Friday, March 17, 2017

Bre-Adventures: My Tesco breadmaker

I have three resolutions for 2017. 1. To get healthier as a family, 2. To embrace minimalism and 3. To be more self sufficient. And part of being self sufficient (at least in my view) is to learn how to make and do things for myself. To me, there's pleasure in slowing down and learning to make things by hand, even the basic things that we've taken for granted in our busy lives... Like making bread!

IMG_20170227_082320

I've gawked at The Baker Brothers' bread-making videos for ages and they make it look so easy, but where does a novice like me even begin? I thought I'd start by getting myself a bread maker. So a few months ago, I bought the Tesco BM1333 2L, which I got at a discount from Lazada, at around RM170. Here's what it looks like...

Image result for Tesco BM1333

How do I like my bread maker and what kinds of breads have I made? Find out after the jump...

For someone like me, who's starting from scratch, there's definitely a learning curve to using a bread machine. It took me a while to figure out how the machine works, how to properly measure ingredients and follow recipes, as well as how to proof dough. 

The first loaf I made in my bread maker was a total disaster... because I used self-raising flour. My second attempt wasn't so good either, because I followed the recipe from the booklet that came with the bread maker, and it wasn't quite right - the dough was too wet. So I decided instead to go on Pinterest and look for a basic white loaf recipe. And finally, I made something that resembled a loaf!  



IMG_20170210_181513
Ta-da! My first successful loaf. It's a little bigger than it was meant to be because I kept having to add flour - my dough was too wet :P

IMG_20170211_111724
Here's a slice of my first homemade white bread.

After successfully making a loaf, I turned my attention on making other kinds of bread. I found a nice, basic milk bun recipe on Pinterest and gave it a go. I used my bread maker to knead the dough for about 15 minutes, shaped them and arranged them in a baking tray, then baked them in the oven. My first buns didn't turn out too badly, but they weren't very fluffy. 

IMG_20170216_192504

Then, I tried using the same milk bun recipe in the bread maker and the resulting milk loaf wasn't too bad!

IMG_20170223_172445
Freshly-baked milk loaf!

IMG_20170223_172925
The bread is light and springy :)

Since the milk bun recipe was a success in the bread maker, I decided to experiment a bit, so I added some cinnamon and raisins to it the next time around. 

VID_20170226_213603
I love watching the dough get bashed around in my bread machine! Look at my cinnamon raisin bread dough go!

IMG_20170226_225848
Here's the cinnamon raisin bread baking away. Smells heavenly!

IMG_20170227_090854
My cinnamon raisin loaf was pretty awesome :)

While my loaves were turning out ok, I was still trying to master my milk buns. I wanted them to be soft and fluffy, and perfectly round. So I decided to really pay attention to my measurements and how I followed the recipe. I also watched more bun and bread-making videos on YouTube to learn about the proper dough consistency and how to shape buns.So far, I can safely say that my persistence has paid off! I'm getting better at making softer and rounder buns!

IMG_20170312_145108
Check out my latest milk buns!!! Soft and fluffyyyyyy


Throughout my bread-making adventures so far, I've also learnt what NOT to do...

  IMG_20170218_174145
Don't put raisins in the milk bun recipe while the dough is mixing in the bread maker. It seems to interrupt the consistency of the gluten and makes the dough impossible to shape. The buns turn out really dense

IMG_20170227_082351
Also, when you're using a bread maker, your loaves tend to have holes in the bottom, which can be annoying. If you want perfectly-shaped loaves, invest in loaf tins and bake them in the oven ;)

Stay tuned for more of my bread-making adventures!

2 comments:

sunbliss said...

Could you share the recipe for making the big milk loaf? Many thanks in advance

Adline Writes said...

Hi Sunbliss, Thanks for dropping by! Sure thing! I used this recipe ;)
https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/milk-bread/

Welcome 2019: Time to Grow

Happy New Year everyone! I'm so so excited for 2019 and everything that it'll bring. I'm starting the year with gratefulness for...