I've PM'd you Mrs N _________________ "If we reduce the amount of stuff we allow to accumulate in our lives, we won't have to organise it"
Elaine St James from her book 'Simplicity'
I have a friend who is a chef. Her house is on a meter which enables her to measure the cost in energy terms of bread makers, slow cookers, etc. As a result she no longer uses either because the cost is out of proportion to the product. However, it is a low salt alternative so you pay your money and make your choice, I guess.
Just checked....Mine's a Kenwood. I think its weakness is that lots of the heat escapes from the window in the lid, and the poor seal around the lid. Its better if I wrap it in a towel.
I had one of those large window ones and found that wrapping tin foil around the lid made a HUGE difference to the loaf. I got this tip on the Internet somewhere but can't remember where.
In terms of cost, I suppost it depends on how much you care (or need to care) about what you eat. All supermarket bread is high sugar, salt, preservatives etc, and you never know the source of the yeast that is used. If you buy a "good quality" organic loaf it will cost around the £2 mark, sometimes more. They sell these at the organic farm/shop and although it's tasty bread it doesn't compare to fresh home baked.
I would like to have the time and a decent oven (mine only works on gas mark 9 and burns at the back!) not have to use a breadmaking machine but at the moment its the best option for me and mine. In fact I would be rather upset if it stopped working and am keeping my eye open for a spare in the charity shop, "just in case"!
The ones without a viewing window tend to cook a little more evenly. However, if you *have* to look, it means opening it up completely...
Ours has a raisin (and other miscelaneous items) dispenser, and that is really handy: It means you don't have to hang around to put the fruit in part way through (it gets totally mushed to pieces if in from the very beginning).
I'm assuming our electricity costs less than 10p per kWh, so if our breadmaker was using the full amount of power it can at all times (which it won't), and it was cooking the longest program of 5 hours, it would cost no more than 27.5p (it is 550W max.)
More often we use the 2 or 3 hour quick programs, plus it isn't using the full power all the time, so I'd estimate on average it costs maybe 10p per loaf to bake?
Anyway, it is still cheaper than our "local" bakery, and definately as nice.
_________________ *All* tiles now up in the bathroom! A bit of grouting to go and it'll be a finished room
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