breadmakers: how long do they last?

[menthe]

I mean with normal use, say couple of times a month.

My Panasonic, which has worked perfectly, is now producing bread that is hard and not properly risen.  It is regularly cleaned and the pan is in excellent condition.

Have tried different flours and yeast brands and still the bread is inedible in my opinion, though OH still makes toast with it.

I have concluded that it's perhaps best to take it to the déchetterie.  Before I do that, I thought I'd ask for your opinions, ye of all knowledge that is worth having😁

It's the thought of throwing out yet more "rubbish" that makes me hesitate.

 

[cajal]

We have never bought a store loaf since the early 90's, and we are on our 3rd Panasonic, which is used as many as 4x a week to make wholewheat bread and brioche. Three years ago I snagged one off Amazon Fr. on offer- €60 which is stored until the demise of our present one. Last year, I replaced a broken base connector, which is the unit that drives the paddle. A new connector from Vente Pieces Menager cost €5.

As to your query re product quality, we are suffering the same, some loaves perfect, some loaves less than perfect. I also toast the dodgy ones. My recollection is the drop in quality seemed to coincide with the problems re Ukraines' shipping of grain from Izmail ????

As to the junking of your machine, sheer sacrilege. 🙂

[Loiseau]

I had exactly the same problem as you, Menthe, with my aging Panasonic.  Eventually, I am ashamed to say, I scrapped it.

[Lori]

I've only had one electric bread maker.  It was a Zojirushi (not sure if I remember the spelling correctly).  It made decent enough bread, but not great (IMO).  It did make great brioche.

I gave up on it after a few years and gave it away as I thought hand made breads yielded better results.  Fewer disappointments.

No idea about how long it would have lasted.  Most small kitchen appliances don't make it beyond 3 years or so.  Particularly if they are used on a near daily basis.

Don't get me started on coffee makers ....

 

 

[menthe]

If I were really motivated about making bread, I suppose I should keep the machine for kneading only and then bake the loaf in the oven.

But, since I read in several places that wheat (and other grains) are bad for people with high blood pressure, I only have one measly slice (half the size of a ready-sliced British loaf) for breakfast and even then not everyday.  By the evening however I often have a yen for bread and I'd make perhaps  one single slice of toast!

I do think that bread is pretty addictive😳

Better get a new machine after all.

Talk about small appliances, my tensiometre (doesn't that sound  much nicer than "blood pressure machine" and easier to say than "sphgmomanometer", which is the correct medical term).  Serves me right for buying a cheapo one instead of an Omron which is apparently the ONLY one worth buying.

Learned my lesson and ordered an Omron this morning.  So now two things have gone west and I was wondering what third thing was going to pack up.

THEN I remembered:  I wrote off the car in June (long boring story) so that's THREE things already.  Perhaps I should now feel safe to go ahead and buy that smartphone straightaway.....I would if I could make up my mind which one to get😁

Thanks everyone for the responses

[menthe]

Correction to post.  Meant to say my blood pressure machine refused to puff up.  Didn't finish my sentence before I'd pressed the button.  I changed all the batteries and still it wouldn't work.  Actually I am not very good at monitoring as my doctor has suggested.  I get fed up with all the high readings.

Recently I started some exercises that are supposed to lower blood pressure and so I have started monitoring again to see if the exercises have an effect.

Well, one lives in hope?

[Lehaut]

We have used a Lidl bread maker for several years.  The current one was on special offer 3 years ago for 24€, so snapped it up and put the other one away just in case.  Like the other posters, my usual bread mix has given mixed results recently.  I am currently using extra water, natural yeast activated with a bit of brown sugar and am back to lighter half and half wholemeal seed bread, 2 times a week.

I had a wrist blood pressure monitor, which started giving horrendously high results, so that went and I got a German arm one which gives much better results, tested on all family and allies with what the Dr uses for her "classic" cuff and stethoscope method.

[menthe]

Thanks Lehaut for the tip with the bread maker.  By natural yeast, I suppose you mean the fresh stuff you get in a cube?

We have no boulangerie at the moment; lost count of how many boulangers we have had in the last 14 years or so.  I did buy a cube once from the supermarket and it was no damn good.

As for the tensiometre, I have read that the wrist ones are not accurate and upper arm ones are best.  I do have a problem with the cuff as they usually start at 22cm and I got OH to measure my upper arm and it was only 20 cm.  Still an inch or so could be discounted, I think.

Other thing I read  is that you should take 3 readings in total.  Apparently you discard the first reading and you average out the second and third readings.  Any thoughts on that?  Is it worth doing for the accuracy or a waste of time and batteries?

[Lori]

I use a cuff blood pressure machine.  I bought it off Amazon France.  It is called a Fitreno.  It plugs into a USB connection on my computer.  I take my blood pressure one time each day.  The times vary.  I have been advised to have rested for several minutes before taking my pressure, not crossing legs or arms/hands, obviously relaxing.

I will sometimes get an elevated reading and will rest 30 seconds and take another reading.  It is often a good bit lower.  It really varies.

In my older age, I now suffer from "White Coat Syndrome."  I never did before.  For those who don't know the term, it is when a patient's blood pressure is abnormally high when in a medical setting (doctor office, hospital, etc.).  It can alarm the doctor/nurse.  I explain my situation and I always have at least 3 months of blood pressure and pulse readings to show them.

And, yes, from our experience, the wrist or finger blood pressure readers are total crap.

 

[menthe]

Yes, Lori, I have heard that phrase because a friend's husband has it in spades, really really bad.

Apart from your tips about not crossing arms etc, you should also empty your bladder beforehand!

Other point is you are supposed to take it on both arms to begin with.  I found that my right arm was always higher than my left and so now I just do the right.  Always hoping the doc would lower the med dose....but this hasn't happened yet😳

[Le martin-pêcheur]

Hi all with blood pressure issues. We understand "white coat syndrome", our doctor said that the French are just as bad. I get "blue overall syndrome" when the car has its CT😉 

Anyhow, if you want a chart as recommended by our doctor for the best times to take your blood pressure and pulse, open the pdf with this message and print it out.

We bought an basic Omron which is one recommended by the French health authorities. Sadly had to buy from Amazon - what can you do when they beat everyone elses price?

Hope it helps.

Have a good weekend.

BP.pdf

[menthe]

Martin (Kingfisher!) many thanks for that.  I have just printed out 12 copies because I thought I'd do it every week for a couple of months.

I am due to see the cardiologue early next month so I will do one for a couple of weeks before I go.  I have only seen this chap once, before they inserted the special line in my chest prior to chemo.

This time, I am not sure what he will be checking.  It's just something my doctor wants doing since that series of falls I had  last month.

AFAIK, I have never had problems with my heart or my circulation so it would be nice to know that particular system is OK.

That is a great tool, Martin.  I think I'd better send a copy for my friend's husband.

[menthe]

Forgot to mention this in my last post.  Have you noticed that the medical people only use the first 2 numbers of both readings? For example, they will say 12 and 8 instead of 120 over 80?

 

[Le martin-pêcheur]

You're more than welcome Menthe. Yes, the French doctors do seem to knock off the last zero with treize/huit being somewhere near ideal for us oldies😉.............it's quicker to say I guess.

[Lehaut]

Nearly every time I have a check up the Dr makes me lie on her couch for 5 mins to calm the "white coat" syndrome.  My wife has no blood pressure probs at all - until she has a hospital check up then it soars up.

I had a "stress test" in Avranches hospital in 2014.  In the waiting room there were a lot of glum faces.  After a while one of the other patients asked if I had seen this heart Dr before.  When I said, no, the room came alive with animated people warning me that you had to gauge the mood he was in before speaking as he could be very difficult!!

As it turned out, he said to me that he would speak either French, German or Latin, not English.  I asked to whom he spoke Latin, a priest patient it appeared.  After that we got on like a house on fire.  The bike stress test was a waste of time, as there was nothing wrong with me.

Menthe when I do my test, I have to average all of them out, not to take any notice of the individual results.  I only found out 5 weeks ago that I have a heart murmur (or Souffle in French).  I had no idea.  It was in my notes.  What I think has happened is the Dr, listening to my chest etc said "Souffle" which I took to mean "Breath" when she actually was commenting on the defect.  It was only when the Cardio was doing the echograph that he mentioned it.  Its only very small, but I was very surprised my my misunderstanding.

[menthe]

I think these murmurs are fairly common, Lehaut.  Something to do with the valves in the heart not quite closing.

Talk about misunderstanding, I do know exactly what you mean😄

I remember the surgeon (unknown to me as my own was on holiday) digging around in my chest to find the, I presume superior vena cava (main vein in the upper body), and muttering about the "jugular".

 

I didn't know then that there was a "jugular" vein as well as artery.  Thinking about it though, there must indeed be a corresponding jugular vein if there is a jugular artery, right?

I nearly leapt off the theatre table in fright.  What the man is "going for my jugular"?  Holy Moses, I would more likely or not die on the spot!

Months later when I talked to my own surgeon about this misunderstanding, he laughed heartily after I explained to him what "going for the jugular" meant in English.

 

 

 

[menthe]

Thought I'd update on breadmakers.  After considerable thought and browsing, I decided on a bread maker with 2 paddles and makes big loaves.  As I was about to press acheter, I looked again at the returns policy.  I found out that it was sold by a third party on Amazon, and worrying about the possibility of having to return it, I desisted.

So I am definitely going to get one, just need to find the right one, n'est ce pas?  And no, I am NOT talking about finding a partner for life😄

[anotherbanana]

This thread is positively uplifting and I am enjoying it; the mixing of breadmakers and health problems is unique and absorbing. Such a change from the moaning and personal digs we get too often. Keep it up folks.

Just to add my euro cents worth, my elderly dog has heart valve problems and despite the pills spends quite a lot of time coughing and spluttering loudly. But then he is about 115 and is entitled. But the noise of his throat clearing means that he has been gently banished from the bedroom to the sofa as he wakes us up. He usually puts himself to bed on the bedroom carpet long before we retire so I have to gently pick him up and move him. As he is no slouch around his gamelle this does not do any good to my back, but we manage.

[Riggers]

The ‘knocking off ‘ of the last  digits in a French blood pressure reading always concerns me a little as in some cases it may have a significant knock on effect

Edited August 6, 2023 by Riggers

[cajal]

On topic. I must say that this morning's production of bread was superb in every way. Two slices, buttered and, a bowl of tomato soup (Carrefour's own for me) accompanied by two soft-boiled eggs. That's what I call a 'rock-star'lunch'. 🙂

Onto High BP (I have a season ticket for this condition).

I bought a tension meter in 2014 following a 'triple pontage cardiaque' which I use sparodically, usually before a 3 monthly visit to my medicin or my annual visit to my cardialogue. When visiting my medican, it can be as high as 15 or 16. I put this down to 'white coat' plus the fact she is young and extremely attractive!  When visiting my cardialogue, a very pleasant middle-aged guy, the reading is typically between mid 12 to top 13. However, on my last visit 3 weeks ago, I mentioned I'd had been suffering from pressure and tightness in my upper chest region for the past 9 months. His response to this was to cancel a non-urgent patient the following afternoon and put me in for the velo test.

Wednesday afternoon, the nurse started prepping me for the test at 15.00. Test commenced at about 15.10. 16.00 I was on a gurney-trolley being loaded into an ambulance heading for Urgence. At the beginning of the test, I registered 126. Ten minutes into the test, I was registering 180 and climbing!

Following all the usual tests and a cardiac catheterisation, I will be returning at the end of this month to have a 'réduction du sinus coronaire' fitted. The op comprises the insertion of a mesh stainless steel, egg-timer shaped device into the main vein carrying blood out of the heart (coronary sinus). This narrows the sinus, elevating the pressure and helping to redistribute blood to where it is needed most. Four to six weeks later, the device should have become encased in natural body cells, where it will become fully effective-one hopes. I feel very lucky as this procedure is still relatively new and in its infancy and has only been available here, in France, since October 2021. 

Following on it will hopefully, for me, be 'farewell' to refractory angina and 'hi there' to onwards and upwards.

 

[menthe]

1 hour ago, Riggers said:

The ‘knocking off ‘ of the last  digits in a French blood pressure reading always concerns me a little as in some cases it may have a significant knock on effect

Riggers, I so agree and therefore I am going to write down the THREE figures when I complete Martin Kingfisher's record sheet for the cardiologue.

As you say, it's potentially dangerous to ignore the last number.  What if the reading is 149 over 96?  Do you round up the numbers or just drop off the last, and very significant, digit?

Cajal, good luck with your op and it's as well you thought to mention it.

It does come as a shock when you think all is tickety-boo and wham the medics find something that IS in fact not as you'd thought.

I liked to think, I'd just KNOW if I had something wrong.  Don't think that anymore because oh boy was I wrong when they discovered my "très aggresive" cancer.  Even then, I didn't take it seriously at first because aren't ALL cancers "aggresive"? 

[Lori]

Wishing you the best of luck with your procedure(s).  You were very smart to have mentioned your symptom (so to speak) to your doctor. 

Like you menthe, I'd like to think I'd know if something is amiss.  As I age, I always dread hearing the results of any regular exam (frottis, mammogram, even controle/detarage).  Now, I'm eligible for the colon test (the one they send you to do at home).  Husband said it was nothing.  Still, I dread the entire thing.

 

 

[Le martin-pêcheur]

Hi all,

Worth pointing out that if you take any tablets for high blood pressure at all, take the first reading of the day before breakfast or taking any of said médicaments. That lets you and the doctor know that the tablets are working as they should.

[menthe]

Martin, I have looked at the best time of day to take your blood pressure tabs after hearing on tv that it's best to take them in the evening and not the morning.

If you wish, I will find an online video that explains the scientific backing for this.

[Riggers]

I take mine in an evening 

Working in stroke care a lot the’ knocking off’  the numbers worries me because sometimes we need to keep the figure below a level if that level is say 140 141 might be okay 149 wouldn’t