Does anyone use a breaker to make fresh bread?

I started off many years ago with a bread maker. I found it to be rather inconstant, especially when making different breads. Despite having paid a decent price for it, the bread maker also had a tendency to burn one side of the loaf. Personally I wouldn’t recommend them as they're too restrictive. My advice would be to save your money and put it towards buying a decent oven that can take take the temperature up to at least 220C Fan. If you’re worried about your bread not holding its shape, get a pullman loaf tin. Baking your own isn’t that difficult and the way to go if you really enjoy your bread, see attached. No great skill required here; just a little bit of ion, a willingness to learn and a love of good bread.

 

wow they look fantastic.
yes oven would be great. It’s something I’ve mentioned to my other half as she only cooker via a 2 gas hob style cooker.

would you go gas or electric? I think gas tends to keep cakes and such more moist.

 

wow they look fantastic. yes oven would be great. It’s something I’ve mentioned to my other half as she only cooker via a 2 gas hob style cooker. would you go gas or electric? I think gas tends to keep cakes and such more moist.

In Europe, we prefer gas and a La Germania gas oven came with our property. This brand seems to be very popular over here; most likely because they are cheaper than other well known brands. The La Germania oven we had was a total safety hazard and would not be allowed in Europe; when the flame went out, which it did inadvertently if you closed the oven door too quickly, there was no safety switch; the gas kept pouring out. If you tried to light it again before the escaped gas fully cleared, you got a flash back.

Imagine what could happen if you didn’t realise the flame had gone out, the gas was still flowing for a while and you lit a flame for some other purpose? Further, the insulation was dreadful and it couldn’t retain a high temperature. So, even though we saw newer La Germania models on the market when we were looking for a new oven, we avoided this brand like the plague. They are still selling the old model, which says a lot about this company’s attitude to safety.

Gas or electric? We were concerned about brown outs so we initially favoured gas. However, after substantial research, it became clear that the range of quality gas ovens available was limited and they didn’t reach the temperatures required for bread baking and pizzas etc. Hence we ended up with an electric oven from one of the well known European brands. No regrets to date. Brown outs in our area are not very regular and we have a back up generator. Like all appliances, ovens are expensive here and the models available are not the latest. So, it’s definitely worth sourcing one in UK and having it sent over by Balakbayan Box.

As for gas ovens keeping cakes etc more moist, I personally haven’t noticed any difference. What I did notice with the gas oven is that when I put boiling water on the bottom shelf to create steam when baking bread, the steam would often put out the gas flame! I’ve encountered no such problem with the electric oven.

 

The gas ovens "me too" I feel are dangerous and that includes cooking a turkey and difficult to regulate the heat, door has to be set adjar so my next oven will be an all electric (stainless steel) top burner and rotisserie oven, they have two sizes and I think sold by Abensons appliances or can be ordered, I didn't take the time to research the Abensons site but found a photo of this unit from another site Technogas electric oven (brand mainly sells gas ovens so name hardly fits).

 

Thanks pagbati and yes wise to throw the conversation over to a new topic/thread.
Seems/sounds like you use live cultures, something I am unfamiliar with but open minded.
We don't eat much bread but the varieties you offered makes one wonder. As said a couple of months or 4 (welcome to the Philippines) I/we hope to be using the oven for not only bread. Looking fwd to the Sisig. Thanks for the/your input.

Cheers, Steve.

 

Wifey makes bread occasionally and yeast can be a problem, I'll make the suggestion about freezing it. We have a basic bread maker in the UK but didn't bring it here because anything with a timer doesn't often work here on the different mains frequency. When we built the first house 20+ years ago we got one of those La Germanium stoves, what a pile of junk. The oven was hopeless and after it had rusted out in a couple of years junked it. We have a Kenward Chef which works really well mixing the dough. We also use an electric fan oven for cooking.

 

My ex wife was a bit of an organic freak, 25 odd years ago we purchased a grinding mill and I set up a W/M motor on it as originally it was a hand crank job. Ex wife then sourced organic wheat, rye, barley etc. and started to make all sorts of breads, early failures but in the end she/we made good bread, we used a Breaker to cook as we have here and there is a lot of trial and error with them until you find the right mix and settings.

The Tecnogas oven we just purchased is not fan forced does anyone thing that will be a problem? Mind you we survived very well with a slow combustion stove 40 years ago and also got hot water and heating. (cold climate central Victoria AU) Couldn't do that here and I don't miss chopping the wood.

Maybe one day pagbati I will ask you to share some of your recipe's and knowledge with the .

Cheers, Steve.

 

I don't think fan or no fan makes any difference. We have a fan oven in the UK so automatically bought simi!ar here. The more expensive ovens tend to be fan by default. The Whirlpool oven in my picture is multi function so can run fan or no fan.

 

Yes Gary the Smeg we had in Oz was fan forced, choice for on or off, thought about it and we will be fine as we have 3 ceiling fans in the kitchen and living areas so I can pretend.
Fan forced is great for some things but as said 30/40 years ago that was unheard of and still managed to cook a delicious roast/cakes etc.

Cheers, Steve.

 

pagbati, our mill was over 30 yaers ago but no problem with/once I worked out the pulley sized to match the desired speed. Slow and steady, worked well and no hand cranking simply toping up the hopper.

Cheers, Steve.

 

Experimenting with Cornbread, last loaf was around 2015, when I used 50% wholemeal, 25% cornmeal and 25% bread flour.

This time I tried 100% cornmeal. I purchased what is probably best described as coarsely-grind cornmeal. I pan roasted the cornmeal first to bring out the flavours. Then I put 75% of it through the mill to achieve a finer grind and the remaining 25% on medium-grind for some texture.

The end result is obviously more dense with 100% cornmeal but packed full of flavour.

 

I'll be happy to chuck a leg of lamb in the oven but in all my years here never seen, Roasted vegies also, guess the pork and chook will have to do. Bread we will get there. Cakes also.

Cheers, Steve.

 

I'll be happy to chuck a leg of lamb in the oven but in all my years here never seen, Roasted vegies also, guess the pork and chook will have to do. Bread we will get there. Cakes also.

Cheers, Steve.

no lamb where you are?

 

La Union Luzon but even when we lived in Manila I lever saw lamb for sale.

Cheers, Steve.

 

Have seen sheep in fields a couple of times here, unless they were pigs in fancy dress.

 

No Lamb Gary, looked around for years as I love my lamb chops on the BBQ and a leg in the oven, even sheep brains crumbed.
I wonder the old saying "mutton dressed up as lamb". Perhaps if the pigs in fancy dress could bleat then I'm in.
Sorry gone off topic yet again.

Cheers, Steve.

 

Here you go Steve

https://www.tenderbites.ph/meat/lamb.html

 

Thanks Gary, not seen that company before but notice they don't sell a simple leg of lamb nor BBQ chops.
Worse still We are 6 hours north from Manila where it seems all their branches are and would need a refrigerator or freezer in the car, as well as their prices.
AU 68 bucks a Kilo for lamb chops? AU 40 bucks a Kilo for ground lamb?

Here ground lean pork 9 bucks a kilo, ground lean chicken 7 bucks a kilo, skinless chicken breast 7 bucks a kilo. Oysters 10 buck a kilo etc. etc.
Our diet has changed to local availability.
Don't worry next time I'm back in Oz it will be a pig out on lamb. Nearly 3 times the population of sheep compared to people and twice the number for kangaroos, that's why it's cheaper..... Crocodiles also.

If I chuck a bit of thyme and Rosmary on a leg of pork and a little mint sauce upon serving there's not much difference, as said adapted/ing to the local availability. Want to try a leg of goat next.

Perhaps my bad as I have never ventured to a Monterey butcher, we will look next week.

All the same Gary nice to know you can buy lamb here.

Cheers, Steve.

 

La Union Luzon but even when we lived in Manila I lever saw lamb for sale.

Cheers, Steve.

Santis Delicatessen do lamb, I think they have a number of shops dotted around as it’s where I managed to find a decent pressure cooker as they tend to do a good range of imported food.

https://www.santis-deli.com/

I think there’s some Lamb chops sold at Landers too. Not sure what the cut or quality is like though. All you need then is Mint Jelly 😊

 

Mint jelly, mint sauce. Availability it seems 257 kilometers away is out of our league to buy lamb? Bonus is Ben is not into lamb so I've adapted to local availability. Wrong country/location for lamb but the prawns and oysters make up for the lack of many products normal to other countries.

I know beef here is cr@p and assume the lamb if available would be the same. Second rate and ridiculously priced.

Cheers, Steve.

 

With my cooking, the quality of the meat does not matter, I hide my bad cooking with sauce hahaha

 

Thanks Gary, not seen that company before but notice they don't sell a simple leg of lamb nor BBQ chops.
Worse still We are 6 hours north from Manila where it seems all their branches are and would need a refrigerator or freezer in the car, as well as their prices.
AU 68 bucks a Kilo for lamb chops? AU 40 bucks a Kilo for ground lamb?

Here ground lean pork 9 bucks a kilo, ground lean chicken 7 bucks a kilo, skinless chicken breast 7 bucks a kilo. Oysters 10 buck a kilo etc. etc.
Our diet has changed to local availability.
Don't worry next time I'm back in Oz it will be a pig out on lamb. Nearly 3 times the population of sheep compared to people and twice the number for kangaroos, that's why it's cheaper..... Crocodiles also.

If I chuck a bit of thyme and Rosmary on a leg of pork and a little mint sauce upon serving there's not much difference, as said adapted/ing to the local availability. Want to try a leg of goat next.

Perhaps my bad as I have never ventured to a Monterey butcher, we will look next week.

All the same Gary nice to know you can buy lamb here.

Cheers, Steve.

S&R carry New Zealand lamb, do you have one in your area.

 

Gary, closest is Pampanga 4 hours away.

Cheers, Steve.

 

What about duck?

I’ve helped out with buying a few whole ducks which my other half and her family love.

 

Good point Newfie, I like duck also and not thought about it, once the kitchen is done/finished and we have a decent oven we will look into availability. home made bread stuffing, yum.
Seems around here all the supermarkets/wet markets cater to the local budget, pork, chicken seafood and crappy beef... the osso buco is ok because it's cooked to death.

Cheers, Steve.

 

Made our mince pie filling the other day with a generous portion of whiskey; should develop well in time for Christmas.

Lemon curd has got to be a winner any time of the year. Great with bread/ toast/ scones etc., (that last one is biscuits for our USA friends) and also works very well in a cheesecake/ fruit torte.