The bottom line..some machines produce great loaves...some do not, and most are great for mixing the dough but are then best baked in your conventional oven...either in the breadmaking pan or transfered to another tray or pan.

 

Before you purchase a new machine, please consider their limitations along with their advantages.

 

While the New Freedom Bakery Cottage Loaf mixes have been designed to produce a dough to enable a great diversity of free-standing loaves, rolls and other shapes, some customers are drawn to the convenience of bread machines.

 

Some bread-machines produce good loaves...some do not, and most are great for mixing the dough but are then best baked in your conventional oven...either in the bread-making pan or transferred to another tray or pan. Machines types and styles are numerous and settings vary on each model. Cottage Bread mix requires a mix, a long uninterrupted rise and a long hot bake. Most machines do not provide these options. A few do. Please read the information on bread-machines at the Home Baking section before you purchase a machine for making gluten-free breads.

Most machines come with a gluten-free setting which does not particularly suit the New Freedom Bakery Cottage Bread mix as this mix is a dough and not a batter. A batter mix only requires a mix, a relatively short rise and short bake. This cycle is not long enough to bake breads using the New Freedom Bakery Cottage Bread mix.

As a summary, if you must use a machine, the Panasonic SD 257 and SD 2501 can give a reasonably good loaf.
Use the "RYE" setting and this also works OK on the delayed or overnight timer but better loaves are made if you pull the edges in during the early part of the mixing cycle. If you use the new forked paddle that comes with the machine, it comes out of bread easily after baking.

• 460ml warm water
• 5g (1&1/4teasp.) good quality dry active yeast
• 5ml.oil
• 5ml white vinegar
• 400gm of Cottage Bread and Bun Mix

 

There are a variety of sizes and styles of machine available... ranging from the small and simple to the large capacity models with numerous settings and options.

 

These are general guidelines only...with machines we've tried. Many new machines are entering the market and we will endeavour to update this section as we complete testing.

 

The following machines are scored out of 20 on these criteria:

 

5 POINTS Simplicity of use to get a very good loaf.
(i.e. the ideal is ....just load ingredients, press program button, press start, come back when loaf complete)

5 POINTS Loaf Lightness and Texture
(i.e. no large holes, soft, light, even texture and good crust & colour,)

5 POINTS Cost
(i.e. the lower the purchase price... the higher the score)

5 POINTS Versatility
(i.e. the quality of the loaf on the delayed or overnight setting)

 

Panasonic SD 257     4 + 5 + 3 + 3 = 15/20
likes - quietness; mixes well; good tin shape; reasonably good loaf on the "RYE" setting and this also works OK on the delayed or overnight timer; new forked paddle comes out of bread easily,

dislikes - cost; you can't extend baking times when using the cycle which can produce the lightest loaf ("GLUTEN FREE" setting) and therefore you need to finish the baking in normal oven

Recommended Setting = "RYE". This provides a longer bake but the loaf is not quite as light as it could be on the "GLUTEN FREE" setting... if only it baked fully on this "GLUTEN FREE" setting!)

Quantites & Method: Scroll Down

 

 

Loaf resulting from machine mixing on the dough setting... rising in the machine... but baking done in normal oven for 50 minutes @ 215deg.C.

Panasonic SD 253     2 + 4 + 3 + 2 = 11/20
likes - quietness, mixes well , good tin shape

dislikes - GLUTEN FREE setting does not allow rising time before baking..which causes a small heavy loaf; can't extend baking times; even on its best setting (WHOLE WHEAT RAPID) the loaf remains underbaked and leaves a hole around the paddle.

Recommended Setting = "DOUGH", then turn machine off for the 1 hour rise and transfer to normal oven for baking

Panasonic SD 200/206/250 2 + 4 + 3 + 2 = 11/20
likes - quietness, mixes well , good tin shape
dislikes - NO GLUTEN FREE setting; can't extend baking times; even on its best setting (WHOLE WHEAT RAPID) the loaf remains underbaked and leaves a hole around the paddle.

Recommended Setting = "DOUGH", then turn machine off for the 1 hour rise and transfer to normal oven for baking

Breville Ikon BB 600     3 + 3.5 + 3 + 3 = 12.5/20
likes - manual settings; you can extend the baking cycle (and any other setting) to any length by using the MANUAL settings; can alter baking temperature also;
dislikes - the pan is too wide and long so the paddle has trouble mixing the flour in from the corners... so you have to stand around to help it mix with your spatula; the loaf shape is too large for slices for many toasters or typical lunch-boxes; the fold-down paddle does not always lift up to mix nor fold down out of the way after mixing; the vertical paddle does not collect all the ingredients well; the paddles can remove large chunks of baked bread when tipping out the finished loaf;

Recommended Setting = manually set your cycle to the following times:

1st Mix = 5 minutes
2nd Mix = 10 minutes
1st rise = 60 minutes
Bake = 70 minutes @ 150deg.
Set all other parts of the cycle to "0" minutes.

 

Sunbeam Quantum Smartbake    2 + 3 + 3.5 + 3 = 11.5/20
likes - manual settings; you can extend the baking cycle (and any other setting) to any length by using the MANUAL settings
dislikes - the pan is too wide and long so the paddle has trouble mixing the flour in from the corners... so you have to stand around to help in mix with your spatula; the loaf shape is too large for slices for many toasters or typical lunch-boxes; the paddle can remove large chunks of baked bread when tipping out the finished loaf; can't alter baking temperature so you have to bake a lot longer; loaves tend to collapse on sides when cooling due to lower baking temp.
Recommended Setting = manually set your cycle to the following times:

1st Mix = 5 minutes
2nd Mix = 10 minutes
1st rise = 60 minutes
Bake = 80 minutes
Set all other parts of the cycle to "0" minutes.

As there are many other machines... new and old... out there, we cannot test them all.

If your's is not listed above, then try to find a setting which gives a mixing time of around 10-15 minutes... a single long rise of around one hour... and a long hot bake of 60-75 minutes.

This should result in a very good loaf.BB200-oven-baked
If your machine does not have these settings, then:
You can still use the machine to mix the dough... then turn the machine off... allow the dough to rise in the pan in the machine and when risen (usually about 60 minutes if kept warm), bake it in its pan in your normal oven for 50 minutes at 215deg.C .

(Image on right) Loaf mixed and risen in Breville BB200 machine but baked in its pan in the normal oven.

We will include more models in our testing when we have access to them.

Limitations of Bread Machines

• the failure of bread machines to be able to make other shapes like rolls, free-form loaves, buns, baguettes, pizza bases etc .
• loaves will have a hole in the centre/base of them caused by the mixing blade (the hole increases in size as the non-stick blade surface wears - thus causing more bread to stick to the blade on removal)
• machines generally make large odd shaped loaves that are difficult to slice, store, make sandwiches from, and fit in a toaster
• most machines have difficulty browning the top of the loaf due to insufficient heat near the top glass .
• many machines have very long settings required to complete a cycle (i.e. well in excess of the 1.5hrs it takes to make by hand and baked in a normal oven)
• an overproofed loaf in a machine can result in a sticky mess to clean up
• many people have difficulty working out the machine operations and which settings suit which bread mixes
• most gluten-free mixes require a tin side scrape-down during the mixing cycle to get the best loaf
• the initial cost of purchase and replacement every few years... as well as replacement blades and bread pans more often
• some machines have very large, wide pans which make it particularly difficult for the ingredients to be mixed in from the corners. This results in unmixed dry bits in and outside the loaf and doughy streaks through the bread or uneven texture throughout
• finding a machine with the right settings to produce a good loaf can be difficult as models come and go regularly and settings change
• many machines do not have hot enough or long enough baking cycles to produce a good bread from our mix and need finishing off in a conventional oven

 

For SMALL MACHINES ... (where maximum loaf size is 500gms or less according to your manual)

240ml warm water
3g (3/4teasp.) good quality dry active yeast
3ml.oil
3ml white vinegar
200gm of Cottage Mix

 

For MEDIUM MACHINES ... (where maximum loaf size is 750gms according to your manual)

390ml warm water
4g (1teasp.) good quality dry active yeast
4ml.oil
4ml white vinegar
330gm of Cottage Mix

 

For LARGE MACHINES ... (where maximum loaf size is 1KG according to your manual)

460ml warm water
5g (1&1/4teasp.) good quality dry active yeast
5ml.oil
5ml white vinegar
400gm of Cottage Mix

 

For EXTRA LARGE MACHINES ... (where maximum loaf size is 1.25KG according to your manual)

520ml warm water
6g (1 &1/2teasp.) good quality dry active yeast
6ml.oil
6ml white vinegar
450gm of Cottage Mix

Note Well ... For "Dough Only" machine settings, see section below this.

 

1. Take your bread pan out of the machine and measure out the correct amount of warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the water and gently swill the liquid around for about 1/2 minute to dissolve the yeast.
2. Add the oil and white vinegar.
3. Measure out the correct amount of mix and place it into the pan.
4. Select the recommended setting for your machine as discussed above and press start.

During the mixing cycle, at some pointwe recommend lifting the lid and, using your rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the pan to help all the dry ingredients combine well. Larger pans need more assisting.

1. Allow the program to complete and remove the baked bread soon after the cycle is complete.
2. Allow to cool on rack.

(for any style of machine).

Extra Hint:
If you remove the paddle from the pan after the mixing cycle is complete and leave the mix to rise in the pan... then bake in your conventional oven, your bread will not have the typical paddle hole in the base and your loaf should come out easily when baked.