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Bread maker suggestions

I had a Belling Farmhouse bakery , It was great ,used 3 -4 times a week , One day it started sounding strange and going slower and slower , When i went out into the kitchen smoke was coming out of the machine , I quickly turned the power off , It never ran again burnt out and seized up :(
I ended up tailoring the bread mix , 50% strong white and 50% wholemeal + adjusting the water and sugar content It did make a super loaf :)
 
stevec67 said:
Flour contains ~ 15% moisture naturally, this is the legal maximum. The mites that live in it find this sufficient. Psocids are a favourite in the home, they like rice too. You also get various flour beetles (weevils) and maybe flour moths. My favourite is Tribolium confusum, the Confused Flour beetle. So named because it leaves meandering trails in the flour dust that accumulates in mills and bakeries. It's a little red-brown beetle 1-2mms long that lives in stored grain and flour.
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Just lost my appetite...
 
A very good reason to bake your own is to leave out the bl**dy salt - bought loafs are loaded with the stuff, it's totally unnecessary when you can add any number of tasty extras.

If you go beyond the bread machine I really like this book

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1840009667/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
stevec67 said:
Flour contains ~ 15% moisture naturally, this is the legal maximum. The mites that live in it find this sufficient. Psocids are a favourite in the home, they like rice too. You also get various flour beetles (weevils) and maybe flour moths. My favourite is Tribolium confusum, the Confused Flour beetle. So named because it leaves meandering trails in the flour dust that accumulates in mills and bakeries. It's a little red-brown beetle 1-2mms long that lives in stored grain and flour.
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learnt this the hard way!
Now I only buy small quantities and use it all in batch baking so none is stored.
 
Bob McC said:
learnt this the hard way!
Now I only buy small quantities and use it all in batch baking so none is stored.
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I put my flour in the freezer overnight when I buy it, kills off any creepy crawlies that might be lurking, and I'm not bothered about consuming the extra protein from their corpses...

Oh, and Panasonic.
 
stevec67 said:
That's fine until a flour beetle flies into the house and takes up residence in your cupboard.
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I have a box thing with an o ring seal to keep my flour in, there would be a very small window of opportunity for Mr Beetle to get in there while I'm making bread.
 
Rob998 said:
I put my flour in the freezer overnight when I buy it, kills off any creepy crawlies that might be lurking, and I'm not bothered about consuming the extra protein from their corpses...

Oh, and Panasonic.
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Sounds like an ancient Roman recipe!
 
mandryka said:
A local shop stocks an outstanding sliced loaf, this.

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I have just this very second chucked a packet of this evil stuff in the bin - the wife had to eat it when she had gestational diabetes and was glad to see the back of it.
 
stevec67 said:
Flour contains ~ 15% moisture naturally, this is the legal maximum. The mites that live in it find this sufficient. Psocids are a favourite in the home, they like rice too. You also get various flour beetles (weevils) and maybe flour moths. My favourite is Tribolium confusum, the Confused Flour beetle. So named because it leaves meandering trails in the flour dust that accumulates in mills and bakeries. It's a little red-brown beetle 1-2mms long that lives in stored grain and flour.
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Why do you need to worry? Serious question, I would genuinely like to know as I have always just rinsed any living things out of my rice. Are they poisonous or disease ridden?
 
I find dough enhancers are essential for getting consistent loaves in the bread machine. Supermarkets in New Zealand sell yeast with enhancers added, but not in USA where I'm currently living.

I bought a very old Panasonic machine here. Instead of a compartment in the lid for fruit and nuts it has one for yeast, which it adds after an initial knead and rest.

The first couple of loaves were bricks. I added a pinch of vitamin c to the mix and I'm getting much better results, but with inconsistent rising. 10ml too much water results in a brick. The best loaves have had great texture, better than any I've made in my ten or twelve year old Panasonic machine back home. I'm going to buy some lecithin today and see how that goes.
 
foxwelljsly said:
I have just this very second chucked a packet of this evil stuff in the bin - the wife had to eat it when she had gestational diabetes and was glad to see the back of it.
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Yes well you have to like very strong dense bread -- which I do! But it's definitely not the sort of bread I'd put in a basket in the middle of the table for people to mop up olive oil with. I like it toasted with butter, and with charcuterie.
 
I went through a stage of baking bread regularly. There was a routine -- I would knead the dough before going out to work and then bake it in the evening when I returned. In its way it was all very satisfying and my bread definitely got better and better with practice, and the routine became very easy to follow. I remember I ended up using a mixture of white wheat flour and atta flour, 50-50. I've always liked dense bread, I don't like light bread with lots of air. No bread machine.

Then I got this rash on my scalp. Went to the doctor, and mentioned that I was using yeast to bake the bread, he said stop. So I did. And the rash went away. I don't know if it was coincidence or an allergy.
 
Marchbanks said:
Why do you need to worry? Serious question, I would genuinely like to know as I have always just rinsed any living things out of my rice. Are they poisonous or disease ridden?
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Well, they are harmless but FFS you don't want things living in your food! A bag of rice is £1, flour cheaper still. Rotate your stocks, clean things out and if you find crawlies then bin it.
 
Rob998 said:
I have a box thing with an o ring seal to keep my flour in, there would be a very small window of opportunity for Mr Beetle to get in there while I'm making bread.
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Yes, that helps. However I do remember having to do a Eu 25k fumigation to kill a warehouse moth infestation where they were getting in tied up plastic bags. It cost me a month of my life, worked day and night.
 
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