Talk to me about bread machines

[JR'smama777]

Have you used one? How do they work? My uncle gave me his (probably rarely if ever used) and I haven't even looked at it. I need a primer....

[melissel]

YES! I love mine. I imagine hand-made bread would be even better, but since there's a snowball's chance in hell that I'll hand-make bread, my machine's the next best thing. I use mine mainly for homemade pizza dough (at least once a week), but I also love it for bread and rolls. I'll post my two main recipes for you when I find them.

Here they are:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...30&postcount=3

When I get some time later, I'll post my pizza dough recipe. It's more than half whole wheat, and it's so simple!

[opally]

We've had one for years, use it all the time, and love it. Every week I use it to make pizza dough and whole grain rolls (using the machine to make the dough). It's easy to substitute whole wheat flour for bread flour (I usually replace 1/2 the flour with wwf) and I toss in ground flaxseed in everything I make. I also make soft pretzels & monkey bread often (monkey bread is a sort of pull-apart cinnamon roll type thing). It's so, so easy, and the smell of fresh-baked bread is a great thing.

[Dar]

How timely! I just pulled out a bread machine a friend gave me a few years ago and figured out how to use it, and I've been so happy! I used this page to figure out what to do (I love that whole site, BTW).

My machine is small, and makes only 1 pound loaves, so I've been having some trouble finding recipes made for it... any ideas? I know I can just used 2/3 of a regular one, but it doesn't always work right.

Oh, and Costco sells 2 pounds yeast for $2.99...

dar

[courtenay_e]

Dar, there's a cookbook I found maybe five years ago called "The Man's Guide to Bread Machine Baking" that had some decent recipes in it for one and one and a half pound loaves. I like the whole wheat one, although I've "tweaked" it to our particular preferences. Mine makes a 1, 1.5. or 2 lb loaf, so I chose to write down the 1.5 pound recipes. Sounded like good middle ground and I didn't think we'd get through a whole 2lber, and thought I'd be making bread too often if I made the one lber. I think I was right! We make bread probably five of seven days per week. My dc are allergic to soy and milk, so that counts out just about every loaf of bread we'd be able to buy at the grocery store...plus, after buying flour in bulk, it costs me about sixty to seventy cents per loaf, as opposed to three or four dollars per loaf...

plus mine does a whole bunch of other stuff (like quick breads, pizza dough, jams and preserves, the list goes on), so it really does get used often. It's probably the absolute best wedding gift we got!

[my3monkees]

I love my bread machine! Picked it up at 2nd hand store a couple of years ago. It usually gets used several times a week. I like that it makes the 2lb. loaf size. My family can devour a loaf of bread in a day sometimes.: If you need the manual try the manufactures website. Mine is an oster and I was able to download the instructions in PDF format. Have fun and enjoy your fresh healthy bread!

[mbravebird]

Does anyone else have trouble with their bread sticking to the bottom of the pan? I have made two almost unusable loaves because I've had to tear them out of the pan.

I got the breadmaker from Freecycle, and it had never been used. Ever. It's got a non-stick coating. What am I doing wrong?

[CJ 5]

Everyone in my family has a bread machine. My MIL figured out that the bread is so much better if you let the machine do all the work and then put it in bread pans in the oven. Now we all do that and I love my bread so much better.

[MissInformed]

I just got one and have made a couple of loaves. LOVE IT!! As for the bread sticking on the bottom...I haven't had that problem. Are you taking the bread out of the pan to cool as soon as it's done baking? In my instructions it says to do that otherwise the bread would get moist or soggy...maybe that would make it stick?

[PiePie]

we got a bread machine for our wedding, along with 2 cookbooks: Electric Bread and Rustic Eurpopean Breads. The former has easier recipes.

[Dreaming]

Originally Posted by CJ 5

Everyone in my family has a bread machine. My MIL figured out that the bread is so much better if you let the machine do all the work and then put it in bread pans in the oven. Now we all do that and I love my bread so much better.

Do you put the dough in the pan for the second rise and then bake?
Also, do you split the dough into 2 pans (like a pound apiece)?

TIA!

[CJ 5]

Artist mama
yes for the second rise and I have done a variety of breads. I basically experiment depending on the recipe. I have split the loaves and I have left them all as one. It makes WONDERFUL bread. I just don't care for how the bread maker loaf bakes but it does a great job with the dough.

[michelle524]

1

[Dreaming]

Originally Posted by CJ 5

Artist mama
yes for the second rise and I have done a variety of breads. I basically experiment depending on the recipe. I have split the loaves and I have left them all as one. It makes WONDERFUL bread. I just don't care for how the bread maker loaf bakes but it does a great job with the dough.

Aewsome! Thanks. I have been having an issue with the loaves regarding shape and the fact that the blade has to be dug out of the bottom. Using pans is a perfect solution.

[zeldabee]

I got my bread machine on Freecycle, too, and I love it. I subsequently got a KitchenAid stand mixer, and the bread machine does a better job of making the dough than the stand mixer with a dough hook...and I used to be a professional chef, and I scorned bread machines as silly gadgets.

It makes a decent, use-able bread loaf baking in the machine, but I like to use it just for dough and bake in the oven, as others have said.

[rose angel]

There is a good bread machine primer on www.hillbillyhousewife.com It explains how to figure one out (operate, determine capacity, etc) if you get one without an instruction book.
HTH

[Allie2]

I love mine too. I make the dough in the machine, do a second rise in pans and bake it in the oven. It freezes well too.

[Rant n Raven]

I have a (supposedly) great breadmaker but I am all paranoid about non-stick coating now.

Lots of articles have been coming out about how horrible non-stick coatings are (if they get hot, if they are over a year old, if they are worn or scratched...)

I so much want to use my bread maker or get another but I can't find one without non-stick. (I did find a non-non-stick stainless steel rice-cooker)

This is terrible since by posting this I am beaming out bad-vibe but this is a health concern. UGH!

Someone please tell me some good news.

[mamabain]

i had one and then got rid of it cuz i couldn't stand to heat up the oven for one loaf of bread or use the energy for one loaf in the breadmaker (but didn't like the shape of that either).

i prefer to make bread by hand and have 3 loaves of my 100%whole wheat honey bread baked all at once. that lasts me about 2 weeks.

BUT, i have to say, i haven't had time (or made the time) to make the bread latelty so i have been buying loaves. at almost $2.50 per loaf. not so frugal.

[catnip]

I've made awesome cinnamon rolls by using the machine to make a 1 pound loaf's worth of bread dough, rolling it out to a 9x13 rectangle, brushing it with 2 tablespoons of melted butter, sprinkling it with 1/2 cup of brown sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, adding a handful of raisins and pecans, then rolling it up and slicing into 8 rolls. Put them in a buttered 8x8 pan, let them rise for 30 minutes, and then bake at 350 for another 30 minutes.

Honestly, I only do this about once a year, and never use my machine otherwise, but I feel like the results are worth the storage.