Don't keep your powder dry

I have been experimenting with Sunbeam Suzi lately, and have found the yeast really goes wild if I add it to the tepid water/oil mix while I mix the dry ingredients.

A veteran of the bread campaigns told me I should get the yeast working as hard as possible from the outset.

I can't say I'm disappointed with the results - loaves that rise without fault each time!

Sunbeam Suzi joins the baking clan

Just when I thought you couldn't have a relationship with more than one bread machine at a time, along came Sunbeam Suzi - a Sunbeam Quantum Smart Bake I recently inherited from our neighbour (also Pete) when he sold his townhouse.

Now while I love and respect Kenwood Ken, Sunbeam Suzi is a dream gal to fool around with! Although she came with no instructions - Pete says he only used her a few times, and lost the booklet she came with - I worked it all out in a matters of seconds.

She also comes with a bunch of neat plastic pull-out instructions that tuck neatly into her right side.

I have a mixed seed loaf baking off now, so I'll let you know how she performs in my next blog entry.

Kenwood Ken bakes a storm

I must say Kenwood Ken appears to have been worth the extra bucks!

So far I have cranked a round of great 750gm wholemeal/plain flour loaves laced with seeds, and all have worked well.

I have also used Ken's dough-kneading facility to produce several oven-baked loaves - again with sterling results. I have been using Ken's Menu 1.

So, here goes with the machine-made loaf recipes:

* 290 mls of tepid tap water

* 1 tbspn of olive oil (as usual, I add the water and oil to the pan first)

*400 gms of plain white flour

* 50gms wholemeal flour

* 1 tbspn of linseed/flax seed

* 1 tbspn of buckwheat

* 1 tbspn of milk powder

* 1 tbspn of brown sugar – not my usual raw type

* 1 tspn of improver

* 1 ½ tspns of salt

* 1 ½ tspns of dry yeast

As usual, I mixed the dry things together before adding them to the pan.

The results? Awesome!