breadmaker?

[moonlight mom]

I want to start making my own sandwich bread and fresh sourdough breads for dinner. Can I do this without a breadmaker? Does it make a huge difference? If I do get one - brand recommendations would be appreciated!!

[surrogate]

I don't reccommend Oster. I got an Oster off Amazon for christmas, and the bread won't rise and comes out tough. I follow the recipes to a T so it has to be the bread machine...

I would love to hear people reccomendations, esp for making whole grain breads...so tired of staring at labels on breads loaded with HFCS...

[Ironica]

I adore my Zojirushi. I've only ever made GF breads in it, but I've also used it for meatloaf (comes with a recipe ;-) and nearly everything I've ever made in it came out great. When it didn't, I lay the blame squarely on the recipe!

It's got some great presets, plus three custom cycles you can set up and reuse as you like. It also keeps the bread warm after it's done for up to I think 2 hours? Not sure.

They're pricey, but they're adored by their owners! I liked it so much I got a Zojirushi rice steamer, which I also love.

[ledzepplon]

I also have a Zojirushi and I LOVE it. I haven't made sourdough yet, because I haven't wanted to fuss with a starter. But we do our own sandwich bread. I really love baking, but I find it so convenient to have a machine since I have young kids and I just don't think I could get to making my own bread without "help."

[K-Mom3]

My bread always comes out better for sandwiches if I don't use a breadmaker. Sometimes I mix the dough in the machine and bake it in the oven and it comes out better.

I did find one bread machine recipe that works really well for sandwiches, though. It is on allrecipes.com and it is called crusty potato bread.

You don't need a bread maker to make those breads--it just saves you time. It is so nice to stick everything in the machine, check on it once to make sure it is forming a ball and then leave it for hours. I love coming home to the smell of baking bread! I have a friend who invested in a heavy duty stand mixer instead of a bread machine and is really happy with it.

I have never tried sour dough. But I'm sure you could do that without a machine as well.

[ledzepplon]

I forgot to add that the sandwich bread recipe I love the most is in The Bread Lovers Bread Machine Cookbook--it's a James Beard yogurt bread. It has a little tang like a sourdough, but you don't need a starter. The crust comes out beautifully in my machine and it's nice and light.

[proudmomof4]

I don't have a bread machine but a "bigger" kitchen machine (Bosch, German brand) with a grain mill. So I can grind my own flour directly into the mixing bowl which works well for me. I usually make yeast or yeast / sourdough breads which are more "German style" (not sandwich breads but with a real crust).
The extra work compared to a bread machine would be that you have to transfer your bread dough into a bread pan or form a loaf and put it on a baking sheet. OTOH, bread machines don't grind grains, or do they?

[Artichokie]

Originally Posted by surrogate

I don't reccommend Oster. I got an Oster off Amazon for christmas, and the bread won't rise and comes out tough. I follow the recipes to a T so it has to be the bread machine...

I would love to hear people reccomendations, esp for making whole grain breads...so tired of staring at labels on breads loaded with HFCS...

We got an oster bread machine for christmas and it doesn't rise the bread properly either. We use it for mixing and kneading and then throw the bread in the oven.

[surrogate]

at least it is not just me lol! Yeah at first I thought I was doing something wrong, but then EVERY recipe I tried in it came out wrong! Even the ones where I just made the dough for rolls and put them in the oven...they didnt rise right...

I was looking at Breadman machines...anyone have experience with those? They are more in my $ range than the Zojirushi