Kitchen appliance questions for making bread

[anomaly13]

So my mom said she would get me a bread machine which I think I would love, I really want to get into making bread however I never seem to make the time and a bread machine would do all the work while I'm doing other things. From my understanding I could even use it to just make the dough and then bake it in the oven or make other things like bagels. Then I started thinking that if I were not going to use it to bake wouldn't it be smarter to get a stand mixer? (I have wanted a kitchen aid forever) Can I make dough in a stand mixer similar to how I would in a bread machine? Plus a stand mixer can do more then just make bread dough and has many attachment like a pasta maker.

So bread machine or stand mixer, I think I have settled on stand mixer but the price is almost 4 times as much! What other options are there? other then my hands, lol.

[mamakah]

I have a kitchen aide mixer with the pasta attatchments and have never used them. I use my kitchen aid *somewhat* often. I just bought a bread machine yesterday because like you, I like the idea of it doing the work while I do other things. The machine I bought has a pasta dough setting. It also says it can make jams. I don't have it yet (ordered a used one off amazon). If I were you, I would get the bread maker because it is inexpensive so if its not what you needed you won't feel like you have wasted a huge amount of money. On the other hand, I LOVE having a kitchen aide.
Wow. I'm not helping you at all am I? Try to find a used bread machine on craigslist (or amazon, i got mine for 60 when it's normally 120.00) then maybe you can ask your mom for a kitchen aid (I bought a refubished one on ebay for 130.00).

[Ellp]

I have both a stand mixer (Kitchen aid) and a bread machine (Black and Decker).

You can do bread in a stand mixer but the thing is that you have be around the kitchen while its doing its thing and then you still have to shape it, put it into a container to bake it and monitor its baking. It can be inconvienient if you want to be doing other things at that time.

With a bread maker, you just measure the ingredients in, push a few buttons to select when you want the bread to be ready, and walk away for 2-4 houirs. You can of course, just select the "dough" option and shape the loaf yourself to bake in your oven.

You can also do pasta dough in the breadmaker but you would have to shape it yourself.

If your goal is to make bread with the least bit of fuss, then go with a breadmaker. If you want the option of making other things as well and don't mind hovering around the kitchen, go with a stand mixer. Keep in mind though that if you want to be doing other things while making bread, you're more likely to use a bread machine than a to get out the Kitchen aid.

[Pepper44]

I use my stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.

Have you seen the Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day recipe? It's really easy. You make enough dough for 3-4 loaves at once and it takes literally 5 minutes for the stand mixer to mix it up. Then you let it rise for 2 hours on the counter, pull out enough for one loaf, and put the rest in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Each time you want to make bread you just have to pull out a hunk of dough, make it into a ball, and let it rise for about 40 minutes, then bake for 30 minutes on a baking stone.

Once I got that book, I sold my bread machine because I never wanted to use it again! The bread recipe is delicious and so easy!

[anomaly13]

Well I do not mind being in the kitchen monitoring the making of bread, as it is I am in the kitchen quiet a bit during the day but the thought of adding another handmade item to out kitchen turns me off as I spen a lot of time making thinsgs as it is. If I could have the bread dough being made while getting other things done in the kitchen tha would be perfect. Also shaping/baking the bread myself would be ok as I am a SAHM. It is mostly the mixing/kneeding I do not want to do.

I think I will see what my mom thinks about getting me the kitchen aid, I can get it at costco for a really good price and it comes with a bunch of accesories and costco has the lifetime return policy so if I end up not using it very much I can return it and get a bread machine from them instead.

I will have to check out the book, Artisain Bread in 2 Minutes a Day, that is the kind of bread DH prefers and he like some kind of bread product at dinner every single night, I could do without the extra carbs, lol.

Another question, can I freeze bread dough, or dough for rolls, so it will last longer?

[Pepper44]

Originally Posted by anomaly13

Well I do not mind being in the kitchen monitoring the making of bread, as it is I am in the kitchen quiet a bit during the day but the thought of adding another handmade item to out kitchen turns me off as I spen a lot of time making thinsgs as it is. If I could have the bread dough being made while getting other things done in the kitchen tha would be perfect. Also shaping/baking the bread myself would be ok as I am a SAHM. It is mostly the mixing/kneeding I do not want to do.

I think I will see what my mom thinks about getting me the kitchen aid, I can get it at costco for a really good price and it comes with a bunch of accesories and costco has the lifetime return policy so if I end up not using it very much I can return it and get a bread machine from them instead.

I will have to check out the book, Artisain Bread in 2 Minutes a Day, that is the kind of bread DH prefers and he like some kind of bread product at dinner every single night, I could do without the extra carbs, lol.

Another question, can I freeze bread dough, or dough for rolls, so it will last longer?

I think it says in that Artisan Bread book that you can freeze the dough. I know it mentions frozen dough...

Since it doesn't require any kneading and the mixer does all the mixing, all you have to do is dump in the ingredients! My 3 year old can do it now because we've made it so much.

[mommathea]

I did have a breadmaker but making 8-12 loaves a week I wore the poor thing out. I prefer bread baked in the oven vs. the breadmachine so I was taking the dough out at the end of the cycle.
Now I make my dough in the Kitchen Aid. I do have to minitor it a little bit, but it seriously isn't much more work than the breadmaker.

[Dandelionkid]

Expensive, but if you are looking to bake primarily bread, the bosch is excellent You don't need 2 risings because of gluten development. Better than a bread machine b/c you can do so much more in a short time period. Three of us bake bread once a month- takes 4 hrs to make 30 100% ww bread loaves.

[mommathea]

Originally Posted by Dandelionkid

Expensive, but if you are looking to bake primarily bread, the bosch is excellent You don't need 2 risings because of gluten development. Better than a bread machine b/c you can do so much more in a short time period. Three of us bake bread once a month- takes 4 hrs to make 30 100% ww bread loaves.

I want a Bosch so bad

[anomaly13]

Originally Posted by mommathea

I want a Bosch so bad

Is it a bread machine or sonething else?

[elmh23]

I have both. For me, I really like the bread machine to make the dough because it makes it rise properly, which I seem to have a hard time in my house during the winter months (when I actually want to make homemade bread!) I use my mixer for other things like cakes and brownies.

Do you think you'd be able to get a good rise in your house? My house is pretty well insulated but for some reason rising just doesn't happen properly here.

[Pepper44]

I sometimes have problems with bread rising in my house too because it's not that warm in in my kitchen. Someone told me to get a clean dish towel wet with hot water, wring it out very well, then put it over the bread. Then put the bread and dish towel in the oven with just the light on. I do that now and my bread rises huge pretty fast!

Also, with the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes recipe the bread rises a lot in the oven while you bake it. The first time I made it I was amazed.

[mommathea]

for a good rise, all I have to do is turn the oven light on and put the bowl in the oven covered with a damp towel. The heat from the bulb is perfect for rising bread.

[elmh23]

I've heard that trick before but my oven doesn't have a light (gas oven.) In the summer, I can get a pretty good rise by just turning off my swamp cooler (I live in New Mexico where summers can get pretty toasty ) but in the winter it just doesn't happen. I once left a bread to rise for 5 hours because it just wasn't getting bigger. After that I baked it and it ended up tasting pretty good, but still wasn't the best bread I've ever baked.