You can get packs now with everything you need in it if you don't want to measure out the flour yeast etc, just add water. Tesco's crusty white farmhouse is nice and simple to make by hand, but there are loads of mixes out there. Home baked freshly made bread is wonderful, even better with home made soup, and you can also make your own pizza bases, cheese scones etc, etc. Much nicer than you get in the shops and much cheaper!
This post is making me hungry now!
Good luck with the bread making!
Best wishes
Mike

Thanks all - food for thought there !

It's the time element Mike. I would like to be doing other things whilst it was baking - I have been doing a lot of batch cooking of meals etc, which has been a real godsend lately. It takes the same time to cook one meal as it does to cook 4 or 5 so by making a couple of different dishes in an evening/weekend, I can get on with other things when I would normally have been cooking.

The jury is still out but there is a small one on Amazon for under £30 and you get free delivery as well. May just have a look at TJ Hughes though as their electrical stuff seems to be rather good !!!

[8)]

Hey joh71262, you can get a patisserie spray from crabtree and evelyn for £2.99, it lasts months and smells delicious. You can't eat it but, boy, it smells yummy! HaHa, I know that doesn't help! [:D] Viki X

Whoops !!

Trigger happy finger today !

Actually that sounds perfect - all the smell with none of the calories. Course it would probably make you hungry but then an apple or something might just do the trick !

Thanks [:)]